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• his/her weight 
• If they are wearing heels, if so whats the height of the shoe ie 2in etc..  

Upon examining more into the pandemic of hunger and homelessness, I went out into the world, into the Science leadership environment, and on Facebook to ask people  thought provoking questions about their awareness of world hunger and homelessness. Based on a survey of 54 people, 39% have claim that they have been homeless in one point of their lives. Also, 32% say that they know someone who eats only one meal a day. 

Here is a link if you want to view my survey:  https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ajm4KyXhAiaYdFlVNzRyRldXaV85V3hDOXJqZmNrUkE#gid=0 

Knowing that we live in the United States, I find that these statistics are slightly mind-boggling. The the United States has a GDP of approximately 15.3 trillion dollars which is the highest in the world, but yet out of 54 people, already 39% say that they were homeless and 32% claim they only eat one meal a day. If you put that on a grander scale, 672,000 are homeless in America currently and 6.7 million people suffer from food insecurity. Although the rate of homelessness has decreased, which is substantial progress, people are still going to bed each night hungry. Or they might not even have a bed. 

An other major predicament is the amount of food we waste each year. I inquired in my survey if anyone has ever wasted food, and 81% said they did. According to The Charity Sub, the United States throws away 96 billion pounds of food each year. That is enough to feed the the whole state of New York, for three years! I believe our problem is that we have the resources to tackle this obstacle, but we just don’t know how to use them. 

In my survey, I also questioned peoples’ opinion on whether or not they thought homelessness and hunger was an epidemic. More than 80% agreed and 91% of the people said that these conditions are common in their neighborhood. 

I am seeking further advice from an organization, Bread for the World. Bread is a 501(c)4  Christian organization that presses our nation’s government to put an end to hunger in this country. I am corresponding two of their representatives, Jon Gromek, the   Central Regional Organizer and Larry Hollar, the Senior Regional Organizer. Upon motioning through the interviewing process, they are away in Washington D.C. until Monday, January 21. You will hear from them in my final blog post with their response to   these crucial affairs. But the Senior Regional Organizer has responded back to me with an urgent plea to call our Congress members to urge them to continue to fund programs  that address hunger and poverty before the fiscal cliff negotiations are made soon. If you would like to participate here is a link for information on how to inform our congress: http://blog.bread.org/2012/12/act-now-congress-needs-to-hear-your-voice.html. Call Congressmen Bob Casey, Pat Toomey, and Chaka Fatah and tell them to pass a deal that includes protection to essential programs to hungry and poor people in the U.S. and around the world. 

Here's a link to my bibliography: https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1va6NEzQioqza2fzxFDTiaYiKoWn-vnI50O0FopaOarY/edit 

Hey everyone this is Isabella Blackwell. Welcome to my second post of my “You and the World” blog. If you didn’t read my first blog, check it out here. What I wanted to look deeper into & focus on for my 2nd blog post was how kids and parents deal with having special needs & attention. I decided to reach out and actually talk to a representative who works with these kids (& volunteers) to see what life is really like for people in that situation. I talked to someone named “John” from the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia. 

Q: What exactly do you do?

A: I pretty much do whatever Linda (Director of Volunteers) tells me needs to be done. I help out with the kids, & make sure everything is in order. 

Q: What types of support does the Ronald McDonald House provide for both the kids & parents? 

A: Its a home away from home where generally, it puts the parents at ease knowing that they have a nice warm bed to go to at night while the children are in the hospital. It’s just a friendly environment for them to stay at, and not really have to worry about anything else. 

Q: How do the kids cope with their environment at the hospital?

A: The kids cope with the environment very well actually. They don’t really see it as a place where they get better, more as where they go for a vacation. They think of it as just somewhere to have fun with the other kids that stay there. 

Q: How do the parents deal with leaving their kids at the hospital?

A: The parents deal with leaving their kids at the hospital feeling fine. They know that their child is getting better. 

Q: When you volunteer, what do you think that high school students like me take away from it most?

A: They probably take away the fact that they can play with the other kids. They learn that kids who have cancer or whatever the disease they have is aren’t really different than them, but the same in many ways. 

Q: Do the volunteers actually get to talk to the kids and their families?

A: The volunteers do get to talk to the kids and parents, but there are some guidelines they have to follow. They aren’t allowed to pick up a child at all. So they are allowed to talk to them, but they can’t get on a very friendly basis because it would turn into a liability issue. 

I took a lot out of this phone conversation. It made me think about how patients and just regular students live the same. They all have goals, & like to do the same things. Just like our parents are supportive of our goals, the parents of these patients are the same about their child’s growth and recovery. Overall, I enjoyed learning more about the different ways people live. 

The interview went as follows:

Q: What is your position within The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia?

A: Manager of Education for Sustainable Development Programme

Q: What inspired you to enter the field of environmental education?

A: My own education and the level of pollution of my country and in my city.

Q: What is the status of environmental education in Central Asia? How widespread is it, and how is it incorporated into standard education?

A: You will find more information at the CAREC web-site: www.carecnet.org

Q: At what age is environmental education introduced into standard education in Kazakhstan?

A: We have a mandatory course “Ecology & Sustainable Development” in Kazakhstan for bachelors of all specialties [majors] of all Kazakh universities.

Q: How does CAREC approach environmental education, and what individual issues are considered most important to teach to students?

A: You will find more information at the CAREC web-site: www.carecnet.org

Q: Do you believe the world as a whole can benefit from widespread environmental education?

A: I do believe. I do not have any other choice, otherwise I should leave my job! 

Unfortunately, Ms. Shakirova was leaving for vacation at the time of writing this, but kindly took a moment to give her opinion. Despite the brief nature of the interview, Tatiana’s passion for environmental education, and the personal nature of her cause resonates after reading her responses. Pollution and climate change should be a personal matter to all of us. Every one of us can see the pollution that litters our grounds, darkens our skies and infects our waters. We can feel the erratic and dangerous weather changes. And so what do we do? According to Tatiana and the CAREC website, we spread the word. Apart from the mandatory Ecology & Sustainable Development course Tatiana mentioned, CAREC has organized educational lectures and courses for government officials from all over the central asian region, as well as many other programs for students. These are patterns we in the U.S. should be following. Unfortunately we’re are far from widespread mandatory environmental education. Courses stateside remain optional, obscure and poorly funded, but more on that next time. 

Environmentally yours,

Leo

In my previous blog post, I talked about how music education is important in schools and how music technology can facilitate it. It was based on research I did online and my own opinions. However, since then, I have done my own individual research, in the form of a survey. In that survey, I found that, out of the 53 responses, most of the respondents were male. That made sense, as my dad sent this out to some musicians and an illustrator group, most of whom were male. In addition, most respondents were either 13-18 years old or 41-50 years old. This was expected, too, as I sent this out to fellow students, and most of my dad's friends were around his age and in their forties. As expected, most respondents were from the United States, but surprisingly, people responded from Germany to England and even Singapore! Also, an unexpected number of people with graduate degrees responded.

However, that part was relatively unimportant. The important parts were the questions about music education. Most respondents or their children were involved in a local school district, which was relatively unexpected but probably would be easily explainable when you look at the fact that children are included in the question. A surprising number of respondents played a musical instrument, which may have been skewed. When respondents were asked how important music was to them, 79% put an 8, 9, or 10, showing that most thought it was important. However, even more thought education was important, as 96% put an 8, 9, or 10 when asked how important education was to them. However, when asked about music education as a whole, the results were a bit more spread out. There were a good number of 5, 6, and 7s (28%). That shows that music and education were both important to people, but music education as a whole less so. Then, when asked about donations, people responded with everything from "No." to "$200".

There were two respondents, however, that provided a counter to what I was saying. Both said that using technology should be second to learning a traditional instrument. To tell the truth, I disagree. There are a few reasons for this. The first is because of schools' budgets. A piano can cost anywhere from $4900 to over $10,000; however, twenty cheap MIDI keyboards and a group license to a piece of music software can cost anything from $780 (Garageband), $1800 (Ableton Live) and $2600 (Logic Pro). As you can see, it's usually cheaper. In addition, space can be an issue; small MIDI keyboards usually take up two square feet each, but a guitar takes up a much larger space. Finally, they can be easier to teach with, as each kid can have an affordable "mini-piano" which can make any sound you like, instead of one large piano which students would have to take turns using.

Over the next month or two, I am going to be contacting the school district, asking them about my plan, and contacting companies like Ableton to ask them about discounts. Hopefully I can somehow set something up to bring music education and technology into schools, however slowly this may take. I plan to start in schools that I know will benefit from this, like my former school, Cook-Wissahickon Elementary. They already have a music program starting up, and integrating this technology into the program would be beneficial to it. From there, I'd like to expand the program into other schools across the city. I won't be finished by the time the next blog post rolls around, but I sure will have gotten it started!

As said before in my previous post, my name is Ava and I am a teenage girl from Science Leadership Academy striving to make a difference in the world of animals. I believe anyone can make a difference, no matter how small of a voice they start out with, and that’s what I’m hoping I can do through this project... Make a difference.

With the start of a new year, there’s a new hope for animals across America. 2012 was an increasingly better year for the animals, and there have been many adoptions. Many shelters and organizations helped in the time of need when animals yearned for care during the stressful event of Hurricane Sandy. 

Hurricane Sandy was a devastating time for both humans and animals alike. Although according to the ASPCA, there were 129 happy pets that were reconnected with their owners.

In addition to the good news, an article published in December of last year talked about how more and more shelters are becoming no-kill. When a shelter becomes no-kill, they need to have a large amount of help in the process because it’s very difficult to have a successful shelter that doesn’t euthanize animals. In one shelter alone there can be hundreds of volunteers. Volunteers work at the shelter to help take care of the animals, but they do not get paid. Much of the success of the no-kill shelters is because of the wonderful volunteers who devote time out of their personal lives to go out and help the cuddly creatures!

Through a recent survey I created, I asked several simple questions. Almost 70 people filled out the survey! I wanted to know if people had ever adopted a pet from a shelter, if they believed that animals deserved better care in shelters, and if they had ever been to a shelter. Most of the results surprised me. I didn’t expect as many people to say that they had adopted an animal before. It also surprised me that almost half of the people that filled out the survey had never been to an animal shelter.

I believe that through this survey, I have learned that it would be in my best interest to educate more people about the shelters along with encouraging them to take a brief tour of one.

Through the research I’ve recently done, I think that my opinion is not as biased. Although I do believe that many shelters have terrible conditions, my opinion has shifted and I now reassuringly know that there are many people out there who do care about the animals and are willing to do almost anything to help them.

I’ve started volunteering at an animal shelter, and so far, the experience has been amazing! Every week I go to the shelter and walk the dogs there. It’s a great feeling to get to know some of the dog’s personalities, but also a little sad to see them go if they get adopted. I know it’s better for them that they have a home, so I’m glad to see them leave for a better life. Below is the logo of the animal shelter I volunteer at.

For another section to this project, I plan on collecting old towels. Shelters use towels for many things, and when they wear down, the shelter needs new ones. Collecting towels would benefit the animals there, and the shelter would have one less thing to take care of. 

We are their voice. Let us be heard.

Finally something I was good at I thought to myself, the mile run. It was mid October the air was crisp and the leaves were beginning to fall. Not too cold and not to hot, perfect. Fourth grade me thought I was the best of everything so I was pumped. All 27 of us lined up on the middle school track, we began to run and each lap we finished we got a popsicle stick and after we got our 4th we were finished. I was the fastest girl in the class with a time of 8 minutes and 22 seconds. I was so happy with myself, I felt like I had to prove something to everyone since I was still considered “the new girl”. 

After everyone was finished all of the boys congratulated me and gave me a high-five. As we were walking back to the school me and my classmate Rod started a conversation. 

“What sports do you play?” Rod asked.

“Soccer” I responded. I was scared that he was going to ask what team he played for next, Ohhh there it is.. 

“What team do you play for?” Rod asked. He had a look on his face that showed he was really interested in knowing. 

“Sadly, none right now, since my family and I just moved here a few months ago, but I’m really hoping to get one one soon.” I replied. 

“Family?” he asked looking a bit confused. 

“Yes, family” I said, What was he talking about? This is why I don’t like meeting new people! I thought to myself again.

 “Why do you say family with the AAAA sound like “Amber” and not like “Apple” Rod asked. 

“I have no idea, thats just how I grew up...”

I didn’t really have an explanation for him since I grew up talking like this. He speeded up ahead of me and as he was walking farther and farther away I heard him keep repeating the way I said family over again until he was so far ahead that it faded. I was afraid that people would make fun of me because they said 1 single, 6 letter word differently then me. What was the big deal I asked myself over and over in my head. That night when I got home I told my mom what happened. She grew up in Michigan so when she moved to Philly she had many of these encounters. Me and my sister began to ask her how she said certain things. 

“Mom how do you say soda?” my sister and I said in sync. 

“Pop” my mom answered. She was a little annoyed because we always asked her this and then laughed. 

“Why do you call it that? Its so weird and annoying. What happens when you first moved here and needed to order a drink?” We asked. 

She stopped answering us because there was nothing else she could say except for thats how she learned and how she grew up. In the short story, “Hunger of Memory”, Richard Rodriguez explains what happened the first time he heard his name pronounced in English. “The nun said, in a friendly but oddly impersonal voice, ‘Boys and girls this is Richard Rodriguez.’ The nun didn’t say his name like anyone he had heard before, she said it the American way, which he was not used to. Richard didn’t seem upset or mad that she said his name like this, it was more of a cultural shock, something he wasn’t used to.

When we hear something that may or may not be the way you know it, our immediate reaction is to judge, and ask them about it. Though, in reality nobody says everything the same as anyone else. 

Since my first blog post,"You and the World" Teen Depression, I have found out that more teenagers are depressed than I thought. The statistics have sown outstanding numbers. On this site the numbers are plain and simple and that is only in the girls! Some of the things that they mention on the page are that the number of female that are depressed triples from the age 12 to 15. At 16 it still increases by almost a whole percentage. Then when the girls at different went to get help with their depression there was an ten percent difference between the girls that were 12 and the girls at the age of 17. I also found out that it takes about a month to get an appointment for help with your depression. Then when you are prescribed with depression meds it takes another month for them to work or even have any effect on you. I learned that many teens know many others or are those others that have gone through some form of depression. Most doing things such as cutting.