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 tryout (选拔赛) for cheerleaders. She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be _________ for her to be selected. Two hours later, the _________ read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart _________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling _________, 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 _________. 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 _________ for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school _________. Mrs. Biden wasn’t as _________ 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 devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much _________. By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to _________ at her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to _________. High school was just as her mom 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.”

Life skills or social skills are seldom prioritized (优先考虑) in most schools. However, a _________ school teacher in Canada, Jennifer Thiessen, thinks _________ and ensures her students are well-equipped for life. According to her, _________ these skills was as important as students knowing how to multiply and divide.

Thiessen discussed her _________ with a fellow teacher, Kyla Stradling, and they came up with a plan. They gave their students a project _________ to spreading goodwill. They called it the “Kindness Project”.

Thiessen told her third-grade students in 2018, “If we could be that spark of kindness, we could _________ others to do acts of kindness.” And the students did _________. They made cupcakes at home and sold them for $1. They made about $400 and then used it to buy small _________ like flowers and dog treats. They then gave it out to _________ near the school.

After this experience, Thiessen made it an annual activity for third-graders at the school. “This project isn’t about who can __________ well academically,” she said. “This is an everybody project. It doesn’t have any __________ when it comes to ability.”

The school has carried out the Kindness Project for the last five years. Due to the project’s success, the school __________ five classes, three third-graders and second fourth-graders. This year, the 100 students were divided into many groups and __________ different tasks. On March 15, some were at coffee shops helping people buy beverages, while others waited at a local park to __________ dog treats and flowers.

Besides beginning a chain of kindness, the teacher wants to show students what they’re __________ of.

Dirk Smutzler looks for ways to make science interesting and relevant in his classroom at Dickinson’s Hagen Junior High School.

Smutzler teaches seventh grade life science. “I try to engage them in ____ whenever possible. Junior high kids like to be active,” he said. “As far as labs go, we’ll look in depth at pond water. I ____ the students in dissecting a frog.”

When the unit is about genetics (遗传学), Smutzler makes the subject ____ through an experiment about taste. Some students can taste a certain ____, while others can’t. “The ones who ____ it think it’s just unpleasant. They can’t ____ a gene controls their ability to taste a chemical like that,” he said.

The ____ for taking up teaching? “I’ve always enjoyed interacting with kids when I coached Little League baseball while in high school and some parents approached me and said I should be a(n) ____. Although I’d never thought about it before, that ___my interest in teaching. But I didn’t give it full consideration until later in college,” Smutzler said.

Smutzler is ____ reviewing the district-wide science curriculum. “We’re looking at ways we can improve ____ education. That definitely is going to involve more collaboration (合作),” he said. “As we review this curriculum, we will ____ more technology in the labs.”

Smutzler also advises Hagen’s science club. He said, “It’s a(n) ____ for an extracurricular activity and it’s ____ to any student. It’s supplemental (补充的) to the classroom.” The club exposes (使接触) students to ____ not available in the daily classroom. Last fall, the eighth graders went on a field trip. They were ____ to go fossil hunting on private land.

Hagen Principal Perry Braunagel said, “I had the opportunity to observe him in the classroom and ____ how well he managed his classroom and ____ students to succeed. Mr. Smutzler worked hard to develop ____ learning opportunities for his students and provided them with the necessary resources to complete assignments.”

Braunagel also described Smutzler as an educator who has ____ professional development opportunities through in-service workshops and classes.