FOURTH GRADE CLASS TAKES TRIP TO JIN OFFICES

By Josh Berkland, fourth grade

Thursday, December 16, 2010, our class took a trip to Jefferson Iowa News. It was our annual Business and Industries Day. Each class got to select a business where we would like to work. We got a chance to see how an internet news service works. We went to school at the usual time, and a bus took us to Jefferson Iowa News. It was lots of fun and our teacher said that maybe we could go back there some day, but not as long as she was still teaching.

The first person we met was the secretary, Carly Silk. She was very nice. She was very pretty. She showed us where she makes coffee for Mr. Bland. Mr. Bland came out of his office and kept having Miss Silk look for files about the zoo. He told her that they were all in the bottom drawer. She spent a lot of time bent over that bottom drawer, but never found exactly the right file. Mr. Bland told her they could look some more after we left.

Our teacher told us to ask Mr. Bland questions. When it was my turn, I asked him where he went to college. Mr. Bland said that "you don't need to go to no college", but he must have because his diploma is on the wall in his office. It is from the 'Maxwell Brothers Carnival Amusement Shows, Inc.'. Our teacher wasn't sure where that was. Susie asked Mr. Bland why he was smoking when the sign on the wall said "No Smoking". He was very nice and put his cigarette out on the floor before taking the sign off the wall. He didn't know how old we were, because he told us we could smoke if we wanted.

Our teacher asked to see some one else, so Mr. Bland took us down the hall to another office. It was the Science Editor's office. He was not as nice as Mr. Bland. His name is Vince Hawking. Mr. Bland told us that Mr. Hawking is the second-smartest man he knows. He knows all about science and things like the earth and outer space and nature. Our teacher said we could all ask Mr. Hawking one question. When it was my turn, I asked him how old the earth was. He said it was about 5,000 years old. I said that our teacher told us it was millions and millions of years old. He said that was all a bunch of crap and that it was criminal to be teaching kids things like that. He said our teacher should be locked up for saying that. When he said that, everybody cheered real loud!

Our teacher wasn't feeling well, so she made us get back on the bus after that. Some day, I would like to have a job like Mr. Bland or Mr. Hawking.

Josh Berkland, fourth grade