Service Learning: The Nightmare!

This past week in our service learning group, we were able to decide on a final questionnaire to send to teachers and students. They were to be sent out to classrooms on Monday and Tuesday, 4/28 and 4/29. We are to tally them on Wednesday and look over the results at our next meeting on Thursday.

We also assigned roles. By a unanimous vote, I was chosen as leader of our group. Dorian became our official reporter. Anya is our run-around girl. Portia is in charge of scheduling and Felicia is our researcher. We will change and update these jobs as needed so everyone will have something to do.

I believe that after the initial confusing, we have made a steady progress with our work. We have ideas and lots of questions, but we're getting somewhere.

Update on my Service Learning projects

As far as my work with the 'Franks for Frankie' group goes, I have made posters and gotten in contact with a few companies who may be willing to make a donation, where it by products or money.

My individual tutoring is going well. I have the same people almost everyday, but they seem to understand what they are doing by the time we are finished. I have done about 4 of my hours in that.

Now, I am apparently in charge of creating an off site tutoring program with our friends over at Independence Charter School. We all decided to help them because it went so well with them last year and it was close by. I have been put in charge of making contact with them and seeing if they will agree to us tutoring their children after school hours next year. We are in the process of making a proposal letter to send to them outlining our plan.

Service Learning

I am working with Bridget and her group on a 'Franks for Frankie' fund raiser. The proceeds will goto research for cancer research. I am responsible for making the posters advertising the event and finding companies to donate food and beverages.

I am also holding tutoring sessions in the IMC at lunchtime for ninth graders. I know that a lot of people are having trouble with keeping or getting their grades up, so I am going to help them.

I am not sure what I am doing for my solo services, but I am either helping a writing workshop with Alex Haynes at her school or doing after school tutoring at my local rec center.

Service Learning

Independent-
1) Helping out at my local Recreation Center
2) Helping at my local Library
3) A Creative Writing tutoring session with Alex at her school

School wide-
1) A bake sale for diabetes research
2) A run for heart disease research
3) A carnival for leukemia research.
4) A community garden/park (I have a place nowhere near here, but South Philly people can do it)
5) Tutoring at a local grade school (Independence Charter School)
6) A book/toys drive for a local orphanage

I'm still working on it, but this is what I have so far.

My NHD Experience

NHD was the single most stressful project I have ever had to do. It was a test of my patience, and research and writing abilities. I was pulling my hair out and screaming at the top of my lungs at times, but I am glad that I did it and I'm proud of my paper.

I came to this school for a challenge and I got what I asked for. This is the biggest project I have ever done and the most detail oriented. The bibliography was the bane of my existence for this project. All of the information and the specific way it had to be written, it was maddening! Next year, I willing make sure to cite my sources as I go so I don't need to go back later and find them.

I learned a lot about myself during this project. I learned that I a capable of more than I thought. I only had a vague idea of what I was doing, and I'm still going to city's! I was able to find useful, valuable resources and write a good, interesting, information filled essay that gives all the facts. I also learned that I am a great organizer and that I can get things done right and on time with very little effort.

As much as I whined and complained during this project, I am glad I did it.

Ida B. Wells: Civil Rights Leader

Ida b. Wells may be one of the most important and influential women of our time. She was a strong, powerful figure during the Civil Rights Movement. In this essay I will introduce you to her early life, major accomplishments, and how she has affected me today.

Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862, just six months before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. She was the oldest of eight children. She and her family were enslaved prior to the Civil War. She went to Shaw College, now Rust College, but had to leave to take care of her siblings after her parent’s death during the 1878 yellow fever epidemic. She became a schoolteacher to support her family. Between teaching and taking care of her brothers and sisters, she went to summer courses at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She died on March 25, 1931.

She was a very active desegregation leader. One of the things she is most well known for is her court case after she was nearly forced to move on a train. This was the first case after the Jim Crowe laws became legal. She lost, but only because the government wanted to stop other African Americans from following her example. She also was a part owner and reporter for Free Speech, a local newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee before she was run out of town for reporting on the lynching of three black men. She was a key founder of the National Association of Colored Women. She led a march to President McKinley to protest the lynching of a black postmaster, helped found the NAACP, organized club movements for black women, and promoted political activism for African Americans. She worked with the Negro Fellowship League, the Alpha Suffrage Club, the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Community League in response to Marcus Garvey’s ‘Back to Africa’ movement. She wrote her autobiography called ‘Crusade for Justice’.

She is memorialized in Tennessee’s Hall of Fame for Heroes, as she should be. She played such a large role in such an important time. Without her, thousands of African Americans could have been without hope. She stood for something bigger than herself. She stood for every African American woman who ever knew slavery and oppression. Despite everything she had been through, she stood firm in her beliefs. She never let anyone stop her or change her mind. I admire her for that. I want to help others as she has and make a difference in this world.

As you can see, Ida B. Wells was an astounding person. Despite her trials during the beginning of her life, she persevered to fight for what she thought was right and influenced many people, even today.

Should Parents Be Allowed To Beat Their Kids?

Threats, beatings, and other harsh punishments, these are a few example of what some parents do to get their kids to obey them. Can they do that? Yes. Is it right? No. This is wrong because they only rule by fear, set a bad example as a parent, and make their children more prone to violence.
First, their abuse does not make the kids listen to them. It is the fear that comes from it that makes them obey. The parents gain no respect from their children, only hatred. At the beginning of chapter 6 in Huckleberry Finn, Pa threatens to beat Huck and makes him get money for beer. This only makes Huck hate him and run away.
Second, it is just setting a bad example as a parent. They are showing their children the wrong way to treat their future children. It’s the whole ‘monkey see, monkey do’ thing coming into play. Children learn from their parents and act the same way because that is the way things were done in their house. They’re teaching them that it is okay to use violence over any little thing. Inflicting pain is the only way they think they can make someone listen.
Finally, it makes the children more prone to violence. They don’t learn to stop and talk things out. By causing them pain, they get angry. In order to release their anger, they get into trouble and get beat again. It’s an endless, vicious cycle.
As you can see, no good comes from it. The only things that come from beating your children is being feared, setting a bad example, and having your kids cause trouble. Stop, think, and try every other alternative you can think of before you lay a hand on them. You’ll all be happier in the long run. I know from experience.