Martha's Table Collegiate Academy

 My Life Equals Life Music               

Music Review

By SaQueena Fields

                In Mary J. Blige’s My Life album, she has the best R&B and soul music to get you through your problems. When feeling down and in need of a release, My Life will make you feel great to be a woman. She takes you through the trials and tribulations of being a woman.

                Mary J. Blige is a great, multi-talented singer/songwriter, producer and actress from the Bronx. Blige started her career in 1992. Growing up in Yonkers, New York, Blige is the first artist with Grammy wins in pop, rap, and R&B genres. She’s  Also a recipient of nine Grammy awards and four American Music Awards. Blige is similar to Aretha Franklin because they both have soulful and powerful voices.

                The My Life album has many great songs to choose from. One song many women can relate to is “I’m Going Down”. The song represents what love can do to a person. She sang the song with emotional brilliance to express just how much a man can take a great toll on your heart.

                “Be Happy” is another great song on the album because it explains how one can still enjoy themselves while being drama-free. All of the 18 songs on the album are great successes to her music career. The My Life album is enjoyable to listen to, and Blige's loyal fans agree. It is comforting to listen to.

                Overall, the album My Life is an emotional rollercoaster. Blige reminds her listeners that there’s always more in life to learn, and she makes you feel great as a woman. Blige’s My Life album is a great album to listen to when you need to clear your head. Arguably the greatest part about about the album is that she talks about different types of topics and still keeps the listener engaged. 

New Balance Craze

                            Informative Essay        

    Denise Burks              

New Balance describes its shoes as being stylish, popular and affordable. Many sneaker lovers around the world prefer to wear the New Balance brand.

The most popular New Balance shoes are 990 and 993. The revenue of New Balance is $3 billion, and the employees 1,001 to 5,000 (www.indeed.com?cmp?new-balance). People like to wear New Balance because they're the most variable shoes that you can wear.

New Balance is an American footwear manufacturer based in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston. It was founded 1906. In 1906, William J, Riley, a 33-year-old British emigrant founded The New Balance Arch Support Company. (en.wikipedia.org).

New Balance does not give names to the shoes it sells instead referring to them by a 2,3 or 4 digit model number. New Balance cost $50-200. It just depends on what size the person wears. The headquarters are in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Finally, if you should go out and buy a pair of New Balance shoes, it will save you money, and they're considered stylish by most. You probably will like them. New Balance are not that expensive.

Organic Foods vs. Regular Foods

Persuasive Essay

Ronald Simms

    Whether it's the chemicals in the foods or the seasons for planting, organic foods are foods that are grown differently than regular foods. Consumers say that organic foods are healthier than regular foods because they are grown naturally without all of the chemicals. People also say that pricing is consistent, but it varies by the season. In some ways, organic foods appear to be one big scam because you cannot tell if it is healthier. Where's the evidence? Also, if you eat as much organic food as you eat regular food, you could gain almost the same amount of weight.

     Regular food is cheaper and grown with chemicals and pesticides to keep the bugs away. Some say that regular food is fattening, and you will have a greater chance of having a heart attack or dying in comparison with eating organic. Regular foods just taste better than organic foods, but some people might argue otherwise. Regular food from fast food places cost less than organic foods.

     In conclusion, this argument is likely a tie. Organic food and regular food are both full of their own pros and cons. A lot of people like organic food, and a lot people like regular food. People can eat fast food but, not all the time. You can eat organic any time.

Better Is Better: Charter Or Public?

Persuasive Essay

Chamia Thomas

Charter schools are better than public schools in many ways. From graduation rates to the overall learning system, parents can rest assured their children are on their way to greater things at a charter school.

Charter schools are more efficient in graduating students. They have more teachers and a better system of learning. Charter school teachers are more prepared for what they are supposed to teach the kids than public schools. Both public and charter schools want their students to be able to have good careers and good mindsets. It just seems charter schools are better because they have better teachers, smaller class sizes and they have a better learning system.

My experience as a student at a public school proves there's a huge difference. Public schools are not that efficient because a larger percentage of teachers don’t give the kids the most effort and education. They let them do whatever they want, and they don’t really show the greatest level of care for the students. I personally believe public schools follow the strings of the government even if it's not benefitting the kids. If they were able to make their own rules like charter schools, there would be more educating going on. Public schools are swarming with kids with severe behavior problems. Charter schools are a place for kids to learn. I feel as though charter schools have a way of helping the children come in and be quiet and learn something to help in the future.

My times in public schools have been bad. I didn’t get work done or really know what was going on. Public schools are not a safe environment. I think charter schools are the best for anyone who is really trying to pursue their goal in life. Charter school has really helped me a lot in my life. They are really strict and they give you a good sense of direction. Even though I hate rules, I still follow them. The school I go to is Cesar Chavez. They have really given me life lessons. They push us so they give us a lot of work, and they give us tutoring and help when we need it. 

Oh Snap!!

Lowering The Drinking Age

Persuasive Essay

Aaraa Brown

When you turn 18, you gain the right to vote, smoke tobacco, go to most clubs and play the lottery. You're considered a responsible adult who's old enough to make your own decisions. At 18, the average person moves out of their parent's house and starts makign a life for themselves. The question is, why don't 18-year-olds have the right to drink along with all the other adult responsibilities?

In other countries, like Thailand and Switzerland, the drinking age is lower than 21. In fact, it's lower than 18, but you don't see young adults and adults getting DUI's or getting into car accidents over there. The reason the DUI rates are lower there is because of the communication the parents have with their teens. The reason for all the accidents in the US isn't the age. It's the fact that parents fail to talk to their kids about drinkign responsibly (www.wiki.com).

Studies show that 72 percent of teens admit to drinking before the age of 21. Most teens only drink because the law says they can't. They do it because they like the rush they get from doing something they know they aren't supposed to do. Yes, I'm saying if drinking was legal at 18, chances are your teen wouldn't want to drink anyway. Twenty-six percent of fatal accidents caused by drunk drivers aren't even caused by teens; they're caused by people 21 and older (www.wiki.com).

Some people might think the drinking age should be 21 or even older. A reason for that could be because they don't want teens in high school to have access to liquor earlier than they already do. That would be a good reason to keep the legal drinking age 21, but the thing is, kids are drinking in high school anyway.

Hopefully this helps readers understand that age is nothing but a number. Having the age of legal drinking at 21 doesn't make a drinker more or less mature. What makes a drinker mature enough to drink is them having been taught how to drink responsibly.

Fisher Finds His Way                                                                                                       

Movie Review

Milan Ramson

Coming up from under a rock can be lonely, scary, and frustrating. Antwone Fisher is a narrative true story about an African American man named Antwone Fisher played by Derek Luke who joins the Navy to escape his problems from childhood that still seem to haunt him.

In the story, there are two main characters, Fisher and the Navy’s psychiatrist Dr. Lee played by Denzel Washington. Fisher is a troubled boy who is unsure about his identity. Dr.Lee played a very valuable role because he helps Fisher throughout the story. He helps him to heal by trying guide him through self-discovery.

This story takes place inner part of Cleveland. While growing up in that area, Fisher finds out that being outside is the safest place for him to be. In his neighborhood, there isn’t much of anything for kids his age to do, one can say it's like a child being trapped in the house on a rainy day. Fisher lived with an abusive foster mom who refers to him as a dumb nigger. While still growing up, Fisher realizes that he wasn’t being treated right and that it was time for him to leave. At the age of 17, he left the men’s shelter and joined the Navy. While in the Navy, the journey to figure out the meaning to his life story unfolded.

         This is a timeless story of a man transforming his life by understanding that without understanding he would never have closure, and he would never move on to the bigger picture in his future. 

The Inside Of The Outsiders

Book Review

Kofi Henderson

The importance of friendship and brotherhood are the main themes of the book The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton is the book's author who wrote it while still in high school. The book was somewhate based on her own life. The book takes place in a small, rural town in the 1960s. There are two main groups in the story's plot, the Greasers and the Socs. The main characters, Ponyboy and Johnny, are Greasers. Compared to the Socs, they are the good guys who have to defend themselves from the Socs. Socs are wealthy high schoolers who do bad things for fun and get away with it. They usually pick on Greasers and do ignorant stuff for no good reason.

One night, Johnny and Ponyboy go out and sit at night. That's when Socs came and started to fight with them. The toughest Soc started to drown Ponyboy in a water fountain. Johnny stabs and kills the Soc while trying to save Ponyboy. They then run away to a far away abandoned church. This climax in the book had me very excited and the way events turned surprised me.

You will have to read the book yourself ot find out what happens next to Ponyboy and Johnny. A lot of drama happens like when Ponyboy's father figure gets in trouble with the law. I would recommend this book to any teen who likes realistic fiction, both male and female. This book contains no ordinary story plot and has many unexpected turns.