Teachers selected from each district school for the Teacher of the Year competition were recognized.The competition's winner will be1in the spring.All those model teachers got me to think about some of my teachers through the years, and how they2me.

    My college adviser, J.C.Casey, had a big3on my life.She was a teacher and friend.She4me to consider journalism as a career.My high school math teacher,Kathy Cloud,took the time to5math to me in a way I could    6understand.I'd struggled with math until I got in Cloud's classes.She gave me the7to realize I could do it.

    My first-grade teacher, Darlene Dryden, held me back. Now, most people wouldn't8the teacher that kept them back a grade fondly, but Dryden has always been my9teacher.I was the youngest person in my class and very shy. She thought I10another year to mature before moving on to second11.She didn't make me feel12for having to repeat the grade.Instead,he made me feel13.I think I was her favorite, too.

    My senior year of high school, right before14,I wrote Dryden a note letting her know that I'd become a good student and was going to15and that she'd had a16in that.

    The Norman teachers17Wednesday are just a few of the many who are in the classrooms every day making 18in their students' lives.They may not even know the19impact（影响）they're having.I know it's not an20 job, but teachers, just remember that you're a Mrs.Dryden to somebody.

    Make the Most of What You Have Got

    For Nick Vujicic, life was going to be difficult from the day he was born. When Nick arrived into this world, he1everyone. He was not like the other babies and it was2obvious to his parents and to the doctors in the hospital.

    There was no3or answers for his condition. Nick was born without any limbs, that is, he was born without any arms or legs. But despite (尽管) being physically4, he was mentally5and the rest of his body was functioning fine.

    6he had loving parents, Nick would find school hard as he would often be looked down upon by the other children and at the age of 10, he considered 7 his life by drowning (淹死) himself in a bathtub (浴缸). These dark thoughts were8by his negative attitude to being disabled and at the time, he thought that he would never be able to do9by himself, that he would never have a job and that he would always have to10on his parents for help.

    However, with his own efforts, things totally change when he becomes an adult. Nick is now a successful public speaker and is famous for his encouraging 11 which focus on life with a disability, hope and finding meaning in life worldwide. He12so many people with the story of his life, how he has 13 so many difficulties and most importantly how he is happy every day.

    Despite having no arms or legs, Nick lives14, even finding ways to do almost something15like brushing his teeth on his own and swimming. He has to work harder than a full bodied person and he achieves his goals.

    At the first impression, you may look at Nick and feel16. You may feel sad that this man has no arms or legs and you might feel his17and upset that he could find everyday situations difficult. But we should18Nick, as he is extremely positive and he gets on with life. He19 every day and makes the best of what he has: a positive attitude, a creative mind and a powerful 20. He also has a very kind and very beautiful wife and they are truly happy and in love.

    In the town of Swedesboro, New Jersey, 5^th grade students are determined to make 2,000 paper cranes (纸鹤) by the end of the school year. Their1is to put smiles on kids' faces.

    The idea of 2 the paper cranes started when their3 Tara Milward, read them the story Sadako and the One Thousand Paper Cranes in class. Sadako was 4with leukemia (白血病) at a very young age. She5folding the paper cranes along with her family and friends6 this was a symbol of hope for Sadako to get7one day.

    The students of Harker School wanted to8 Sadako's story. They began buying paper9 paper cranes, and decided to make 2,000! They want to send the101,000 cranes to Hiroshima, Japan where Sadako lived. The next 1,000 cranes are 11 to a local hospital. Wherever a paper crane is made, the students are12that something so simple can help someone 13 hope.

    They are so devoted to the14that they work on it in every minute of their15time to help them towards their big goal of 2,000 paper cranes. To achieve their16 goal, all of the students are coming together and working very17 They are eager to spread the hope to their friends and families, also a18of this extraordinary project.

    The students are 19 by Sadako's story and are making their impossible dream come true. They hope to make a 20 around the globe to show that everyone can make the world a better place.

    Just before Christmas, my daughter Katie and I went over to my dad's place to decorate. While we worked on the tree, grand babies Decie and Johnny 1their great-grandfather Papa Cox. Their laughter and2arguments must have reminded Papa of the past days when my brother and I were just their 3because I saw a twinkle in his 80-year-old eyes.

    Hanging the 4decorations on Papa's tree, I couldn't help gently touching the very oldest of the glass balls. Those I made sure to5from the uppermost branches, safely out of reach of tiny hands. When the tree was beautifully dressed and glowing, we bid my dad goodbye with lots of hugs and kisses and6for home. Later that night, in the quiet darkness, I pulled my 7up close and lay down to rest and remember.

    The Christmas I turned 16, while decorating the tree with Mama, I 8dropped and broke a decoration. The old glass ball was blue and its surface began to fall9 it had been on our tree for as long as I could remember.10 I bent to pick up the broken pieces and was surprised to find a tiny sheet of paper among the pieces. Unfolding it, I recognized my father's penciled writing. Lifting my eyes, I saw my mother's 11expression.

    “Your daddy wrote that and12it in that blue ball during our first Christmas together, just before you were born,” she said with a smile. I wouldn't have believed it13the proof there in my hands. The daddy I knew always looked upon getting the tree decorated as a chore he wanted 14part in. In fact, sometimes he could be a bit of a lazy and mean man around the holidays! And yet this bit of15paper proved that long ago my daddy had done something apparently romantic at Christmas.

    Carefully laying the note aside, I cleaned up the broken pieces, wishing I could somehow16the pieces. “ It's OK , ” Mama said , encouraging me with a hug. “Just pick out another of the17ones and folded the note back inside.”

    18 as we celebrate the holidays without Mama, who we lost to cancer, my19becomes more bitter. Each year as I decorate Papa's tree, I relive the moment I shared with her that winter afternoon and tears of a sadness welled out.

    As I carefully handle those old decorations, I love knowing that one holds a 20between Papa and Mama—one that was obvious to all who knew them. The note inside one of those old glass balls on Papa's tree holds the heart of my parents' marriage in three little words: “I love you.”

    In the 1950s, I was an only child of a single mother, living in a modest cottage in New Zealand. There was no TV and very little1to spend on entertainment.2we had our books and enjoyed3better than reading aloud to each other. My mother read me The Faraway Tree Stories, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island and poetry as well.4I turned seven, I was able to take my 5at the reading role, and we spent many pleasant evenings laughing over6characters.

    In 1964, I was 18 and moved to Auckland, but we still phoned each other and talked about books. Years later, Mum's eyesight began to7. She found it8difficult to read the small print of her beloved books. She enjoyed looking at magazines but missed9up with the latest books by her favourite10.

    Later, I became a Special Needs library assistant and my11was to select books for12impaired（损伤的）people. In time, I introduced my mother to large-print novels and audio-books, which gave her a great deal of13as her eyesight grew more dim(模糊的).

    In her 70s, Mum's choice of reading seemed to14to mainly murder mystery stories. I was15to see that, so I bought her a more “worthy” audio-book. The next day, I asked, “How are you getting on with that latest book?” “Oh, not so well,” she replied16. I didn't try to “improve” my mother's literary17after that.

    A few years ago Mum18away. There are still so many thing I'd like to tell her. I'd like to19her for her early guidance in the20world of books. And I'm happy to say that I'm also into audio-books now.

    The day we brought Julie home I knew that we were in quite a ride. She was more than just a 1. Though the smallest one in the house, she didn't let that 2her from trying to show off. It made me 3that she would walk up to the bowl of dog food and bark away a dog ten times her 4. She never once begged, but she wasn't afraid to ask for 5either. Too many times I found my toes being tickled(使发痒) by her tongue until I 6moved her up to my lap.

    Julie didn't mind being petted but wouldn't 7being carried around like a doll. The kids soon learned just how to 8her: with both love and respect. Julie loved a good dog treat and a 9touch. When it came to haircuts and baths, however, she wasn't afraid to show her 10about them with a gentle growl(怒吼声).

    Julie lived on and on while some of my younger dogs had 11over the years, but her 12slowly got worse and worse. She lost weight and had trouble 13. She became both blind and deaf and we had to 14her carefully when we were walking her. Sometimes she slept so 15that I was afraid that she had finally passed away. Yet, she always 16her head when I gently touched her old body. That was until last night.

    I buried Julie in the woods behind my home with 17eyes and hurting heart. I asked myself why I had taken so many dogs into my 18over the years when the 19of losing them was so great. As I was walking home remembering Julie, I came to 20the answer: the love was always far greater than the pain.