Leaves of Learning

Leaves of Learning is a school, where I actually feel comfortable asking my teachers for help. 

It is a place where the teachers know your names. It is a place where the teachers themselves, shape the curriculum to how it is best for the students. The classes are very welcoming. The teachers are very polite, kind and respectful to the students. It's not like public school, where all the rooms look exactly the same. At leaves, instead of calling the rooms by their numbers, students usually call them by the names of the teachers. Each room is specifically sculpted but the teacher.

Each room expresses the teachers' personality. They are all unique and interesting.  

Here are some of my questions for the observatory

How powerful is the telescope?

How big is it?

Has the telescope ever been replaced?

If so, how many times?

Has it ever been modified?

How large is the observatory?

Has the observatory ever been used for research?

If so, how many times?

What kind of maintenance does it require?

          Many people were gathered at the ceremony.  I was very surprised at the turn out for this event.  I never thought that my grandpa had impacted so many people throughout his career time.  The whole event happened on a Tuesday evening.  My family and I left in the morning on Tuesday.  we drove for about five and a half hours.  We arrived at a restaurant called "Steve's", which is a middle eastern bistro that had become a favorite of my parents'.  It had also become a normal meeting spot for family reunions.

          After we ate at Steve's, we all got in our cars, and went to the high school.  This whole ceremony was for my grandpa.  He had been a softball coach at that high school for thirty seven years.  He was even inducted in the hall of fame, but that was not what the ceremony was about.  He was being honored, and the high school named their softball field after him.  We gathered in what looked like the cafeteria.  tables and chairs were already set up.  

          More and more people arrived at the ceremony.  I was at a table with my cousins.  When the ceremony began, a surprising amount of people were there to see it.  One of the things about it that really amazed me, was that some of his really old players, that were now far into adulthood, were there to celebrate him.  It was then that I realized how many lives that he has impacted.  Many people and softball players stood up and shared there experiences with him.  Even one of my aunts stood up to speak.

          After they gave their speeches, all the players that were present stood up and said what years they played for him.  Then, he gave a speech and talked about some of the history, and people that really inspired him.  After that, we all went outside, and saw the field.  It was titled "The William Taylor Field".  I was really moved by how he had impacted so many people, and I realized what a truly remarkable person he is.

          

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How?

Cincinnati Observatory

Who?

            The Cincinnati Observatory was founded by a man named Ormsby McKnight Mitchel.  He was a professor at Cincinnati College and had inspired an enthusiasm in the public for astronomy through his public lectures.  During this time, there were only a few small telescopes in the country, but no big power instruments existed.  Mitchel interested many people in possibly building the first observatory in the U.S.  At the end of one of his lectures, he introduced a crowd of 2000 to his plans.

What?

            The site for the observatory was a four acre lot on the top of Mt. Ida, about four hundred feet above the city of Cincinnati.  The property was given to the Astronomical Society by its owner, Nicholas Longworth. 

When?

            The whole project was founded by Mitchel in 1842.  In the same year, he traveled to Munich to inspect a twelve inch lens of the highest quality.  In 1843, the cornerstone was laid by the former president of the United States, John Adams.  He had expressed a deep interest in astronomy and had tried to convince congress to found a National Observatory in 1825 and failed.  Although he was 77, and wasn't in the best condition and health, he traveled to Cincinnati for the founding because he felt that this was a big step in the U.S being internationally recognized for its intellectual and scientific endeavors.

Where?

            Site was located on the top of Mount Ida in Cincinnati, high above the city.

Why?

            Mitchel had brought out a major interest in Astronomy.  He also had a strong interest and had undertaken supervision for the construction of the project in 1842.  At the dedication, John Adams gave his last public speech.  After that, the mountain was renamed “Mount Adams”.  By the time the foundation for the building was laid, the whole country was in economic depression.  Nearly all of the money that was raised went to the purchasing of the telescope.  The whole project was without any money for its completion.

How?

            The telescope itself cost about nine thousand dollars, which was a considerable sum back then.  When all the money was gone, and the project seemed as if it would not be completed, Mitchel volunteered to become the director of the project, and raised some additional money for its completion.  He also paid for a lot of it out of his own pocket.  He relied on his salary from the Cincinnati College.  But soon after the Observatory was completed, the college burned down and Mitchel was left without any monetary support.  In spite of this, Mitchel still served as the director of the Observatory

Source:

www.cincinnatiobservatory.org

My Relaxing Trip to

Spring Grove

Two weeks ago, I went to spring grove cemetery. Initially, my thoughts were "how can a cemetery be beautiful if it is a place where the deceased are buried?" But after going there, I understand why it is a peaceful location where many people go.  The cemetery was actually a very relaxing place to be.  I enjoyed the quietness, with only the sounds of the birds chirping.  I was surprised to find out that the cemetery is the middle of Cincinnati. 

      As we entered, I realized just how big the cemetery actually was. It took a long time, and we didn't even cover all of the areas. The day was a windy one. The wind blew fast, but it was a very soft wind. It was warm, as it greeted my skin. I could smell the plants and flowers, both growing, and ones that people had placed down out of respect for their deceased.

      The trees, that grew tall, gave shade to many of the grave stones that scattered the hilly planes.  There was a valley that the wind never reached. The wind gusted right over it, while the leaves in the valley stayed settled on the ground without any disturbance from the wind howling above. 

            I could reach my hand up into the ceiling of wind as it blew directly over the valley.  It was a very beautiful, calming scene to be in.  The wind whistled above me, and the leaves outside of the valley rustled.  As I began climbing out of the valley, I felt the wind on my skin, and I could hear it whistling through the air. 

             As I was walking through the cemetery, I realized that not all of the statues and stone heads are in rows.  Many of them are scattered randomly throughout the hills.  There were many flat stones imbedded in the ground, and also many giant, extravagant headstones that stood out.  I wondered how much it would cost to have an enormous statue or monument-like headstone.

            This showed that the cemetery had a wide range of people buried in it, from poor, to rich.  The whole time we were there, it was windy.  As I walked through the garden of headstones, I came across a grave.  Someone who had visited had placed American flags in front of it, as to honor their lost one.  I noticed that one of the flags had come out of the ground.  I felt wrong to just leave the flag lying down like that.  So I bend down, and picked up the flag.  I stared at it in wonder, and then I place the flag in the ground just as it was before it was blown down.

            Honestly, I’d say that the spring grove cemetery was humbling.  It made me realize just how valuable life is, and that I should treasure every moment of it, both good and bad.  I think if I needed some piece and quite, I would definitely pick this place.  It is a calm restful environment where you can come to calm down and collect your emotions.  I would highly recommend this place for anyone who's looking for a calming, peaceful, and beautiful environment.

The Carew Tower

By Ian DesJardins

The Carew tower and Netherland Plaza Hotel plans were announced in August of 1929.  They were completed in January of 1931.  The financing for the building came from the Emery family.  The Emery family made its fortune from processing by-products of the stockyards of Cincinnati.  John Emery hired Walter W. Alschlager and Colonel William Starrett for the construction of the buildings.  Starrett is well known as the builder of the Lincoln Memorial, and the Empire State Building.  Alschlager is known as the designer of the Peabody Hotel in Tennessee, and the Hotel Intercontinental in Chicago.

The Carew tower and the Netherland Plaza Hotel were designed to be a “city within a city”.  This concept was new to Cincinnati in 1929.  This meant that the building was going to be a combination of shops, department stores, offices and a hotel.  During the creation of this historic building, Emery decided to make some bold moves with the final side of the building construction.  These bold moves ended up working in his favor later.   He approached the bank to write a loan for the “city within a city” project.  The bank didn’t share the vision for the project and declined the loan.  They did not believe that a combination of all that in one multipurpose facility could work.

Emery ignored the advisors form his financial adviser, and sold all of his stocks and securities.  Just when the financing for the building was finished, the stock market crashed.  If Emery had left his stocks tangled up in the stock market, when it crashed, the project would have been done for and he would have lost everything.  But the project could continue as planned, because he had made a good decision.  In fact, during the great depression, the construction project was one of Cincinnati’s biggest employers.  When the construction was ending, the project was named “The St. Nicholas Plaza”.  Just before the grand opening of the building, The Cincinnati Realty Company filed an injunction against the name of the hotel.  

They claimed that they had purchased the rights to the name “St. Nicholas” when the old St. Nicholas Hotel had closed just a few years before.  The new hotel name was changed to “St. Netherlands Plaza”.  The Netherland Plaza suffered a period in the 1960’s where the hotel was covered in a modernization effort.  But later in 1981, the full original beauty was restored as the modern cover- up was torn away.  In 1985, the Hotel earned a National Historic Register, and also received a status as a National Landmark.  In 1989, the hotel became a member of the Historic Hotels of America.  Today, the hotel still stands a as historic monument of the beauty of its 1930’s architecture.  People can visited it today and reflect on what an amazing piece of historic architecture this building really is.