Blog 23 : Final Lesson Reflection

Presentation

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or you senior project?

• I believe that I took on a topic that was pretty dense. It was a subject that I believe is a real/applicable issue that does matter. I have an EQ that can have answers which can be interpreted in many different ways, but my answers do not look at one side of my problem but rather many faces of the issue. What helped is that I did become passionate about my problem, I became extremely invested, especially from the months of February to May, every day 24/7, though it was extremely difficult. I found the answer to an actual social issue. My question and answers cater to 30 - 45 % of the American population. My topic is relevant, its eye-opening, and dense for those in my age group.

(2) Questions to Consider

a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation

• AP-

b.What assessment would you give yourself on your overall Senior Project?

• P-

(3) What Worked For You 

The things that worked for me the most was when I:

• 
  

(4) What Didn't Work

If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

I wish that I had:

• done summer mentorship
• found more credible sources
• been more discipline with my work and due dates
• been consistent with my Mentorship
• chosen a different topic ; a topic that was less dense and complicated
• learned how to positively handle the stress from the project rather than destructively 
• been more responsible
• turned in all of the assignments
• dedicated more time to Mentorship/Independent Component 
• logged my Mentorship hours more efficiently
• been more prepared for my presentation
• been more confident in the senior presentation
• used my time more wisely
• gotten my drivers license (which I still don't have) to drive to the many locations I visited
• used pictures and videos for my final presentation & brought an extension cord for the projector that would have shown the media
• not read off the slides as much as I did during my presentation 
• done my iSearch Paper

(5) Finding Value 

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?

Because of my senior project, I was able to find a possible career route I would like to pursue. I know that what I have found in my senior project, I will use for the rest of my life. I will not undermine how in depth my topic was. I have researched and discovered a information that I would  have never known otherwise.

Blog 22 : Mentorship

Content:

Literal

• Updated Mentorship Blog
• Mentors:
• Debra Martin - Pomona City Council Member; City Hall
• Alejandra Jimenez- La Casita Teen Center; Pomona

Interpretive

• What us the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
• The most important think that I gained from this experience is that I now know what I want to pursue as a career.

Applied

• How has what you've done helped you to answer your EQ?
• My senior project and its answers are pretty broad, yet my mentorships helped answer two of my answers. Mentoring at the teen center helped and connected me to city council member, Debra Martin. She assisted me a lot with finding and connecting with the right people to get involved with to help me find my answer..

Blog 21 : Exit Interview

Exit Interview on May 18, 2015
Content:  1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?

• My essential question is, "What is the most effective support system for an underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle?".

• My first answer: The best way a child can break the poverty cycle is if he or she follows the Social Development Strategy that is in the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan.

• My second answer: A child can have either 1)intrinsic motivation or 2)extrinsic motivation through : 1)wanting to achieve for something greater than what their current circumstance offers them or 2) with the support of a good adult influence, a child will recognize that support and be motivated by an outside force to do well in school and in life.

• My third answer: Schools must prepare students with the proper skills of college preparedness and have embedded the goal of college to all underprivileged students so that - with college- they can have the best opportunity to break the poverty cycle.

• My best answer is, "Schools must prepare students with the proper skills of college preparedness and have embedded the goal of college to all underprivileged students so that - with college- they can have the best opportunity to break the poverty cycle." 

• This is my best answer because:

• Children that usually come from humble backgrounds are usually the first one's in their family to go to college. Because of this, most of these kids do not think that college is a realistic goal usually because of the cost. Schools need to expose to these kids that college is affordable through scholarships and grants. That they need to have the best grades possible for the best chance at receiving those resources. Schools need to talk about college from the very beginning (Elementary) so that the families are on board. The moment that families are involved and informed there is a much higher chance of all-around support and success for the child (Elmer Rodriguez, High School Outreach Specialist/Genethia Hudley-Haynes, Former LAUSD School Board President/currently the Los Angeles County District Three Deputy of Education)

2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• The first time I actually had an idea about what a possible answer could be was when I interviewed High School Outreach Specialist, Elmer Rodriguez, who felt very strongly about how schools, especially in impoverished communities, do not talk about how it can be a possibility for kids to go to college as long as they are supported and told how to receive scholarship money and find ways to go to college. College should be a priority not an option or a maybe especially for kids that come from humble backgrounds.
• The main process was asking professionals who have been in the workforce, who have seen first hand, poverty, and the trial and error and those who have succeeded and those who haven't. 

3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

• The main problem I faced was finding credible sources for my answers. I couldn't find things specific to my project. There were many sources about how poverty is a problem, but never sources on how to combat or solve gentrification and the poverty cycle. There were many first hand experiences of how people escaped the cycle, but non about how to combat it as a whole. The main way I found sources was through my mentorship and interviews. 
• I had problems with mentorship and adjusting to not having a car. So I often took the bus  and started going to city meetings. As a result, I discovered Pomona's Promise, an entire city committee dedicated to a healthier and safer Pomona. 

4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• The fact that I was able to interview an L.A.U.S.D. Board Member, and asking her professional opinion and first-hand experiences
• The second is my independent component because I was able to ask people from different backgrounds and circumstances on what they did right and wrong and noticed a pattern between those who come from humble backgrounds on the problems the face and how they tackled those problems.

Must be prepared with evidence and specific examples to support any response. It is also significant to cite sources as you explain.

Extra Blog : April

The Social Class Structure of the United States

Society is stratified into social classes. Social classes are hierarchical groupings of individuals that are usually based on wealth, educational attainment, occupation, income, or membership in a subculture or social network. 

Key Points:

• The three main social classes that people are aware about are the: Lower, Middle, & Upper Class
• There are variations that include an upper-middle class and a working class
• High-income earners are more substantially educated, have high-status occupations, and maintain powerful social networks
• The "American Dream'  to American society is a meritocratic and class is achievement -based. 
• To sum it up, one's association in a particular social class is based on educational and career accomplishments 

Terms:

• The American Dream - The belief that with hard work, courage, and determination, anyone can prosper and achieve success.
• Social Network - The web of a person's social family, and business contacts, who provide material and social resources and opportunities.
• Corporate Elite - a class of high-salaried stockholders, such as corporate CEO's, who do not necessarily inherit privilege but achieve high status through their career.

Example:  

• An example of someone who achieves the American Dream might be a person who is born to poor parents but is smart and hardworking and eventually goes on to receive scholarships for a college education and to become a successful businessperson. Modern sociologists argue that in the vast majority of cases, people do not achieve the American Dream - instead, people born to poor parents are likely to stay within the lower class, and vice versa.      

Models  of U.S. Social Classes:

• A team of sociologists recently posited that there are six social classes in America. 

1. The Upper Class : 3 % of the population, is divided into upper-upperclass (1% of the U.S. population, earning hundreds of millions to billions per year) and
2.  The lower-upper class (2%, earning millions per year).
3. The Middle Class : (40% of the population) is divided into upper-middle class (14% earning $76,000+ per year) and
4. The lower-middle class  (26% earning $46,000 to $75,000).
5. The working class (30%) earns $19,000 to $45,000 per year
6. The lower class (27% of the population) is divided into working poor (13% earning $9,000 to $18,000 per year) and underclass (14%, earning under $9,000 per year).

•  This model is only a tool for thinking about classes in America but does not fully account for variations in status based on non-economic factor, such as education and occupational prestige. This critique is somewhat mitigated by the fact that income is often closely aligned with other indicators of status.

United States Social Classes

Most social scientist agree that society is stratified by occupation, income, and educational attainment.

• The Upper class has vast accumulated wealth and significant control over corporations and political institutions, and their privilege is usually inherited; the corporate elite consists of high-salaried stockholders, such as corporate CEO's, who did not necessarily inherit privilege but have achieved a high status through their careers; the upper middle class consists of highly educated salaried professionals whose occupations are held in high esteem, such as lawyers, engineers, and professionals; the middle class (the most vaguely defined and largest social class) is generally thought to include people in mid-level managerial positions or relatively low status professional positions, such as high school teachers and small business owners; the working class generally refers to those without college degrees who do low level service work, such as working as a sales clerk or housekeeper, and includes most people whose incomes fall below the poverty line. 

Debates Over the Existence and Significance of U.S. Social Classes

• Many sociologists dispute the existence of class mobility and point to the ways in which social class is inherited. 
• Ex. A son or daughter of a wealthy individual may carry a higher status and different cultural connotations than a member of the nouveau rich or "new money".
• Being born into a particular social class may confer advantages or disadvantages that increase the likelihood that an adult will remain in the social calls into which they were born.
• There is inequality in America, with some people attaining higher status and higher standards of living than others.
• All social classes in America, except for the upper class, consist of tens of millions of people and the examples used are a generalization ; The social classes are so large and feature considerable internal diversity.

Source: Boundless. “The Class Structure in the U.S..” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 19 Jan. 2015. Retrieved 04 May. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/stratification-inequality-and-social-class-in-the-u-s-9/the-class-structure-in-the-u-s-75/the-class-structure-in-the-u-s-442-10206/

Blog 19 : Independent Component 2

Independent Component 2
 

Literal

a) I, Natali Valle, confirm that I have completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b) Two documentaries (Waiting for Superman & Ivory Tower) where two sources I used to:  1) understand documentary style and 2) extract information from. This assisted me in the completion of my independent component 2.

c) Updated log.

d) Mainly I watched different documentaries to understand different types of filming styles. I gathered all my interviews and made them into one long series of interviews. I started shooting a bit of B roll as well as began editing.

Interpretive

This independent was broken into three pieces. The first, watching documentaries to determine which style of documentary I wanted to capture. I am not familiar with film or filming so I believe it is an amateur construction of what a documentary should actually be. It has an abstract theme rather than the typical style of documentary shooting. The second part of my I.C. 2  is actually editing the interviews to construct it into a story line. The third is filming the "B" roll of the documentary. The "B" roll means it is the film used between shots of the main portion of the film.

Applied

This component assisted me with giving me the second answer to my E.Q.  I was able to talk to professionals as well as youth from under served communities to understand whether there was a diffference or defining factor in the lives of those who where high school students. high-school dropouts, college-students, college-drop outs, and college graduates.

Extra Blog : March

Executive Paywatch

High Paid CEOs & the Low Wage Economy

• In 2013 the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 331:1 and the CEO-to-minimum-wage-worker pay ratio was 774:1. America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, a country where hard work and playing by the rules would provide working families a middle-class standard of living. But in recent decades, corporate CEOs have been taking a greater share of the economic pie while wages have stagnated and unemployment remains high. 

• Highly paid CEOs of low-wage employers are fueling this growing economic inequality. In 2013, CEOs of the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index companies received, on average, $11.7 million in total compensation, according to the AFL-CIO’s analysis of available data from 350 companies. 

• Today’s ratio of CEO-to-worker pay is simply unconscionable. While CEO pay remains in the stratosphere, production and non-supervisory workers took home only $35,239 on average in 2013, and a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage earned only $15,080. 

• Even as companies argue that they can’t afford to raise wages, the nation’s largest companies are earning higher profits per employee than they did five years ago. In 2013, the S&P 500 Index companies earned $41,249 in profits per employee, a 38% increase. 

• It doesn't have to be this way. Politicians should raise the minimum wage. Corporations should pay their employees a living wage. And workers should have a collective voice on the job to demand their fair share.

1983 : 46
1993 : 195
2003 : 301
In 2013 the CEO-to-worker pay was 1:331*

*2013 CEO to average worker pay ratio calculated based on AFL-CIO analysis of 350 available companies in the S&P 500. Average worker pay according to the Bureau of Labor  Statistics data for production and non-supervisory workers.

• Side Fact : 49.6% of workers making at or below the minimum wage are 25 years of age or older.

Women: 25+ = 31.8%
Men 25+ = 17.8%
Women: 20 - 24 = 16.4%
Women: 16 - 19 =14.1%
Men: 16 - 18 = 10.1%
Men: 20 - 24 = 9.8%

Percent of workers, by race, earning, at or below the minimum wage:
Black - 4.9%
Latinos - 4.4%
White - 4.3%
Asian - 3.3%

Some College - 34.3%
High School Graduates - 29.7%
Some High School - 23.6%
Bachelor's Degree and Higher - 7.9%
Less than 1 Year of High School - 4.4%

CEO Race Demographics:
White - 95.4%
Asian- 1.8%
Latino- 1.6%Black - 1.2%

CEO Gender Demographics:
Male- 95.4%
Female- 4.6%

• Side Fact : Tipped workers live in poverty at 3 TIMES the rate of the U.S. workforce.

• If the minimum wage would have kept up with productivity and the income gains of the top 1% since 1986, it would be $18.30 and $31.45, respectively. 

CEO pay in California: 

California Companies for the fiscal year of 2014:Location of the company's HQ's, the company's CEO,  as well as their total compensation.

Total Compensation: determined by adding the following components:

1. The Salary
• salary paid to the CEO for the fiscal year
2. The Bonus
• bonus paid to the CEO
3. All Other Compensation
• All Other Compensation: the value of perquisites and other benefits provided by the CEO. THis could include personal use of company cars and airplanes, country club memberships, tax reimbursements, insurance plans or payments to saving plans. Payments to saving plans are part of Change in Pension Value and Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Earnings.
4. The value of stock and option awards
• Value of Stock Awards: in the form of stock or restricted stock that is either time vesting or performance vesting
• Value of Option Awards: the right to purchase a specified number of common stock at a stated exercise price for a specified period of timed
5. The value of non-equity incentive plan compensation and the change in pension values 
• Non-Equity : This compensation earned pursuant to non-equity incentive plans. This includes incentive plan awards that are not stock or equity. Incentive plans generally provide for compensation intended to serve as an incentive for performance to occur over a specified period.
• Change in Pension Value: increase in actuarial value to the executive officer of all defined benefit pension plans and earnings on non-qualified deferred compensation plans over the past year
6. Non-qualified deferred compensation earnings
• increase in actuarial value to the executive officer of all defined benefit pension plans and earnings on non-qualified deferred compensation plans over the past year

Text & Graphic Sources: 

• 49.6% of workers making at or below the minimum wage are 25 years of age or older. 
• Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

• Tipped workers live in poverty at 3 times the rate of the U.S. workforce. 
• Recipe for Success: Abolish the Subminimum Wage to Strengthen the Restaurant Industry, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

• 21.3 Million workers--of which nearly 6.8 million are Latino--would be affected directly by raising the minimum wage to $10.10.
•  Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Give Working Families, and the Overall Economy, a Much-Needed Boost, David Cooper and Doug Hall.

• From 2009 to 2012, the top 1% captured 95% of the income gains in the first three years of the recovery. 
• Striking It Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States, Emmanuel Saez.

• In 2013, S&P 500 companies made an average profit of $41,249 on each employee. 
• S&P 500 LLC.
• 2013 CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio
• CEO-to-worker pay ratios from 1983 to 2003 calculated by Bloomberg Businessweek, as reported in Executive Excess 2005, Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, Aug. 20, 2005 (p. 13). CEO-to-worker pay ratio for 2013 calculated based on an AFL-CIO analysis of average CEO pay at 350 available companies in the S&P 500 Index, and 2013 U.S. worker pay data calculated from the BLS Current Employment Statistics Survey—Table B-2.

• CEO compensation data was obtained from proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the latest fiscal years. It includes data for some 3,000 corporations, including most of those listed in the Russell 3000 Index. The compensation year reported on the website denotes the fiscal year as reported in the proxy statements. This data is updated, usually monthly, throughout the year. Industry classifications are based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes obtained from proxy statements. 

• Hourly CEO pay assumes 52 40-hour workweeks using the CEO's total compensation. All data are actual, derived from proxy statements.

• The average annual income earned by workers is taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics Survey—Table B-2: Average hours and earnings of production and non-supervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls. The average weekly pay is multiplied by 52. 

• The BLS Occupational Employment Statistics Survey is the source for the data on median annual income by occupation.

Blog 18 : Fourth Interview Preperation/Questions

Interview #4

I want to interview Genithia Hudley-Hayes. She is the Education Deputy that oversees The Los Angeles County Board of Education and Countywide education policy issues fore the 3rd District. Prior to joining the 3rd District staff, she served as a member and president of the Los Angeles Fire Commission, and as a member and President of the LAUSD Board of Education. She was appointed as Special Trustee to the Compton Community College District and is a mediator for the State of CA. Her career spans work as a teacher and a curriculum specialist with LAUSD, principal of Holy Nativity Episcopal Day School and Executive Director/Executive Vice President of SCLC/MLKLA. She received a B.A. from Texas College and an M.Ed from Pepperdine University.

Questions:

1) How would you define underprivileged

2) Where do we see that term introduced for students?

3) Of what you've seen through all of your work experience, especially in LAUSD, why do some kids make it through staying in school, despite difficulties, and go to college and some do not?

4) For the kids who have the drive to do well or get to college, where does the motivation come from?

5) From what you've seen, does high school sufficiently prepare a student for college?

6) How or where do you think underprivileged kids can be most helped? What is the number one factor in ensuring that an underprivileged youth is successful? Or, are there many factors that contribute, not just one?

7) Because of what you know from your experience with LAUSD and seeing kids that come from low-income backgrounds , do you think that the government provides enough support for kids?

8) Is college the best route for an underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle? or Are there those outliers who don’t graduate high school, who don’t go to college, but are still successful? or Is college the best way to get out of poverty? 

9) To sum up everything that you have said, What is the most effective support system for an underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle?

10) I read that you found it extremely difficult to change some things in the school district? Why is is so hard to implement school reform?

Extra Blog : February

Interview #3

On February 24, 2015, I interviewed a high school out reach specialist at Mt.SAC named Elmer Rodriguez. I decided to film the interview because I didn't know what to expect. I found that he had a lot of information on the local schools and inside intel on the way our school system has pockets of holes and losing students right through the chasm. I thought he brought up many important points about the path from high school to college and that in life, it's not about where you start, it's about where you finish.

Here's the link: 

He was insightful and a pleasure to interview. He brings up many great points and provides a different type of perspective on how underprivileged youth can be helped and what kids today really need and want from school. 

Blog 17: Answer 3

• My Essential Question is: What is the most effective support for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle?

•  My first answer is: One of the most efficient support system for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle is the Social Development Strategy as given by the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan.

• A second answer as an efficient support system for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle is when a child has intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation to achieve for something greater than what their current circumstance offers them.

• My third answer is that schools must prepare students with the proper skills of college preparedness and have embedded the goal of college to all underprivileged students so that - with college- they can have the best opportunity to break the poverty cycle.

• Real-life examples:

1. When I interviewed Elmer Rodriguez, a high school outreach specialist at Mt.SAC, he explained to me that not all high schools are the same. Some counselors don't give all the effort in their power to do whatever they can to benefit their students ; whether it is 1) money, 2) grades, or 3) any disadvantage that students from low-income backgrounds face. 

• A printed sources that helped me most with my examples was: 

• To ensure that underprivileged students break the poverty cycle there must relentless support. Support from parents to expose their kids to the possibility of college. Schools to support that dream of college, letting kids know from a young age that college is a possible option, and that there is financial assistance to make this all possible. Teachers must be relentless and not give up on students that have a hard time with reading and writing. Teachers need to know that underprivileged students are less likely to 

Blog 16 : Answer 2

Presentation

1)  My Essential Question is: What is the most effective support for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle?

2)  My first answer is: One of the most efficient support system for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle is the Social Development Strategy as given by the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan.

3)  A second answer as an efficient support system for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle is when a child has intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation to achieve for something greater than what their current circumstance offers them.

4)  a.) A child that lives in an impoverished situation growing up with constant struggling does not want live the life his parents lived.  As a result, his motivation for having a better life is intrinsic. b.) A child has an underprivileged life, and his/her parents do not want their child to have the life that they had. As a result the child is given extrinsic motivation from a parental source to achieve greater. c.)If a child is poor and has extrinsic motivation but no intrinsic motivation, there is no guarantee of success.

5) A teaching guide taken from the Vanderbilt University, Center of Teaching website. (http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/ & (http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/05/dopamine-impacts-your-willingness-to-work/)

6)  For each of my independent components, I am working on a documentary interviewing people from different backgrounds, most underprivileged, that are high school students, high school dropouts, college students, college dropouts, and college graduates. Everyone has unique circumstances, but the one's that are successful have a clear view of their goal and how to get there.

7)  For an underprivileged youth to succeed, their needs to be some sort of inner motivation and vantage point despite personal setbacks and unfortunate events.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

Independent Component

Content:

1. For my second Independent Component I would like to continue my documentary. It was approved by the Senior Team/Teachers that I would complete my first Independent Component by February 20. I had a discussion with Mr.Rivas and Mrs.Ortega about splitting my first Independent Component(IC) in  half. Since I am attempting to create a documentary, the first  IC would be interviewing and filming people. The second IC would consist of actually editing the interviews, shooting filler shots, watching documentaries to notice their methods of editing and storyline and reading books about how to create an actually documentary. To ensure that my documentary is the best that it can be, I can show a rough draft of my full documentary to the class, my peers, professionals, etc. and have them fill out a survey accommodations and recommendations of my film.
2. Because the second IC is only editing film, shooting transition shots, and reading books on documentaries I believe that I can, a) give little snippets of completely edited scenes of my documentary, b) I can make a month's extra blog post about a book I read on how to create a documentary or actually watch a documentary and use the extra blog post of the month to explain their methods of storyline and editing, c) I can present actual tangible evidence of the surveys that the class, my peers, professionals, etc have filled out with accommodations and recommendations. 
3. With this component, I am able to have a clear and concise representation of my second answer for my EQ. My EQ is : What is the most effective support for underprivileged youth to break the poverty cycle? This Independent Component will be a finished product of the hours of research it took to find my second answer. This IC, focuses on finding the driving force between youth who have intrinsic or extrinsic motivation to succeed or look towards success in life. Success is relative, but for my IC, success is being able to break the poverty cycle. 

Blog 14 : Independent Component

Independent Component 1

• Literal

(a) I, Natali Valle, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 9 hours of work.

(b) An source that was extremely useful to me was a government publication called the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan.

(d)What I have done is interviewed/filmed high school students, high school drop outs, college students, college dropouts, and college graduates. I wanted to see if there was a significant factor that was apparent in those who are successful and those who are not. 

• Interpretive

What I have as of now are unedited videos of people I have interviewed. The videos represent some hours of work. Other hours include transportation to locations such as Mid-Town Los Angeles and the University of Riverside to be able to interview some people. I have only dedicated a few hours to editing the videos.[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFakdfg-Igk] These interviews were a crucial part into understanding what motivates people from similar background to want to succeed, or to realize for others that situations in life come-up unexpectedly and prevent oneself from achievement. I needed to do these interviews because I wanted to see if I could find a common personality trait among those who had motivation, regardless of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, despite difficult situations.

• Applied

This component allowed me to peer inside people's lives and see their endeavor and their "ganas".

The phrase "tener ganas" is a spanish phrase that does not really have an english translation, but it means a person's desire or strong want but much more extreme to where they will do anything to reach their goal. I realized that those who had a difficult up bringing were more likely to be self-motivated to want a  better life. Those who were underprivileged and were not able to continue school all explained how they felt as if there was no one in their life to help them want to do better or even expect better. 

Blog 13 : Lesson 2 Reflection

Presentation

Content:

1)   What are you most proud of in your Lesson II presentation and why?

I believed that I proposed my topic with a lot of information. I went into depth with defining certain terms from my EQ and I gave background information to assist my audience in understanding my first answer.

2)   What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson II presentation (self-assessment)? 

I would have given myself an AP. I should have inserted a video for the visual learners in the audience. I also should have had a more fun/interesting activity. I could have found a better scenario for my third example scenario. I also should have had a stronger conclusion.

Blog 9 : Lesson 1 Reflection

Presentation

Content :

        1 ) Positive Statement :
             I am most proud of being able to gather my research and information into a ten minute presentation. I had to cut out a lot of my small, vital points but I was still informative

       2 ) 
            a)I would have given myself an AE.
            b)I am confident in my ability to demonstrate reliable and accurate information to my audience with a clear and concise tone. I was able to inform my audience with my words instead having paragraphs of words in my power point. I knew what I was talking about and I was confident with presenting in front of my audience. 

       3 ) Having minimal words and visuals in my powerpoint worked well. I was able to maintain the attention of my audience. 

       4 ) I wish I would have been much more factual in my presentation. Because I was so limited with time, I was unable to become specific with my answers and I barely scraped the surface on my topic. I wish I could have had time to go in depth and beneath the surface.

Extra Blog Post : October

I haven't had any real breakthroughs in my project this month. I chose to stop going to my current mentor ship at the La Casita Teen Center because it was more of a day-care than actually relating to my topic. At the moment I am trying to still get in contact with Andrea Rico. Andrea Rico is the Coordinator for Pomona's Youth & Family Master Plan (YFMP).  Pomona's YFMP is basically my senior project and holds the answers to my senior project. It goes into depth about Pomona's issues of gang violence, to dropping out of school, to early drug use, and so on. It then goes on about how the community and several programs/organizations can help decrease these issues. It even contains a questionnaire given to high school students in 2010 about their community.

I sent Andrea Rico an email about a month ago. I have called her office twice but she has either not been in the office is unavailable. I left her a message today and if she does not respond back I will attend a Community Meeting specifically about the YFMP. Ms.Rico leads these meetings and I hope to be able to get into contact with her and be able have her as my mentor.

In the month of November, I hope to start my independent component. I believe that I am going to make a documentary/short movie regarding questions  about the questions I have about one's individual drive/persistence/motivation; if it has any impact on one's success. I have started writing questions and I hope it turns out well.

If all goes well with securing Andrea Rico as my mentor, then I will feel more confident in my project.

Blog 8 - Research and Working EQ

Research

1.   What is your working EQ?

• How do leaders/officials use their power to benefit the underprivileged youth in Pomona?

2.   What is a possible answer to your working EQ? 

• The city provided countless programs that aid youth and students to stay out of trouble and become involved with community service.
• The city has created what they call a "Master Plan". The Master Plan is a strategic idea implemented once a child is born and raised in Pomona. The plan lasts all throughout elementary, intermediate and high school up until a student receives their AA degree in college. This plan is to make sure a student doesn't fall through the cracks and isn't "left behind".

3.   What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ?

• A lot of it is personal experience. I have been able to go through the Pomona system and learning about the programs they offer for the youth as well as talking/working with city council members/employees that help create the ideas and approval for such benefiting programs for youth.

4.  Who is your mentor, or where are you doing mentorship, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?

• At the moment my mentor is Alejandra and she is in charge of La Casita Teen Center at Palomares Park in Pomona. This relates to my EQ because I am getting a taste of how Pomona offers after school programs for youth who do not have the means to go anywhere else after after school.

Blog 7 : Independent Component 1 Approval

Independent Component

1 ) Describe in detail what you plan on doing for thirty hours:

•  First Part
• What I plan on doing for 30 hours is a mix of two parts. The first one is on the effective use of programs the city of Pomona offers to the youth. The reality of it all is from what I am seeing, the taxes we pay aren't being put to good use. They are being put into a good cause and a good idea of wanting to help but they aren't really making changes. For example, I volunteer at the La Casita Teen Center. I go almost everyday after school and no kids come in. There is a high school right across the center and a skate park resides right next to the center but still, no kids come in. There is a literally a center that offers, games, homework, tutoring, board games, ping pong, billiards, etc. and still no children go to the center. Instead, there are high school boys smoking pot by the near by skate park. The park has many men that hang around the park all day deeming it unsafe to the community and unsafe for children. So I am trying to find the disconnect between the center and the kids at the skate park and near by high school. The entire point of the teen center is to help the youth who do not have the resources and means of an after school program and to keep them off the streets away from drugs. But what we see is just next door, that is not the case. How is it possible that there is a completely good teen center, but no teens. This is what I plan on figuring out for my independent component

•  Second Part
• I am confused on whether or not kids aren't successful is because they don't give enough effort or if they don't have a support system, or both. I want to find a solution of why kids aren't getting the support they need in order to have graduate from high school, finishing college and have a successful career. Through my research, I've found out the most efficient way a person can escape the poverty cycle is through graduating high school and receiving a college degree.  Kids aren't succeeding because its too hard or because they do not have the will, its lack of good study skills/habits. Are schools teaching these skills? Are schools being too lenient with not holding kids back a grade that aren't ready? Yes, I understand that being held back is a "traumatic" experience for a child but are we really going to let that hinder the unprepared child for another year of hard school? What I want to do is a social experiment.  I want to interview young adults from the same background who went to college versus those who didn't go to college/who dropped out of college.  So far I have over 10 - 15 people I can interview and see the differences in personal will and personal circumstance. For instance,  I want to know how it was possible that out of three brothers, why only one successfully went to college. I want to get accounts of students in high school currently, those who are in college currently, those who have dropped out, and those who have graduated. I know people under these four categories. I also want to be able to interview parents of these kids and if they feel that they had anything to do with the outcome of their child. The parental aspect might be too much to do but it will help me see things from a different perspective and more insight of how much a parent has influence on the child. Between those who went to college and those who haven't, I want to ask them how their life has turned out as a result of attending/not attending a post-high school education and if they regret their decision. Yes these are personal questions. Yes they put people in an uncomfortable position, but for some, it's a sense of pride that they made it into a university. I need to ask these questions to determine whether or not the incapability/ability of success is defined by self will, the influence of a positive, outside force/person/role model, or both. I'm expecting it is different for different people but I really am hoping to see whether its the failing of a school/societal failure or a lack of self motivation/circumstance; or maybe it's something completely different and I will find an answer I never once presumed to a possibility. I'm honestly open to whatever answer comes my way.

2 ) Discuss how or what you will do to meet he expectation of showing 30 hours of work (e.g. transcript, essays, tests, art work, photographs) as digital artifacts

•  For the first part of the independent component, I'm planning on getting first hand interviews and surveys between students and city officials and ask them if they even know about the teen center and/or if they even know that is highly ineffective because it isn't being used to its fullest potential.
• I plan on playing out the second part of my independent component with either a video or a segment of interviews and photographs. I am leaning toward making a full scale short documentary of the interviews and show how this led me to help answer my question of the second part of the independent component.

 I'm thinking these are two really big projects and I'm expecting that I may need to split them into two independent components rather than one.

3 ) Explain how/what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth

• My newfound curiosity has posed me to ask questions that are somewhat relatable to my EQ. Because of this, I am thinking about reforming my essential question all together. I have connections with Pomona City Council members and I am yet to interview them. As of now, I am seeing flaws in the system, for reasons I want to find out through the first part of my independent component. The city of Pomona offers many programs for the youth and these programs are created by those on the city council. Yet, with what I am seeing these programs aren't being taken advantage of and I don't know why. I hope to find out through the first part of my independent component. This related to my EQ: "How do leaders/officials use their power to help the unprivileged youth in Pomona break the poverty cycle?". What is in bold is what I am thinking about adding to my EQ  but I'm not sure if that is the smartest move at this moment because my questions and answers are changing constantly. Once I find my answer to the first part of the independent component, I plan on talking with city council and further documenting what they do with the new found information; if they even bother doing anything at all.
• The second part of my independent component, I hope, will help me decipher whether or not I am asking the right EQ. If I am getting first hand accounts of those who have succeeded and of those who have gone off track in life. If I can find a commonality in their accounts then I will be able to focus on the fault in the system/school or whatever may be that case.

I believe that the reason underprivileged youth fail is due to a lack of positive influence. I think that the school system is too focused on testing and that it lacks creativity. The world doesn't care about what you know; it's more concerned about what you do with what you know. Because of this, I believe that schools are stunting the growth of successful young people. I believe the government has the right idea about how they are trying to help their young citizens but are not doing it in the right places which connects to the first part of my component. I want to know the influence parents have on their children's success. I want to know if students lack the internal drive to be successful. I do believe its all of the above. To tie everything together, I see this independent component an integral part to my overall Senior Project.

Extra Blog Post: September

I finally found my mentor ... FINALLY. A potential one at least. Through the process, I originally tried  to contact Debra Martin, a Pomona Council Member because she's pushes importance on giving back to her community. The only problem is Council Members for the city of Pomona only work on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Another person I got in contact with was Katherine Berger. Ms. Berger is the volunteer coordinator for the city of Pomona and over sees all community events.  I have her as a potential mentor to possibly shadow her and see her job process. Though I sought to her as a mentor, she informed me about a organization called the, Teen Value Club. The Teen Value Club (or TVC) is a group of teenagers who work closely with City Staff in the development of volunteer opportunities and specialized projects for youth and teens. The teens in the TVC serve as mentors who promote education and support community non-profit needs and City response events through their volunteer efforts. Once Ms. Berger led me this direction, I instantly tried to join the TVC.  To join the club, you must go to the city police station and have a background check and have my fingerprints. After that long process of signed forms and basic information, I was able to go to La Casita Teen Center at Palomares Park in Pomona. The coordinator of the TVC is Alejandra Jimenez, who is a Cal Poly alumni and is a current student getting her Masters degree in Hospitality. For now, I am in the TVC Club and simply going to volunteer at the Teen Center with Alejandra. My first day was Monday September 29. Today was my second day, but tomorrow will be my first TVC meeting. There are only two meetings a month and I'm not sure what to expect. Other than that, I'm satisfied with finally not feeling complete lost. I'm on a path I'm okay with but I will probably still get in contact with Ms.Berger to see if she can give me anymore resources with other programs or herself to help me find the answer to my EQ which is: How do leaders/officials use their power to help the underprivileged youth in Pomona? The TVC club is one way I could answer my EQ because this club focuses on youth helping youth through government funded programs. The officials/leaders section of my EQ could refer to Ms.Berger and/or Ms.Martin. For now I'm taking baby steps to getting to the roots of my answer. 

Bus Ride

 La Casita Community  Center

Pomona City Hall

Walk Home