Scott Woodhouse

The Great Trumpet Player
1st Marking Period
Leo was walking down the street in New Orleans on Christmas Eve. He heard a cornet player who was playing amazingly well with high notes. Leo savored the sound. Sadly, he wasn't old enough to go into the bar because he was only 12. Leo dreamed of being able to play the cornet and other musical apparatus. Then, the cornet player saw Leo looking through the glass at his cornet. The musician came out to greet Leo and said, "My boy, you can have this 'ol cornet and I'll throw in lessons, too!" Leo's grin was the only evidence the musician needed. Leo was like a kid on Christmas morning.

Leo could hardly believe the musician gave him his cornet. Leo ran home as fast as he could to see his father and mother and share his news about the gift of the cornet. Leo's parents were thrilled for him. They celebrated by having pancakes and french toast for dinner that night. The next morning, Leo got up very early and rushed to see the musician for his cornet lesson. Today, the musician was playing "At Last" by Etta James. To Leo's ear, the sound was as beautiful as a sunrise on a mountaintop. Leo was blown away. He also saw his friend, Jason, the second nicest person he knew. They boys smiled and first pumped each other. Then, they saw another girl named Kelly come in, too. Kelly played guitar. Jason played percussion and Leo played the cornet. The trio played in unison and became fast friends.

When Jason was getting ready to leave, he said to Leo and Kelly, "Why don't you guys come to my house?" Leo and Kelly said, "Sure!" They played Super Smash Bros and decided to have a sleepover at Jason's. The friends bonded over music and became known as the Three Musketeers. As they got older, the three young musicians played gigs around New Orleans. They became quite famous earning millions for their music. One Christmas Eve, they headed off to Radio City Music Hall, an immense theatre, in New York City. The three musicians competed against many other talented musicians. But, Leo and his friends were unstoppable. Later that night, Leo walked the City alone with a resilient bounce in his step. He literally bumped into Allen Vizzutti. Leo said, "Mr. Vizzutti, you're the best trumpet player in the world! I'm Leo from New Orleans." Vizzutti had heard Leo play that night at Radio City. The two mutual admirers shook hands.

Later that same night, Leo and Vizzutti shared dinner together. Over dessert, Allen said to him,"I'm going to tell you my secret." He whispered to Leo.
"That's why you are so amazing" Leo gasped and said,"Thank you so much, Mr. Vizzutti!" Vizzutti replied, "Only pass it along when you come across someone as relentless as you are wanting to be the best". Leo worked hard every day to become a better musician. Before long, Leo's name became mentioned along with men like Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, and, yes, Allen Vizzutti, too. A tear of happiness slid down Leo's cheek as he realized his dream had come true because of a kind cornet player in New Orleans one Christmas Eve, Louis Armstrong.

My Haiku

Wasn't long until Leo taught,
Eastman, a long way from New Orleans,
A future bright with promise,
To be the very best,
Confidence, energy, luck, resilience and time,
Pass along the secret soon.

The End

First Story - Beware of Moving Packages Under the Christmas Tree

On Christmas morning, the coffee was brewing by 7 a.m. A small black package with a purple bow under the Christmas tree was moving ever so slightly. Erin hoped it was a new puppy. She was feeling melancholy because her dog, Bayard, needed a four-legged playmate. She waited for her parents and sister, Anna, to settle in to open the beautifully wrapped presents. The black package had Erin's name on it. She thought it was strange that all of the other presents were wrapped in cheerful, holiday wrapping.

Anna opened her gifts first and then it was Erin's turn. She opened all of her gifts and had only the small black package left. Everyone's eyes riveted on the last package. Erin carefully untied the bow. Erin asked, "Did you see the box move?" She thought she had felt something move inside. She opened the box and out peered a doll with black hair and green eyes wearing dark clothes. Erin's parents went into the kitchen and then the doll came to life. The doll said, "Hi, Erin, I am your worst nightmare!"

Erin and Anna screamed at the top of their lungs. They ran to Anna's room slamming the door behind them as they locked it in fear. Erin's parents came running and her Dad shouted,"Open the door now!" Erin opened the door and they all rushed in, even Bayard. They all hugged and Bayard licked them. Then, her Dad turned and saw the doll coming up the steps with a knife in its hand. Bayard sprung into action and bit the doll's head off. The doll wriggled as blood seeped from her neck. The doll was dead. They put the doll in the trash.

Erin never wanted to play with dolls again and decided to be a better playmate for her dog. So, be warned of packages that move under your Christmas tree!

Second Story- The Adventures of Tarzan, the Orange Tabby #REAL

Tarzan came to Live with us about four years ago. It was warm spring day and the sun was shining brightly. My Dad had driven our family to an old boat yard in southern New Jersey to look at a 1989 Cobalt speedboat. Cobalts are rare in Pennsylvania, but my Dad knew of them from where he grew up in New York State. My Dad was thinking of buying the cool yellow boat.

While my Dad was going over the boat with the owner, my Mom and I walked around the old boatyard which looked more like a junkyard than a boat yard. We came upon a young boy who was using a trap to capture young kittens since the kitten's' mother had been hit by a car a few weeks before. I asked the boy, "Did you catch any?" He said, "Yeah, I have a little orange one in the trap right now but his paw is hurt and he's covered in fleas and ticks." The boy said he had taken some kittens to the S.P.C.A. earlier that weekend, but that his Dad was away and his grandfather probably wouldn't take him there to give them the kitten. My Mom asked, "Can we take the kitten?" and the boy said, "Yes, that would help me a lot." So, the boy put the kitten in a box for the ride home. My Dad bought the boat a few weeks later, but joked that the kitten would probably end up costing us more than the boat.

On the way home, I decided to name the kitten Tarzan because he had been living on his own in the wild without his mother for about a fortnight. He had to scavenge for food to eat. Little did I know what a perfect name Tarzan would be for the little fluff of orange fur. The kitten did not make a sound the entire car ride home so my parents were worried the kitten had died. He was so small that his whole body fit in her hand. She had to bathe him in a bowl with baby shampoo and put medicine on his paw. Before long, Tarzan grew from two pounds to ten pounds in six months. When he found his voice, his meow came out like a high-pitched scream. He jumped on everything he possibly could. My Mom was always yelling, "Tarzan, no!" or "Tarzan, get down!" I just laughed at my Mom and my cat.

One day, Tarzan decided to jump from his cat climber onto the ceiling fan that was running on low speed. My Mom and I were in shock as we watched the cat grab a fan blade with his two front paws and then go ricocheting into the wall before landing on the couch. He shook his head and looked up at the fan trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Another time, I walked onto the second floor landing and startled Tarzan as he jumped off the 24-foot balcony to the floor below. He landed on his feet and looked up again wondering what had just happened. His latest antics include meowing when my alarm goes off in the morning in case I try to go back to sleep. He is also trying to figure out how to get the fish out of the their 55-gallon tank.

Tarzan has definitely lived up to his name and is very decisive about getting into as much trouble as he can. I look forward to more of his adventures.

My Haiku

Tarzan, King of Highpoint Drive,
Known for surviving alone despite the odds,
Loves to jump and swing,
Always up for new adventures,
Talks and screams day and night,
Coolest cat that ever lived.

The End

Third Marking Period - My Alien Adventure

Have you ever thought about someone and the person calls you, or thought about something and then it happens? I think my mind can sometimes foreshadow things that happen to me. When I was 10 years old in the summer of 2014, I was starting to fall asleep one night and thought about my friend, Sam, who was born down in the south. Sam has a different dialect than most of the kids I know. The next day, Sam called me and asked me in his slow way of speaking, "Hey, Scott, want to sleep out in my treehouse tonight? It's supposed to be a full moon and we might see a spaceship!" I told Sam to definitely count me in but added that I had to check with my parents first. I called my Mom's cell to ask her permission and she said, "Sounds fun, but aren't we supposed to have some rain tonight?". I reminded her that we could always go into Sam's house if the weather turned bad.

I was excited about sleeping under the stars in a big old oak tree. Sleeping under the stars where we live outside the city is like feeling like being an ant under the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree. Sam's Dad had built a cool treehouse complete with a skylight, bunk beds, and a telescope in 2012 for Sam's older brother, Tom. Tom gave the treehouse to Sam when he outgrew it. Sam and I used it every chance we got. We were obsessed with it.

On my way over to Sam's around 7 p.m., it started to drizzle. Sam and I grabbed our stuff and climbed the ladder to the treehouse. We played some games and ate some snacks and used the telescope to look for aliens. Before long, we fell asleep listening to the rain on the roof of the treehouse. I woke up a few hours later to see this bright light shining through the skylight. I screamed, "Sam, wake up! Something's out there!" I looked up on the top bunk, but Sam was gone! I was alone. The shades in the treehouse windows billowed in the wind. The noise was making me more scared by the minute.

All of a sudden, the door to the treehouse flung open with a resounding "bang"! I screamed again when I saw the shadow of a large man standing in the doorway. Sam's Dad yelled, "Scott, you need to wake up and come down now before you or this old tree gets hit by lightening!" Down below, I heard Sam yelling, "C'mon you guys! The storm is getting worse!" I snapped out of my daze and followed Sam's Dad down the ladder. The three of us ran to their basement where the rest of Sam's family was waiting for us. My dream seemed so real that I thought aliens were coming to get Sam and me! Boy, do I have an overactive imagination!

**Marking Period 4 starts here (7th grade and up is not true for basketball)**
The Story of Scott Woodhouse Jr. or known as "Woody Jr." the Basketball Player (SOME OF IT'S TRUE)
Now let me tell you something that Basketball when I was younger was very hard to score for me. But I never gave up and I am a Professional Basketball player now. I am going tell you how I became who I am today.
Chapter 1
I started playing basketball at age 5 and also played soccer at that time. One day after a soccer game, I said, " Mom, I want to quit soccer"! She said, "why do you want to quit soccer"? I said, "It's so much running and I never get the ball"! So she let me quit soccer and I just played Basketball. When I got into First grade, I joined Cub Scouts and I had a lot fun at that time and progressed quickly to a Boy Scout.Back to Basketball anyway so I played the YMCA League for Basketball for 3 years. After the YMCA league, I joined the URA league in third grade to join and get better and I had a good team and coach. On the team I had Mike Romello, Sahil Banjee, Ryan Knightly, James Keating, Cooper Ankney and me. We lost our first two games but crushed other teams for twelve more teams before the season was over. Our Coach was nice, amazing and taught me a lot that I still use today. I only scored 1 shot every three games but that was fine with me for now. In fourth grade I basically went to a team that was pretty much a two man team and the coach was not that nice and very hard on you. We did amazing went to the playoffs and lost in the final four because of the two man team pretty much. I did make more shots than before so it was a great season. In fifth grade, my dad was an assistant coach and our team SUCKED!!! We lost every game besides two victories against the same team in overtime. I did score some shots but in the playoffs we got matched up with pretty much the best team in league and lost 6-28. I got a three pointer but got annihilated by that team. When I got the three it went straight in and could not even here the sound of the shot.
Chapter 2 Middle School Basketball
In sixth grade my grades were not that good, I made Jazz band, my Dad broke his ribs, and I played URA again for Basketball. I had on that team, Carter Parise, Connor Brooks, Jack Casten, Nick Farrell, Jack Rizzy, Zach Dakota and me. We were pretty good when we had Nick and Zach together but Nick was not at the games because of lacrosse. We defeated Cooper Ash and his team (later the second place team). We lost in the playoffs though. The next year I played for the Patton Hawks middle school Basketball team and URA. In URA we had Adam Luo, Mike Romello, Sahil Banerjee, Jack Casten, Connor Brooks and me. We lost two games in the regular season but went to the playoffs and went to the final four and played Zander Manago, my friend. We had a hard fought game, Zander scored a lay-up in the last ten seconds to bring a two point lead for them. With five seconds left Mike Romello passed the ball into the court to me. I did the double cross and then went to the three line. Zander came up and tried to block my shot but, I faked the shot. Then I shot the three with 2.5 seconds left and I swooshed it with 0.1 seconds left. BUZZER BEADER!!!!! My team carried me then I got down to say hi to Zander. He is a much better player than me but then, he said, "Nice shot. Just pure luck though". You better win the against Carter Parise because he is better than me". He said see you tommorow at 7 Pm. We went to the URA championship and faced Cooper Ash's team. We were getting destroyed in the first half, 10-39. In the third quarter we changed our defense in zone and they stopped scoring. Then we scored layups and threes and now it was 33-42. In the fourth, Carter Parise scored one three and now it was 39-45. In the lat two minutes it was 44-45 and we were losing. I brought the ball up with 30 seconds to score and I did a double crossover dribble like Stephen Curry and I was at the three with 5.1 seconds left. I faked a pass then faked the shot and Parise jumped up. With 2.1 seconds left I shot it and it was a buzzer beader. And then people carried me and shouted, WOODY WOODY WOODY. I got the game ball and we lined up to shake hands. I was last and so was Parise. We shook hands and he said "I knew you could do it". At school people started calling me Woody the Baller. But I still had more ball to play, so I tried out for the Patton Middle School Basketball team. The coach heard about me from the championship game. He said, "Your great but you need to drive a little better by working out." I said " I do workout once a week at the YMCA". He said to me "You made it on the team and your a starter player but, threes will not do it every time for anyone even you". Next day when I went to school, Coach came to talk to me about basketball. He pulled me out of class during a test, and he took me to the boys gym and had balls and passed me one to learn how to drive. He started me by doing 45 push ups and I finished 3 minutes later. Then he made me start over with dribbling but he said "you can keep your moves but you must learn controlled dribbling". So I dribbled for two hours straight and was a master by then. He said now you must be more aggressive and to push youropponents and put up a layup. He covered me and I kept trying for two more hours until I got it. I scored 20 points per game and we were a undefeated team with a record of 16-0. In eighth grade we won both basketball championships for URA and Middle School but something happened to me. Where was coach? But then Zander said to me "Coach died because of a heart attack". I was so sad and started moaning because I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for him. And the saddest thing was I never said to him thank you so much for helping me.

Chapter 3 High School Basketball