DISTRICT
The next school board meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, May 20, in the district boardroom, 503 N. Sequim Ave. The public is invited to attend and time is set aside for public comment. To view the agenda and minutes of past meetings, click on “School Board,” “Regular Communication” and “Agendas” on the district’s website at www.sequimschools.org.
There is no school on Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day).
GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The next Greywolf Parent-Teacher Association meeting is set for 7-8 p.m. Thursday, May 9, at the school library.
In March at Greywolf Elementary, fifth-grade students tackled the persuasive essay and met one of literature’s wisest fools: Don Quixote. Using Argentina Palacios’ young reader’s version, “Adventures of Don Quixote” — an adaptation of the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes — students presented their answers to the question: Do Don Quixote’s good intentions justify his actions?
Star-worthy excerpts and examples from essays by student-authors Kendra Dodson, Ysabela Montero, Troy Onofre and Emma Vose can be viewed online. (We ask readers to remember that these students are 10 and 11 years old, and that any mistakes present in their work are understood to be part of the learning process. Thank you for reading and supporting Sequim Schools.) Write on Greywolf!
“Savior in Spain?”
By Kendra Dodson
“Don Quixote then left, thinking that the farmer (and everyone else) was honorable as himself. But as soon as he was out of their sight the beating became twice as hard.” Does that sound like a good action to you? Well in “Adventures of Don Quixote” by Argentina Palacios, an old man travels around Spain in the 17th century with his “Squire” Sancho going on “Quests”. In the book, Don Quixote’s good intentions do not justify in his actions.
The Don’s good intentions don’t show in actions. Don will try to do something, but he will get confused and it will hurt other people. A good example of this was found in chapter 3, page 7, I found this quote “Don Quixote then left thinking the farmer (and everyone else) was honorable as himself. But as soon as he was out of their sight the beating became twice hard.” Don Quixote thought the farmer was telling the truth, but he wasn’t, which lead the boy to get beaten very hard. Another example, that claims Don Quixote was confused was found in chapter 4 and on page 12, “Sir knight, we beg you, don’t kill him! The lady in the stagecoach cried. Don Quixote then stopped, went to the carriage, and ceremoniously said to her, I am sparing the man’s life.” Don Quixote accused two innocent friars for nothing! He got confused and thought the friars were doing terrible things. That might have been a good intention, but it was not a good action. Don Quixote’s good intentions don’t show in his actions.
Don Quixote’s good intentions also don’t show in his actions because he is rude to others. “It’s crystal clear Sancho, that you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Poor Sancho was just trying to help Don Quixote not look like a fool, but the Don was just telling Sancho he was wrong. “Hush Sancho my friend. Matters of war, more than others” Don Quixote was attacking windmills! WINDMILLS! And Sancho was trying to explain to the Don that that he wasn’t attacking giants, he was attacking windmills. When the Don is rude, he is not showing good actions.
Overall, Don Quixote is about to die and realizes that his good intentions as a knight did not justify his actions. Even though Don Quixote has been confused by people and rude to others, he had good intentions, which were to fight evil in the world. Don Quixote has had good intentions, but they haven’t turned out as good actions, never the less, good intentions are better than bad ones.
“The ‘Knight’”
By Ysabela Montero
Have you ever wondered why people do what they do? Well in Argentina Palacios, “Adventures of Don Quixote,” Don Quixote is an old man who reads way too much about the fantasy of knights and their adventures. In Don Quixote’s mind he still sees the world as it was in the era where knights were still alive. So, he goes off onto adventures with his newly found squire Sancho Panza, and soon enough they both go on adventures together. Sometimes Don Quixote meddles in problems that he shouldn’t have, which makes the problems even worse. Also, soon enough he is known as a crazy man who thinks he’s in some crazy stories. Although Don Quixote doesn’t mean any harm, and has good intentions, they still don’t justify the bad outcomes.
One of the reasons I think Don Quixote’s good intentions do not justify his bad actions is that he could endanger other people in the process of what he is doing, and he could also hurt other people around them. Even though the Don doesn’t intentionally put people in danger, he could still endanger them. One example of this is on page 7, “The knight planted himself in the middle of the road, challenging every one of those “knights” to fight, one by one or in a group,” he said that because the Don thought that the “knights” were capturing a princess and her lady’s in waiting. Challenging the group of merchants that Don Quixote sees as knights, could endanger the merchants and anyone else that was near or that also could’ve been seen as a knight could’ve been injured. This shows that just because Don Quixote thought that he was doing the right thing by challenging the merchant/“knights” to fight, he was still putting the ladies and the merchants in danger. No matter if Don Quixote thought he was doing good or not.
The second reason I think Don Quixote’s intentions do not justify his actions is, that he could’ve endangered himself and Sancho Panza. For example, on page 14 of the, “Adventures of Don Quixote” it says, “One of the mule drivers started to move the armor, and Don Quixote cried out: you evil creature! What are you doing? The mule driver went on with his business. He didn’t even look up at the knight. Keep your hand of my armor! Don Quixote said as he attacked in a wild rage.” And in that action, he could endanger himself and harm other people in the process of attacking them. Also, in the book it says, “That could’ve been the end of Don Quixote, they gave him such a beating. But the innkeeper managed to calm everybody down, and he decided to conclude the ceremony immediately, before something worse happened” (page 5). And that shows that in Don Quixote fighting the mule drivers, he could’ve put himself in danger, and other people as well. But since the innkeeper separated the fight the Don was not badly hurt, but he could’ve been.
In the end, Don Quixote finally realizes and finally sees reality as it really is, and that almost all people who he met thought he was crazy. Also, Don Quixote realizes that his good intentions were dreams and his intentions were not justified. But although in the book the Don is a very silly and funny character but in contrast Sancho Panza was a relist and saw the world for what it was and taught us at the end that the Don was wise and silly in his actions that he made. And when the Don realizes that everything was not what it seemed to him. But the Don realizes that he and Sancho were laughed at for it. And Don Quixote says, “I was crazy before, and now I am sane,” he said. “I pray that you forgive me.” But the Don’s dream was lost, he finally turned sane and saw the world for what it really was and noticed that the world laughed at him, and Sancho Panza for it in the end. But when the Don finally realized what he and Sancho Panza had been doing the Don couldn’t continue. But at least while he was alive, he had good intentions and not bad ones, but they did not excuse the negative outcomes that had happened.
“A Hero or a Lunatic?”
By Troy Onofre
Have you ever done something that made the problem worse? In Argentina Palacios “Adventures of Don Quixote,” an old man in the 17th century goes crazy and tries to be a knight with his “squire” Sancho Panza. They go on crazy adventures around Spain stirring up trouble. I think that Don Quixote’s good intentions do not justify his actions.
One very important reason I think this is Don Quixote could have hurt or killed someone. One example is when he defeats a “knight” and puts his sword to his chest on pg25 it says “Don Quixote places his sword to the chest of his opponent and makes him confess” if the “knight” did not confess Don Quixote might have killed him with his sword. Another example was with the farmer and his worker. Don Quixote saw a farmer hitting his worker, a 15-year-old boy. The Don interferes with this and when he leaves the beating becomes twice as hard. On pg.7 it says, “but as soon as he was out of his sight the beating became twice as hard.” If Don Quixote had not meddled in their business the boy’s beating would not be that hard.
Another important reason is that he could have hurt not just others but himself. One example is when he was fighting “giants” (AKA wind mills) and he lanced a sail that went so fast it knocked him off his horse. On pg10 it says, “the wind made the sail go furiously. Horse and knight were flung to the ground far afield.” When the wind mill threw them it could have knocked the Don out or even killed him. Another example was when he got attacked by mule drivers. When Don Quixote is guarding his armor to pass a test to be a knight, he places his armor on a well. When a mule driver touches his armor, Don Quixote attacks him. When the other mule drivers find them, they attack as well. On pg5 it says, “that could have been the end of Don Quixote, they gave him such a beating.” If the inn keeper did not calm everyone down, it would have been the end of the Don.
As a result of his craziness when Don Quixote saw the truth, he was so heartbroken that he died from the stress. And he regretted it because on page 59 it says, “I was crazy before and now I am sane” he also he broke his friends’ hearts. They were all sobbing. That is why his intentions do not justify his actions.
“Forgive a Hero”
By Emma Vose
Do Don Quixote’s good intentions justify his actions? In my eyes, yes! In Argentina’s Palacios, “The Adventures of Don Quixote” an old man decides to become a ‘knight’. The Don goes on these ‘Quests’ with his squire, Sancho Panza. The two men go around to help banish all that was wrong in humanity, but they have some accidents.
At the end of the day, we can’t deny that the Don is a good person. He just wants to help or in his imagination, get rid of all the wrong in the world. Even at the beginning of the story it shows us his intentions and why he became a knight in the first place. “He decided to become a knight, for he wanted to right all that was wrong in the world” (pg. 1). This quote proves my statement about how he has good intentions and that he dedicates himself to help others around him. The Don means absolutely no harm to anyone. Mistakes happen all the time, especially with the Don.
The other defense I have is that the Don is willingly to help anyone, even if it means that don Quixote must go through some embarrassing or dangerous stuff. He always greets people as if they were a higher power and always lends a hand. He would even help the most random people from the streets. “Tell her that I, the knight of the lions, kiss her hands and am willing to serve her” (pg.34). Don Quixote was going to serve a woman he didn’t know just because he wanted to help. Even though he has failed the attempts before he still tries to help. He is noble and is determined to help others.
Overall, Don Quixote just wanted to help and bring peace to those around him. His intentions never changed, and they never were bad ones. He didn’t deserve to have been made fun of just because he was a bit scrambled in the head. The Don doesn’t control if accidents happen or not, so it isn’t all his fault. Even out of all the characters in the book, Don Quixote is better a lot of them! Even though he’s the wise fool in this story, he still has a good heart. I will stick by my opinion that Don’s intentions do justify his actions! Even at the end of the story, he’s still the funny and caring character we met in the beginning.
HELEN HALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Throughout the month of May, Haller will assess students in third grade through fifth grade, on both state and district tests. Each grade level tests all month on a specific day: Tuesdays, third grade; Wednesdays, fourth grade; and Thursdays, fifth grade. School officials ask students get a good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and a warm send-off. The school assesses students in kindergarten through second grade using iReady and Dibels. Results of the tests should be available to schools in June and once they are finalized by the state, school officials can share them with parents.
The next Helen Haller Parent-Teacher Organization meeting is set for 6-7 p.m. Monday, May 13, in the Haller library.
Swim lessons for Haller second-graders begin Monday, May 13.
Haller concerts are coming up! Check out the kindergarten concert at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, with the first-grade concert later that day at 7 p.m. Haller’s second-grade concert is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. All concerts are at the Sequim High School auditorium, 533 N. Sequim Ave.
SEQUIM MIDDLE SCHOOL
Sequim Middle School’s band hosts a concert from 7-8:15 p.m. Thursday, May 30, in the school gymnasium.
SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL
On Wednesday, May 15, Sequim High’s ASB will host a blood drive from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The public is welcome to donate.
Seniors who are taking online classes for graduation in June have until May 15 to get the course work done and test(s) taken. All tests must be requested by you through BYU to be sent to Mr. Erickson, Mrs. Vander Velde or Ms. Fox. Any course work or tests completed after May 15 may not count toward graduation credits.
