Every year, children go back to school and are asked to write essays on what they did over the summer. As Labor Day approaches, we’re doing the same, with a look at the standout stories we covered over the past few months; from the oil gusher to the economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the heat wave.

We're asking you: What event defined the summer for you, personally and in the news? Leave your six-word summary in the comments or text TAKE and your summary to 69866!

In this conversation with Jason Stallman, news editor for the national desk at our partner, The New York Times, we revisit some of the newsworthy events and our coverage of them as we say goodbye to summer.  We sum up everything from the gushing oil spill to the faltering economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.