Short Story…

Burtis the Bully

By Margaret M Burke

EVERY child in the primary school feared Burtis. He was such a total bully that even the teachers in the classes did not want to have anything to do with him. Even though most of the teachers did not really fear him, they really preferred to have little to do with him. He was stress and a terrible distraction to most of the school.

Burtis lived with his mother alone and he had no siblings. However, his mother usually told the teachers that he was “a handfull” and that he made up for the other brothers and sisters that he did not have. He was just eight years old; heavily over-weight, and though his mother tried to send him to school tidy, very soon after he arrived at school he would start to do everything to get his school uniform dirty and have himself looking very sweaty.

This child tried to do all sorts of harm to many children in and out of the classroom. He would try to push the boys down the stairs, having them holding on for dear life. He is always pulling at the girls’ hair, tying the longer hair to the bench or elsewhere and doing all sorts of unkind things to them. Burtis would stop at nothing to cause harm to both boys and girls in the school; even those children who were younger than he. He stopped at nothing to hurt others.

Very often, the teachers or the headmistress had to call in his mother to complain about things he did to other children; sometimes his mother would cry in front of other children and teachers, while he would be obviously embarrassed. Sometimes he, too, would cry and say how sorry he was for what he had done, promising not to ever do his bullying deeds again.

However, by the next day, Burtis would again be before another teacher, with his mother being called in again. Worse of all, the parents of many of the children would visit the school to voice their complaints and concerns against this boy. Sometimes parents would really quarrel, at times accusing his mother of doing a terrible job of bringing him up, and not doing enough to make him stop his bullying.

Several times many of the parents petitioned the headmistress to recommend to those in authority that Burtis be transferred to another school; they did not want him to be around their children any longer. His mother would beg for another chance, while the headmistress seemed to be always sorry for the mother and unwilling to go ahead with the petition for him to be transferred.

One day, in one of his regular wicked moods, Burtis tried desperately to push another child over the rail of the stairway. Some minor repairs were being done to the school, and so the carpenters had ripped out some boards, and, with the nails still in them, dropped them right where Burtis was trying to push the other child over the banister.

Some teachers who were nearby at the time stopped Burtis from doing this terrible act, and then had to comfort the child who was very shaken and distressed by such an action.

Find out next week what action the teachers took against this naughty boy.

How to make a terrarium

This easy terrarium shows kids the water cycle in action.
The Project
1. Help your child use scissors to cut a plastic bottle in half. Use a utility knife to cut off the spout (an adult’s job).
2. Fill the bottom half in layers: 1 inch of pea gravel, 1 ⁄2 inch of activated charcoal (find it at pet stores), and the rest with damp potting soil. Insert plants (we used wood fern, strawberry begonia, and asparagus fern) and plastic toys into the soil.
3. Secure the top of the bottle to the bottom with washi tape. Place a small bouncy ball onto the spout opening to seal it (hot-glue in place, if desired). Set the terrarium in a bright area, not in direct sunlight, and watch it grow!

The Lesson
In the terrarium, water moves from the soil into the plant, out to the air, and back down again in a process called the water cycle. Here’s how it works:

Transpiration: Moisture is carried from the soil through the plants’ roots to small pores on the leaves.

Evaporation: The tiny drops of water transform from a liquid to a gas, leaving as a vapor from the plant.

Condensation: The water vapor can’t get out of the closed terrarium, so it collects on the inside of the bottle and turns from a gas back into a liquid.

Precipitation: When a lot of condensation forms, it gets too heavy to stick to the bottle. It slides down the sides, just like rain or snow falling from a cloud. The plants soak up the precipitation through their roots, and the process starts over again.

(www.parents.com)