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My name is Jason Greene and I am a 9th grader going to Science Leadership Academy.  For my You and the World project,  I chose to talk about public education in the great city of Philadelphia.  I chose this issue because this is one of the many issues facing the city today.  Public education has a lack of funding. This is important to me because me and all of my friends are affected by the lack of funding for our school district.  Education is important and we need to find out how to fix this.

This is the headquarters of The School District of Philadelphia in Center City.

When my English teacher gave me and my class this project I started to think about what I wanted to do.  One of my goals in life is to become Mayor of Philadelphia.  Since I want to do that when I grow up I started to think about some issues that face the city today.  I decided to do my YATW project on public education because I feel like it is the most significant.  Most of the money goes to charter schools and not public ones.  Because of this you can get a better education at charter schools.  We should care about this issue because most kids in the city go to public schools and it’s not fair that kids that go charter and private schools get a better education.  Coming from a public middle-school I know how these cuts feel.  At my old school we don’t have a music teacher no more.  I used to play trombone and was part of the all-city middle school band for three years.  Since my old school doesn't have a music teacher anymore there is no more band.  We also do not have an art teacher.  A parent that used to be an artst now comes in twice a week to teach.  Now I go to Science Leadership Academy.  This is my first year here so I don’t know how this school was effected but I am sure that a this school was effected.  I am just lucky that I can go to a school that can give me a great education.

This is the graduation rates of boys and girls who went to public schools from 2002-2011.

This is the graduation rates of boys and girls who went to charter schools from 2008-2012.

In 2012 The School District of Philadelphia had a 304 million dollar budget shortfall.  Because of this they had to close down they had to close down 23 schools and lay off 3700 teacher,nurses,music teacher,art teachers and other workers.  While all of this was happening according to labnotes.com 9 more charter schools opened and their budgets have been increased by 107 million dollars.  Why would they do this?  Instead of increasing the budget for the charter schools and opening new ones why don’t you use that money to fund public schools.  That 107 million dollars could have saved 9 public schools.  Now that makes more sense to me.  Over 10,000 students are at new schools this year because the school that they went to last year is closed now.

This is University City High School.  637 students went here last year.  0 go there now.

Going on with this project there are some things I want to learn.  I am going to go volunteer at my old school John Story Jenks Elementary School in Chestnut Hill.  When I am there I also want to talk to some of my old teachers to see how they are dealing with the budget cuts.  I will also talk to some of the students there to see if they notice anything different from last school year to this school year.  I hope to find out other thing while working on this.

This is J.S Jenks.  This is the school where I will be doing my volunteer work at.

This issue is very important to me.  This is important to me because this is effecting me and my friends.  This is also going to the kids that live in Philadelphia and get a public education in the future. I feel like no one really cares about this or say that this will change soon.  I don’t want soon I want now. We could change this.  If we come together and show that we care about we can change this.  

If you want to see my bibliography click here.

      Today, now more than ever, parents are influencing their child’s outlook on education. Everything from checking their child’s homework to just giving them a pep talk, everything a parent does affects their child. However, according to a New York Times article,

  There’s no question that a great teacher can make a huge difference in a student’s achievement…...But here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents.     Parents more focused on their children’s education can also make a huge difference in a student’s achievement.

As stated above, teacher play a huge role in students education, but parents have an important part to play too. Parents influence their children in a big way, but many of them don’t even realize this. This leads me to my topic: How do parents influence their children’s outlook on education?

        This topic hits very close to home. Both of my parents never received a college education. Because of this, they could not receive well paying jobs. Even though they are able to get by steadily, they remind me everyday how much education is important in order for me to have a good future. I have met and still know many kids who have the same situation as me, but their parents don’t motivate them. Because of this, I see these kids, who have the potential to be great, set education as a non-factor. Not only is this sad to see, but it gets me, and probably other people, infuriated because their parents don’t step in. According to TIME magazine,                      

 What they need to do with their children is much simpler:   talk. But not just any talk. Although well-known research by psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley has shown that professional parents talk more to their children than less-affluent parents — a lot more, resulting in a 30 million “word gap” by the time children reach age three — more recent research is refining our sense of exactly what kinds of talk at home foster children’s success at school.

This quote shows that parents, even in the littlest ways, affect their kids. By just talking, some parents give their kids 30 million more words than parents who don’t talk to their kids. I know that every parent wants the best for their child. However, if they don’t take the time to support them or even just talk to them, they won’t see how great their child can become.

     Another reason why this topic is so important to me is because of the fact that I have friends who I know can be great, but they don’t have any motivation. For example, I have a friend named Trapetas. She is one of the smartest people I know,however, her family doesn’t support or motivate  her in any way.  But even with no support, Trapetas still focuses on school and always gives 110% in everything she does. After noticing this, I knew that parents do not always have to influence their children. Trapetas could have been just like my many other friends who basically gave up on education. She went against what was expected to be her outcome and she inspired me to help people like her. What I mean is that if kids don’t have parents/elders to motivate them, could I give them support? Could I be their “parent” to advise and help them? Questions like these led me to choose this topic.

   In an article by the Washington Post, It states,

               Let’s begin by noticing that the whole question is framed by the extent to which educators think parents ought to be involved.  The parent’s point of view is typically absent from such discussions.  And, of course, no thought is given to the student’s perspective — what role kids might want their parents to play (or to avoid playing).  But then that’s true of so many conversations about education that we scarcely notice its absence.

Essentially, the author is trying to make the point that parent involvement is not really provided because student’s inputs are not looked at. When people think of parent involvement, it’s either two things: parents don’t do enough or they do too much. However, if students were able to make comments on how their parents should be involved, parents would be  to meet their child’s specific needs. But what if kids don’t have parents that are willing to listen? That’s where I step in. As I start to access the needs of students, it becomes clear that I can help them, if only I listen. Many people would look at kids in Philadelphia as kids who are not going to do anything with their lives. Those assumptions will not help them. The first step is must to listen and for these kids I believe in, I will be all ears.

      This topic has been on my mind for a while and now because of this project, I will be able to finally do something about it. I believe that you give everybody the benefit of the doubt until they prove you wrong. You give them a chance and that’s what I am going to do with these students. If everybody else has given up on them, I will be their support. Every child has something great to offer to the world, but they need help to see that and I am prepared to give them that help.

       As this project goes along, not only will I be able to figure out the problems kids face with education, but I will be able to build a support systems with these kids. Even if their parents don’t support them, I will show them that they still have people that care and will work hard to see them succeed. Like I said before, I believe that every child has something to offer to the world, but they need people to just push them to their own greatness.

        Thanks for reading my blog and watch out for follow- up blogs 2 and 3!

Hey, my name is Fodie Camara. My topic is hunger. I choose this topic of hunger because I want to know all about hunger and how it affects people  in differents ways. When I learn it, I want to tell people and try to stop hunger. I will spread the information around to teach people about hunger and many different.

We have many different groups in Philadelphia to stop hunger or support food to programs. We have Stop Hunger Now, Coalition against Hunger,  Philabundance. They all have one motto, is to stop hunger and feed people who don’t have enough meals in Philadelphia. They try their best to help people without food or in some type in trouble.

Stop Hunger Now works with  international partners that ship and gives meals in country.

Volunteers come and package the meals. They serves 70% of its meals to provide programs such as school feeding programs, vocational training programs, early childhood development programs, orphanages, and medical clinics. Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger program that has been promised to stop hunger for more than 15 years. They working with school and after school programs will try to stop poverty.

Philabundance was created in 1984. Philabundance works with families hit hard by the recession. They work with seniors trying to make ends meet. They are the largest hunger group. They are now able to address hunger through direct service such as food cupboards, emergency kitchens, shelters, and many more. Philabundance has take hunger really serious in Delaware Valley. They use Food donations, and the community. Philabundance helps 72,000 people per week.

BLOG #1

               The Shortage of Donors for African American,Latino and Mixed people with cancer

Hi my name is Niah Lombo and I go to Science Leadership Academy. I am a student in Miss.Dunn’s English class; In this class we were asked to research issues that are important to us and then express how we could bring awareness to others by starting a blog about it... This is the first of three blogs that I will be posting my thoughts & concerns. I choose to blog about the sad statistics of the shortage of bone marrow donors for African American,Latino and Mixed races with cancer.I am trying to bring awareness to this issue so more people will donate and save someones life.

Everyday thousands of people die from cancer because they can’t find a donor match.When you are diagnosed with cancer your family members have a 30% chance of being a match but the rest 70% is relied on strangers. Patients are most likely to find a compatible donor within their own racial and ethnic background.

"The truth is, when people of different backgrounds marry and produced offspring, it creates more types that are harder to match."

I am interested in this topic because when I was 9 years old my older sister was diagnosed with leukemia and later died because they could not find a donor in time.The doctors informed us because she was Latina, her chances were slim to find a match. There are so many other people with the same story; for example there is J’sons and Leni who is still looking for a match.The main issue is that minority children are dying because there are mainly Caucasian donors.

little Leni Hsiao, a 4-month-old girl who has endured incredible challenges since her birth.

This topic is significant because more children of ethnic backgrounds are diagnosed with cancer, and most of them die. In 2010 more than 400,000 African Americans, 300,000 Hispanic, and 290,000 mixed women’s died from cancer. Caucasians had the lowest number for death in 2010.

"So many donor programs has been pushing for years to recruit more racial minorities and mixed race donors. So far, multiracial volunteers make up just 3 percent of the 7 million people on the registry"

Caucasian patients have an almost 90% chance of finding a good match.  “ But minority patients have only about 45% chance” said Carol Gillespie, executive director of the Asian American Donor program in Alameda.

Percentage of ethnic groups on the national Registry:

• African American, 7%

• Asian/Pacific Islander, 7%

• Hispanic, 10%

• Native American, 1%

• Multi-Racial, 4%

• Caucasian, 73%

What I wonder is that how many more people need to die before everyone sees the issue that African Americans, Hispanics and mixed people are fighting for their lives every day hoping to find a match? As I go on with this project I hope to find ways that I could help to build awareness on this topic.

Bibliography here:

protection of aquatic Animals & Environments

  The water on our planet works in a cycle, and every waterway connect to another. This grants many species to migrate throughout the world, but this also makes pollution in any body of water a problem.  All it takes is a single piece of trash to take a life. Animals world wide suffer from the pollution created by humans. The world is extremely fragile and we need to be at the very least aware of what we are doing to it.

It’s not only major corporations that are responsible for polluting the environment that animals need to survive in. According to the Clean Air council, “Every year, Americans use approximately 102.1 billion plastic bags, creating tons of landfill waste.” Some environments have become so polluted that it’s even hostile to humans. Even some of everyday waist can lead to a higher risk of cancer. To see a chart of contaminations and what illnesses they can lead to click here. In the United States of America and the majority of the first world; we need to understand that the phrase “Out of sight, out of mind.” doesn’t apply to this problem.

There are many grants and laws set to protect pollution but some things aren’t enough. Although the Safe Drinking Water Act protects American sources, it only protects our drinking water, and not the water of the marine life. Perhaps one of the most famous aquatic environmental destroyers is BP or British Petroleum. On April 20th, 2010  high pressured methane gas poured into the gulf of Mexico, destroying an exceptional amount of wildlife. As of July 9th 2013 BP had spent $25 billion, PBS stated, but that doesn’t bring back the thousands of marine animals that died from the pollution. For more information on the BP oil spill click here. However, BP isn’t the only source responsible for marine destruction. Whaling, a common activity done in many asian countries like Japan, is another source that’s done, even when it’s opposed by the U.N. Whales are a huge part of the Marine cycle and without whales the possibility of krill rapidly arrises. Krill live off the same nutrients that many other micro-organisms need to live. This could end with many more marine animals on the endangered species list.

Wetlands are homes for almost infinite number of life, spanning from crane to small bacterial animals. Since the European settlement of the United States, 53% of wetlands in America have disappeared according to WARPT. Wetlands are destroyed to aid the growth of urban communities. On top of the destruction of wetlands, the creation of factories, farms, and towns creates a large amount of waste that potentially endangers aquatic and semi-aquatic animals. Tourist can also endanger marine environments; scuba divers and scouclers can bring humans dangerously close to marine environments that are already extremely fragile. Since the boom of gasoline, growth of technology, and the expanse of human population, we as a species have hurt our ocean more than any other species boom.

You don’t need to give money, or start a major protest, all you need to do is care. Just be an advocate for the world; when you see a piece of trash just pick it up. The world is a fragile place and it’s so easy to destroy but we can make a change. As human beings we can do amazing things when we put in effort; if everyone tried to make a difference for just one day we could reverse 25% of potential damage done to marine life. As human beings we can take the damage we have already done and fix it.

Annotated bibliography

 Hello, my name is Haisha Hahsy and I am a freshman at Science leadership  academy in Philadelphia, PA. Now is a point in our English class to show what we care about and how we want to change it by helping our subject. I chose helping the poor in Afghanistan. I have always cared about Afghanistan no matter what people have said or thought about there because; I know the real story that I want to share with all so they can see what I do and so they can help. This personal touches me because I am from Afghanistan and have visited there multiple times and some of the people you see and the stories they tell make you cry. The thing that bothers me is that how can I help them? Now is my chance to help my people the innocent people of Afghanistan. The poor in Afghanistan are not poor because of a mistake or have made the wrong decision and ended up being in the wrong place. In Afghanistan it’s a different story, war and invasions has done this to them they can't do anything about it either, no matter how hard they try working. It just gets harder they work and try but they seem not to get anywhere one huge cause is they don't receive enough  money and the price of things are more than some can afford and the prices are just going higher like food and clothes.

         During the 19th century, Afghanistan was invaded twice from the Britain and India. During the First Anglo- Afghan War of 1878-1880 and again in the Second Anglo- Afghan War both times with the goal of blocking Russian influence in the country and conquering local tribal leaders. For the entire time, tribal cross-border warfare was nonstop, and parts of the Pashtun homeland were taken by the British and India and referred to as the North-West Frontier Province. Finally they got defeated and then in 1919 independence came from Britain. Afterwards the Russians invaded in for 10 years till they got defeated. Then the Freedom fighters started fighting for 6 years. Then the Taliban fighted for 6 years till they got defeated as well. Finally after 9/11 all this war stop, the 30 years of war had stopped and come to end. President Karzai was elected as president and still is president till today in Afghanistan. But in this 30 years of war Afghanistan, it has still have not healed all its wounds. Because as soon as they would rebuild Afghanistan after every war another invaded; and now they are at a point where they just are starting to give up. To help and heal the wounds like we should, we need and should help the ones who are less unfortunate. $1 there is 55 rupees. So if you give $10 it would be 550 rupees that could be a whole meal for a whole family of 3 or 4.

               Quoted from The Child Fund International Fund “ Beyond The War”

          “The war in Afghanistan — preceded by decades of conflict — has had a profound impact on many families. Insurgent attacks, complex international governance and enduring poverty have made life in Afghanistan particularly challenging for millions of children. Many families who fled the country in earlier years have gradually returned to Afghanistan, but are greeted with poor infrastructure, including a lack of health-care facilities, substandard sanitation and not enough clean water.”

The amount of fear in U.S. is nothing compared to what we have seen in Afghanistan

Some of the children just to start with,don't even have clean water at points to drink. We don't fear as much we have the ability to not worry as much.

Time World,  “The Dead Afghan’s Tale” a story that shakes my brain

             “ Abdul Basit has seen what no 7-year-old should see. He saw the dead body of his father Yoldash, an Afghan police officer, who was chopped up into six pieces by the Taliban and left to rot in the sun for nearly 30 days in western Farah province. The Afghan government did not even send a search or rescue mission for him. When Basit and his uncle Gul-Murad finally arrived to pick up the corpse, Yoldash’s two hands and half of his torso were missing.”

The children here can get a childhood so easily even if you don't try too hard. Here everyone is focused on things so far in the future, when in Afghanistan, they just focus on tomorrow.  Afghanistan no matter how hard you try you can't get a regular childhood there is always something corrupting it. The children there don't even have a childhood. Those  children have seen things that no one should have to see no matter what a

But the children are not the only ones facing disaster as Globalgiving  “Save Poor Afghan Families” says

        “Millions of poor Afghans are in danger of starving during the winters or after natural disasters or displacement because of the lack of food. The situation is acute because they do not have jobs, food or homes elsewhere. The poorest Afghans have no electricity or money for fuel and food.”

Poor Afghans in Afghanistan with no jobs, food or homes face starvation in the winter, things only get worse and nothing gets better and when they get sick all they can do is pray to get better. Most poor Afghans die because of sickness and not being able to get food or medicine. When Afghans try to work there is little jobs to get at and when they do find work its not enough money; to feed or reach the whole family its barely enough for one person what will it make feed and cloth a whole family?

         Fear, not having a childhood, extreme poverty are not thing we really have to face in this country. Think about if you had to be afraid. Think about if you didn't have a good childhood. Think about if you had to go through extreme poverty. Wouldn't you want someone to help you? Stay tuned for the next blog post to know more about ways you could help.

The waters of Afghanistan so dirty that can be better

Children enjoying the water they can receive

Hello, I’m Ona Brown.I’m a freshmen at Science Leadership Academy.In my English 1 Class we were asked to chose a topic that we were concerned about and write about it .The topic I chose was therapy for chronically ill children. After my research I found that music and smiling are very therapeutic. I know I can’t cure the illnesses they have, but lifting their spirits and getting their minds off of their situations can help.

Smiling is a form of therapy.It takes more muscles to frown than to smile.When you smile your brain excites the left anterior of it then triggers two muscles in your face to rouse.The zygomatic major which is in your cheek tug your lips upward and the orbicularis oculi which encircle the eye socket squeezes the corners of your lips.When you smile a chemical called edorphins is released into your brain, that makes you happy. I’m interested in this topic, because I love to make people laugh and smile.Especially those that are going through such life altering things. To be able to help them take their mind off of their problems makes me feel wonderful. I think is amazing that people can go through the most horrible things, but still manage to be happy and thankful for everything at the end of the day.It inspires me to go on and endure any problem I’m faced with.

(This is a sick cancer patient that is playing the drum as a form of Music therapy.)

This issue is so important, because children are going through these life threatening illnesses and some of them need hope to stay strong. Musical activities and reading are therapeutic.Music helps your memory and it changes your mood, which would really help the patients.The connection between the human brain and music is very strong.When you listen to music our ears convert the sound waves into “ear movement” by moving certain parts of your ear the movement is turned into electrical signals that go through the eighth cranial nerve then  into the brain.They travel all over the brain this affects your emotion.

(Here is a picture of the inside of our brain and how music has an affect on it.)

A great deal of patients use music to find peace. Even though their physical bodies are not able to do certain things their minds are still able to soar.Their physical limitations do not limit their imagination and their minds. Playing musical instruments help enhance your hand and eye coordination. All these activities are helpful to the patient in its own way.

Zach Sobiech was a 18 year old teen. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma an unusual bone cancer. He used music as an outlet. He found peace with his guitar.He enjoyed writing songs.Music kept him strong through the all the treatments.He wrote and performed songs.It gave him a sense of courage and hope.He never gave up and still kept a smile on his face. Zach said, “I wanted to be remembered as a kid that went down fighting, and really didn't lose”. We should all have the same attitude as Zach in life.

Music and being happy can have a great impact on chronically ill patients. They are forms of therapy and help the brain while actually helping pass  time in the hospital.They encourage and give hope when you think its all gone. Chronically ill patients will always inspire me. From here I would like to look into organizations that go to hospitals and perform for the patients and entertain them. I would really enjoy making some of the children smile.

Click Here for the Annotated Bibliography