The Wonders of Ice Cream

(main words capitalized)

A Standard 5-Paragraph Academic Essay
Dessert is the most wonderful part of a meal. ( most general sentence) I have never
met anyone, from any part of the world, who did not like dessert best. ( Use of I=

more specific sentence) The best dessert is ice cream because it tastes delicious,
is liked by almost everyone, and it can link us to happy childhood memories. ( thesis

statement with 3 points named)

First, ice cream tastes better than any other food. ( 1st thesis point in general

topic sentence) What food can rival its creamy smoothness, or the delicious feeling
of this soft, cold dessert as it slips down your throat? ( specific descriptive sent.,

support) I dont know of any other food that feels as good and clean in your mouth
or of any food that comes in so many mouth-watering flavours. ( specific

description) At La Casa Gelato, for example, you can choose from over 218
flavours! (see June 20/10 Tazims Weekly) (specific example) In fact, today you
can even get ice cream with protein in it, as the soy ice creams have. ( specific

information sentence) Ice cream is really good. (concluding sentence) Who knows?
(question to reader) Ice cream may soon be a complete meal on its own! ( Link to

Body Paragraph 2)
Second, while it might not yet be a complete meal on its own, it can be served after
almost every meal for everyone likes it. (2nd thesis point in topic sentence) It can
be a common thread between strangers. (declarative, information, support)
Whether you have important out-of-town guests, or are just entertaining family
and friends, ice cream is the perfect after-meal treat. ( information) Vanilla ice
cream is at home at any important dinner. (information) Family and friends, on the
other hand, are sure to like Neapolitan, a happy mix of chocolate, vanilla and
strawberry. (description) Even fussy, hard-to-please (hyphenated adjective) are
sure to be tempted by this universal dessert! (information) Ice cream is certain to
please everyone, (concluding clause) and it can link us to happy childhood memories.
(link to Body 3)

Third, many of us have happy childhood memories linked to ice cream. ( 3rd main

thesis point in topic sentence) In my family, it was used as a reward when my

sisters and I were especially good, and it was the best part of the birthday meal.
(declarative, information, support) It was even used as a comfort when some small
thing had gone wrong. (information) One day, for example, I thought I would just
check to see if that dull, grey stove ring was as hot as my parents had always
warned me it was. (example begins) It didnt look hot. I reached up and touched it.
Ouch! Needless to say, they were right. It was burning hot! To make me feel
better, out came the ice cream. (example ends) For good things and bad, ice cream
was, and still is, the best choice. (concluding sentence)
Ice cream is a wonderfully tasty dessert food that has universal appeal and takes
us back to happy times. (restated thesis) It is the perfect ready-made dessert and
is available in so many good flavours. (information, more general) Ice cream is
delicious. (information, most general) Im hungry! Are you? (2-sentence hook to

engage the reader)

What Really Matters

Margaret L. is like any other teenage girl today: she talks on the
phone, deals with the stress of schoolwork, and has a boyfriend. Unlike
many of her peers, however, Margaret takes medication as part of her
morning routine; and the time she spends in the school bathroom is not
devoted to fixing her hair.
Margaret has spina bifida, a condition in which one or more of her
vertebrae did not form properly, leaving her spinal cordthe most vital
component of the central nervous systemunprotected. She has had
eight operations and wears braces on her legs to keep them in the
proper positions. Throughout all of these ordeals, she has retained her
outgoing personality and positive view of life.

The 14-year-old attends high school and is not in any special

classes. She is allowed extra time to get to class when she needs it. She
says, I get it [teased] a lot, but I do have a small group of friends who
are great about everything.
Margaret has had the support of her parents as well: I think that,
growing up with a disability, the best thing that I have had is supportive
parents; without them I dont know where I would be. They both have
always said that I could do something if I really wanted to.
After school on most days, Margaret works at Able-Disabled
Advocacy (A-DA), an organization that helps the disabled, alongside her
mother, Cindy. On other days she plays wheelchair basketball and tennis,
even though she is not wheelchair-bound herself. Her evenings are spent
at A-DA and doing schoolwork, such as the recent project on a genetic
medical condition for which she selected spina bifida as her topic.
Margaret met her first serious boyfriend, Juan, when they played
against each other during a wheelchair basketball tournament. We were
complete enemies on the court, she says. They met again at a Spina
Bifida Association conference. They danced together twice. Later she
realized the special connection they shared, both having a disability.
Margaret feels that, far from having limited her, her disability has
allowed her to do things she might not have been able to do otherwise.
She says that she would not have been involved in sports at all if it was
not for wheelchair sports, and she would not have some of her current
friendships or her boyfriend. Rock climbing, cycling, and downhill racing
(a kind of cycling) are some of the other activities she is able to

participate in. Margaret also volunteers in an inclusion program at a

Jewish community center, helping other kids with disabilities.
The prognosis, or outlook, for most people with spina bifida is
excellent, and Margaret is thinking about the future. I want to be a doctor
of some kind, she says, though Im not sure what kind yet.

The K to 12 curriculum: Our first step to recovery

Filipinos often reminisce about the era until the 1950s when the Philippine economy
was second only to Japan in Asia.
In the decades that followed, the Philippines watched itself being overtaken by
countries that rebuilt themselves from war, instability and poverty, as our own
continued to sink into the quagmire of disunity, destructive politics and corruption.
Correlated to the countrys economic decline is the neglect and deterioration of its
educational sector. Is it any wonder that today our country has fallen from its former
prestige to the bottom of most global rankings of progress and development?
The Department of Educations K to 12 Program is one concrete response to reverse
this steady decline and to move toward its goal of long-term educational reform and
sustainable economic growth.
The central feature of the K to 12 Program is the upgrading of the basic education
curriculum to ensure that learners acquire the relevant knowledge and skills they will
need to become productive members of society. It seeks to introduce relevant skills
development courses and special interest subjects that will suit the personality,
strengths and career direction of each learner.
With the participation of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority, the program has the capability of
offering professionally designed classes and apprenticeships in sports, the arts,
middle-level skills, entrepreneurship, and applied math and sciences.
Whereas the old system overemphasized the value of a college degree before
employment, the new program is designed to equip every learner who graduates after
senior high school (Grade 12) with the opportunity for improved employment and
entrepreneurship while ensuring that the high-school graduate has the necessary
competencies to pursue a college degree either immediately or at some later stage.
With an upgraded and better-equipped pool of human resource, industries will be able
to find better and more qualified matches in their labor requirements.

For graduates proceeding to tertiary education, the K to 12 Program puts them at par
with their international counterparts and makes them more competitive in colleges and
universities both here and abroad.
Higher education institutions will gain the flexibility to offer more enriched and
specialized courses in every degree program since a number of its general education
courses would have already been completed in high school. This greatly advances the
graduates chances of landing 21st-century careers and acquiring self-employment
skill sets.
As in any worthwhile investment, returns are reaped only after enough time and effort.
The K to 12 Program is just the beginning of what we hope to be the answer to the
Philippines comeback to the global stage, and a sustained path toward progress and
development for its people. If we want to see our country back on the right track, we
must dare take that first bold step today.

EDITORIAL - K to 12 for all

For millions of Filipinos, kindergarten and other preparatory courses before first grade used to give children
with financial means an early edge in academic achievements over their underprivileged peers. With the
enactment of Republic Act 10533, kindergarten is now free for all Filipinos and required for entry to first grade.
The next step is for authorities to ensure that poverty and other problems will not keep parents from sending
their children to kindergarten and keeping them in school. The new law also makes the mother tongue the
medium of instruction up to third grade, with English being phased in at fourth grade. This should help
discourage pupils from dropping out due to language comprehension difficulties, although the bigger reason for
leaving school is poverty.
While basic education is free and compulsory, studies show that the dropout rate remains high, starting in third
grade and increasing in high school. Even if education is free, millions of families cannot afford even the daily
transportation fare, food allowance and miscellaneous expenses for keeping a child in school. With two years
added to secondary education, many students may fail to get a high school diploma.
Under RA 10533, students will be prepared to pursue either vocational courses, which offer quick employment
opportunities, or regular college courses. The government can fine-tune the program to reduce the current
mismatch between skills and job requirements in many local industries.
A lot of time, effort and resources went into the development of the K to 12 program, now embodied in RA
10533 or the Basic Education Program law. The measure is meant to upgrade Philippine education, whose
quality has deteriorated in recent decades, and improve national competitiveness. Every effort must be made to
ensure the success of its implementation.