Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new _______ in high school.

_________, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts for cheerleaders. She was competing against very smart girls, and she knew it would be _________ for her to be selected. Two hours later, the judge read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart _________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling unhappy, she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was struggling. She moved on to English and history, and was _________ to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to _________ the math for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school _________. Mrs. Biden wasn’t as warm-hearted as Jenna. “I’m sorry, but we have enough _________ for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we’ll talk then.” Jenna smiled _________ and left. “Why is high school so __________?” She sighed.

Later in __________ class, Jenna spent more time figuring out the problems that had given her so much __________. By the end of the class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to fit in at her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to __________. High school was just as her mother had said, “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond __________ a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the __________ fish you can be.”

Miss Swan couldn’t take being a Sunday school teacher any longer. Not for another Sunday. Some _______ teenagers chewed gum during prayer time and read magazines during Bible study. “I have had it with you. I _______.” she screamed at the students. “Cool,” Rick said nodding in _______. He was the rudest kid she’d ever met.

It took two months to find a new _______ for that Sunday school class. The pastor (牧师) _______.

Miss Betty Ray in to meet the angelic but naughty group. New in town, she hadn’t heard of their reputation for _______ teachers. By the look of her pink dress, one size too small, and her bad hair style, the students _______ felt they had an easy mark. Soon bets were taken as to how long Miss Betty would _______.

Betty introduced herself, _______ that she recently came from the South. She certainly looked like a southern belle who wore outdated clothes. Laughter and whispers __________ in the room as she searched through the huge old-fashioned shoulder bag.

Pulling up a long tube, she __________ a map of the world and pointed at her hometown. “What else do you have in there? Lunch?” Someone joked. Betty smiled __________ and answered, “Snacks for later.” “Cool!” Rick seated in his chair was impressed by this teacher. Betty __________ again in her bag, this time pulling out __________ old pictures along with a tin of __________. They passed the three wrinkled pictures around, viewing each with great interest __________ they bit into the dessert.

Sunday after Sunday, Betty came to class, __________ her lessons to their everyday lives. She told the teens __________ they could make a difference right now.

Betty taught that Sunday school class for twenty years. At last, the town even regarded her as a (an) __________ parent since she taught two generations of children. Every year she received letters from students who are doctors, scientists, businessmen and many teachers __________ them.

Growing up in a military family, I moved a lot. I _______ went to school with other kids whose parents were also in the military. But when my dad _______ from the army after twenty years of service, I found myself attending a civilian school with twelve-year-olds who _______ no similar life experience with me. I was a stranger in a strange land. Everyone in my class had grown up together, and they had no room to _______ for a newcomer. I wore different clothes, had different thoughts, and spoke with an accent. I _______ for the first few weeks of school. I had no friends, no activities, and no _______ of a bright future. To deal with it, I began _______ everything in my diary—stories of adventure, of old friends, of feelings that I could not speak. I wrote as if my life depended on it, as if the very next breath I took could not happen _______ wrote down words.

One day, my teacher, Mrs. Bush, came to me and asked why I always sat there writing instead of playing with others. I told her I enjoyed writing and _______ writing to playing. She smiled at me and walked away. About three weeks later, Mrs. Bush gave us a writing assignment. I was __________ that I could now participate in something I knew I excelled in. That night I worked and worked on the essay. I wrote with great __________. It was my one chance to feel important and __________ by the class.

A few days after we handed in our assignments, Mrs. Bush called me up to the __________ of the classroom. 1 stood before thirty pairs of eyes looking at me, and I got __________. Was I in trouble? Did 1do something wrong? Then Mrs. Bush told the class how much she __________ all the work that went into the essay and everyone had done a great job. But she said, one student stood __________ as an excellent wrier, one with imagination, creativity, and word mastery. That student was me! The class clapped politely and Mrs. Bush handed me my paper, with the following __________ on it: “Malinda, you are an excellent writer. You fill your paper with the breathing of your heart. Please keep on writing and share you __________ of writing with the world. I am proud of you and glad you are in my class.”

Mrs. Bush helped me feel a sense of __________, a place of purpose, and a way to survive a transition in life. She helped me gain __________ in myself that stayed with me beyond sixth grade.