At home

My cat's worst nightmare

My cat Sox was 6 months old when he was run over by a car. He came limping home, with one paw bleeding. He was crying loudly and we came and picked him up and put him in the car.
I was scared that he was going to die, but he made it. When we got to the veterinarian, she immediately put him in a room where she stitched him. We waited for an hour, and the veterinarian came out with Sox, who had stitches on the leg that was run over. He was just fine. I was glad that he was all right.

--Yasmine Santis, Grade 3

Fire in the kitchen

One day, early in the morning, my mom and I were making hot chocolate in the kitchen. My sweatshirt was very close to the burner, but nobody noticed.
Then suddenly my big brother turned around and screamed, "Avery's sweatshirt is on fire!"
I looked down at my sweatshirt, it was on fire. My mom quickly untied my sweatshirt from my waist. Then she took it over to the sink and poured cold water on the flaming sweatshirt. The fire went out quickly. My sweatshirt was black where the fire had been, but who cares about that. At least I was OK and not burned up like my sweatshirt.
I was all right after the terrifying event. From that day on I never wear my sweatshirt around my waist when I am cooking.

--Avery Naar, Grade 3

Student gets hamsters for birthday

I got a hamster for my birthday. My birthday was December 17. My sister gave my hamster to me. Her name is Cookies.
She had eight babies: four boys and one girl. They are so cute.
I brought two of my hamster to school. My friends played with them. They are kind of big. The boys run fast. The mom gets out of her cage, but I catch her.
There is one small one. It has big eyes. I have it at home. The small one is a boy. It is brown and white. They like to play in the wheel in their cage.

--Holly Delahanty, Grade 4

Wild animals in Palo Alto

Wild animals like raccoons, opossums and skunks are raiding peoples' yards. This happens almost nightly. They are very destructive and a nuisance.
Raccoons are eating chickens and digging up flowers. They go through ca doors to get any kind of food. They also knock over trash cans and fight your pets. Opossums are just as bad.
Skunks do lots of damage too. They stink up your yard, they make your dog smell, and they dig holes in your garden.
Rats are annoying also. They get into your garage and poop all over. These animals are the most dreadful in the world to me.

--Nick Rouse

My grandfather

I have the nicest grandfather. My grandfather has a big garden, a beautiful one too. It has lots of colorful flowers in it. Bees are hurrying around the garden. He grows potatoes too.
One day I was in the garden picking flowers and I saw a sunflower, but there was only one flower. I went and asked him if I could pick it . He said, "Yes!" He's the nicest grandfather in the world!

--Elsa Hagersten, Grade 3

Things I like

The things I like to do are playing with my dog, because he likes it and I think it's fun.
I also like ice skating because it's very challenging and fun, but my favorite sport is swimming.
It is very much fun and I think I am good at it too, because I have been on the swim team for about five years. Like I said, it's fun.

--Kate Hendrickson, Grade 3

Many parents would like to change jobs

It is interesting how many people have one job, but would prefer another. I interviewed 10 Nixon parents on what their jobs are, and what jobs they would like to have if they could have any jobs at all.
I was surprised that none of the 10 people had the same job. Seven out of 10 people wanted a slightly or completely different job than the one they have. Only three out of 10 wanted their current job.
These are the people who wanted different jobs: Sue, Ariel's mom, is a scientific consultant and a scientific editor, but is aspiring to be a writer. Trevor, Sammy's dad, is a professor of statistics, but would like to be a movie star. Lynda, Sammy's mom, is a homemaker, but if she had a job outside the home, she would be an explorer. Jim, Jonathan's dad, is an engineer, but would like to be a senior engineer, a similar, but higher position. Jonathan's mom, Chona, is an accountant for Spieker Properties, but would rather be a volunteer at Nixon Elementary School. Jeff's dad, Andy, is an electronics' technician; he would prefer to be a park ranger. Jeff's mom, Romy, works in insurance claims, but wants to be an artist.
Many of the jobs that people prefer are more creative or adventurous than the ones they currently have.
The three people who are happy with their current jobs all work at Stanford: Ariel's dad, Patrick, is a molecular biologist; Jason S.'s mom, Laura, is an historian; and Jason's dad, Bruce, is a doctor.
The results of this survey make me wonder how the people who would prefer different jobs went about choosing their current jobs, and if they had their dream jobs, whether they would wish they had the jobs they have now.

--Ariel Klapholz-Brown, Grade 4

Mothers quit work to spend more time with kids

I interviewed two mothers who used to have jobs, but don't work outside the home anymore. I asked them what their job was, why they quit and what degrees they had.
Sue first decided to only work four days a week because she was unhappy with her full-time job as a scientist in a biotechnology company and she wanted to spend more time with her three children.
Then she discovered how great it was to be around her kids more of the time, and also she realized how important it was to her kids for her to be with them. So she quit her job, and started to work just part-time, mainly when her kids were in school.
She was 40 when she stopped her full-time job. She had a B.S. in Biology, a Ph.D. in Genetics and an M.D.
Cindi also quit her job because she wanted to be with her children. She was an advertising copywriter, and wrote ads for television, radio, newspapers and magazines.
She was 32 when she quit working. She had a B.A. in English and did graduate work in public communications. She said she likes her new job, as the mother of two boys, better than her old one.

--Ariel Klapholz-Brown, Grade 4

Student has lived in two states

My name is Becky Staiger. I was born in the Stanford Hospital, and I lived in California for five years, and then when I turned six, my family and I moved to Madison, Wisconsin.
It was a hard move, and when I got to my new house in Madison, I felt like crying because I missed my Californian friends so much. But a few hours later, a 12-year-old girl from across the street came by and brought us a cake. I was out at the time, but my mother told me how the cake had gotten into our house.
I then learned that the girl's name was Carolyn Corry, and her mother's name was Sally, which is the same as my mother's name. Carolyn soon became my friend, although she was much older than me. Then she was my babysitter too, but only on some nights when my parents were out because she had school in the day.
It was very hard to get used to the different expressions used there. For instance, "bubbler" there would mean "water fountain" here. "Budge" there would mean "cut" here. But the most difficult thing to get used to was the street I lived on. In California, I lived on a flat street that had a child in about every house and that was a dead end so that cars hardly ever came down the street, and we could run across the street to each other's houses whenever we pleased. In Madison, the street was on a hill and a lot of cars drove on it a lot, and there were hardly any kids on it.
There was a boy my age, and there was a girl my age named Nikki Lindroth, who turned out to be one of my best friends. Our birthdays were six days apart, and hers was first. Her birthday was July 8, 1987, and mine was July 14, 1987.
So you can see what the differences were. But after a while I made some friends. And then I wasn't so lonely anymore. But now I'm back here for a year, and I have made a new friend.

--Becky Staiger, Grade 4

Students born in many places

As you all know, people are born in many places. I interviewed all the children in A-2 at Nixon School.
Some people, such as Sharon, were born as far away as Oxford, England. She remembers that Oxford was bigger than Palo Alto, but not as many people. She remembers markets that she used to go to. She also remembers houses on the street that she used to live in. Sharon also remembers best friends.
I also interviewed a boy named Jason Smoller who was born in Boston, but sadly, he does not remember anything. I interviewed the teacher, Mrs. Rumwell. She was born in Jacksonville, Fla. She enjoyed deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, but it was very hot and humid. What she loved the most was watching alligators in rivers next to her house.
Our aide, Christine, was born in South Gate, California, but she does not remember anything. What surprised me the most was most children were born right here in Stanford.

--Hansen Perkins, Grade 4

Parent profile Bob Staiger

The following article is all about my dad, Bob, and what he has learned about Stanford University.
Bob Staiger, 39, is a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences. He is an economist and he is doing research of the International Trade Agreements. The Center for Advances Studies in the Behavioral Sciences is in Leland Stanford Jr. University.
Bob likes Stanford very much. He likes the weather, he likes lots of time to do research, and he likes the colleagues at Stanford.
His favorite place is Green Library. His utmost favorite place is the C-permit parking place because it is so far away from anything you'd ever want to go to.
The person who founded Stanford was Leland Stanford, but Leland named Stanford after his son Leland Stanford, Jr. When Leland Stanford was traveling once, he got very sick and died. When Mrs. Stanford died, she left the rest of the Stanford family money to Stanford University and in her will she stipulated that all Stanford buildings built with Stanford family money must have red tile roofs. it is said that he did this so that she could spot the Stanford campus from heaven by the red roofs. Today, Stanford is a leading university in a wide range of disciplines. It also supports campuses in many countries throughout the world.

--Becky Staiger, Grade 4