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

Blog 6 - Second Interview

Interviews

1 )  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

   My mentor is Alejandra. She is the coordinator of the Teen Value Club and is in charge of La Casita Teen Center in Palomares Park. The Teen Value Club (TVC) is a year-round volunteer program for teenagers ran by the City of Pomona. Teens will have the opportunity to gain community service hours while learning leadership skills, responsibility, and empowering their community. La Casita Teen Center is supported through the City of Pomona and located at 499 E. Arrow Highway at Palomares Park. La Casita provides a safe and supportive after-school program for teens Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 2:30-5:30pm; Wednesday 1-5pm and Friday 2:30-5pm. We provide help with homework, free activities including a pool table, air hockey, and sporting equipment. Any teen can come to La Casita and fill out a registration form to enjoy all of our amenities for free. 

2 ) What five questions will you ask your mentor?

1 ) Why did you decided to become the administrator for the TVC?

2 ) You are aware that for the past few years, the TVC isn't what city employees say it "used to be".

Do you plan on bringing the club back to its top-tier status or do you want  to completely     reinventing the club and take it to different territory?

3 ) What are your plans for the TVC? 

4 ) How do you plan on using the La Casita Center to assist the teens in this area?

5 ) Do you think this center is effective and is used to its full potential?

Blog 5 - Mentorship and Research Reflection

 Research

1. I have not been able to find a mentor. I know what my senior project should be about, but I'm not sure where to start and who to contact. 

2. I have not had a focal point on what exactly to research, but so far I believe is a 3 year case study of fiscal sustainability in the City of Los Angeles. It shows how ethnic concentration in neighborhoods lead to similar outcomes of a person's future for those who live within those neighborhoods.

Extra Blog Post : August

  This month has been a bit of a struggle in all honesty. I am realizing the consequence of not finding a summer mentor but am on my way to finding one. I'm in the process of having Debra Martin (Ms. Martin is a council member for the city of Pomona) as my mentor because she places emphasis in giving back to the community.

   At this moment my EQ is: "How do officials/leaders use their power to benefit the underprivileged youth in the Los Angeles area?".

   Background:
   I chose this EQ because I find importance in the belief that the youth is the "future of tomorrow". It started when I found inspiration through figures like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, the Dali Lama, Jane Goodall, Cesar Chavez, Simon Wiesenthal, Angela Davis, Mother Teresa, etc. for wanting a greater change in their world, and they did just that. The ability to change the circumstance of the disadvantaged. I saw these people and pondered how I could possibly dedicate my life to the human race. In other words I thought, "With this one life I have, How could I contribute to the benefit of the world?". I believed a good way to do this would be by becoming a humanitarian and volunteering with Peace Corps in third world countries. This idea changed when I had a senior presentation of a student that went to the Philippines to do surgeries that weren't available to the locals. Throughout his presentation there was one sentence that stuck out to me. He said, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life". He gave emphasis on how trying to help people that have limited resources is truly hurting them because they rely on the assistance rather than trying to learn themselves. This brought me to want to help the children of these underprivileged countries because they are the play makers. They know how their culture works and what their society needs, not the foreigner. I won't live there ; They will. The only thing I can do is to give those kids the first step to make the changes for their country to progress. This should not be limited to a western way of what we think is best but the techniques of the east as well. To accomplish this, there is the gift of education. This is what I wanted to do my senior project on but I was unable to find the help or resources to do so. I was given the idea from my father that in order to do big things you must start small. Like those who are an "overnight success" there is usually years of hard work that are hidden under the surface. I sought to find the places where we lack as a society (there are too many to count). I chose to focus on the social gap or "poverty cycle" a.k.a. the Urban Paradox. I live on the border line of Pomona and La Verne. Two completely different cities. La Verne: clean, low crime rate, safe communities, good schools, family environment, regular and upper middle class, quiet. Only a mile away lies Pomona: the streets aren't in the best condition, crime rate has lowered but not as safe as La Verne, schools could be better, low and middle class. I was contemplating how is it possible that La Verne could prosper but as soon as you pass the city limits into Pomona, it's a completely different world? This is sort of the underlying base to my Senior Project. To find out were our country is failing its citizens. Where does the problem begin and How can we prevent this from happening all together?

    I chose this EQ because I find myself wanting to move toward the root/core of the problem and how to stop it with a plan that lasts. There have been many ways different organizations have tried to help. For instance the government offers welfare and subsidies but is this really hurting the communities in need? Are those on welfare truly appreciating the help? or are they becoming comfortable with the bare minimum and not giving effort to attempt to be better and strive for more? Are the taxes we pay, (which are high enough as it is) going to a lost cause? All these questions fall under my EQ and I hope by the end of the year to find answers to, if not all, most of them.

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

Interview

1 )  I plan on interviewing Dr. Jose Rodriguez. He is a principal at Gates Elementary school in Lincoln Heights. I plan on interviewing him because he has an active role in the lives of students and is knowledgeable in the way the LAUSD school system functions.

2 )  My questions are:

1 ) What is the philosophy you want students to leave with when they graduate from your school?

2 ) How & Why do you network with international elementary schools?

•       What goals are you trying to achieve with this?
•       Can you see this happening with all public schools?

3 ) How has LAUSD helped the underprivileged youth?

• Helped in the context of graduating high school; lowering the drop-out rate

4 ) Where (in your opinion) does the school system fail?

• What are its weaknesses?

5 ) How do you think you are/will contribute to the academic success of the students at your school?

Blog 3: Topic Choice & Working EQ

Research

1 ) Politics in the L.A. County Board of Supervisors

2 ) What do the Board of Supervisors do for the County of Los Angeles to help underprivileged youth?

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

Mentorship

Literal:
1)I have no hours.
2)I do not have a mentor.
3)I realized to never take a summer course when you need senior mentorship experience and hours. It's likely I won't do that for a second time.

Interpretive
4)To learn how to be more time responsible. I've learned to never be to indecisive and to be sure of what you want; to not be on the fence about my choices where there is a due date involved.

Applied:
5) I have no idea what my topic will be about. I've considered to study open heart surgery or to focus on brain cognition. I've considered to focus on politics and have networking opportunities to have new L.A. County Board of Supervisor Hilda Solis as my possible mentor; to focus on how to incorporate effective political changes in the Los Angeles region. I have considered to focus on the psychological and/or spiritual reasons of artists an where creativity comes from. I've thought about studying how the brain works during meditation. For a while I wondered if I wanted to do some sort of a social experiment on how people see the world (specifically experts in their field, i.e. a botanist, a surfer, a student, a parent, a policeman, etc.) from their own point of view. I have considered attempting to figure out if third world countries had public education in its rural areas, would you see a difference over time, how the country would be governed.To be honest, I would really enjoy is to do something that involved humanitarianism but specifically in 3rd word countries. I have looked for programs that offer this opportunity like Peace Corps and UNICEF, but both of those programs only look for college graduates. I have looked into programs for teens related to humanitarianism, such as GLA (Global Leadership Adventures [offers a week or two weeks in a third world country to provide help around winter break]) but I cannot afford their trips. Since the opportunity of going abroad to do hours is not a price I can afford I was unsure if any of the teachers could refer me or know of something similar to what I would like do focus on for my senior project. As a result of my inability to join GLA,  My only fear is that I will end up doing a project that I won't enjoy and suffer from lack of interest in my topic. I feel that my ideas are spread way too thin. I've been extremely lost on what to choose for a senior project. I have no idea where to go from here.

Blog 1 : 2 - Hour Presentations

1.  What presentations did you see?
Archeology
Educational Non-Profit Management
Photography Galleries
Forensic Science
Photography
Bikram Yoga
Personality Disorders
Photography Studios
Surfing
Homelessness
Medical Missionary
Cancer Advocacy
Information Technology
Internal Medicine
Organic Architecture
Counseling

2.   What questions do you have that haven't been answered about the senior project? This can be about the senior project in general, any components or about a presentation topic you saw or what they said.  
 I don't understand why the seniors have to name their sources during their presetations. I'm not sure how many hours are necessary to complete the summer mentorship program.

3. What has the most important part of the senior project based on what you are seeing in the 2-hour presentations?
The most important part is knowing your information thuroughly so that when you do present you inform the audience flawlessly. 

4. What topic are you considering doing and why?
Im considering any topic that includes social justice, public policy but mainly anything related to public relations. I'm choosing this because it's something that I love to do, and what I want to do for the rest of my life. Anything related to humanitarianism in third world countries. 

5. What are you doing for your summer mentorship?
I'm hoping on trying to get an internship with Hilda Solis, the new Board of Supervisor for District 1. If not I really honestly don't know any programs that offer what I want to do for high school students.