Amir is studious and inquisitive. His dream is to one day be a newspaper reporter. He works hard writing articles and conducting interviews for TLX News.
Emilio is an adventurer. He loves to travel with his parents and his older brother, Ernesto. He is also interested in history and has visited many historic sites.
Jill is running for class president at her school. She is a leader in her class and encourages good citizenship. Each month she volunteers at her town’s local food pantry.
Shelby loves going to her local recreation center to skateboard and take art classes. She is very involved in her community and helps with recycling and conservation.
Camille has French heritage. She uses her laptop to email her friends and organizing her MP3 collection. Her dad is a music teacher and someday she might like to be one, too.
Ernesto loves sports, and his favorite sport is soccer. He is also very interested in photography and one day hopes to be a professional photographer.
Ruby cares about environmental issues. She likes to visit state and national parks. Someday, she hopes to be an architect and design skyscrapers that are Earth friendly.
Aiden lives on a big cattle farm in Texas. He likes to grow vegetables in his own garden and uses them to help his family make fajitas. Cooking is his favorite hobby.
Adam lives with his grandparents near the beach. They are Chinese Americans. He likes to help his grandfather paint pictures of the ocean.
Lilly wants to be a pilot. One day she would even like to fly in the space shuttle! For now, she'll just use her telescope to visit outer space.
Reema and her family are from India. She likes animals and hopes someday to be a vet. She is practicing by taking care of her pet turtle, George.
Sam likes to read. He loves going to the library and reading books about dinosaurs. Sam is hearing impaired. His family is learning American Sign Language.

Amir is studious and inquisitive. His dream is to one day be a newspaper reporter. He works hard writing articles and conducting interviews for TLX News.

oath:: a statement or promise in which a person swears that what he or she says is true
foreign policy:: the plans that a government follows with other countries
stimulate:: to make more active
interpret:: to explain the meaning of
Shah:: the king of Iran or Persia
hostage:: a person held by a kidnapper for their own gain
rugged:: difficult to cross
supply:: the amount of a good that can be sold
demand:: the amount of a good that people want
economist:: a person who studies economics
Twitter:: a social networking service people use to send short messages
tweet:: the message someone sends on Twitter

Home / Civics

How can leaders bring about change?

Choosing the Right People

When Sonia Sotomayor was just 10 years old she decided what she wanted to beâ€”a judge. And become a judge is just what she did. In fact, on Thursday, August 6 2009, Sonya Sotomayor became a justice, or judge, on the Supreme Court of the United States. This is the highest court in our country.

President Barack Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor in May of 2009. When the president picks someone for an office it is called a nomination. The person nominated is called a nominee. Nominating a Supreme Court justice is an important responsibility for the President. Supreme Court justices serve the Court for their entire lives. The person the President chooses may be making decisions for many years. That means that Presidentâ€™s can affect change long after their terms have has ended.

Just because President Obama chose Sotomayor, didnâ€™t mean she would get the job. Becoming a Supreme Court Justice can take a long time. Senators hold special meetings to ask the nominee questions about the law. They must make sure the nominee will interpret, or tell the meaning of laws fairly. After the questions are over, the Senators take a vote. If enough senators vote for the nominee, that person will become a Justice on the Supreme Court. In a 68 to 31 vote, Sonia Sotomayor was approved to be a Supreme Court Justice. She is the third woman in history be onÂ the Court.

Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. Her selection helped make the court more diverse.

Justice Sotomayor is also the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Justice Sotomayorâ€™s family is from the island of Puerto Rico. She grew up in New York City with her mother and her brother, Juan. Her family did not have money to send her to college. But Sonia was an excellent student. Because she did well in school, she was able to go on to college and law school. She worked hard to make her dream come true!

When Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was just 10 years old she decided what she wanted to beâ€”a judge. And become a judge is just what she did. So, what do you want to be?

TLX News Journal – Civics Activity:

A judge should demonstrate positive character traits. Choose a trait that you feel is especially important. Find a picture of someone demonstrating this trait and glue it in to your journal. You may find the picture in a magazine, online, or take a photo of your own!

<< Back to Essential Question