Steppes Of Glory

[Deleted]

Grace smiled to herself as she set a copy of notes onto Luka's desk. She had a feeling that her students would enjoy the lesson. At the very least, she hoped that they would be intrigued by the commonalities they shared with the people whom she had decided to focus on today. A glance at the clock told her that she had just enough time to pass back some of the papers she had graded. It didn't take long before every desk had something on it.

As the tardy bell sounded, Grace slid the projector open and flipped most of the lights off. "Hello everyone, I hope you've been able to take a look over your last assignment. If you have any questions, come talk to me after class. Alright, today we will be focusing of a group of people renowned for their horsemanship: The Mongols. These nomads roamed the Asian steppes and began expanding into an empire during the 13th century. Previously a people of kinship clans, a man named Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan, managed to unite the warring clans and turned their energy outward." Grace began, introducing the topic. She paused to allow the students to catch up on their notes. Then she continued on, making a story out of Genghis Khan's background up to the moment he was elected Khagan, or Supreme Ruler.

"The Mongols used longbows and had well disciplined fighting units that they quickly used to conquer most of China, the Middle East, and parts of Russia." More slides followed, including a map that depicted the extent of the Mongol Empire at its height. Grace paused once more, her eyes scanning the rows of students for anyone not making the most of her class. "For those of you caught up with notes, I'd like you to turn to the first page and draw a picture of a Mongol, based on both what I've already talked about and any background knowledge you might have. It doesn't have to be perfect, just something that you think represents a Mongol." She had one more bit to cover before she could give them the actual assignment, but she wanted to give the slower writers time to jot down the information but prevent the quicker writers from getting bored.

---

Present:
Cortney Smit
Elizabeth Toman
Jayne Doe
Othello Buskirk
@jasper38
Ellis David Beckette
@alanaAlana Emilia StevensonAlana Emilia Stevenson
@running5

Absent:
Adonya van Rutherford
@calebm
Gretchen Holmes
@john
@jacobs
@lukamason

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney smiled and chatted with the people who spoke to her in the hallways. Laughing at the jokes and shrugging off apologises as she was bustled by other students trying to get past. With a wave and a grin, she headed off toward her next class.

Walking into the History class, she sat down at her normal table, and got the things out of her bag that she needed before looking at what was on her table. Raising her eyebrows she picked up her graded paper and then looked over it before she tucked it away in the back of he folder, telling herself that she would look over it properly later, it was just that there was nothing written by Ms Ackerman that drew her attention.

When the woman started talking, Cortney picked up her pen and jotted down the key points of what was being said. She didn't know a lot about Genghis Khan, but she was sure that that wouldn't be a problem.

When they were given their next thing to do, the girl swapped her pen for a pencil and began a rough sketch of what she thought a Mongol would look like. She had never been known for being an artist and was just pleased that she got more than a stick figure on the page.

[Elizabeth Toman]

Elizabeth stalked down the hallways, narrowing her eyes at people who didn't get out of the way quick enough and barged past the ones who didn't move at all, with a muttered growl about waste of spaces.

Entering the classroom as though she owned the room, she gave the teacher a superior look, still ruffled about the note she had received about talking out in the last class. It served the other girl right for talking about her pathetic life as though anyone would actually care.

Looking over the paper that was on her desk, she narrowed her eyes at a couple of the comments before she very clearly picked the assignment up, folded it in half and dropped it in her bag. She didn't care what the teachers thought about her, all that mattered is what she did in the gym and convincing their pathetic coach to sign her up for some proper competitions, she would never make it to the Olympics by attending stupid inter-school events.

She leaned back in her chair, almost half asleep, as she listened to the woman drone on about some ancient people, she bit back a yawn as she allowed the woman's voice lull her to sleep. However, her eyes flew open at one word "Notes!" She repeated. "It's your job to supply us with things like those!" She grumbled, in a much softer voice, as she snatched her pen off the desk and started scribbling down what she could remember the woman saying.

She then began to draw a picture of a Mongol, she was now in an even worse mood so her picture was no more than a stick figure holding a stick beside a stick horse.

[Jayne Doe]

Jayne walked though the halls, she felt that she was finally coming to grips with what she had found out. She was pleased that she know knew that her parents had indeed loved her, and at the same time was riddled with guilt that they had died while she was still alive.

Walking into the classroom, she walked over to her table. There were days when she wanted to be entirely rebellious and sit down at another table, but when she saw that there were papers on the tables, she knew it was best not to be rebellious today. sliding into her chair, she looked at what was on her desk, reading through the notes that Ms Ackerman had written and then tucked the paper into the back of her folder.

When the class started, she picked up her pen, ready to take notes and when the teacher began speaking, Jayne wrote down every word that was said. She'd done a few stints working for her foster parents in the past and having to write things down verbatim as they were said.

She arched her eyebrows at their next exercise and gave a nervous laugh. She wasn't exactly an artist and couldn't draw a person to help herself. However, she had learned a bit about the Mongols while doing an assignment on Mulan, as the Huns never actually crossed the Great Wall, but the Mongols did. And, rather than drawing a Mongol, so to speak, she drew pictures of what they wore, the tack they used on their horses and the weapons that they used. She knew that it wasn't what had been asked of them, but it was the best that she could do. She just couldn't draw people, even her stick figures looked wrong.

[Othello Buskirk]

Othello slipped into the classroom. As much as he wanted to go straight to his table at the front of the room, he walked over to the teacher's desk. "Good morning." He said with a slight smile as he handed her a note. The note explained that if he left the room, there was a reason that he had done it, as he had asked the school nurse to write him a note for each of his academic teachers since whatever was wrong with him seemed to be sticking around. He didn't have a fever, nor did he have any other flu symptoms, so there was no reason for the nurse to keep him out of class, but he had finally given in and knew his parents were on their way to the Academy.

Walking to his table, he slid into the chair and fought the urge to close his eyes. The walk from one class to the next had wiped him out. Blowing out his breath, he looked over the paper on his desk and then placed his folder on top of it, not seeing anything he needed to speak with Ms Ackerman about.

He took notes as the woman at the front of the room spoke and found himself getting lost in the story of the Mongolians, as they crossed boarders and raided city after city.

He then turned the page and started to draw a picture of what he thought a Mongol would look like, in amour, since the woman's tale had been about war. He had always though about learning archery.

[Deleted]

Candice scurried through the halls holding a map of the school. Her face help her trademark nervous lip bite and scrunched brows as she tried to find her way. There were so many people! How was anyone supposed to get anywhere within a few minutes, what if she had to go to the restroom, or her locker, which she hadn't figured out yet. It said to spin a few times to the left, then the first number, back to the left, second number then to the right. It lied. She had tried twice before giving up thinking she was running out of time. As a result, her new forest green bookbag was straining under the weight of all of her books and supplies, well her shoulder as well. Candice felt like she should have a warning sticker on her back 'first day at public school' as she wandered the halls. 

Finally, she found her designated classroom and gave a small grin, she had won. She'd gotten to her second class of the day without being late! She entered to find a few people already sitting and took a seat that didn't seam to belong to anyone near the center of the class. Candice quietly opened a new notebook and brought out a pen to take notes. She grinned at the subject, suspecting it would be quite enjoyable. She decided she would address the teacher at the end of the lesson as to not disturb the class. This was the first day she was really hearing a lecture after all, much better than reading it on a computer screen. With the time frame she normally did her schoolwork in, she was a fabulous note taker in a strange right. Most of her notes would look pretty bare next to another most likely but she had an excellent memory with this sort of thing. She glanced up for the most brief of moment, eyes wide as another student spoke, she wouldn't believe the poor work ethic of the girl! However she was quickly back to taking notes.

Another grin passed her lips as they were given a mini assignment. Excellent, her art skills would come in handy. Candice fished out a pencil and went to work, first a sort of egg shape for the head, then marking halfway down for the eyes.... Candice lost herself for a few minutes as she began to flesh out a realistic image of a Mongolian man on his horse driving his herd over the steppes. Although she was a talented artist it was easy to see that she was much better at the horse, tack and background than his rider. As she drew she forgot about sitting in proper manner and was soon sitting indian style in her seat, her notebook on her lap instead of the desk. 

[Deleted]

 Dennis zapped to his history class like a shot, he had gotten used to where all the classrooms were so he did not need to think twice about where his history class was. He opened the door and sat down at any table that was free he sat his bag down and picked up a pen and a pencil from it. He also took some lined paper and wrote his name- Dennis Hart and the date in his nice slanted writing.

 When the teacher spoke, Dennis wrote the title quickly but neatly- the "Mongols" and wrote notes about them as she talked about them. He thought that it would be an interesting topic as he did not know much about them. When it got to the time where they were to draw their perception of a Mongol. Den was not that good at drawing people but he was good at drawing animals so he made the drawing of a horse rearing and then he had drawn his perception of a Mongol on the horse's back.

 His perception of a Mongol was a man in a samurai helmet and holding a sword with only slight armour and on his face was a beard. Hopefully it was accurate enough. 

[Deleted]

Staring at his locker, Ellis rubbed his eyes tiredly as he packed some books and notebooks. He hadn't slept too well the other night, but he still came to school unlike some people he knew. Slowly like a turtle he finished his packing and closed the lock door. A small huff came from his mouth knowing today would be quite long due to his lack of sleep. With another yawn coming out he headed down the hall way towards the history department as he stretched his arms out a bit.


Ellis then quietly entered the World History class with a bag slung over his shoulder. He took his seat up front and gave a short yawn already ready for a nap. He pulled a pencil and a notebook out of his bag before sliding the bag down to the floor letting it rest at his side. His eyes scanned the classroom for a bit before class started since he came a bit late, but he soon took notice of the teacher as she begun the lesson. He began to write since he was used to taking notes on his own. He tried to keep everything neat as he wrote down all the need information. 

[Deleted]

Alana took long strides towards her next class over in the history department. She was unsure what to expect as she folded back the map and slipped it in her pocket once again. She really has to get used to this large Academy if she wants to make it through the rest of her years here. She let out a deep breath as she opened the door to World History.

She entered the room and looked over to spot the teacher of the class standing no other than the front of the room. She gave a small smile towards the lady. "Hello, I'm Alana. I'm the new student here." She greeted, unsure if she has already been informed, and glanced around to find a seat that is unoccupied by papers and sat at a table that was in the middle row. She took out her usual supplies - a notebook and pen - and waited for the class to start as the lights started to dim down.

Listening intently, she already turned to a clean page in her notebook and titled the top of the page, The Mongols. She took notes on all the major points in the woman's speech and took fast, but neat notes. She often doesn't like to waste time, but would also like to read her notes later on. She observed the slides as they went along with the lesson. She then switched her pen with a pencil to start sketching what represents a Mongol to her while waiting for others to catch up with the lesson. She just made sure it had the most important item they used in their successes, which was the long bow. It wasn't a very detailed picture, but it at least had the fundamentals of the main task at hand.

[Deleted]

The subject of history never really interested the fifteen year old boy, but it was a requirement for him to pass his current grade. He walked down the hallway and walked almost cautiously into the world history classroom. He took a seat and waited for class to begin. When the bell rang he got his notebook and pencil out and got ready to listen to the teacher. Some of the lights turned off and the projector on.

Referring back to his past thoughts about history being about boring wars and such, he took it back in the instant that the teacher said they would be learning about a group of people who were related to horsemanship. He sat up in his seat and waited to see where she would go with the subject. Jackson jotted down some notes and lifted his head back up to listen again.

The next sentence of instructions caused Jackson to sigh inwards but he did as he was told. Filling to a clean page he started with a person holding a long bow and sort of Jackie Chan looking facial expression, as Ms. Ackerman had told them that they had disciplined fighting skills, his mind immediately went to the great martial artist. He stopped with that only because he figured it would be good enough for the time being.