Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast exploring the topics of business, education,
technology and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Join me weekly as my team and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun and uplifting.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
Hello and welcome back.
I'm Mr. Jason and I'm joined by several special guests today in our studio.
We welcome Mr. Ben and Mrs. Marilee, along with several student writers.
We'll be discussing the importance of writing and then we'll hear from our student writers.
Then for segment two, we'll continue with part nine of our story, The Secrets of El Dorado.
Part nine is titled, Piecing It Together.
But first, let's get our quote of the day and hear some headline news.
Hey everyone, our quote of the day comes from Louis Lamour.
He said, start writing no matter what.
The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.
In this quote, Louis Lamour highlights the importance of taking action and getting started
on a task, even if you may not feel ready or inspired.
Writing, like many creative endeavors, can be daunting and intimidating at times.
However, this quote emphasizes that the key to making progress and tapping into your creativity
is to simply begin by using the analogy of turning on a faucet to start the flow of water.
Lamour suggests that once you begin writing, the ideas and words will start to flow naturally.
It is often the act of starting and breaking through that initial resistance that allows
the creative process to unfold.
And that's our quote of the day.
Now onto some headline news.
Here's some headline writing and literature news from around the world.
Starting with our first news, in the state of Michigan, almost all public schools may
have the chance to get their own library and librarian if a set of three bills that was
proposed to the Senate Education Committee is passed.
These bills were proposed in the midst of the state's low academic achievement scores,
which seem to have a correlation with the degree of access to a library.
The bill has received widespread support from local educators and parents, as well as from
figures such as the former president of the American Association of School Librarians,
who all state that the bill would be highly beneficial for the student's education.
However, the costs are extremely high, making it a very hard decision for the Senate to
decide as well.
Onto our second news.
As the deadline of May 31st, the Bridport Prize competition is tailored towards poetry
and has a grand prize of 5,000 euros for the winners.
The top three winner will have all their poems published in the Bridport Prize Anthology
and are invited to the award ceremony where they can receive feedback and advice from
judges and professionals.
Writers of any nationality are allowed to submit their work, but there is an age limit
of 16 years and a fee of 12 euros for every poem that you submit.
However, it is still a great opportunity for you to have your writing viewed and critiqued
by experts.
Onto our last and final news.
Female billionaire Mackenzie Scott, who has dedicated a large portion of her fortune to
donating to nonprofit organizations and charities, donated a sum of $2 million to the Massachusetts
Advocates for Children Organization, which is more than the organization's budget for
a year.
The money that she donated will go to helping children in the classroom, including those
with disabilities.
Additionally, she had also donated $2.5 million to help jumpstart a grant program to help
Colorado children access vaccines.
And that ends our headline news for today.
We're back for our first segment and we'll be talking with two educators and several
students about the important topic of writing.
The students will also be sharing a recent writing pace they submitted to an international
writing contest.
So for our first guest, we welcome Mr. Ben and Kate.
Shania will kick off this segment with our first question.
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
Mr. Ben, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do?
My name is Ben Raden and I teach ESL in the secondary with middle school and high school
classes and I've been here, this is my 26th year at ICS, so I've been here almost since
the school started.
Here's another follow up question and it's a big picture question.
How does learning writing skills impact a student's academic and professional future?
I think writing is kind of an open window to who this student is, in other words, it's
important as both a way for colleges to see who this student is, it's also a way for us
when we do writing that people can look at our writing and they can tell a lot about
us, tell about our personality, about things we enjoy, our interests.
So it's really kind of like it opens up a window to the writer themselves, so it's important
and in our professional life it can be a statement of who we are.
All right, our next question is for Kate.
Kate, thanks for being brave and coming on the show.
What grade are you in and what are some of the things you like to do with your free time?
I'm in seventh grade and I enjoy baking to relieve my stress.
All right, I do have a follow up question for you Kate as well.
Kate, describe the process used for writing.
How do you get started?
I like to get into a comfortable position and then I let the words flow.
Okay, back to Mr. Ben.
Our next question is what role does writing play in developing critical thinking and communication
skills in students?
Writing is a really good way for us to learn how to analyze things, like if we write something
and then we have the chance to go back and look at that and know I didn't mean that or
I need to explain this further or how can I support the thing that I've said.
So it's a really good way for us to learn how to analyze and to be critical of ourselves
and that's a really hard thing to learn because we don't like to be critical.
We don't like for people to be critical about us, but if we can learn that skill, then we
can really use that in a lot of different areas.
All right, here's another question for you.
How can a teacher help students find their unique voice and style in writing?
A lot of times when students write, they like to keep the same style.
They like to write the way they've always written and for myself, I like to really try
new things from time to time.
I never knew that I liked squid until I first tried it and now I really, really, really
enjoy not dried squid, but cooked squid.
I really, really like it and I never would have thought I would have liked that.
So by trying new things and by experimenting with different kinds of writing, then we can
challenge ourselves in that role as well.
Okay, Kate, I have another question for you.
What part of writing do you find most fun?
I actually like choosing a title.
I never start with the title.
I always feel like I have to write at least half of the poem or story before I choose
a title.
All right, I like that.
I think that's probably a smart move, right?
All right, here's another question for you, Kate, and it's a fun one.
You'll have to use your writer's imagination for this one.
All right.
If you could write a letter to anyone in the world, past or present, who would it be and
what would you say?
I would write a letter to Christine de Pizan.
She is one of the first women poets in the medieval time period.
I would tell her about her impact on many writers today as well as her impact on rules
to equalize men's power.
Wow, that's really cool and insightful.
Thank you so much, Kate.
Now before we have Kate read her writing piece, here's our last question for Mr. Bent.
What kind of encouragement or advice would you give to young writers out there?
I think one really good thing that we as humans can benefit is to give ourselves a voice by
writing to ourselves.
In other words, writing journals or notes or comments about things that we like or don't
like or what we want to do or want to see changed.
Even for myself, I look back now at things that I wrote in high school and college and
even after college and different periods of my life and I review things.
I go back and read some journals that I wrote when I was living in Europe and just different
things that make me or allow me to reflect on myself and to see what I've been through,
my different experiences and lessons I've learned.
So I think by writing to ourselves, it really helps us to think about ourselves and think
about our lives and what we're doing in this world.
Thank you, Mr. Bent.
To end the first part of the segment, we've asked Kate to read one of her written pieces.
Kate, what is the title of your piece and can you briefly describe what it's about?
The title of my piece is called The Maze of Life.
It's about the troubles of life and how God can help you through it.
I wrote this piece around the time I was baptized.
Thank you, Kate.
You may now read your writing piece when you are ready.
The Maze of Life, twisting and turning, lost in my thoughts.
Every corner I turn leads to another.
Fear lurches at one corner.
Nervousness is hiding around the bend.
Guilt seems to be above.
The claws of loneliness are below.
The maze has no start.
The maze has no end.
Every time I think I've made it, something is waiting.
Something with claws, something that will torture me into doing essential action.
I had no choice to go, no choice to fall into this endless maze.
Trapped and locked away.
Nowhere to stay.
Nowhere to feel safe.
I felt hidden, lost without moving.
I was scared.
I fell into the claws of fear, running into tears.
I seemed to be swinging from mood to mood.
That's when I finally heard, people.
They were calling to help me.
They had always been there, helping.
I had never noticed.
They were lost in the same maze, but stronger against fear, nervousness, guilt, and loneliness.
They seemed to have armor on, wearing it with pride.
We became stronger together, but still I felt fear.
Still I felt nervous.
Still I felt guilt.
Still I felt loneliness.
Like there was something I was missing.
Always remember hearing about him.
I said I knew him.
The savior, God.
I didn't really know him fully.
I didn't know how to feel, or how I would feel, if I trusted.
If I stopped trying to fix things myself.
If I trusted he would care for me.
I wouldn't need to feel fear, feel nervous, feel guilt, feel lonely.
I could be free.
Even though I'm still in the maze, wandering through, I would never be alone.
Free to dance.
Free to celebrate.
I have found hope.
Hope in the Lord.
Everyone is stuck in this maze, but everyone can find him.
God brings joy in the maze of life.
Wow.
Thank you very much, Kate.
That was wonderful.
And that's the first time I've heard that.
And probably you too, Chania, but that was super powerful.
So thank you for that.
And thank you for sharing that with everyone else that's listening to this podcast right
now.
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
Mrs. Merrily, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do?
Sure.
I work in the elementary school in Bangkok and in Udantani, and I support teachers.
And one of my special privileges is to help with the ACSI Creative Writing Festival.
And fourth and fifth graders can participate in that.
Wow.
Did you move here from Udantani?
I actually moved to Bangkok from America, and then I taught grade five for three years
in Bangkok.
And then I've been working in supporting teachers for three years now.
Wow.
That's really good.
My follow up question is also for you as well.
How does writing help students develop critical thinking and communication skills?
That is a really interesting question because actually the process of writing requires you
to do a lot of thinking and organizing your thoughts.
So sometimes even before you write, you've already gotten a clear understanding about
what you're thinking on a topic or what you'd like to communicate.
And then as far as the critical thinking, when you're writing, you need to consider
who your reader is going to be and think about can you communicate clearly with them and
what would matter to them?
So it depends if you're trying to persuade them or share information.
But that idea of taking somebody else's perspective to see what would be important to them is
pretty important when you're solving basically any kind of problem as a critical thinker.
And I think being organized and being respectful when you share your perspective is also really
helpful in making any change that you would want to affect in the world, make it something
that other people could join.
Thank you so much.
That was really insightful.
Our next question is for Minhoo and Hamwon.
Thanks so much for coming on to the show.
What grade are you in and what's your favorite thing about writing?
I am in fifth grade and my favorite thing about writing is writing line by line and
making it as creative as I can so that the readers can imagine it as a picture and like
they can understand what I'm trying to say.
I am in grade five and I like the feeling after I'm done writing of my accomplished
writing piece.
I love that.
That Minhoo, yeah, that's literally the definition of imagery.
I love that.
And also for sure when you are done with your piece and you work really hard on it, that
sense of accomplishment is so rewarding.
And our next follow up question for both of you is what kinds of things do you like to
write about?
I like to write about my own life because I can bring back memories.
I like to write about fiction and fantasy because it helps me think about what maybe
other people is thinking about.
I love that for both.
Minhoo, they do say like write what you know, you know, like write the experiences that
you know, but also Hamwon, like that's so true.
And when you can explore and break down the barriers of like the reality that we live
in, the fantasy world also so so inviting.
Our next question is for Mrs. Merrily.
How is writing incorporated into different subjects at the elementary level?
Well sometimes I think students don't even realize that they're using their writing
skills.
Because in all the subject areas when you want to share your thinking with somebody
else and you can't do it immediately, you need to write notes to yourself or you need
to write it out, right, to really explain your thinking.
So we have a lot of that going on in science and social studies where you're either taking
notes about what happened in class or you're looking at a scenario and explaining what
you think could happen, especially in math as well.
You would explain in Bible we oftentimes have the opportunity to journal, so to reflect
on how what we're learning really connects with our lives.
And then of course elementary is the time when you actually learn to read and write.
And so we're using the processes of reading and writing to help each other all of the
time because when you learn to write you have all of the skills that you need also to read
well and then of course reading helps you write well.
So we're using it all day long and we're studying good writers as well, even in grammar when
we study mentor sentences from read alouds that we have in the classroom, right, and
then we're imitating and copying maybe the type of sentence they used.
So writing is actually a big part of the day.
And I think it's also a really good time for self-reflecting in life.
And here's another question for Mrs. Merrily.
What advice would you give to young writers who are trying to find their voice and style?
Based on my experience I didn't get to do so much writing, especially creative writing
when I was in school, but as a teacher I got to join a special writing group at the university
where I was living one summer and it was my first opportunity to have a writing partner.
And I would say that if you can find a writing partner that would be my number one piece
of advice.
So find somebody who would be interested in reading what you write and talking with you
about what you write and helping you make it better.
And then just write regularly and take risks.
So write in different genres, maybe even write about the same topic in different genres just
to try it out, how it could go.
And then read really good writing in all different genres because you'll get ideas that you can
use in your own writing.
Yeah, I totally agree.
Two are better than one and we can be supportive to each other.
Yeah, I think so too.
I think like the biggest writing advice that I hear from like other writers is also just
experiment and that like your best mentor is reading, like it actually is.
And just like exploring and reading different genres.
I'm trying to do that for myself too and wanting to expand the genres I read a little bit.
All right, and now it's your turn, Khamwan and Minho.
Any of you can go first.
Here's another question for you.
What part of writing do you find the most fun?
Most of the time in writing I find myself slumped in a chair and sometimes I get a creative
flow in my mind and I just start writing and writing and I can't stop writing.
I feel like that's really fun because it's a part of me that I don't really see often.
Ah, I love that.
You know, I think there's like a term for that in the writing community.
I think it's called morning pages.
Like in the morning you just come in 10 minutes, you just put like, you just put on a timer
and then just keep writing, writing it like, I think there's a word for it, but like you
just write everything that you know or everything that comes to mind, just write it all out
and it's like really good.
So I love that.
You find that fun.
All right, what about you Minho?
The part that I like a lot about writing is finding the words that fit what I'm writing
about because it might be the hardest part because finding words can be really hard to
describe what you're trying to say, but it's really fun for me to like find words to put
in my writing so that it can help the readers imagine what message I'm trying to give them.
I love that.
That's a really well thought out answer.
Thank you.
All right, and here's our last question for the two of you and it's a fun one and you'll
also have to use your writer's imagination for this one.
If your life has been a book so far, what would the book title be?
If my life was a book so far, the title would be Finding Myself because every day I grow
in potential and grow in knowledge and that helps me become a better person when time
passes.
I love that.
Finding myself.
Everyone look out for that someday in the future.
It's going to be like in bookstores titled what?
Finding Myself.
All right, what about you, Kwan-Wan?
If my life was a book, I'd probably have it called Someone Out There or Somewhere Out
There.
I love that.
Someone out there, someone out there.
Look at that.
Great titles.
Thank you, Mi-Hoo and Kwan-Wan.
To end this segment, we'd love for you to read the written piece you brought.
Mi-Hoo can go first and then Kwan-Wan.
To begin, please give us the title and explain briefly what it is about.
And you can read it to us and your audience.
So the title for my poem is A Bit of Hope and it is about the conflict and violence
and all the wars that are going around nowadays in some countries.
And I'll read it to you.
Only a little bit of hope when I look outside and see, oh, how the prettiest of nature has
become a killing spree.
How neighbors become enemies over the darkest of nights.
When no one sees eye to eye, innocents get involved in plight.
All the violence and all the wars have gotten me beyond lowest.
Uncountable loss of lives.
People are at their darkest.
Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia.
I am on no one's side.
Violence is not the answer and I pray that peace will turn the tide.
When tears are gone and all have learned to cope, I kneel down and pray with only a bit
of hope.
So good.
My poem's title is Hope Reborn and it's about a girl who was lost in misery and she met
God and her life turned around and she's happy.
Lost in misery, trapped in a cell.
In a grim world, a girl did dwell.
Beneath the weight of life's cruel distress, she did not find love nonetheless.
Through tear-stained nights, she sought comfort.
All she needed was love of some sort.
Yet in darkness, where despair was shown, a new time came, a presence unknown.
Divine encounter, moment bizarre.
God embraced her like a shining star.
Looming words like healing songs lifted her spirit, a soothing song.
In God's embrace, her anguish seized a metamorphosis, a soul released.
From misery's grip, she found a sense.
In the arms of hope, her heart content.
With her new strength, she faced a storm.
For in meeting God, her hope was reborn.
Riding in God's chariot of gold, just as fascinating as told.
And now with God for eternity, living in God's realm peacefully.
Thank you so much to both of you.
That was absolutely beautiful.
I think that poem really just encapsulates a lot of what is going on in our world and
I think sometimes it's hard to find the words to express the emotions that are coiling
inside and I think that poem does such a great job of doing that.
And I think that's a really, really beautiful poem as well and the figurative language or
the imagery you use is absolutely like out of this world.
So good job to the both of you.
Thank you so, so much again for coming on our show.
To all our listeners, graduation day is fast approaching and we couldn't be more excited.
Whether you are a senior eagerly counting down the days until your big moment or a supporter
cheering on your loved ones, we want to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the seniors
out there.
Your hard work, dedication, and resilience have brought you to this moment and we can't
wait to celebrate your achievements with you.
And to everyone else, mark your calendar and join us in celebrating the seniors' graduation
on May 25th.
It's sure to be a day filled with joy, pride, and unforgettable memories.
That ends our PSA for today.
Moving on to our story, The Secrets of Elder Rattle.
We are back for our second segment and we will continue with part 9 titled,
Piecing It All Together.
But first, here's a quick recap from our last episode.
In the last episode, Lily escapes captivity and the Professor nearly was shot.
Ava and Cira discover a trove of evidence and materials that would prove to change the
lives of many, many people.
Just as they return to safety, or the semblance of safety, Professor Sharptons shows up at
Ava's grandma's house.
Nearly escaping danger once again, they return to Ethan's cafe to catch their breaths and
solve the mystery.
Thank you, Premi, and without further ado, let's get back into our story where we join
Ava, Lily, Cira, Ethan, and the Professor.
Ava has always been a fan of adventure, doesn't mind tension, and even enjoys a healthy amount
of danger.
However, the last two days have proven to be a little bit too much.
She finds herself still catching her breath, having just sprinted across her grandma's
backyard, through the neighbor's property, and onto the back street.
After having put some distance between her and Sharpton who was sitting at her grandma's
kitchen's table, she's now bending over it and inhaling sharply, and trying to calm
down.
She pulls up her phone and calls Cira to warn them.
And knowing Hawthorne and the other girls sure they can't be that far away yet since
Ava's entire interaction with Professor Sharpton was only about five minutes or so, she's
also wanting them to come back and pick her up.
She notices that her heartbeat is beating twice as fast as it normally does.
Cira feels her phone buzzing in her side pan's pocket, pulls it out, and looks at it.
She's puzzled when she realizes it's Ava calling her.
I mean, she did just drop off a few minutes ago.
I wonder what she could want?
Cira thinks to herself.
As soon as Cira hits the green accept button and puts it on speakerphone so Hawthorne and
Lily can hear, they all hear Ava's frantic and out of breath voice.
Ava sounded terrified, her voice dripping with fear.
Ava takes a deep breath the moment Cira takes the call and says in one long breath, Cira,
Sharpton's at my house right now, pick me up please.
No, save.
I'm on one street over behind my grandma's house on 11th street and I'm hiding.
The Professor shoots a look over at Cira, who is now sitting up front in the passenger
seat with Lily still in the back seat.
His eyes grow wide as he contemplates what to do.
Keep her on the line, he instructs Cira.
Don't hang up.
We're coming right now.
We're only a few minutes away.
A dozen questions raise through the Hawthorne's mind.
Sharpton is at Ava's grandmother's house?
How did he know she was onto something?
What else does he know?
Is Cira's family in danger?
Is my wife in danger?
What about Ava's grandmother?
What did Lily tell Sharpton about us?
These were all questions he could not answer.
As soon as the road widened a bit, Hawthorne did a quick U-turn.
That quick movement to turn the steering wheel reminded him of the large gas in his side.
Ugh, he quietly said as he straightened the Bronco back on the road, headed in the same
direction they just came from.
Lily, who was sitting in the back seat, says they're frozen.
She had just experienced her own trauma a short time ago and never ever wants to hear
Professor Sharpton's name again.
She taps her foot anxiously on the back seat floor.
Several minutes later Hawthorne pulls into Grandma Turner's neighborhood, making sure
not to drive down her street.
Instead he drives past it and then makes a turn onto 11th Street.
Professor Hawthorne then says out loud, so Ava can hear him on speakerphone,
Ava, we are on 11th Street.
Direct me to where you are at.
Ava whispers back in her phone, I see you guys coming towards me.
I'm hiding behind a trash can beside the red house on your left.
As soon as you pull up, I'll jump in and then we can go.
Professor Hawthorne pulls up to the place Ava had directed them and looks over at the
side of the red house and says, here she comes.
Lily opened the door for her and move over so she can hop in.
Lily opens the side door and then moves over in the seat to make room for Ava.
Lily sees Ava and moving quickly toward them and says, get in quick Ava.
Phew, that was close.
Thank you so much guys.
Ava says, having finally caught her breath, let's get to the cafe.
Sarah, Lily and the professor nod in agreement as Professor Hawthorne drives off again.
As the Bronco pulls out of the neighborhood, Ava feels her phone vibrate.
She answers it and almost starts crying when she hears her grandma's voice.
Grandma Turner says, oh, there you are.
Are you okay, Ava?
I figured out your coded message and went over to Frank's house when you excused yourself
to go to the bathroom.
I left that Sharpton guy just sitting at my kitchen table.
I don't understand what's going on and where are you?
Grandma Turner was quite stressed and worried at this point.
Yes, I'm safe and okay.
Ava responds and tries to reassure her grandmother that she's safe.
I'll get in plain later, but you will just need to trust me right now.
Don't go back to your house until I call you back until it's safe.
See you at Frank's for now.
I'm heading to the cafe to meet with the others.
I'm so sorry I got you caught up in all this, Ava says.
Her grandma has to be safe to have been able to have made this phone call, right?
Oh, honey, don't worry about me.
I understood your cues back at the house.
I'm safe and sound at Frank's place.
Him, his wife, and their two big dogs are keeping me company, Grandma Turner says.
Hearing her words and confirmation, Ava signs with relief.
Okay, that's good.
I'm so sorry for putting you in danger, Gran.
Ava feels a growing anger towards Sharpton for having tried to use her grandmother as
bait and possibly leverage.
Ava doesn't mind putting herself at risk, but when a family member is put to danger,
the fear she felt before becomes anger and motivation to move forward and to end the
story.
Absolutely.
And no one gets to make my family feel unsafe.
I'm really sorry for not having seen through that professor's lies.
He seemed like such a nice man, and yet there seems something off about him, and now I know
why, Grandma Turner says before voicing out the thoughts she had had since Sharpton had
stepped foot into her house, worries spilling over as she continues to ask more questions
of Ava.
How do you know that man?
How does he know where I live?
Are you in danger, Ava?
Are you in danger?
I don't know, Ava thinks herself.
I don't know.
Not wanting to further risk her grandma or make her more worried, Ava responds and says,
Gran, I'll be okay, and once we get to the bottom of this, I can come tell you the whole
story, okay?
She reads again, reassuring her grandmother that everything is going to be okay.
Grandma Turner feels a little more relaxed now, thinking that Ava will be safe.
Just before hanging up, Grandma Turner tells Ava, Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.
I told Frank to watch out the front window, and he said he saw that man walking away from
my house, go across the street, get in a parked car, and then drive off.
Ava's eyes widen before telling her grandma to stay put in Frank's house, telling her
to be safe and to take care of herself.
Ava hangs up the call and immediately informs Professor Hawthorne, Cira, and Lily that her
grandma is safe at her neighbor's house and that Sharpton has left.
Ethan says out loud, I wonder where Sharpton's going now.
Meanwhile back at the cafe, Ethan sees off another large group of customers who stayed
for a late lunch.
He walks with them to the front door, thanks them, and then tells them that they are always
welcome back when they are in town.
It was almost half past two in the afternoon already, far later than the time the last
group of customers from the day before had left.
At least, that's what his staff had reported to him.
Lunch was especially busy today, with all the people in town for the Gold Red Festival
and with the freaking right around the corner.
Ethan's happy about the sales in the cafe and hopes this summer is even bigger than
last summer.
He strolls back to the kitchen, almost forgetting the other saga that's happening with his
friends.
Just then, he hears a knock on the back cafe door.
It was a secret knock Ava, Cira, and Professor Hawthorne had used earlier that morning, even
thanks to himself.
Must be them again.
He hurries to the back door before any other staff could get there, unlocks it, and then
opens it.
Come in, come in, quickly, he says.
Ethan watches as Cira, Lily, Ava, and then Professor Hawthorne all enter the back of
the cafe and retreat to Ethan's office again.
After closing and locking the back door, Ethan meets them in the office and asks, I bet you
guys are starving.
Especially you, Lily.
I can have my staff make you all something.
Just let me know.
Hey Ethan, thanks for the welcome back, Lily smiles, suddenly feeling like she was finally
safe.
I'll definitely take your famous sandwich with a mound of fries and something to drink.
I haven't eaten in…
Lily hesitates, trying to remember back, before realizing.
I don't even know the last time I ate.
Maybe yesterday morning?
Ethan, can I get something too?
We haven't had lunch, Ava says, before looking around to find Cira and the Professor nodding,
and adding, and something for Cira and the Professor too, whatever you're making Lily
if you can make for them.
Sure, no problem, Ethan said.
Give me a second to get these orders to my kitchen staff, then, when they're ready,
I'll have them deliver to you in here so you can eat and talk.
In the meantime, you should get Lily caught up on what happened yesterday after she was
taken.
Thank you so much, Ethan, Lily says as she pulls out one of the chairs, takes a deep
breath and then sits down.
Wow, the past two days have been crazy.
As Lily says this, she points to the gold bar now sitting on Ethan's desk, and then
points to her backpack which is resting on the floor next to Cira.
And where did you find my backpack?
And what's inside of it?
Professor Hawthorne smiles and then takes a seat across from Lily and gives her a brief
recap of what he and Ethan's field trip to Rob's Peak, the characters they discovered
in the mines, and the substance they had found in the mine number three.
After finishing the story about Rob's Peak, he then scratches his head and says out loud,
hmm, what else happened yesterday?
I mean, it feels like forever ago.
A lot, Ava responds.
Cira and I had our own little adventure at the reservoir after Cira got off work and
lay into the night.
Hold on, I'll write all this down since it's fresh in our minds.
We'll need to record this sequence of events with as much detail as possible.
It'll be helpful for when the FBI gets here.
Ava says all of this while thinking in the back of her mind that the documents she creates
will also help her write her series of articles for the B1 in its time.
However, she doesn't say this part aloud.
She does not want us to come across as self-serving.
Ava looks over at Cira, who is sitting next to Lily.
Hey, Cira, why don't you catch Lily up about what happened at the reservoir and how we
found her backpack?
And maybe even the scary ledge part.
This way, I'll type while you talk.
Of course, Cira responds before telling Lily about being suspicious of Professor Hawthorne,
which became the reason the two girls went without telling him or Ethan, and how Ethan's
tracker, which she put in Lily's backpack for a test, was what allowed the Professor
and Ethan to stop at the reservoir on their way back from Rod's Peak because they thought
Lily was there but instead finding Cira and Ava trapped on the spillway ledge and holding
on for their dear lives.
She then tells Lily about the meeting her and Ava overheard the bad guys having, taking
blurry photos, having an audio recording, and then discovering that one of the bad guys
was Professor Sharpton.
Cira then tells Lily that they found her backpack in the room the bad guys were having their
meeting and that she thinks they forgot to take it with them because they left in a hurry
after hearing the breaking picnic table.
Yep, Ava interjects.
Lily, we were still worried when we found out you were gone.
We were all over the place trying to find where you were.
Cira was especially worried.
She's the sweetest.
Aww, Lily says.
She is the sweetest.
Thank you all for worrying about me and then finding me in the woods and then driving me
back.
What happened after the reservoir then?
We were really overwhelmed by all the facts and new knowledge that presented itself that
night.
The most pressing and heaviest part was that we realized whatever this is, it was a lot
bigger than any of us.
It's not just about a kidnapping or two or a simple misunderstanding.
There are some important people, public figures, and prominent community members involved and
I think this has been going on for a long time.
And they've used the tunnels on Old Man Sutter's property to keep all their secrets from the
public.
I mean, if the secrets of El Dorado County came out, as I think they will now, this county,
the state, and potentially the entire country will not be the same again.
US history books may have to be rewritten.
We have in our possession, in this office in fact, what appears to be a trove of damning
evidence that dates back to the mid-1800s.
Just then, Ethan returns with trays full of sandwiches, fries, and drinks.
Alright, I hope I didn't miss too much.
What went down today?
Wow, these look great.
Thanks so much, Ethan, the professor says as he grabs a sandwich and a soda from the
tray.
You're just in time, too.
Lily knows about Robb's Peak and the reservoir.
The professor continues as the others are getting their food and getting situated in
the office.
Also, really early in the morning, Ava came through with her contact at the Bee who had
connections with the FBI.
We now know the identities of two of the other people in the meeting at the reservoir, besides
Professor Sharpton.
Let's see, Mayor Ruiz and California State Rep Brown.
We are unsure about the other two identities, but my guess is that they are quite prominent
in our community or state.
Lily's eyes widen as she says,
Wow, that's crazy.
And then she asks,
So how did you end up at the same place I was being held?
The tunnels.
It's actually pretty simple.
We went on a hunch and followed some more clues from the manuscript, the professor answered.
However, we had no idea what we were getting into to say the least.
I mean, look at me, my clothes are still wet and I still need to go see the doctor about
this cut.
And I've never been shot at before.
The professor pauses, sits back in his chair.
Ethan then interjects,
The professor's right.
Lily, we met here this morning and talked about the plan for today.
I couldn't go since I was caught up with the cafe because one of the morning staff
members didn't show up.
Ethan goes on and asks, Lily, how did you escape?
Ava stops taking notes for a minute and looks up to repeat the question.
Yeah, Lily, how did you escape?
We haven't heard that part yet.
Having just taken another bite of food, Lily waits a moment and then gives them all a bite
of a play-by-play account of what happened in the tunnel and how she was able to push
the gate open, find her way through the dark maze and then out to freedom.
She explains to them about the guard being distracted by what may have been the noise
of the other three entering the tunnel, about her being scared but brave, her thought process
discovering Chen's sweatshirt and then wondering what they have done with him.
You're so right, Lily, Ava interrupts.
You're still a missing person out here.
Lily continues, I mean, I assumed Chen was held in that very room you were, but before
they brought you there.
So where did they move him to?
Lily points to the dirty sweatshirt hanging over the back of one of the chairs and says,
his name is written on the inside tag.
Lily continues talking.
I really need his help with the formula that he wrote.
I think that is why they took him.
I think that formula is the key to why we are all in this situation.
She goes on.
I mean, I don't remember much about being taken yesterday morning, but I do remember
that I was in the science lab at the college and the formula called for a substance that
the lab did not have.
So I asked Professor Sharpton, who was there monitoring the lab, if he could help me.
As soon as he saw what I was working on, all these bad things just started happening to
all of us.
Sierra lets out a sigh and adds, I don't know Chen very well.
I know him just as a customer here at the cafe, but I do hope he can be found.
I hope he is safe and hasn't been harmed yet.
Hawthorne interrupts.
I hear you, Sierra.
He was one of my best students and a great TA.
I think he stumbled upon something he was not supposed to, tried it, discovered it,
worked, and then that's what triggered all these things.
The professor continues.
So Lily, you mentioned a mystery element the science lab at the college did not have, an
element the formula caused for?
Yes, Lady answers.
Lily proceeds to grab a piece of paper from Ethan's desk and starts scribbling down a
formula and then says, see this symbol right here.
This is the element I need in order for this formula to work.
I also memorized the formula yesterday morning as I was tired of having to go back and forth
between my phone and the lab tools.
The professor jumps in just as Lily is done speaking and says, I don't want to get ahead
of myself but I think Ethan and I found the missing element you need for the formula.
I mean I'm not 100% sure, but the substance we found in mine number 3 on Rob's Peak, which
was labeled positive by the miners, contained some sort of element in the walls of one of
the shafts.
I scraped off some samples which I left here in the office this morning.
Oh, there's the sample.
Over there, that's on the shelf by the door.
The professor gets up and grabs the baggie off the shelf, looks down at it and continues.
I've been around a lot of different rocks and dirt in my lifetime and this sample here,
well it's unique and rare.
Wow, Lily responds.
The two things I was missing in the lab yesterday to make this formula work was, number one,
extreme heat.
More heat than the small Bunsen burner the lab has on hand.
And that substance you are now holding, professor.
We need to find a way to test this.
That's the only way we will be able to know why these people want to keep it a secret.
Cira half listening as she finishes her salty fries says, Lily, did I just hear you say
you need extreme heat?
One of my artisan friends has a kiln at her house and according to her, she has to fire
her porcelain pieces at a much higher temperature than her clay pieces.
Maybe her kiln would work.
If so, then don't we have what we need?
Lily answers, yeah, I think that would work.
Okay guys, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
Now that we have our sequence of events all figured out, let's lay out all the evidence
Ava and Cira pulled from their rooms in the tunnels and see if we can put more of the
pieces together.
He continues, We haven't received a call back from Agent Carson yet, so we're not sure when
he's going to show up and I don't think it's safe yet for us to be out and about, especially
while it's still light out.
Also, Lily, there's probably a few other items you would need to get from the science lab
that the formula calls for that you don't really have on you right now.
Ethan jumps in and says, I'll bring up the big elephant in the room.
I mean, there's a US treasury gold bar sitting on my desk and when you look at it, it's probably
over 25 pounds.
And also, what's with all the old dusty stuff in Lily's backpack?
Ethan, if that gold bar is what I think it is, then it's 27.4 pounds or 12.4 kilos.
That's the international standard for traded gold bullion between central banks.
I wrote about it in one of my books.
It's also got the US Treasury Department stamped on it, which means it either was minted by
the Treasury Department or was minted and is heading to the Treasury Department.
Either way, the thing sitting on your desk is worth about three quarters of a million US dollars.
Everyone in Ethan's small office immediately stopped eating, looked up at the professor
and then around the room with faces that said, you've got to be kidding me.
Ava breaks the silence with a question to Cira and says, Cira, do you remember that
large pallet that was covered with the tarp in the tunnel room?
Yeah.
Cira answers, knowing where Ava is going with this question.
Well, there's probably hundreds more.
Maybe upwards of a thousand of those gold bars down in one of the tunnel rooms Cira
and I were in.
They were covered with an old cloth tarp.
We didn't get to look, but the shape and the size of the objects under the tarp match
description of being a lot of those gold bars all stacked on top of each other.
Ava is smiling as she's saying this.
Okay, but let's get back to the backpack.
I'm not going back down in those tunnels again right now, Cira says.
Yeah, I would not go down those tunnels either, but back to the backpack.
Come on guys, there could be close to $750 million in gold sitting down that tunnel.
Ava pauses for a moment, thinking about it and then continues.
Cira and I found a lot of other odds and ends in one of the other rooms.
We filled Lily's backpack with what we could carry, but there's a lot more of this stuff
down there than what we could carry out.
My hope is that we can study this together and it'll help us piece the other parts of
this puzzle together.
We'll need to be efficient about looking at all the stuff in the backpack and making
note of each item though.
Once we hand it over to the FBI, we probably won't ever see it again and it's our only
leverage we have at this point.
Cira and Lily open the backpack and start laying out all the items from the backpack
onto the small table sitting against the wall in Ethan's already small office.
Cira then says, I'll just pick up an item, pass it around and see if we notice anything
about it.
Ava then instructs, once you're done looking at it, place it over by the door on the floor.
I'll take a photo of it and then I can make a note of it.
This is exciting.
I'm actually doing things we learned about in forensics classes this past year.
I can't believe it.
This is so surreal.
The professor and Ethan watch as the girls lay out and organize the items that were jammed
into the backpack.
Professor Hawthorne noticing the pain more now from his cut on his side then says, I'm
going to need to sneak over to Doc Rivers office across the street as soon as he closes.
He's going to need to clean and stitch this cut.
Let's get started and see how far I get.
Cira passes around old newspaper clippings mostly intact from old and local small newspapers
from the early and late 1930s.
Some were quite hard to read and were too torn or faded.
However, the group found several references in the clippings about several families in
the local family that were relatives of the family who had traveled from Virginia in search
for gold.
One of the interviews that the paper had conducted was with a very old man who told some outlandish
stories about what his relatives had done.
Ava then says, yeah, let me see that.
She reads a few of the clippings and then says, the man being interviewed alleges that
the two Chinese brothers who owned the cabin up on Rob's Peak were robbed and murdered
because of something they had discovered in one of the mines.
Oh, it also says that the two brothers made gold.
Weird.
The article then talks about large amounts of cargo being wagon-trained across the US
back to Virginia, especially between 1851 to 1861.
And it continued after the Civil War by railroad train to Virginia and Washington, DC.
The professor then adds, this old map here confirms the location of some of the cabins
on Rob's Peak along with the worker camps that used to be in the valley of what we now
know as the reservoir.
You see, there used to be a dozen or more worker camps along the reservoir valley.
Ethan interrupts everyone and says, well, this seems like a plastic cover-up of some
sorts, steal from the little guys, destroy the evidence and get rid of all the witnesses
and then cover up what you did.
The room went silent for a moment and then the professor followed that up with, okay,
let's go with this theory and assume that's what the evidence is showing us.
He continues, bear with me as I play out this theory.
Okay, the two brothers from China come to the new America looking for work and a better
life.
They bring over some ancient alchemist formula, discover that it works after they find the
one element they're missing in Mind Sight number 3.
This mind sight also included an inscription of the Chinese character that translates as
positive, as Ethan and I discovered.
The two families from Virginia, who were part of the ruling and political class back east
at that time, sent several family members here at the beginning of the gold rush in
1849.
I'm assuming they were either wanting to get rich themselves or were needing the gold
they were going to find for something else.
I mean, why would they come all this way?
They were already wealthy and well to do back in Virginia, unless the professor stopped
for a moment.
They needed the gold for the south because at the time the southern states were wanting
to secede from the union, the northern states.
They wanted to find gold and send it back to Richmond, Virginia, which was the capital
of the south.
Eva says all of this as she slowly gets up out of her chair and takes a couple steps
over to the table that's holding all the stuff in the backpack.
She then picks up one of the dirty old sealed glass jars, tries to pry the lid off, no luck.
So then she drops it onto the floor.
Glass breaks and shatters, revealing all the contents inside.
Yup, Ethan says.
I think my theory is going to be proved correct.
If I'm not mistaken, these look like real gold nuggets.
The room is silent for a moment as all of them look down at the numerous gold nuggets
laying around the broken glass pieces.
The professor then says, if this is true, if that formula has the capacity to make gold,
then that's a pretty big secret that needs to be kept quiet.
I'll bet that some of that gold made here back in those days was used to help fund the
Confederate army during the Civil War.
Those two families from Virginia not only had ties to the political class in Virginia,
but also had ties to the military.
Sierra then asks another question to the group.
When Eva and I were down in the tunnel room, we found old, I mean really old mining tools
that had Chinese characters etched into some of the wooden handles and on some of the metal
parts.
What could that mean?
Eva took photos of some of them.
Lily then asks, Eva, let me see those pictures.
I may be able to tell what the characters represent.
Lily looks at several of the images and then blurs out.
Those characters are family names.
Those tools have the names of families on them.
My guess is that those tools belong to certain worker families.
Eva then says, here's another article from I guess the same time period as the other
ones we read.
And it talks about the gold rush days as well.
And then it talks about the several large fires that ripped through all the worker camps,
killing many of them.
And then some of the workers and their family members just disappearing, never to be seen
again.
I told you, Eva replies.
A classic cover up.
Wow, it sure looks that way.
This is huge.
Wait, okay, so the two families and their paid cronies just basically wiped out over
a dozen worker camps and murdered countless prospectors and their family members.
And they took that formula and made gold and then sent it back to the East to fund the
Confederate war effort against the Union?
Eva's creative mind is spinning all over the place as she continues to type out all
the details the group is talking about.
As they are picking up the glass and looking at the small gold nuggets they had been on
the floor, Sarah sees the Ludge book sitting on the table under a few other, under a few
other newspaper clippings and old letters.
She grabs it and then opens it and says, I forgot I grabbed this, but this ledger booklet
may also be important.
It contains dates, names, weights, and money amounts.
This ledger has names and dates that range from the 1850s through the early 1900s.
There are two names that show up a lot here, Stewart and Johnson.
Professor, do either of those names ring a bell?
Professor Hawthorne thinks for a moment and then says, California State Rep Deborah Stewart
Brown.
He pauses for a moment and continues, She kept her maiden name Stewart.
When she was campaigning many years ago, I remember her making a big deal about why she
kept her maiden name when she got married.
She said something about how her family helped build the state of California and how she
always wanted voters to remember that when they heard her name.
The professor stops for a moment, cracks a half smile and then says, hmm, the irony here.
This ledger book records hundreds of payout amounts to the Stewart family over 50 plus
years and I'm guessing these are all bribes.
Wow, this is huge, especially if this is still happening today.
I mean, think about it, State Rep Stewart Brown helped pass legislation years ago to
create the dam and the reservoir.
Here's an article from that pile about how her bill passed and then became law.
The article praises her as being a conservationist along with her efforts to protect and preserve
the natural beauty and water resources of this area.
She also controls the budgets of certain parks and rec areas in El Dorado County.
The ledger that you found in the tunnel incriminates just about every one of her ancestors.
Fast forward to today, my guess is that this secret group is still using their power and
wealth to bribe corrupt politicians and prominent city and county officials like the mayor,
professor Sharpton, maybe even the sheriff's office.
I mean, the man who shot at me in the tunnel still had his deputy's uniform on.
Ava knows they've hit the jackpot and can't wait to get started structuring her series
of articles.
Ava picks up her phone and calls her editor at the be and asks for more resources.
She informs editor that she's working on a series of articles that will hit the national
news.
Hopefully the international news circuit too.
She requests the help of Ted along with a larger budget so she can set up a working
office in Coloma for the next few months.
The investigation and incoming warrants and arrests will take months to follow and report
on and she wants to be on the front lines.
She doesn't want the story to fall into the hands of any other reporter, especially since
she and her friends have risked so much to get the information they're now looking at.
As all of this has been happening, Lydia has been going over the formula and this new element
in her head.
She's also been looking at some of the other old papers found which include chemical symbols,
numbers and temperatures.
She's pretty sure the formula she had will work with the right heat and this new element
the professor had a sample of.
She picks up another cell jar that is sitting on the table and then notices that the contents
look similar to the element the professor found in mine site number 3.
She then says, I've got enough information and substances here to recreate the experiment.
It looks like this other jar contains the same substance the professor and Ethan found
in the mine site.
She continues and says out loud, I think this formula, if mixed properly, can convert a
base metal like lead, zinc or tin into gold and depending on what base metal is used,
the gold produced could be graded between 18 to 24 karat gold, the latter being 99.9%
pure gold.
If I had to guess, that gold bar there looks to be close to 24 karat gold.
Professor Hawthorne then says, the FBI will need to investigate the connection between
all of this and the US Treasury Department.
I hope the corruption does not go up that far in our federal government.
Eva chimes in.
You never know professor, money makes people do weird and unforeseen things.
She continues.
A little secret bad guy group is being paid and it's paying other people to keep their
little secret.
So now that we know how all the history stuff is connected, we still need to find out how
Chen came about getting this formula and where he's been taken.
The conversation among the group is like popcorn.
The evidence and details help them connect just about all the dots.
Eva then says, I looked up the name Johnston online around that time period in history,
specifically during the 1850s and 1860s and well, according to what I found, there was
a family with the same name that played an important part in the political structure
of the South at that time.
If I had to bet, these people are probably related.
Eva then interjects, I think I found an identity of one of the other persons in that secret
meeting at the reservoir.
I'm not a hundred percent sure, but there's been a recently published magazine that includes
a long and flowery article on the newly elected Coloma City Council member Margaret Deason.
Ciara then responds, if she's potentially the fourth person in that room, then who was
the fifth?
We know it was a man.
Was this man large?
The professor asks with the hopes it was the guard he encountered in the tunnel.
No, he wasn't very large.
I would say he was average build, Ciara answers.
The professor looks down at his watch, feeling quite tired and achy, and says, I need to
head over to Doc Rivers Clinic across the street.
The clinic just closed and I need to catch the Doc before he leaves for the evening.
I also need to check in with my wife and let her know what's going on.
There's no hiding these scratches on my face or my ripped and dirty shirt.
By this time, the group had looked at and documented all the things Ava and Ciara had
taken from the tunnels.
The professor stood up and looked around at all the others.
Ava was still typing some of her own thoughts and ideas out.
Ciara was still snapping photos of some of the last bits of items from the backpack.
Ethan was studying some of the letters that were recovered and Lily was inspecting the
gold nuggets she had picked up off the floor.
Before the professor could walk out of the office, Ava's phone rings and startles them,
almost at the same time the professor's phone rings.
The professor answers and then says to the group, it's the FBI, it's Agent Carson.
The professor stands there nodding his head and then replies, no, we're all together.
It wasn't safe for us to go back to our own houses, he continues.
Okay, yes, we're currently in town and hiding out in the back of Ethan's cafe.
Yes, we have the things we took from the tunnel.
No, we haven't interacted with anyone or shown anyone those things.
The professor listens a bit longer and then hangs up the phone and says to the others
who are looking back and forth at Ava and the professor who are both on calls at the
same time.
Agent Carson is on his way here as we speak and he's being accompanied by the special
agent in charge of the San Francisco FBI field office and by a forensic officer.
I think he said his name was Williamson or something.
This is a pretty big deal if the lead field office agent and the forensic officer will
be here within the hour.
Ava then jumps into the conversation.
I just got off the phone with Ted and he and the editor will be here tomorrow, mid-morning.
This is a big deal if the B's editor is coming here personally.
She says that since she's trying to hold back her excitement, it will probably be a
career changing event for her and in a good way.
The professor then says that he's standing in the doorway getting ready to leave for
the clinic.
Okay, okay, we know this is a big deal so let's not slip up right now.
Let's keep all this evidence here in this room.
The FBI is going to want all this stuff intact when they arrive and I'm assuming they'll
tag it, bag it and take it with them.
The professor turns around and then adds as he exits the office.
I'll be back shortly so stay put.
He exits the cafe and into the alley closing the back cafe door behind him.
He takes a few steps and then his phone rings again.
He answers.
Hey honey, I was just going to call you and ask if you could come meet me at Doc Rivers
Clinic on Main Street.
I had a small mishap today.
No, no, I'm okay, nothing serious.
I'll tell you when I see you.
It's a long story.
Yeah, sorry, I must have been in a place with no cell phone service.
No, I didn't get your text message either.
As Othorn talks with his wife, he observes many of the downtown shops starting to close
early because of the annual Gold Rush Festival Parade which will be happening that evening.
The parade starts several blocks down and several streets over and comes directly down
Main Street in front of Ethan's Cafe and all the other shops located there.
The parade attracts a mixture of local town residents and tourists as they all cram into
the downtown area to enjoy a family fun summertime event.
The parade often includes festive and decorated floats that are usually pulled by pickup trucks
and tractors, two or three county high school marching bands, local clubs, and the ever
so popular El Dorado College's award-winning Drumline members.
The parade is a colorful and fun event that brings so many people together from all over
the place.
The evening then concludes with a controlled fireworks display which the county parks office
approved since there was plenty of rain and snow melt during the spring season.
No worries of forest fires this year.
Professor Hawthorne's phone is about to die because of the water damage it sustained during
his swim across the river earlier that day, so he says to his wife quickly,
My phone is acting weird and it may cut off, so really quick, can you bring me a fresh
shirt as well?
Yes, I'm walking over to the clinic right now, I will see you in a few minutes.
No, okay, really quick.
The professor stops walking and just stands here on the sidewalk now, next to Ethan's
Cafe and directly across the street from the clinic.
Professor Hawthorne then says abruptly, Wait, what?
Bill Sharpton called you today?
Really?
No, no, no, you didn't do anything wrong.
Okay, okay, just get here as soon as you can.
I'll be at the clinic, so just knock on the front glass window and someone will come out
and let you in.
Hawthorne then walks across Main Street toward the clinic.
Another person emerges from the alley but stays close to the building's side wall.
This person had been hiding near the fire escape staircase on another business's back
door.
The stranger peers across the street and watches as the professor greeted by the doctor at
the front door of the clinic and then is let inside.
And that ends part 9.
Thank you for listening.
Tune in next episode as we conclude our story, The Secrets of El Dorado with our season finale
part 10 titled, The Showdown and Reveal.
As we end this episode, we'd like to again thank Mr. Ben and Ms. Marilee and our student
writers for joining us and for sharing not only insight into the importance of writing
but also sharing their writing pieces with us.
So thank you.
Again, make sure you don't miss our next and final episode of season 2 which we will
bring you the conclusion to our epic adventure of The Secrets of El Dorado.
And as always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international
student production team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright free images, videos, and music.
And we are signing off until next time.
Be your Students Incorporated, because your voice matters.