Nicole Pennocj Grade 4/5 class at Mile 108 Elementary School got into the Christmas spirit this year by writing Christmas stories. These stories are a mix of truth and fiction. Merry Christmas!
The Christmas Before the Other
by Archer Hermiston (Grade 5)
One one cold Christmas Eve, I lay in bed unable to fall asleep knowing that when I woke up there would be presents under my tree. Suddenly, I heard rustling downstairs. But something I didn’t know, is that there would be two Holly Jolly Spirits that night.
I rushed to the bottom of the stairs and peeked into the kitchen and saw a Peppermint Ringmaster looking down at the mess he had made. Then he looked back at me and said “AH HA!” Then he grabbed my arm and took me to my old house back in Burnaby. That made me very dizzy.
“This is what your first Christmas looked like!” He said. I watched as I took teddy from my sister and watched my dad slip on the icy sidewalk.
“Had enough?” He asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Ok!” He said.
Then he took me to my present house and showed me last Christmas. I tore open the presents. “The Iron Man helmet!” I said as I opened the next one and the next. Then I played outside. “Moving on!” The ringmaster said. “Now, the future!”
I saw myself with my wife and kids. My kids smiling and playing with their new toys while me and my wife drank hot cocoa.
Then I woke up. I rushed down the stairs with my sister and ripped open our presents. Then I noticed there was a note.
“The past, present and future all matter. All affect who we become.”
A Cold Winter Morning by Aspen (Grade 4)
One beautiful winter morning I woke up to a cold breeze rushing up my spine. Then my whole family gathered at the stairs and we ran up them to see what was at the tree.
Me and my sister were so full from eating snowman pancakes. Then we rushed to open presents. My sister was about to open a present so I said we had to open our stockings. There was a floating owl and it suddenly disappeared out of nowhere and other stuff like that.
Then it was really dark outside so we drove to Poppi and Omas to eat dinner and open more presents. We rode on a sleigh and then I turned into a frog and floated back home while snow was on my face.
When I came home I wished that I could turn back into a human and the next day I didn’t turn back.
Christmas Traditions by Ava (Grade 5)
Once upon a time, there was a family of five. Me, my sister, my Dad, my mom and good old Grandma. We have Christmas differently every year. This is how last year’s Christmas Eve went.
First, I woke up very excited. My sister Chloe woke up Mom. My dad was at work so we couldn’t wake him up. Guess what? My mom said five more minutes like I could justify 30 seconds but five minutes? Like, no, just no, no, no!
The moral of the story was we played in the snow for the rest of the day. Anyway, this is how we do Christmas Eve now so let’s get into this.
We start the day with milk and cookies like Santa, then we play in the snow, come in for hot chocolate and watch movies. Later make Santa his cookies and then it’s time for bed.
Now how do I think in the future Christmas Eve will go? I do not think I will have kids, I mean come on people! I’m 10 and still eating cookies for breakfast! Basically, it will be a mix of the past and now!
My Christmas by Beau Crompton (Grade 5)
One Christmas I woke up my family and we had breakfast. We had pancakes with syrup, peanut butter and jam. After that, we sat on this couch and then we opened our presents.
The presents were big, medium and small. I got a PS4, a dump truck RC and a colour kit. The next day we went to my Yaya and Grandpa’s house.
Santa gave me a crayon melter and an R.C. My Dad got some tools and a coat. My Dad and I went outside to build a snowman. It was lots of fun and then we had a snowball fighter. After that my Mom made us hot chocolate while my Yaya made dinner.
My December by Bentley Lipsett (Grade 4)
We used to have a real Christmas tree and we would take an entire day to find the perfect tree. My Dad would also cut down two smaller trees for my brother, Jackson, and me for our rooms. Now, on the first day of December, my family and I open our Christmas Tree advent calendar and we get hot cocoa, chocolate or some other sweet.
Then we decorate our fake Christmas tree and I put on a Christmas sweater and Santa hat.
On Christmas Eve we burn our Christmas wish list so Santa can read the smoke. Also, we leave out gingerbread cookies, carrots for the reindeer and eggnog. On Dec. 26, we visit our grandparents.
Afterward, we go outside and sled or have a large-scale snow fight. Then we come inside and have a feast of turkey and drink hot cocoa while eating gingerbread.
In the future, I might not be able to go to my grandparents’ house anymore or not be able to find glass ornaments. It would make me sad to find any more glass ornaments because it’s a tradition to have glass ornaments on the Christmas tree.
Merry Christmas by Landyn McCallum
(Grade 5)
For Christmas me and my sisters always wake up and rush to the living room but we had to wait for my Mom and Dad. But that was in the past.
Now we do the same things but Mom and Dad wake up earlier so we don’t have to wait so long.
The future should like this. I will have one kid, his name will be Jeffrey. He will wake me up at 7 a.m. in the morning. He will be like “Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”
I’ll be like “What do you want?”
He’ll be like “It’s Christmas!”
Hopefully, that will be my future.
Frank’s Christmas by Emma Rusaw (Grade 4)
I am a penguin. I live in a snowbank.
When I was a child me and my parents would go fishing. This Christmas me and my girlfriend are going to surprise her family with a Christmas Dinner!
In the future, I hope one day we have chicks so then we can have our very own Christmas with our little family. Merry Christmas! The End!
Christmas Eve by Nadiya Squires (Grade 4)
Once on Christmas Eve I was sitting next to the flaming fire, thinking about Christmas Day and what toys I would get. Then my mom said “Nadiya what do you want for Christmas?”
I said I want a warm blanket for Christmas. Then my mom said “What about all the toys you could get?”
I said “Yes Mom, I want a warm blanket!”
My mom said “Ok make a list.” I hopped and made a list. The top thing on my list was the blanket, then I gave it to her. My family and I decorated the tree then we put out some cookies, milk and carrots out for Santa.
Then I put on my cozy PJs and hopped into my cozy bed and waited for Santa. I passed out and when I woke up my stocking wall filled up with favourite toys and candy. I played with all my toys and showed my mom what I got. Then we all went down stairs.
The big shiny tree was filled with presents all wrapped up in green, white and red stripes. I got so many toys and my sister got so much makeup. My other sister got so much clothes and my other sister got so much shincare. My mom got some oils. My dad got 52 pairs of socks.
Then we were all done opening presents and my Dad made us breakfast. He made eggs, ham and toast in a hole. My favourite moment was after breakfast when me and my sisters played with all of our new stuff. My Mom tried all of her new oils and my Dad tried on his 52 pairs of socks while sister tried on her new clothes. My other sister tried out all of her skincare.
Then we watched our favourite movie to watch on Christmas Day. After we had some dunner. Then we all got ready for bed. I got into my cozy PJs and went to sleep. The End. Merry Christmas!
Santa’s Workshop by Olivia Vinje (Grade 4)
I was so excited when I first came to work for Santa. We were making toys out of wood. I used pine. My job was making ducks. I used red, green and yellow paint. They looked so good after I was done.
Now we are using a bunch of stuff like metal, wood and plastic. My job is making R.C. cars for kids. The R.C. cars are so fast! I feel the wind against my face.
In the future, I think I will only be using metal to make you robots for kids to play with robots. They are small and they can talk to the kids so they have a buddy. When they are lonely I am lonely when I work by myself but I work by myself all the time.
Last Christmas by Parker MacKay (Grade 5)
In the morning of last Christmas I woke up. I saw presents under the tree that we decorated last night. An hour later my family woke up then we ate breakfast and right after we opened our gifts.
My baby brother got a penguin. Me and Nixon got a TV, my mom got a coffee mug and my dad got a chocolate orange. Three hours later we ate eggs for lunch. After me and Nixon were watching our brand new T.V. for five hours. Later me and my family were about to eat dinner of sausage, bacon and pancakes. It was really good.
After dinner me and Nixon were playing video games. After a while, I had to go to bed.
Christmas by TJ McFarlen
My Christmas in the past has I wake up and then if my parents are still sleeping I wake them up and they go have their coffee. After we open our presents we go to my aunt and uncle’s house. When we are there they also give me, my brother and my sister more presents.
Then in the future, when I have kids, we would probably do the same thing and bake delicious chocolate cookies with my brother and sister. We also do lots of gingerbread houses so I’m hoping to do that in the future with my brother, sister, mom and my dad.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.
The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.
There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.
Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.
“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”
Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.
“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.
But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.
Copenhagen, 22.10.2024 – COBOD International, the global leader in 3D construction printing technology, proudly introduces the BOD3 3D Construction Printer for 3D printing of real concrete. Equipped with an extendable ground-based track system, the BOD3 advances the construction process by eliminating printer downtime between multiple buildings on the same site, setting anew benchmark for productivity and efficiency. The BOD3 is the most advanced solution for high-volume low-rise construction and a very effective alternative to conventional construction methods.
The heart and key feature of the new BOD3 3D printer is the advanced extendable ground-based track system. This system enables limitless extension along the Y-axes (length), expanding the printable area to cover 2 or 3 buildings, and reducing setup time to a single installation for multi-building projects. It’s a game-changer, allowing continuous, uninterrupted printing across large sites, increasing efficiency for high volume and mass production at an unmatchable scale.
Render of COBOD BOD3 3D Construction Printer.
The BOD3, COBOD’s third printer model, is the outstanding achievement of years of dedicated research, development, and close collaboration with customers. It is a vital advancement in automated construction technology, directly addressing the urgent global demand for faster, smarter, more efficient and sustainable building solutions. Like every COBOD 3D printer, the BOD3’s modular design offers customization, allowing it to easily adapt to any customer’s size wishes in addition to complying with the various sizes of construction sites anywhere in the world.
The BOD3 follows COBOD’s vision to build smarter through automation. Its operational stand combines the control and monitoring of both the 3D printer and supplementary equipment in one user-friendly system. The Advanced Hose Management System (AHMS) transports 3D printable material from the materials delivery system to the printhead via hoses secured within E-chains, minimizing physical labor and optimizing material flow. With the addition of the dual dosing system for additives, operators can better control the concrete and adapt it to onsite environmental conditions. By introducing additives directly at the printhead, the system reduces drying time between layers, speeding up the overall construction process. Designed for easy operation and precision, the BOD3 can be operated by a small, trained, and certified team, reducing the costs of projects.
Incorporating the innovative Universal X-Carriage, the BOD3 is ready for future COBOD advancements and technologies, like the introduction of additional tools for the printer aimed at insulating, painting, sanding, etc. This ensures long-term versatility and performance that will keep the BOD3 at the forefront of the industry for years to come.
Universal X-Carriage with Printhead.
Already deployed to the global market, the BOD3 is currently active in Indonesia, by Modula Tiga Dimensi, Angola, by Power2Build, andBahrain, by Ab’aad 3D. The customers report faster project execution with near-zero downtime between individual buildings on the same site. The projects showcase the BOD3’s ability to speed up construction and print with real concrete, with 99% locally sourced materials and 1% of innovative D.fab, a co-developed solution by COBOD and Cemex to make concrete 3D printable.
Henrik Lund-Nielsen, Founder and General Manager of COBOD, commented on the BOD3: “The global housing crisis demands a more efficient construction solution that is faster, more efficient, and scalable. The BOD3 is our answer to this challenge. Drawing on years of research and expertise, we’ve designed the BOD3 with innovative features, making it our most cost-effective and efficient model yet for multiple low-rise buildings. Its design supports high-volume, linear production of houses, enabling mass production without compromising quality. The fact that six units have already been sold before its official launch speaks volumes about the BOD3’s market demand and the trust our customers place in our technology.”
Michael Holm, Chief Innovation Officer at COBOD, states, “The advanced ground-based track system was developed as a response to our customers’ needs to increase efficiency and productivity. Now the 3D construction printer can be easily extended, and multiple consecutive structures can be printed with minimal repositioning and zero downtime between projects, making 3D construction printing more efficient than ever before.”
The BOD3 is now available for purchase worldwide; for more information, please visit our website, www.cobod.com, or contact us at info@cobod.com.
COBOD stands as the global leader in supplying 3D printers for the construction sector, with over 80 printers distributed across North and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Driven by a mission to revolutionize construction through multifunctional robots based on 3D printing, COBOD envisions automating half of the construction processes to achieve faster, cost-effective, sustainable results with enhanced design versatility.
From residential, commercial, and public buildings, COBOD’s 3D printers have been instrumental in erecting 1- to 3-story structures across all six inhabited continents. The innovative technology also extends to fabricate large-scale data centers, wind turbine towers, tanks, and more.
Embracing an open-source material approach, COBOD collaborates with global partners, including customers, academia, and suppliers. The company, backed by prominent shareholders such as General Electric, CEMEX, Holcim, and PERI, operates from its main office in Copenhagen, Denmark, and regional competence centers in Miami, Florida, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. COBOD’s dynamic team comprises over 100 professionals from 25 diverse nationalities.
ABOUT MODULA TIGA DIMENSI
PT Modula Tiga Dimensi is a joint venture between Bakrie & Brothers (BNBR) and COBOD. BNBR focuses on offering and providing solutions for housing backlog problems currently encountered by the country.
Teaming up with COBOD International, the company is now set to adopt the latest 3D printing construction technology and is ready to offer the Indonesian market a new and better solution to housing obstructions.
ABOUT POWER2BUILD
Reshaping the construction sector and adapting it to urgent human needs.
Power2Build is a technology company for the construction industry, prepared to establish partnerships with private, public, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) so that they can make the transition to Build 4.0 through 3DCP.
We offer our clients value-added services and high-quality projects, always with a multidisciplinary approach that brings together the necessary experience to deal with complex issues.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Artificial intelligence‘s recent rise to the forefront of business has left most office workers wondering how often they should use the technology and whether a computer will eventually replace them.
Those were among the highlights of a recent study conducted by the workplace communications platform Slack. After conducting in-depth interviews with 5,000 desktop workers, Slack concluded there are five types of AI personalities in the workplace: “The Maximalist” who regularly uses AI on their jobs; “The Underground” who covertly uses AI; “The Rebel,” who abhors AI; “The Superfan” who is excited about AI but still hasn’t used it; and “The Observer” who is taking a wait-and-see approach.
Only 50% of the respondents fell under the Maximalist or Underground categories, posing a challenge for businesses that want their workers to embrace AI technology. The Associated Press recently discussed the excitement and tension surrounding AI at work with Christina Janzer, Slack’s senior vice president of research and analytics.
Q: What do you make about the wide range of perceptions about AI at work?
A: It shows people are experiencing AI in very different ways, so they have very different emotions about it. Understanding those emotions will help understand what is going to drive usage of AI. If people are feeling guilty or nervous about it, they are not going to use it. So we have to understand where people are, then point them toward learning to value this new technology.
Q: The Maximalist and The Underground both seem to be early adopters of AI at work, but what is different about their attitudes?
A: Maximalists are all in on AI. They are getting value out of it, they are excited about it, and they are actively sharing that they are using it, which is a really big driver for usage among others.
The Underground is the one that is really interesting to me because they are using it, but they are hiding it. There are different reasons for that. They are worried they are going to be seen as incompetent. They are worried that AI is going to be seen as cheating. And so with them, we have an opportunity to provide clear guidelines to help them know that AI usage is celebrated and encouraged. But right now they don’t have guidelines from their companies and they don’t feel particularly encouraged to use it.
Overall, there is more excitement about AI than not, so I think that’s great We just need to figure out how to harness that.
Q: What about the 19% of workers who fell under the Rebel description in Slack’s study?
A: Rebels tend to be women, which is really interesting. Three out of five rebels are women, which I obviously don’t like to see. Also, rebels tend to be older. At a high level, men are adopting the technology at higher rates than women.
Q: Why do you think more women than men are resisting AI?
A: Women are more likely to see AI as a threat, more likely to worry that AI is going to take over their jobs. To me, that points to women not feeling as trusted in the workplace as men do. If you feel trusted by your manager, you are more likely to experiment with AI. Women are reluctant to adopt a technology that might be seen as a replacement for them whereas men may have more confidence that isn’t going to happen because they feel more trusted.
Q: What are some of the things employers should be doing if they want their workers to embrace AI on the job?
A: We are seeing three out of five desk workers don’t even have clear guidelines with AI, because their companies just aren’t telling them anything, so that’s a huge opportunity.
Another opportunity to encourage AI usage in the open. If we can create a culture where it’s celebrated, where people can see the way people are using it, then they can know that it’s accepted and celebrated. Then they can be inspired.
The third thing is we have to create a culture of experimentation where people feel comfortable trying it out, testing it, getting comfortable with it because a lot of people just don’t know where to start. The reality is you can start small, you don’t have to completely change your job. Having AI write an email or summarize content is a great place to start so you can start to understand what this technology can do.
Q: Do you think the fears about people losing their jobs because of AI are warranted?
A: People with AI are going to replace people without AI.
