2nd Year Program 2026-2027

See the full list of 2nd Year Vocabulary words HERE, or study on Quizlet:

Assigned so far: humiliated, pernicious, vitiate, resolute, pedantic, eminent, indolent, sympathize, impugn, proficient, succumb, complacent, complaisant, pejorative, punctilious, inexorable, iconoclast, antecedent, fervor, deference, obstreperous, tangible, surreptitious, merriment, mercantilism, legislature, bicameral, inveigh, sovereignty, sectionalism, infraction. concise

Flying Free
by Brynlee Caldwell

All around me, balloons were floating up. It was dark out: the flames under the balloons were the only lights in the early morning sky. Like candles on a birthday cake, they would only extinguish when the sun woke up. I had never been in a hot air balloon before. I had only been on an airplane a few times. But there I was, watching the ground float farther and farther away as the scratchy wooden basket I stood in drifted higher and higher into the sky.

I looked around some more, shuffling my feet in small circles around the confined space of the basket. Ignoring the other hot air balloons around me. I turned my attention to the sunrise. The sun had finally peeked over the Arizona desert mountains and the sky was full of swirling colors. Rose reds, pastel oranges, and bright yellows had just come off a paint palette, splattered messily onto a canvas. Every time I looked back again, the sky had shifted and the world underneath seemed to move with it. The clouds in the sky blew up like pink puffs of cotton candy. The world felt different from up there.

After a little while, we started falling back towards the earth. The sky returned back to its normal bright blue. Clouds drifted away, to who knows where, and the sun finally popped over the mountains and into fresh air. 

Bump. We hit the ground and a man helped me climb out of the basket. He stuffed the balloon into a large bag with the help of another man, and they loaded it onto a trailer. As I hopped into the car, I looked back at the desolate landscape and thought, This is something I will never forget.

Scotland
by Emma Turnbull

As soon as the plane lifted into the air, my excitement couldn’t be contained! We were going to Scotland! On my favorite day we did two hikes: first to the Fairy Pools, and then up a mountain called the Old Man of Storr. Early that morning, we drove for an hour to arrive at the trailhead. Rolling hills and light fog blocked parts of our view. I was excited for the hike, but jet-lagged at the same time. Our morning walk followed along rocky paths and colorful golden, mustard yellow mountains in the near distance. Rain tipper tapped as we walked, dripping cold on my wet nose. Baby lambs slept near their mothers in fields alongside the trail. The farther we walked, the more fairy pools we saw: flowing streams and pools of water of a crazy bright turquoise color formed near the path. We ventured as far down the Fairy Pool path as we could, exploring and taking in the view.

On our way to our second hike, we stopped in Portree so we could obtain sustenance. The coffee shop near the ocean was filled with noise and wisps coming from the coffee machine. My parents had coffees with a hint of honeycomb, while my sister and I drank hot chocolate. We ate ham and cheese croissants and a pastry called flapjacks cut into triangles, with pecans and chocolate sprinkled on top.

Energized, we drove to the Old Man of Storr and started to walk. This hike was very steep, as we were going up an actual mountain. The scene was filled with extremely jagged mountains and rock that seemed to cascade along the coastline to the ocean. As we neared the summit, the winds grew more fierce. Near the top of the trail, the wind was so strong, we thought my sister was going to fly off the hill! Both hikes gave us a feeling of accomplishment: we were strong from all the walking, and we made a core memory filled with tiredness, laughter, joy, and so much fun.

Student Resources: 2nd Year

Check every piece for THESE SKILLS before turning anything in for an edit.
Check ALL CITATIONS (quotes) with these formatting rules before turning anything in for an edit.

Click HERE for directions for email editing

Click 2nd ART to see what you will be doing in ART this year.
Click 2nd FILMS to see what movies we will be watching this year.

Access pieces written by 2nd Year classes to see what our readings and assignments are for this year, and to
read sample pieces written by previous 2nd Year students (7th & 8th graders) from 2002-2017.

QUARTER GRADING:

Participation = 30% (purely subjective, based on my perceptions of your initiative, interest, self-motivation, & tenacity)

Assignments = Revisions (20%)
Edits (20%)

Vocab/Multiple Choice tests= 15%
Timed essay grades= 15%

SEMESTER GRADING

Participation = 30% (purely subjective, based on my perceptions of your initiative, interest, self-motivation, & tenacity)
Assignments = Revisions & edits (20%)
Vocab/Multiple Choice tests = 15%
Timed essay grades = 10%
Exam = 25%

“The great skill of a teacher is to get and keep the attention of his scholar... To attain this, he should make the child comprehend...the usefulness of what he teaches him and let him see, by what he has learned, that he can do something which gives him some power and real advantage over others who are ignorant of it.”

— John Locke (1632-1704), on Education

Unfinished Pieces: Semester I
(updated 9/24/26)

Brynlee
Revisions = 19/36
Edits = 2/4

HB paragraphs: Watching exceptional performers
HB evaluative: Freedom of Speech & Thought

Pink poetry: Pictures with Words; Poem of Feeling; General-Specific; The Right Words

Mac
Revisions = 10/36
Edits = 1/4

1st Person Narrative: Offense
HB paragraphs: Laws
HB evaluative: Things that Discourage Independent Thinking

Pink poetry: Similes/metaphors; Onomatopoeia; Pictures with Words; Poem of Feeling; General-Specific; The Right Words

Emma

Revisions = 24/36
Edits = 1/4

HB paragraphs: Competition
HB evaluative: Freedom of Speech & Thought

Pink poetry: Pictures with Words; Poem of Feeling; General-Specific; The Right Words

Emmett

Revisions = 11/36
Edits = 1/4

1st Person Narrative: Regatta
HB paragraphs: Laws
HB evaluative: Things that Discourage Independent Thinking

Pink poetry: Pictures with Words; Poem of Feeling; General-Specific; The Right Words