Blog Feed

Annotated Bibliography

In my first SLATE post, I addressed the importance of student loans and overwhelming debt and how this can be solved and how it affected students in the past, present and how it will affect their future. I also mentioned the importance of scholarships for students who come from families who struggle financially. In my second SLATE post, I went into more profundity about the information I got from MIT after my series of interviews that I conducted with Rachel. E Kay of MIT’s admission office. I mentioned in my post how MIT and many other schools were participating in this program called questbridge where they recruit students who want to pursue higher education. Then I talked about what role the U.S can play to help fix the issue of college tuition. Over the course of this third checkpoint, I recently found out about many organizations and groups that work with students in providing them a scholarship for their higher education and one of the most famous and most known organizations that I found out about is called the Gates Millinuim Scholars and it provides the amount of money needed for your education it pays for your fees and everything down to your dorm but it is highly selective and only 1000 students are chosen every year, this organization is funded by Bill and Milenda Gates with a 1.6 billion dollar donation. Another program I came across as I was doing research was an organization called the MDRC they work with young adults and help them pay for their higher education. On their website, they state: “The federal government provided over $33 billion in Pell Grants to nearly 9.5 million low- and middle-income students. Yet too many of these students do not succeed academically. More than a third of students who enroll in college do not earn a degree and are not enrolled in any postsecondary institution six years later; at community colleges, the fraction is close to half. Many factors hinder students from completing college, and financial concerns are a major component. Even if they receive federal and state financial aid, often it is not sufficient to meet their needs. Financial burdens often drive students to work too many hours while in school, forcing them to cut back on study time or drop classes; some students drop out altogether.” Overall I believe the efforts of these organizations/groups to help students with their college fees is great, however, there could be many more groups/organizations that can help young adults with the college/university process. I truly believe that these organizations should be and are examples of what we can do to help future generations succeed.

Talking about the Gates Millennium Scholars

Talking about the Gates Scholarships.

After all this research I had the idea that for my agent of change I would inform students on how to be eligible for scholarships and what programs they can apply for and take part in to increase their chances at getting a scholarship if their family is struggling fianically, I also mentioned in my Agent of change proposal that I would be interested in a letter campaign that will bet targeted at state and federal leaders and I also suggested that I was planning on writing a heart-felt letter to both Betsy DeVos and President Trump, but after some time I came along to accept the idea that this Agent of change would be kind of far-fetched so I will do this as a secondary Agent of change. I first came upon the idea of doing a presentation when I was trying to figure out how I could somehow directly affect the lives of students who might struggle financially and then I decided that there is a diverse group of students in this school so I could just inform them on this topic. During the course of this project I admit I struggled a little in the beginning because I didn’t really know what to choose as my Agent of Change until I decided to persue both of the ideas I had for my agent of change and after this I had an even harder time trying schedule a time to present and I didn’t get one until the last week and my presentation would be on the very day before the project was due, I also worked really hard on the presentation during my waiting time for a confermation as to when I could present my Agent of Change, but when I started presenting I could hear some members of the audience start talking and laughing not really paying attention, however, I feel as if I was effective in making a change because since I did inform students on the programs and ways that can/make them eligible for scholarships, I have basically reached the purpose of my project to inform students so they too, can have the same education as someone is able to pay full price for their’s. As I look back at my progress through this project I find it fascinating how not only did I learn about how organizations/groups are helping students who are struggling financially succeed, but I am also fascinated by how much I can help the world, over the course of my Agent of Change and the You and The World Project, in general, I learned that I can contribute to solving many of society’s issues even if all I do is inform a group of students. Despite struggling on the Agent of Change

Presenting to peers

Presenting to peers.

an aspect of this project I am content with knowing that I tried my best and I am more knowledgeable from the lessons I learned over the course of this course of this project. Even as this project comes to a disheartening conclusion. I want to inform anyone that may be reading this, that presenting to a group of 20 kids isn’t going to solve the problem with college tuition, but rather it will be all of working together and consistently with one goal and that is to make higher education affordable for everyone, that is when we truly have and will succeed in terminating an issue in our society.

Final 2fer

Throughout history, people have been infatuated with information and knowledge. Thousands of years ago when information was sought, it would be spread through oral tradition. Past ancestors shared knowledge in the form of stories to younger generations. However, that did not last, one day it was decided that information should be recorded in books rather than simply just spoken. Now, society has reached another turning point, with the invention of the internet books are becoming obsolete. Students and scholars alike are using a simple Google search, rather than their neighborhood library. This has lead to numerous arguments as to whether the internet can be trusted as a reliable source of information or if society should just revert back to books. The simple answer to this question is; No. Technology is leading people into a new age where, they have a myriad of information at their fingertips. Yes, with such a vast array of information it makes it harder to discern what can and cannot be trusted, but once a person can see the difference, the internet becomes a valuable source outweighing that of any library.

When a person searches a question on Google they are greeted in seconds by thousands upon thousands of results. Such a large array of information makes it hard to choose which website is credible. There’s the old rule of straying away from sites ending in “.com” or “.org”, but the reality is the majority of the search results will have those endings. This leaves a big spot for error. The choice of the wrong site can lead a student into taking fiction as fact. Possibly then this person will go on preaching such fiction and having other believe it. Looking at the world today there are numerous uncredible websites spreading fake news and providing articles that attract many people yet it cannot be trusted. This is where the problems of technology lay. With it the user has access to a variety of sources that a library could never provide, but in a library, there is a sense of comfortability and reassurance that is not available on the internet.

Another problem with technology is how easy it is to edit. Teachers for years have been telling their students to stray from Wikipedia, the reason being; none other than how easy is it to edit. Wikipedia is among the list of numerous websites where having an account bestows an unlimited amount of power upon the user. They can now go to any article and change it to say what they want. With this ability, it’s virtually impossible to know what can and cannot be trusted. Those writing the articles may not be professionals that are educated on the topic. Instead, it may be a young boy bored and decides to change information on a website for his own amusement and joy. Furthermore, just because an information exist on the internet does not mean it can be trusted. Groups and people can create websites to push their own agenda. If a student is not able to see that the article they are reading is biased, or at the very least inaccurate, then once again they will be treating fiction as fact. With technology students have to search more. Students need to understand what it is they are looking for and how to choose between biased and unbiased. This is a task that may seem simple but with a large number of websites in existence, may not be at all.

  Yet the addition of new skills brought by technology is not always a negative. According to a study done by the University of Southern Main; “49 percent of eighth-graders tested as proficient at writing in 2005, compared with 29 percent in 2000, before the state began its laptop program” This shows the benefits of technology. In a library, a student would spend hours upon hours searching and looking through a books where with technology in ten minutes they have searched through numerous websites and have found what they need. Like an article titled Computers are Steadily Revolutionizing Schools stated “Computers are used when they make it easier to do certain tasks”. Not only is technology improving the typing skills of people, but it is also simultaneously making it easier for everyone around the world to learn new tasks. A teacher can assign a student a research paper or essay assignment when the student comes back not only will the assignment be finished but they would’ve also become a better typer, but at the same time worked in an efficient manner.

  Technology itself provides the information already at the library, because of the fact every laptop, tablet, and a phone is in a manner a miniature library. When someone is on technology they have access to every book found at a library. The person can simply search the PDF version of the book, go to Amazon and buy it, or go to websites that will provide chapter by chapter summaries. This is a clear cut advantage brought by technology. If a book is needed for an assignment they can find it, and even if they can’t, there are search results that can be connected with the book to provide more information. When technology is being looked at in this manner it should also be noted how it takes out the hassle of carrying and travel. If a person stumbles upon curiosity, they have the ability to search up what is on their mind, without this ability they would have to wait until they are able to go to their neighborhood library. Even at the library, they may be forced to take out numerous books which would take up a large amount of space and time. Simply having one computer would provide them with all the information found in those books.

  Another one of the many points that have to be noted is technology is simply the smarter investment. In the short run, a $20 book is not as expensive as a $500 tablet, but the reality is the tablet will take a person much farther than the book. While the book limits its user to information of a certain topic with the tablet there is no limit. Even a book such as a dictionary or Britannica which provides extremely large amounts of information has its limits. A book cannot go on forever. Then there’s also the fact that books can become outdated when new information is found. This is where the tablet exceeds. When new information is provided it is already at a person's use and disposal. Unlike a book where they would have to go scouring for the newest version of the tablet, a quick search would provide them with the newest version. The only negative that could occur to the tablet is that it too would become outdated. However, the strongest processors are not needed to do simple web searches. Possibly this is why some governments are providing technology programs for students. According to the Maine Center for Meaningful Engaged Learning; “Seventh-grade students use laptop computers in a language arts class in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Maine's $37.2 million programs have provided laptops to 34,000 seventh and eighth graders and 3,000 teachers. In addition, supporters argue that laptop programs give students valuable familiarity with computers.” The efficiency, reliability, and overall engagement brought by technology is being seen everywhere. This is why it's being pushed into modern schools because simply put a laptop can do much more than a book.

  Humans are evolving and with that so is the manner in which they collect and store information. First, it was orally, then in books, and now it has become by technology. With this transition, there will be people that are against it. They will claim any mistake caused by technology as a reason why it should not be used in replacement of books. However, the reality is technology provides a better more efficient future. The world is changing and technology is assisting in the change. People no longer have to wait to hear what is occurring around the world. Students no longer have to wait to message their teacher a question. Technology is much more simple than books and because of how simple it is, everyone’s lives is easier. Research is easier, and people are learning new skills. When books were first coming out, the same was most likely thought of them. They were seen as innovative, radical, and a way to change everyone’s lives. It is now technologies turn for the modern age.

“Laptops in Schools.” About Issues and Controversies, www.2facts.com/printpage.aspx?pin=i1300020#i1300020_3.

I will not acquiesce animal abuse:The end to animal abuse is alluring

                           My Dog

Before                                           After

How many animals get abused in the U.S

https://www.petsafe.net/learn/help-prevent-animal-cruelty

Part 1:

The Numbers are high considering the chart, 60% of all abused animal victims and 60% of them are dogs, 83% are cats and dogs, and if you think how many people abuse animal across the united state.The SPCA is is a good choice , because most time they have to euthanize animals if they don’t have enough room, but They said the don’t ethinzia adoptable animals, and they try to save as many animal as much they can which is also why it is also a good choice, and  they are getting less animals in so they don’t have ethinize as much, and maybe more room. And animal abuse is a very serious problem, and SPCA is still good because they try to help as much as they can, it is like me trying to help every homeless person of the street and taking them in to my home I can’t do that to all of them, I don’t have enough room to do that, not to mention I have small house, so I would have to let go of some people like what SPCA does, but now they probably don’t do it as much ( they do not accept birds , dogs, cats, small animals). An the ACCT is a good choice too because like my interviewer said the ACCT  is an open it take shelter,so they will take any animal bird, cats, dogs, etc. So if you know you can’t take care of an animal please take it to ACCT, or any shelter, because if you know you can’t take care of it it is a form of abuse and it is better off in any shelter. She also said that abuse is what they regularly see so don’t be afraid to take the animal in , but if it would be related to the police like your neighbor is the abuser then call the PSPCA.And if you help lessen the number of animal coming in , and to help people take care of animals, and if you don’t know how to take care of an animal but you enough money to take care of one then you can look on web sites and ask for help, don’t be embarrassed, there is more people like that than you think.and my other interviewer said that all my question where more for PSPCA for an interview, but I was already running out of time for that when I got her response.                                                                My interviewer telling me that I could hep ACCT with my agent of change

.

the other interview that said PSPCA was a better choice to interview for my questions

But Anyway, I have a dog(the first picture above) that is probably been through that, Although we don’t,know her back story besides her being shot 16 times and her being still here, not to mentions she had a couple of disease before the adoption center got her, and usually dog adapt and if she was wild she probably would not have a disease, but who knows she may have escaped, but I mean she is in my family's care for about 2 years in march 12th and she is very happy and she is always wagging her tail, beside when she goes for a car ride, tha vacuum goes on , and if we put on a tv show that has a gun shooting a one point like a mystery show,or if there is a fake gun like a nerf gun near, which would be the trauma, but that is kind f why i am doing this.

Rabies: why most people terrorize dogs.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/ZfjkR0gtFqB-jQ/animal-rights

Dog are Abused 20% More Than any Other Animals in the U.S

But  Abuse can’t get unnoticed, and that means we have to start speaking up, I mean the abuser doesn't have to know a thing, most calls are autonomous, and you don’t have to tell the person that you going to tell, like almost every one of my site say to do, because it is important.And what is even more important is that 100% of people who commit  sexual homicide has a history of animal abuse which is kind of bothering that a lot of them do that, and it doesn't mean the other way around so if there is a neighbor who is abusing an animal doesn't mean they will commit sexual homicide so don’t be afraid to do your own actions and report them.Not to mention abusers, abusers don’t give the animals enough room for  them sometime to breathe and grow, or give them too much room, like the whole yard but can’t use all of the yard because they are chained up from the picture in many sites. Which is again terrible, considering the effect, which is physical and mental health issues.Or animal hoarder, I mean they collect animals and are like I can take care of them even though they obviously cannot, but they completely think they can handle everything but they have a lot cats, dog, etc.

And to kind of wrap this up a bit, I read the laws(which I suggest for you if you care for animal, because one of my site suggests it too in one of the steps for reporting animal abuse). first, animal abuse penalty includes the officer to file a felony charge(a felony is a severe crime and is viewed severely by the society, and can include murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc)dog t fighting is already a felony, and breaks down into different grade pentaly’s base on how hard the abuse is. And veterinarians have civil immunity( where you don’t get served the punishment) now I don’t get too much of this but if they actually harm animals I think they will get charged because rules are rules, I think it is only for checking things from the dog and stuff. And a little bit obvious but if they commit animal abuse they will have to give animals. And did you know there is a new law that if someone abuse horse’s they will be charge the same charge as abusing dog and cats.

Part #2

For my Agent of change I was thinking of having a bake sale and and giving the money to ACCT, and I will be especially easy because my interviewer is working in fundraising and money department. I had limited choices to do think, because I can’t just walk up to a person like hay your and animal abuser I will call the cops and make sure this animal is safe, and there is volunteer options but that means I might have to do it way more than I thought. I have students run philly style, during saturdays an hour after school on mondays tuesdays and thursdays, and also have robotics, not to mention I also have green season in running which means I have to practice in the summer, and all of that make My time very limited, and I don’t know what hours they would like me to go in, plus I don’t know how to get there, I haven’t even travel in there over there a thousand time on the train but I haven't been in there, not to mention it is nowhere near the train station and the close septa there is 53 an I don’t even know where I could even catch that,  and I can definitely not get another dog, my dog is j same way about elouse with other dogs and she is a nut case, we can take care of her but with my grandma, my grandma would be going nut, my grandma already freaks out over pretty much anything we do (my dad, mom, brother, and me ,feel the her, way protective, always want to cleans, too much, but we love her anyway). I could sent care packages, but I can’t take car of that, mostly likely my dog will rip up ANYTHING, money is better, she hates money and metal, when I show her money she is not tempted to eat it.

Part 3 , final part:

So I did do a bake sale, just to let you know. And I was surprised at how many bought stuff, and how much I made too, so I raised $40, and I at least had 100 items.And just to let everyone know because the majority of the people who bought my cupcakes and brownies where freshman, so I gave the physical money to my dad, then he gave $40 to ACCT. And I what it means to me that you helped me get this money, to  help them means a lot, because I mean the place , doesn't have much room, money for people to hire to take care of the animal, an in my mind giving them the money is like help the animal not die, I mean like if they die, because of the shelter, then the person who did it would feel the pain and guilt they made, and they will keep doing, so it kind of helps fight animal abuse in a way. And in my opinion if I had started earlier in the year I probably could have done more, what I think I would have done if I did have more time, is send care packages, more bake sales, maybe an grade advisory presentation, sold pins with animal awareness color, and an stuff.

And one thursday 17th  I did an presentation to my advisory.  It explained what to do in the vent if someone were to abuse an animal, and what it looks like that, Now That is called teaching the public which is where, people show how it happens, or what to do , which is what ACCT does sometimes with posters and stuff.And teaching the public is very important because , it is how we introduce a topic if some people doesn't know what it is like in african american history with the memorials, how an we make and memorial to show the public what happen here. well what teaching an thing that is already happening is showing what is happening like police shooting a dog, for all most no reason (which did happen an saw it on social media) it is showing even dog, police are crossing species, they were shooting black people for no reason and now there shooting dogs, not to mention, there was better way to solve the problem in all of the situation of the police shooting people for no reason. If you want you can see my presentation here.

I mostly decided to do a bake sale was that first morgan polly was the one I interviewed and she helped with money, second they sounded they need money, for stuff like more room or hire more people. Why I also choose a presentation was that I also needed to actually support the awareness and that is one way to do that, and I can’t really make anything with in the time I had for awareness. My experience with bake sale was much, much easier than I thought, I mean I just emailed, mrs.sessa, and she reserved me the date, then I pretty much just sat there and people gave me money and I gave them the cupcakes and brownies, but what was horrible, is that, it was the day where it rain HARD, and I was completely wet, cardboard wet, only some cupcakes and brownies wet, and presentation, was a usual presentation, I went up to the board talks about animal abuse and how horrible it is and what are the signs of animal abuse, and sat back down, now if was in front of other people, maybe whole grade advisory, or 10,11, or 12 grade group advisory, then I would feel more nervous but all I could do is my advisory. Now my whole project was a range of excitement and emotions, ike when I saw this project I was like animal abuse, because it is a big part of my life, and I hate abuse. Now the research, wasn’t too bad, maybe could of done more, but was ok, and I did learn some things, like dog racing was even in ancient rome and stuff, and  saw new picture, that gave me more visual representation of dog abuse, when I did the bake sale I was so nervous, like what do I do, where do I go, but then I sat down for a couple of minute in the business I was ok, And then when I sent the money, i was even better, because it was in my bag (don’t trust my dog, she LOVES paper, including money) and I didn’t want it to get stolen or lost, but I kept it safe for the whole week and sent the money, and then the couple of days I didn’t really have to do much until the presentation were chill and calm, and I was still calm on the day of the presentation, because I did practically thousands of presentations. Now I know this is a lot of words, but I want to make sure you knew what I was doing with your money,I mean if I were you, and someone did a post about their charity, I would want to make sure what asctly happen with my money, right?

I felt great about doing this project I mean when ever I saw any animal abuse photos or videos I always wished that I could do something, but I couldn’t mostly because I didn’t know how to give to charitys, and I didn’t have money, and I could of asked my parents for money, but again didn’t know how to get money to the place, or which one I should donnate, so I felt happy at the moment when I saw this project because then I could actully help witht his problem. And the way I felt i could have done better if I had more time, like if I had more time then I could of done much more, like care packages. Well what is still done for us to do is donate,help/volenteer , notice the sings explained in my presentation (and again DO NOT HANDLE IT YOUR SELF they can be very dangerouse, consiring they hurt dogs, they can do it to you).  Some other ways is also to know whether you can actully keep the dog, if the dog gets adopted twice then they will die, if it you can’t keep it and no one wants it with in the time they will ethinzie, and not to metion the poor dog is just going to the same thing twice. And if you do want to be a part of the action the most safest thing is probably to volenteer ofr get a job at an shelter (almost every shelter has volenteer spots, and for kids).

A picture of the receipt of my donation

                                          Annotated bibliography

1. “Animal Cruelty”Learning to give,https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/animal-cruelty

The definition of animal abuse is the acts of violence or negling the animal on purpose or at least mostly on purpose.and it is important to know which ones are which because, police or animal control will know and asses the problem, like if it is dog fighting, and you say i don’t know abusing an animal in a backyard, they might think oh only one and not bring enough equipment, to ring them to a shelter. This abuse can cause physical and emotional pain, considering my dog whenever she hears gunshots(even on TV, plus we live near an country club that has an gun range) she gets scared and when we first got her she was jumpy and whenever and man/boy try to take her collar off she would growl, but when me or my mom took it off she did nothing(she is fine now and is very happy and understands that we will not hurt her and stuff because now my dad and brother can take her collar off) so that memory will live on.

• Animal abuse is very cruel and hurtful to other animals (I do not trust SPCA because if they run out of room for animals, they ethiniza some animals)

• It is very horrible because animal are just like us, they have feeling just like us, so it is very unfair for someone to do that to an animal.

              2.“Animal abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in crime” PETA,https://www.peta.org/issues/companion-animal-issues/companion-animals-factsheets/animal-abuse-human-abuse-partners-crime/

Studies have shown that aggressive animal are likely to be abused because people are afraid and a coward. 100% of sexual homicide  has a history of animal abuse.Albert Desalvo killed 13 women and abused puppies so it can back up my reasoning.

• It is very usual for a sexual homicide person to abuse animals

• And I am not surprised that aggressive animal get abused more,because again people are cowards

3.“Animal Abuse”Amarican Human https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-abuse/

4.I didn't know that there was steps, I kind of knew some signs but I am not sure whether I will recognize the signs.owners often neglect their pets because they don’t know there pets need, but most of neglect is on purpose.but outrageous because human system can take calls right at that minute, but they get a lot calls so they will not take the call right at the moment.

• We can testify or sign a complaint about the abuse like how you sign a complaint about noise

• Neglect in both children and dogs are horrible  and can result in death

“Reasons for abuse” wildlife rescue and rehabilitation http://wildlife-rescue.org/services/advocacy/animal-abuse/

5.Actions can be active and passive, like hurting the animal and not doing anything for the animal. Like some kid decapitated dog and stuff and setting fire on their tails and butts.Passive actions can cause severe pain to a dog or cat

“ U.S Animal Abuse records deleted-What we stand to lose”National geographics.https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-usda-animal-welfare-trump-records/

The roadside Zoo neglected the animals including premature death. And making the monkey Dehydrated while performing experiment on them that is just rude.and whipping elephants and changing them.

• I love elephants so I hate that they would do the elephants

• And I hate that the family zoo would do that and I wonder if they ethinza

Extra websites:

http://placerspca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/faqs.pdf

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/what-distinguishes-a-misdemeanor-from-a-felony.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/animal-cruelty-pennsylvania-libres-law-20170628.html

https://www.today.com/pets/aspca-adoption-euthanasia-s-down-animal-shelters-t109029

Hi, my name is Hayden Myers, and this is my third blog post about my ideas on what’s going on with fraternities today. After two blog posts, extensive research, and having a story of my own, I have finally posted a new blog about what my final opinions are about what needs to  be done with fraternities. I started off by explaining why I though that fraternities should be shut down for good, because the only experience that I had with fraternities was my parents telling me that they’re a terrible place filled with alcoholics and idiots who party too much, and to put the cherry on top my neighbor was hospitalized because the first day at a fraternity he was hazed. I my second blog post I explained why fraternities should be given more strict policies to make sure that things like hazing can’t happen again. Now, I have made my third and final blog post, finalizing my ideas on fraternities, and after a lot of thinking, I have realized that people will find a way to torture and kill these people no matter what, even if they don’t want to, it will happen, and there is nothing that anyone else can do to help stop this. The only way is to get rid of the source of the problem.

If that wasn’t obvious enough, that means that the only solution for saving lives in any college fraternity in America is to ban the fraternity, period. Now, it took me a while to come up with my opinion on whether fraternities should be shut down or just restricted. What pushed me to the edge is that all of the hazing deaths that I have researched about proved that alcohol was the biggest factor in hazing deaths than anything else by far, but it would be illegal to ban someone over twenty one from drinking, and even if alcohol was limited or banned in the fraternity, the party would probably just be held somewhere else. I felt like I was getting closer and closer to a conclusion until I remembered something, I had read an article that I linked in my second blog post, which explained that fraternities were created so the kids with a lot of money(upper-middle class- rich) could get away from the kids who had less than them. An argument for this would be; “well that was a while ago, they don’t do that anymore”. While that argument is understandable because fraternities hide most from the truth, real studies that are mentioned in that article explain how if two people wanted to join a fraternity and they both were the exact same person, the fraternity will most likely choose the one who has more money, or seems to have more money. I simply cannot support these discriminatory acts. Because of these points, I believe that fraternities should be shut down for good.

I decided to make a change, but how would I do that? I made a change by making an instagram account posting my own drawings of all of the people killed by fraternity hazing in 2017. I did this for three reasons; honor those who lost their lives, show how evil hazing is, and to show that even though it was a terrible year for many people, it shed light on the biggest issue with fraternities, and has now pushed people to make the first steps into a safer environment in the learning place, and has led to websites like these! Proving everything that has been said throughout this post. This may seem like a conclusion to my “rant” but it is not, there are still many steps to be taken to reach our goal, sign petitions, make websites, social media, march, rally, email, just do whatever is possible to save lives and give a better name to colleges. I wish that I could have made the extra step to try to share my social media platform with more people, through email, social media itself, just anything, because what’s the point of making a protest hub, with nobody to know that it’s there.

This is my Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/

In my previous posts I’ve talked about green infrastructure in philly and the whole point behind the stormwater management we have in the city. (Which are accessible here: fist post and second post.) It was important I understood the process of our stormwater management system before I got any further into my project so that was the first thing I had down. Then I looked a little further into what our city has done to be a little different from others in its stormwater management process, and it turns out that the city is actually doing pretty well with it. I even got to check out what the fists water planters and rain gardens in the city looked like because they are super close to my house. I never really knew it until this project but the planters around Columbus Square are the first ones to be installed in the city. My park was like the test to see how they performed and what needed to change about the designs before the rest were put all around the city.

For my project’s agent of change I decided to volunteer with the Passyunk Square Civic Association and help out with the monitoring of some of the green infrastructure in my area. The whole process was about 3 weeks long with my first observation date being on the 3rd of May. Before that though I got in contact with Sarah Anton, the president of the Passyunk Square Civic Association. She was super nice and had enough time in her schedule to come meet me near the sites to show me how I would be monitoring them in the future. She emailed me a link to the form I would fill out everytime I went by which was around once a week or so. Then she went on to show me how to look out for the different systems. They all kind of had the same type of drainage and the main point was that you don’t want that clogged because then an rainwater that you got would just be trapped in the planter/ rain garden.

Monitoring the sites after a storm was where I really came in because that’s when things can get messed up with drainage and such but all I can do as a volunteer right now is submit that form in which I would point out anything that I feel should be addressed with the site. So I submitted a form for the Columbus planters talking about how they were in need of some tending with some graffiti on one but on some of the others I noticed that there was a whole lot of stuff covering the drain so I pointed those things out in the form. It’s up to the city if they feel the issues are big enough to address. So like I said my part was just to report it and that was all I could get myself  involved with.

Over the last few months, I have learned a lot about homelessness. Yet it’s still hard to say whether  I am satisfied or not with what I have accomplished. Sure I am proud of all the knowledge I have picked up on the road of knowing more about the situation of the homeless, but for my agent of change I couldn’t really accomplish what I had envisioned. It’s not over yet though because this was my first shot of taking action to better make the situation for the homeless. Only because the project ends here doesn’t mean I will stop trying to make a change. I have grown not only in knowledge but as a person as well. I remember back in my first slate blog post mostly focused on the misconceptions about homeless people. How they are seen as lazy, drug addicts, and people who take advantage of their situation. I focused only on how they were viewed, treated, and reasons why they were in the situation they were in. In my second blog post I worked on researching more about the truth of why people go homeless, why homeless people don’t go to shelters, and with this information I was able to come up with my own definition of what being homeless truly is. For this blog post I focused more on what has been done or is currently being done to end homelessness and what I did to make a change about the homeless situation.

I am not the only one who wants to make change for the homeless people. Other groups of people have been working on better making the situation so that the situation of being homeless can end. In 2004, a group of homeless advocates in San Francisco tried to test out something that could possibly help homeless people with most of their needs. They rented a local convention hall and made social services provide tables and they would have shoes, clothes, free food, medical treatment of any kind (including mental illnesses), information about short and long term housing programs in the city, free phone calls, etc. for the homeless people. This program also made homeless people feel safe because the people volunteering would protect their belongings. This act helped homeless people have an opportunity to change their life because they now have the most important things they need and with the short and long housing info, you should be able to come to an agreement to a housing fund with the government. These events bring people from the community in because a lot of people donate clothes they don’t need and donate money.

https://www.va.gov/health/NewsFeatures/2013/August/300-Million-to-Help-End-Veteran-Homelessness.asp

I decided to go on with this because since I ran out of options, helping the people who need it would be the best choice for me at this point, also I wanted to inform others of the truth behind the homeless. When I was helping people and saw my friends helping people I had this feeling of happiness that filled my heart. I felt like there was hope in making people’s eyes open and see reality.  I was effective in making a change because I informed others more about the truth of homeless people and I helped homeless people in the streets by giving them food money and telling them that they shouldn’t feel bad because good things will head their way if they do good things for others. I gave them positive vibes and made them feel better and that they are humans and that they don’t need to feel lower than anyone else because they are just as good as anyone else.

I don’t plan to stop here, I want to use this as a step closer to make a bigger impact. My goal is to create an event where there will be food and I will use the money raise to give to a homeless shelter so that they can help get medical care and other important necessities. The project changed the perspective of my life. It taught me to value my life more because I have what others don’t have and it proves that life could change in a matter of seconds. The people I met in my journey to find the truth behind homeless people taught me that family is the reason they were able to bring themselves back and that family and friends are the answer to end homelessness. It taught me stuff about myself that i didn’t think I had. I would always think I would be a tough guy and that I didn’t really have a soft spot. This wasn’t the case when I learned about people stories and how their relationships with family changed. Most of the stories I learned about either talked about how their family left them or how their mothers were their inspirations to bring themselves back up. I feel like I could have found a better way to get my message across about getting to know someone before you judge them. This is only a step closer to change because it won’t end until we take action. We the people need to help others by creating fundraisers to create a shelter where everyone is welcome and it would help rehabilitate those with mental illnesses. We are the start of change.

In post #1, I talked about about how gang violence is affecting individual neighborhoods and how it is a burden on our society. I also did some research on those topics and talked about it in the blog post. In post #2, I reached out to someone who is dealing with gang violence first hand and interviewed them. I analyzed what they said and elaborate it throughout my post. However, In post #3 I did something that will hopefully cause change to occur. For post #3 I constructed a website that informs the public on what a dangerous thing gang violence, how to protect yourself, what to do and not do, how to act in a gang violence related situation, how they can help, etc...

youth.gov logo

During my research I came across many helpful websites, but one website that really had great solutions to the easily fixable problems of gang violence was made by an organization called youth.gov. They believe that the roots of gang violence issues is the youth members. A quote from them is “To prevent youth from joining gangs, communities must strengthen families and schools, improve community supervision, train teachers and parents to manage disruptive youth, and teach students interpersonal skills.” I personally agree with their methods because the decision to be in a gang comes at a young age and it is important to stay on a good path throughout your whole adolescence. I also really like this website because their intentions and mine are the same. We both have similar goals to prevent gang violence from harming our society and children.

LAPD police badge

In addition to researching youth.gov, I did research about the Los Angeles Police Department. There goal is to protect us from gang violence and life threatening danger. On their site, it was really helpful that they made a list of what regular everyday citizens can do to help stop gang violence. Four items on the list are “Set up a Neighborhood Watch or a community patrol, working with police”, “Make sure that all the youth in the neighborhood have positive ways to spend their spare time, through organized recreation, tutoring programs, part-time work, and volunteer opportunities.”, “Clean up the neighborhood! Involve everyone - teens, children, senior citizens. Graffiti, litter, abandoned cars, and run-down buildings tell criminals that you don't care about where you live or each other. Call the local public works department and ask for help in cleaning up.”, and “Clean up the neighborhood! Involve everyone - teens, children, senior citizens. Graffiti, litter, abandoned cars, and run-down buildings tell criminals that you don't care about where you live or each other. Call the local public works department and ask for help in cleaning up.” I chose these four in particular because once completed they can actually produce real change. I also chose this because I also had a list of what citizens can do in my website.

Me making my website.

After researching about others whose goals are to stop gang violence and what their methods are in doing so, I decided to share my opinion and inform the public on my methods of stopping gang violence. That is why I wanted to do a website because I feel as though it is the best way to learn a lot of information in a convenient way. The important part is that the public gets the information. My experience creating this website was mostly good but at some times a little frustrating. There were times when I did not know what to put on my website in order to keep it relevant and well explained. I was effective in making a change because I got my information out into the world. I obviously can’t force anyone to do something, but I think that it is really important to have the option to inform yourself of potential danger.

Reflecting on this project now, I felt good doing it. I have felt a larger connection to this project since I have been working on it for so long. I have witnessed my knowledge and ideas for this project grow and change through the past few months. This project has let me learn about myself that if I devote a lot of time to a topic, it grows and improves so greatly. What I feel like I could have done better was the my planning out. My ideas were growing rampantly and if my schedule had a little more structure, then I could have saved a lot of more time. What still needs to happen to fulfill a change is that my website needs to be viewed and used by a lot of people and it needs to spread awareness. In conclusion, my agent of change was a successful product of my first two posts.

Annotated Bibliography

Planning for Post #3

www,preventgangviolence.com

Throughout the school year I have been conducting research and gathering the research of others on the subject of homelessness and homeless shelters. There are more than half a million people experiencing homelessness currently in America. Unfortunately, it’s estimated that only about half of the homeless population can be sheltered at a time. In my research I found that life in shelters can be almost as bad as living outside

, without shelter. In shelters the homeless can be subjected to racism, transphobia, and other types of xenophobia to harmful effect. My research on this can be found here and here.

In my agent of change, I partnered up with Tyria Brown-Smith, a classmate of mine also researching homelessness, to create a presentation to raise awareness for the national problem of homelessness in America. Her previous research can be found here. While this issue is huge and seemingly impossible to completely fix, we found it necessary to raise awareness. Many victims of homelessness suffer from mental health problems due to their physical environment and from being ignored by hundreds of people1, day in and day out. Hence, if we would be able to change that, even slightly, it would be positive growth for the cause.

Upon the class being assigned our Y&tW project last quarter, we were asked to observe our daily world to gain inspiration for a topic. Off the top of my head I had a few ideas, but the national epidemic of homelessness was the most prevalent in my mind. As a resident of Philadelphia, the homeless are seemingly everywhere downtown, many of whom are ignored by the probably hundreds of people that pass by them every day. While I don’t personally know anyone who has experienced homelessness, they are a big part of the city that I’ve lived in all my life. While our project does encourage donation to a few different organizations attempting to remedy the problem of homelessness, we mainly wanted to relay a message of sympathy and, fittingly enough, brotherly love. While there is no quantitative way to measure opened minds, we hope and believe we made a difference.

I have worked hard in trying to help fix the problem of social media and body image. I researched and wrote an essay about my research. In my research I found some shocking things about eating disorders and what magazines do to make there models look good. Then I did some of my own research, I watched this documentary called Straight/curve Redefining body image and I interviewed the creator of the documentary. I thought that it was eye opening to see how kids are influenced today and what the media can do.

Throughout my research I found only a few organizations that were helping to fix this problem. People are not just having fundraisers, I also saw tha some organizations were having ted talks. I watched one of the ted talks and it was wonderful, the person speaking talked about her own experiences and what she went through as a kid. She talked about loving to swim when she was younger just not loving the way her body looked in the swim suit. I also found this new organization that is dedicated to help people with eating disorders and people with body image issues in general. I believe that these are good ways to start change and that maybe there are other ways. I do think that having a ted talk was a good idea. I believe that this is affecting the kids the most and that if it is a video it is going to be on the internet so kids are bound to find it. So a ted talk is a good way to get the word out to the kids.

For my agent of change I decided to pick four magazines and write four different letters to the editors of the magazines. I decided to write letters to Teen vogue, Allure, Seventeen, and GQ. In these letters I wanted to talk about what I thought was a good way to show body image and what I thought they could have done better with. I decided to do this because I thought that is would be a good way to get the word out. I decided that instead of doing something big I could target four magazines. I thought this would make an impact on the problem. My experience was a good one while writing the letters I tried to look at the magazines closely and see what really needed to be changed and what I thought was something they needed to be complimented on. I was not that effective in making a change when I sent the letters out I only got one response.

Link to letters:

Letter to teen vogue

Letter to Allure

Letter to Seventeen

Letter to GQ    

Link to Annotated bibliography

Light Pollution

In my first post, I talked about how light pollution is harmful to both humans and animals. I learned that it affects the migration of birds. In my second post, I took pictures at 30th St. station with my Mom, and I learned that Philadelphia is one of the worst cities with light pollution. For my agent of change, I did a presentation to my Boy Scout Troop on some facts about light pollution and how to reduce light pollution. It was interesting because I learned how to reduce light pollution and I learned some facts about light pollution. Some of the facts that I learned were that the sky glow of Los Angeles is visible from an airplane 200 miles away, but people there haven't seen the stars in a long time, artificial light at night disrupts the seasonal cycle of trees, light pollution contributes to climate change, light pollution kills millions of birds a year, and exposure to artificial light at night puts your health at risk. Ways to reduce light pollution are to turn off lights, especially outdoor lights, replace outdoor lights with low-glare fixtures, place motion sensors on outdoor lamps, and replacing high-energy bulbs with outdoor CFLs and LED floodlights. I think that simply by turning off lights you can make a difference in reducing light pollution.

I was effective in making a change because I got my Troop to think about how they are not able to see the stars in the city because of light pollution. I suggested that they turn off the lights and switch to motion sensors for outdoor lighting so they can reduce light pollution.

This project was pretty hard, but I had to do it. I learned that I wait until the last minute to do things. I feel that I could have prepared for this project better. Turning off the lights will help to reduce light pollution. Here is the link to my Google Slides.

Here is the link to my annotated bibliography.

Previously on my High School: Drug Abuse research project I did some background research on teenagers and common drug use, and the dangers and risks that come with it. In this post I reference diagrams,graphs, quotes, and statistics that show that using many of these drugs result in brain damage, and sometimes physical damage depending on the drug. In the 2nd blog post I had a 45 minute interview with my Uncles coworker, David Johnson who told me his story and experience with drug use/abuse since he was 12. You can read more about those two posts by clicking here for the 1st one and here for the 2nd.

For my Agent of Change I tried to think about the best way to make a change for my problem which was Teenage Drug Abuse. My logic behind the thinking revolved around me thinking about how I could tell the kids not to try drugs, or become a regular user of drugs, without getting them to do the exact opposite. In my presentation instead of saying do not try or do drugs at the beginning, I instead showed horrific and shocking statistics surrounding the dangers of drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and consuming nicotine via smoking and vaping. When the faculty saw these statistics which were fairly recent, in the past decade to be exact that started to think about their own children in their lives as well as the students. I went on to explain how even though at the surface these drugs can be harmless they affect teengers the worse. The reasoning behind this is the developing adolescent brain which could be negatively affected by drugs causing less brain development and lack of skills or traits in certain parts of the brain like the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. While doing this project I felt challenged, but Iḿ glad I was able to complete it, and it brings me joy that the faculty thought it was good enough that they should present to students at Germantown Friends School.

To conclude my series of post, this project was amazing and really made me look at an important topic and help the problem become non-existant. While doing this project I felt like I was making a real contribution to the world and my issue. If I were to do anything differently, I would challenge myself to make even more of a change than I did initially. I think in the bigger picture of Teenage Substance Abuse, there a lot of room for improvement as well as thinks that could be addressed and fixed. This includes clearing the stigma of rehabilitation, encouraging adolescents to speak up about drug use, and any personal problem they may have, and properly educating adolescents about the dangers of drugs.

Draft Post #3

     Helloooo, me again. Now I promise that this is the last time I am going to bother this with the You and The World project thing. In case you haven’t seen it already here are my first and second posts if you needed a little bit of a refresher. This time I did my Agent of Change that I briefly mentioned in my second post.

    For my Agent of Change I decided that I would make a video explaining what you should and shouldn’t do in the case of bullying. The various situations I had my actors do were things such as, a kid being bullied and someone coming up to it and instead of helping they just recorded it instead. Another situation they did was when the victim was being bullied another kid jumped in but instead of helping him he went to help the bully beat the kid up. Then when it came to the situations that involved actually helping the victim out with the first one being where someone came up and confronted the bully instead. The final situation I had for the video is that someone instead of confronting the bully went and grabbed a teacher for help.

 I did this because I thought “hey since this seems like something that’s pretty unique and that no one else is doing and I like videos and photography, I might as well do this!” So I decided instead of doing a social experiment  I will have it showing what are different reactions and why or why you should not do certain things. I did this so others can actually watch it and even know how to respond and see if they know how to recognize it.

       If you didn’t know already bullying is the physical and/ or mental abuse of someone by someone else. I and many others have gone through this and let me tell you it sucks. So I wanted to try and raise awareness about this so here the video is.

    I already went over the basis of what bullying is so here is what the video is, please go check it out!:

Alright due to some difficulties I am not able to show it but as soon as I can I will update this.

For my final part of my You and The World project, I decided to use social media to my advantage. I created an Instagram account that is about food. In my two previous posts were showcasing a plant-based diet. My first post was mainly me glorifying not eating meat because it is bad for you. Looking back at it, it was biased but my second post level the playing fields. For my second post, I decided to gather my own research to back up my original research. I interviewed 3 people, the first person decided to be vegan for health reasons, the second person my friend who has been a vegan her entire life, and her mother. By searching for my own research I learned that having a plant-based diet isn’t as good as I thought it might be, but that just wasn’t enough for me to believe that not eating meat was beneficial to me.

I had two parts to my Agent of Change; the first part was to stop eating meat and the second was to document it. I created this change for myself where I would stop eating meat for six weeks but I broke it up in parts. Every two weeks I would increase the intensity of my diet by making it more strict. The first week 1&2 I was a pescatarian, week 3&4 vegetarian, and 5&6 vegan. The hardest part was being vegan because I felt like I couldn’t eat anything and the easiest was being a pescatarian. I after completing the 6 weeks I didn’t feel much of a difference other than the fact of knowing the I’m not eating an animal. Then I created an Instagram to show people how easy it is. I decided to create the account because during the six weeks I followed multiple food accounts on Instagram and YouTube, so I decided to make my own.

Follow me @whatinthefood

My experience of not eating meat wasn’t necessarily hard if I did it correctly. When I wasn’t eating meat I had to find other things to eat. The main thing I found myself a lot of starch. I ended up gaining 10 pounds at the end of the 6 weeks because I wasn’t watching what I was eating. When you don’t eat meat it is easier to gain weight unless you plan out what you’re eating. Several weeks later I still no longer eat meat, not for health reasons but because my body has adapted to being a pescatarian. I still struggle with my diet but I’m getting better by planning out my meals.

After completing this project I feel more aware of what goes into my body. By doing this my entire perspective on people who don’t eat meat. When I used to eat meat I thought people didn’t eat meat were crazy and not eating meat was the dumbest choice in the world. I felt as though I wouldn’t be able to survive with having a burger in my life but when I tried it for myself it blew my mind. I wanted to break the stigma of eating meat is the only way I could survive, and that is how my Finsta( food Instagram) was created.

The process of doing my Agent of Change was a little bumpy. My original plan was to document everything I ate but then I lost all my content because someone stole my phone. So then I was back to square one, but I still pushed through. I later came up with the idea of creating an Instagram and finding recipes to recreate. My project didn't turn out exactly how I planned but I managed.

Bracelets Give A Hope For a Change

It’s time to make a change! Seniors living isolation is an issue that all of us should be aware of. In my previous posts, “Elderly Living in Isolation” and “Home For The Isolated,” I talked about elders that live in isolation and things that we could do to help them. As part of my research, I went to NewCourtland, a senior home that interacts with their residents and makes their lives better every day. I left the home knowing that seniors are part of our community, and just like children, we should take care of them. Along with this, I interviewed Gail Kass, the president and CEO of this amazing home. She told me about the experience at NewCourtland and  said: “The hope I have for the life they have here is to try to give them a quality of life, try to make them feel independent as possible, safe, fed, happy, and clean.” I went to NewCourtland and Mrs. Kass’ words reflected everything I had seen that day. I was happy to know that someone cared about senior citizens and was willing to try to make their lives better.

Have you ever felt that you are on your own and that no one is there for you when you need them the most? That’s how people that live in isolation feel. Loneliness can lead to depression, and even suicide. As part of my research, I informed people about this problem, as well as showed my support for helping this issue. I know that I can not make families decide what they will do to care for elders, but I can at least create the doubt over deciding whether or not the family should send the elder to a retirement home. I also have the power to make sure senior citizens feel loved and appreciated. For all this to happen, I decided for my agent of change, how I can make change, I would create bracelets of hope that would spread a message to all of the seniors who receive it. This  will help show support and love from teenagers.

A picture of the bracelets

At first, the bracelets were a failure, they were very hard to make. The material would get tangled and it would take around 50 minutes to create one bracelet. I made 10 bracelets, and when I tested the bracelets, all of them broke. I was frustrated because I did not know what to do. It had taken me two weeks to make those bracelets. But then, I found out that waxed cotton cord can be really helpful. I went to every craft store near my house, and could not find the waxed cotton cord. I was ready to give up until I found it online and bought it. I brought ten yards of waxed cotton cord and started making new bracelets that were way easier to make. The bracelets took only 15 minutes to make.

A picture of the original bracelet

After a good amount of work, I finished my bracelets and got on the road to begin boxes. The boxes were 5 x 5 inches and made out of paper. They were super cool to make! Since I was almost done, I decided to include a small message in the box, which said, “I want you to know that someone out there cares.” I made 7 boxes and gave them out to my close friends to spread the message of support to elders who live in isolation. I heard some of my friends say, “Who am I going to give this to?” others said, “I’ll give it to my grandma.” I was delighted to hear that many thought about neighbors and friends, which was just my intention and an incredible way to spread the message.

A picture of the boxes

Since everybody I knew got a bracelet of hope and gave it to someone they loved, I decided to make one for myself and my neighbor. My neighbor is an incredible lady who I just met. I was walking and when I saw her, I knew that she deserved a present. I went home and made her a bracelet for her and me. When I gave her the bracelet, her smile was one of the most wonderful things I’ve seen in my short life. I saw her eyes and I felt the joy, I couldn’t stop smiling. Even though I could not take a picture with her, I am glad that I got a smile from her.

A small message to the receivers of the box       Friends showing love and appreciation.

A picture of my friend’s grandma wearing             My teacher and a student showing support to seniors that

the bracelet                                                                live in isolation

I learned that small things can mean a lot to other people, things as small as a “good morning” or even a “hi” can make someone’s day. Making someone happy makes you feel happy, and that's when you notice that there is hope to be better and change someone’s world. Now, I appreciate every single moment I spend with my family. I expected to have enough time to make more bracelets, but I would not have imagined that I would face numerous obstacles. Living in isolation is something that no one wants and it is our duty as members of a society to help anyone who lives in isolation to feel loved and appreciated no matter what race, gender, or age they are.

Annotated Bibliography

Previously, you may have read my two blog posts on orca captivity, (post1: Mistreatment of Orcas) (post2: Extinction of Orcas). I was curious about any news on orcas that I might have missed for my blog post 2. In an article by National Geographics, Sarah Gibbens (the writer for the article) writes about another one of the captive born orcas dying at a young age because of infections that stem from the captivity pools. Kyara, a 3 month old orca was pronounced dead at the San Antonio Seaworld after it was confirmed she died of pneumonia. 60 percent of captivity orca deaths are caused by the infectious diseases from the park, according to the investigation done from San Antonio News. SeaWorld has since then officially ended its breeding program for the killer whales. It is a good step because the movement of the people has begun to work. Recently, Seaworld has announced to shift their park from the live whale shows into more education and animal conservation. Although, these are huge steps in ending captivity, there is still so much to do.

Picture of Kyara with her mother Takara.

by the end of 2018, in the state of Florida, there will be no more orca entertainment shows. If this bill proceeds successfully, it could inspire other states to act the same.

As I ventured deeper into my project. It has hit me that I could not easily solve it in two months. The next best thing I believed that I could do was to raise awareness so that people can get their knowledge on a topic that is not thoroughly discussed. I decided that I was going to do a fundraiser for a orca conservation organization that aids orcas. I decided on the OrcaConservancy, they are a non-profit organization that help the wildlife and environments where orcas live in. They also act to help orcas get out of captivity by organizing marches and signing petitions. They also have programs where young people can be educated on orcas and help out with volunteering.

I contacted them through email to see how they are, why they should be the one organization out of many other ones to donate. They replied in a day and said that they would appreciate a donation very much.

Picture of the response of one of the Orca Conservancy spokesperson.

I thought what a better way to spread awareness than to show a documentary to young people. I had chosen the documentary Blackfish because not only is it just a heart touching, beautiful documentary. It conveys the message of what is wrong about orca captivity, it hits many points, scientific and even personal scenarios. My goal was to have at least 10 people attend and donate. But I had actually surpassed that number which was amazing. I would charge the admission fee be $4 for each person to come to see the documentary. I also gave attendees the option to purchase a rainbow loom bracelet for $1, all proceeds of the event would go to the organization.

In my first post, I wrote about how food waste was an underrated problem and how if we solve it,  multiple other problems in the world can be solved, including world hunger and climate change. In my second post, where I did my Original Research, I did an over the phone interview with Imperfect Produce, which is an organization that targeted food waste at its source, farms, by sending people the produce that the farms were unable to sell to name brand supermarkets.

Recently in the U.K., stores like Morrisons have been getting involved in helping to solve food waste by implementing a program called Wonky Veg, where stores sell less aesthetically pleasing fruits and vegetables for a cheaper price. The only reason this program was put in place is because it was recently revealed that 13 billion pounds of edible food is thrown away, with an extra 3 billion of food being wasted by grocery stores and supermarkets. If the Wonky Veg program was enforced in the U.S., then this would greatly diminish the amount of food that goes to waste each year.

For my Agent of Change, at first I was unsure of what to do in order to truly make an impact on this issue. I had a half baked idea of taking all of the leftover lunch food from the school and donating to different homeless shelters but in the end, I decided not to pursue this because I thought it would take more time in order to set everything up. I eventually chose to do an experiment of sorts where I would calculate how much money we spent and wasted on food in one month and then in the next month would see how much money and food we could save if we just paid attention to our food budget. I choose this option because I felt like if people could see how much money is needlessly spent on food, they would be less inclined to spend it all over the place. After taking in the results, I would present the results to my mom and a couple of her friends in order to try and get them to see the benefits of not wasting food. At first, I was going to make a website, but it was a couple of days before this was due and I realized I had no idea what I was doing, so I made a presentation of my data, which was targeted towards adults.

In March, when we didn’t budget at all, my mom and I spent about $760 dollars on food, while in April, we spent $535, saving $225 just from budgeting and shopping at places like Whole Foods, where they have gradually put uglier produce in order to combat the issue of food waste. We also took up the habit of looking at expiration dates more closely so we could keep an eye on when certain foods went bad so that we weren’t throwing out as much uneaten food. In fact, in April we only threw out 10 dollars in food, while in March we threw out around $50 worth of food. After I showed my mom these results we both decided to be more frugal when it comes to spending money on food and to save the extra money.  

This graph shows how much money was spent in the months of March and April

While doing this project and looking at how much money we spent and wasted, I realized how careless we were when buying food, especially fruits and vegetables since those expire the fastest. I also learned how easy it was to ignore the food you had in your fridge and pantry and instead go out to buy more food, which would lead to food being pushed to the back of your fridge until it’s expired. If I did this again, I would have people calculate how much money they spent with me in order to get more reliable data and so that other people could see how much money their family was spending, since writing down how much money you spend seems to make the numbers add up quicker. Although this did raise awareness to a couple of people, in order to solve food waste many things still need to be done in order to properly combat issue.

I’ve come a long way since when my research into sexual health in our city began in February. In that first post, I breezed over how there is a sparisity of inclusive and helpful curricula explaining how to execute safe sex.  After that initial research, I started collecting information concerning how teens can be affected by the word around them, ultimately being detrimental towards their sexual health. During my original research with SLA’s Sex-Ed teacher, I learned that mental health and drug use strongly affect whether or not you practice safe sex, and furthermore get STDs. That research opened up new possibilities on how to create an agent of change, as there are many perspectives in this city, each dealing with different issues in their own world, and each possibly having different views on what safe sex is. That realization made me decide that the only way to realistically talk about Philadelphia’s teenagers, and how they think of safe sex, is to ask them. I cannot speak for all of them. So, I decided to make a short film, consisting of multiple answers to the same question: “What is safe sex?”

I wanted to create a short film because it would allow me to explain a subject in a broader way, when compared to a poster or a petition that would be created by me. A short film, presented the way I am presenting it, is what it is. It’s not open to interpretation, it’s just a number of perspectives answering a question. My experience actually creating the short film was interesting, as I thought it would be. The structure I created for the film would be a screen with the question, and then the students’ multiple answers to it. In between each question, would be facts I have collected throughout my research which connect to the theme of safe sex. I would try to make it look as visually attractive as possible, not unlike a Buzzfeed or Insider video, so that people are more inclined to keep watching, When I actually went ahead and started finding people to record answers for, there were plenty of people interested in providing a short answer. It was, though, pretty awkward for them. Most students provided a similar answer when I asked them to talk about what they think safe sex is: Use a condom so you will not get STDs. Only one student I talked to mentioned consent , and only one student talked about birth control.

If I could do this project over again, I would definitely spend more time planning the actual short film. I was faced with a bunch of possibilities for the movie, and I should have been more prepared, and I should have made the movie a few days before the due date, if not a whole week or more. I procrastinated, which ended up screwing me over towards the end, but I am glad with how it ended up.

Helping college students

Blog Post 2 Blog post 1

For my You and the World project my goal is to help college students pay their very expensive college fees. In my last 2 post, I talked about the expense of college, why it’s expensive, and ways we can make it cheaper. I’m hoping that with these post you can understand the problem with colleges. It’s important because lots of people want to go to college and get a good education but can’t because of fees.

My check to drexel

Drexel University

Main Building

This post is about how I contributed in helping this cause. For my Agent of Change, my goal was to obtain money and the give it to a scholarship fund. This will help future college students because it means that colleges can give more scholarships to students which means cheaper tuition for more students. To get the money, I have worked in different jobs in my neighborhood for friends and family. I have mowed lawns, babysat, and more. I have raised $105.

This will all go to Drexel University because the tuition there is really expensive. It’s one of the most expensive colleges in Philadelphia. Donating to a scholarship fund isn’t hard. If you want to support the cause this is a way you can do it.

I decided to obtain money this way instead of a fundraiser because working more than likely gets you more money than a fundraiser. I did still tell friends and family about the cause. My experience was excellent because I was gaining a lot of money and I knew it was going to a good cause. I was effective in making a change because I helped pay for a scholarship that will go to a future college student that might be struggling to pay the fees. With my small donation, I can make a big difference in someone’s life.

I really enjoyed this project. I enjoyed it because it helps me, a simple person, be able to call out a problem with the world and make a difference. I learned that anyone can help others and feel as good as I feel now. I also learned that anyone can have that feeling. I feel like I could have done a better job getting this issue out to everyone. My goal wasn’t awareness, it was helping and I feel like I should have done both. If I were to do it again, and I might, then I would definitely make it more public to everyone. Whether it’s posters or social media. Just because this project is over, doesn’t mean I’m done helping and it doesn’t mean you should forget this project. Anyone can donate and anyone can help this cause.

Ethan Friedman

May 2018

Throughout the past couple months, I have been researching and revolving the minimum wage issue in Pennsylvania. I researched issues regarding minimum wage and living situations in Pennsylvania. I conducted a survey among my classmates and other kids my age that live in and around Philadelphia that focused on personal experiences with minimum wage. Finally, I wrote a well thought out letter to Gov. Tom Wolf providing supporting evidence on why the minimum wage in Pennsylvania must be raised to $10 if not double.

The 2017 minimum wage by state in the United States. Pennsylvania is tied with many other states for the lowest minimum wage.

According to the Huffington Post, you would need to make just under $60,000 to support a family in Philadelphia and $15,000 certainly isn’t enough. America ranks 11th in the world for the highest minimum wage according to OECD. Australia's minimum wage is over $15 an hour and 80% of the country makes over 5% more than the minimum wage.

Pennsylvania is 1 of 3 states who host one of the 10 largest cities in America who have the minimum possible wage. When growing up and going to inter-city schools, I notice how some kids can’t go out with their friends, because they don’t have the money to. The government is limiting the amount of money people can make, and it is causing children to be unhappy with their lives. Everybody deserves to spend time with their friends, to go get pizza or see a movie.

When working on issues regarding income, it is important to take other factors into account, such as location, opportunity, and sources of income. When I conducted a survey with students in Philadelphia, I found out that 1 in every 9 students only lives with 1 adult figure.

Source: Google Forms: Original Research Survey

When you only have one source of income which is that adult’s job, it is very difficult to support a family. The population of Pennsylvania is approximately 12.81 million people according to the United States Census Bureau.  That means that about 1.4 million families in Pennsylvania are ran by a single parent. There is clearly a problem in the system if 11% of families can’t afford to live.

To combat this issue, I decided to write a letter directly to the office of Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania. I introduced the issue and my personal experience with people who are affected by the issues, and I proposed the idea to double the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. I hope that he understands what families have to go through to support themselves.

In order to make a difference, more people need to stand up for what they believe in. If the governor receives 200 letters that speak from the heart on increasing the minimum wage, he is going to notice that there is a major issue. Throughout my work over the past couple months, I have built up evidence and reason to make a difference. He will not believe somebody who claims that we need change if they can’t provide a reason to make change.

Throughout this process, I have learned about issues in my own community and peers that I had not understood before. I believe that change is unavoidable. It is impossible to survive on $15,000 a year whether you’re alone or living with multiple kids. I am glad that there are politicians like Bernie Sanders who have spoken publicly about raising minimum wage as a country.

The letter that I mailed to Tom Wolf.

Annotated Bibliography

Mission Accomplished

In my first blog about littering, I wrote about  how I felt about issue of littering and provided statistics, facts, and consequences that it gives. Then, my second blog post talked about the age difference and what ages litters the most, and I talked about what I observed from my neighborhood. After researching and telling how I felt about the issue I was passionate about, I took matters into my own hands and went to go clean up a park called East Poplar Playground.

The park is located in North Philadelphia on 8th and Poplar street. I decided to have my family help me with the clean up. The clean up was a success, we collected a lot of trash off the ground. We had a rake to get the trash out the grass, we had a broom to sweep up the trash into the bag, and we had gloves to pick up the trash. Here are some pictures of us cleaning up:

My  original idea was on Earth Day I was going to the FDR park but the plan didn’t go right so I canceled it. Instead, I decided to go to the East Poplar Park because it wasn’t that far from me,  so from there that's where I did my agent of change. My experience while cleaning up was I felt like I was a big help to the environment because majority of people don’t care about the environment but I do, and taking my time to clean up the environment shows how much I care. It was a great experience having my family coming to help fix the issue that I am passionate about. I felt like I was effective in this agent of change because as I was cleaning up, people were walking and driving past seeing what we were doing and probably in their heads they were probably glad that my family and I were doing the right thing for the community. It seems like it was a impact on them because the people that was looking were probably thinking of having their kids do the same.

The Project Overall

The project was overall a great journey for me as a teenager. During this period of time this generation is full of open-minded kids, but there are other kids who doesn't care about anything do anything they want. I feel like it was a great opportunity for me to go out and clean up the trash because according to this website it says, “ Every year, the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of "trash"--about 4.6 pounds per person per day.”

That is a lot of trash that people is bringing up and some of that trash ends up on the ground. What I learned about my potential during this adventure is that I can be a big help to my community and other communities as well. I can be an role model to other people and maybe that will change people decision about dropping trash on the ground and instead they can put their trash in the garbage can. Throughout the course of setting up my agent of change what I could’ve done better was getting the word out. I didn’t put up flyers and that’s why people didn’t come the first time so that's why I wanted to cancel it as I said it earlier in the post. What else I could have done better was plan out the event I was doing because I didn’t think about bringing water and snacks until someone said that so I should’ve thought of that.

What Else Is Left To Change

There are some things to change and it starts with the kids. Kids today don’t know that much about littering and the effect of it. Like I explained in my second blog post, parents should teach their children about littering because as they are growing up they will see what the adults are doing and think that is the right thing to do when it’s not. Adults as well litter because they are lazy to throw their trash in the garbage can and that should change by maybe having a little challenge where if they don’t litter they can get a certain amount of money and maybe that can change their habits. Different types of events could take place where kids and adults could go out to a park and pick up trash to clean up their community; it could be a clean up day! If your community ever wanted or have a clean up day here is some advice on what materials you should have and what to think about during the process. Well, this experience has been a extravagant adventure and I am so glad that I was able to go out and do my part for the world.

Here are some pictures:

The Latino community has so many different skin colors, hair textures, and traditions. In my first post I did research on other Latinos’ experience with colorism and discrimination with other Latinos. Some of their confrontations were with their family members, friends, and even random people on the streets. I also talked about how there isn’t much representation in the media of dark skinned Latinos or Latinos with kinky curly hair. In my second blog post I did my own research because I wanted to hear different experiences of colorism or if they had even heard of colorism in my community. I sent out a survey to get my information, and I didn’t get the results I was expecting. I was expecting the darker Latinos to be more discriminated against for their color, but my responses were the opposite. The lighter skinned Latinos were being denied as being Latino. People were telling them that they were “too light” to be like us.

The next step I had to take for this project was how was I going to make difference for this issue in my community. I wasn’t sure at all what I wanted to do. I knew I couldn’t fix everything and change other people’s minds easily. The least I could do was bring awareness and educate others of this issue or at least bring up the conversation because “we, as a community, need to start having the conversation about colorism and anti-blackness within our circles. We need to better educate each other about Afro-Latino identity and how Afro-Latinos are just as great a part of our community as anyone else.” To spread this word around,  I thought a video would be a great way to reach people. There would be different Latinos in the video with different looks, expressing they are proud of who they are. I emailed some Latinos at my school and they agreed to be in the video, and I also had some people at my church say that they would love to help me out. In the video you see Latinos of different ages, shapes, sizes, skin colors, and nationalities. This is how I chose to display a glimpse of our diversity.

In the video you see Deliah, who is Afro Latina and standing next to her are her two children. She and her family are darker skinned with curly coily hair. Deliah and her family never shy away from who they are and celebrate their culture just as much as anyone else. Also in the video you see Carol who is Mexican American and is so proud to be who she is. Some people might say that she is “not the typical looking Mexican” but what does that mean? How could one culture all look the same? Just because Carol isn’t slightly darker or have pin straight black hair makes her less Mexican American as anyone else who is Mexican American. Those comments have never stopped her from embracing her culture and her beautiful features. The last person you see in the video is Luz, 93. She is Puerto Rican and says something that speaks volume. “I feel just like anyone else. What vary between culture is the costumes and behavior. We are all human beings.” Luz is right, we are all human beings. So what does it matter if someone doesn’t look like you? Or if their hair has different texture? Or if their skin is a different shade?

After the making of the video, I showed it to some of the people who were featured in the video. They said it was “quick and to the point” which is exactly what I wanted this video to be. My goal was bringing awareness so people can ask questions and bring acceptance to the diversity within my community. My mom uploaded my video to her Facebook and I got so many comments! One person said “Isabella is right, there is so much tension within our own community and people don’t even talk about it.” Another said “Isabella is so young to even know about this division in the community. When I found out about all the colorism, I was an adult in college! She did a lovely job at making this video.” I got many comments complimenting me, cheering me on, and encouraging me. Seeing all of the positivity really put a smile on my face and they inspire me to do more for my cause.

The countless hours I have done researching, gathering, and documenting information for this project has inspired me to move forward. Information given to me by the Facebook viewers have also inspired me to continue spreading acceptance and awareness against colorism within my community. I wish I had more time to be able to let you know everything I have learned but through this method is simply not possible. I think this project has taught me a lot about myself and people in my community.  This has been a cool project for me and something that I have become more passionate about. Because I am 15 and Puerto Rican and proud of me and my curly kinky hair.

ANN BIB!