1. "Welcome, Students." National Honor Society. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2016. <https://www.nhs.us/students>.

This is the National Honor Society website. I used this source for a lot of different reasons. I wanted to truly understand the mission/goals of NHS. There is a lot of information on this site about how to start a chapter, renewing a chapter, getting scholarship information, a link to the NHS apparel website and more. I learned about the 4 aspects of NHS: leadership, character, service, and scholarship. Reviewing this website, I now understand that it is essential to continue building leaders for this generation and servicing our communities, which are the two aspects I plan to highlight in my chapter.

    2. "Teaching Youth to Identify Essential Qualities of a Leader." FASTEN. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2016. <http://www.urbanministry.org/wiki/teaching-youth-identify-essential-qualities-leader>.

This website was a good example for how to have the leadership development. In the NHS chapter, we need a foundation in such a way that we can build off. This website concluded that the major aspects and qualities are: courage, risk taking, confidence, self discipline, honesty, and perseverance. These I agree are qualities and skills that it takes to be a successful leader. A main aspect of NHS is leadership and I was concerned with having the proper tools necessary to have a leadership course. I think the most important are confidence, self discipline, and risk taking. Without those, you probably won’t be a successful leader.

     3. "National Honor Society (N.H.S)." Central High School. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.centralhigh.net/pages/CentralHigh/7197040085141361346/Main_Nav/6675467167782716626/Clubs_1/National_Honor_Society__N_H_S_>.

This is Central High School’s National Honor Society website. The reason I used this as a source for research because this is the first time I’m being directly exposed to NHS. This website serves as an inspiration for my website. I will add much more to mine but they have links to sign up for tutoring, an introduction article, etc. This website actually didn’t much information, but it served as an example of a website because I’m making on.

     4. "Mayor Jim Kenney's Office of Civic Engagement & Volunteer Service."Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://volunteer.phila.gov/#s>.

This website serves as a volunteer match database for Philadelphia. I have used this source in the past and will continue to do so as I am looking for different volunteer opportunities. This site, in my opinion, does a wonderful job in organizing the opportunities because they are broken down into different categories. It also gives the location. NHS could use this source because depending on the time of the year, the holidays, etc, we can plan accordingly to somewhat fit a thematic scheme.

      5. El, Savannah. "What Is NHS Like?" Telephone interview. Sept. 2015.

Savannah El is a close friend of mine who is a member of NHS at Girard Academic Music Program. I spoke with her to get an understanding of what NHS is. I also looked for different ideas that her chapter have done because this is something I’m doing for the first time.

      6. Jonas, Pearl. "What Is NHS?" In Person interview. June 2015.

Ms. Jonas, who is also my capstone mentor, was a NHS member in high school. The purpose of this interview was to establish her as my mentor. I also spoke with her about how we can implement NHS (a traditional club) in SLA (a modern-non traditional school). We worked over the summer to get ready for the school year. The interview was informal, however we outlined a lot for the year.

      7. SLA Juniors/Seniors. "NHS at SLA." Online interview. Oct. 2015.

I conducted a survey for SLA juniors and seniors. I got the word out to SLA about NHS by putting information on the advisory memo. The survey was for people to sign up. The information that I gathered from the survey was that most people are interested in leadership development/networking and service. The majority of people had volunteer experience and were interested in continuing it. That is how I got the idea to emphasize on leadership and service.

      8. Perle, Elizabeth. "Is National Honor Society Membership Worth It?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/is-national-honor-society_n_3267251.html>.

This article was published on the Huffington Post by Elizabeth Perle. It is about whether or not a NHS membership is worth it or not. The article was very thoughtful is talking about what the membership actually means. The author explored the idea that it doesn’t matter if you are a member, it matters how active you are. At the end of the day, people aren’t interested in just hearing that you were a member, they are interested in hearing what you did as a member. That is something that I want to keep in mind as I am bringing this to SLA. I want to make sure that we are all active members and we keep a good name for NHS at SLA.

       9. Boyington, Brianna. "7 Essential Life Skills for High Schoolers to Build Before College." US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2014/11/05/7-essential-life-skills-for-high-schoolers-to-build-before-college>.

I used this source to get ideas for things we can talk about/explore deeply about during times when we aren’t planning for an event. I want NHS to be about leadership development just as much as service and I want for us (the members) to learn together how to become better versions of ourselves. The seven essential life skills for high schoolers to build before college according to this site are: managing money, planning, staying safe and healthy, studying, apartment hunting, getting around, and cooking. I can try my best with my mentor to see which of these skills we can talk about.

      10. National Honor Society, Handbook 17th Edition. Reston, VA: n.p., 1974. Print.

This is the National Honor Society handbook. This handbook outlines everything regarding the chapter from procedures, mission, background, etc. This handbook helps the group outline the induction ceremony, how the members are selected, the duties of the chapter officers, the advisor, and the council, graduation ceremonial things, etc.

In the 1830’s people made their clothes; by people, I mean women. The most common fabrics were linen and wool. Cotton and silk was very expensive. The colors were made from plant parts like leaves and stems. Making clothes was not an easy task. The women and children contributed. Once fiber grew from the flax plant, they were broken and scraped to separate the lining for spinning. Since linen was the cheapest to produce, the poorer families used it.

For men, an “everyday” outfit consisted of a linen shirt and trousers. They’d also wear a tie, called a cravat and a vest. They did not wear underwear, or belts. Men typically dressed depending on age, occupation, and social status. The shoes that men wore were commonly either leather boots for casual wear, or “slipper-like dancing shoes” for fancier occasions.

For women, they always wore full length, or ankle length one piece dresses. The dresses were either made of cotton, wool, or silk. They also wore aprons to protect the skirt during work time. Dresses for house and farm work were closed and when going out for the evenings, the back was open. The dresses had long sleeves, except during the summer time when they were shorter. They wore stockings too and they were made from wool cotton, and linen. Shoes, similar to the men, were boots. However some women who wanted to be fashionable wore leather slippers.

Dalton, Julia. "The Way We Wore Romantic: 1815-1840." Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2015. <https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F259731103485952847%2F>.

History does repeat itself; especially when it comes to mass murders in London. The Name of the Star is a part of the series “Shades of London”. Maureen Johnson visited London. That is where the idea of the series was born. While vacationing, she learned about Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper was an unidentified murderer in 1888 in London. The book is a mysterious novel about a girl named Rory who goes to London with her parents for a semester. While in London, Rory attends boarding school where she develops a strong bond with her roommate Jazza. But Rory arrived at just the right time, the time of the Ripper’s killing spree.

Jack the Ripper was a man who killed went on a killing spree in 1888. It is now 1988, and someone is mimicking the Ripper’s agenda. The police are scattered across the city but they have no suspects. There are no witnesses, except for Rory. Rory is the only person who has seen the Ripper.

The book explores different obstacles that Rory goes through regarding school, love, and finding herself, the normal teenage experiences.  One of the major themes in the book involves Rory trying to finding herself. She questions her abilities, thoughts, and actions. Rory is a teenager, and every teen goes through that phase. Johnson portrayed this phase in an interesting way because at the time Rory is trying to figure herself out, continuous murders are happening around her, she becomes a target for the Ripper, and she has friends and family who are worried about her.

Rory and all the other students are innocently in school while the murders are getting closer to campus. The police camp out in front of the school for days to make sure the students and staff are safe, and also because the most recent Ripper victim was murdered nearby. The police have no leads because no one has spotted the Ripper, not even the dozens of security cameras that surround the area. “The white tent was there all day Sunday. It glowed at dusk, when it was illuminated by dozens of high-powered work lights. The press was there too, hovering on the edges of campus, watching. The school sent around an e-mail saying how really, really safe it all was, even though there was a homicide investigation going on on the green at that very second, and several psychologists were being called in to talk to anyone who felt like they needed support.” The reason I picked this quote from the book is because of the content behind it. Without knowing what is going on in the book, you can have sympathy for the staff and students because the killing spree is happening right around them. A lot of the students were also very interested in what was happening. The students were having “ripper watch-parties” to hear about the latest update on the news, they were kids staring out the windows of their dorms, etc. As anyone of us would. The book is narrated by  Rory too, so everything that you learn about in the book is from the ins and outs of Wexford school.

I enjoyed this book. It was definitely a page turner! Johnson doesn’t reveal who the murderer is until very close to the end but it isn’t the very last thing you read so it does show you the aftermath of all that has happened. My favorite thing about it, is the fact that the Ripper targets Rory and goes after her. She saw him but didn’t rush to the police because she didn’t think seeing him was important to the investigation. It was a random guy, that doesn’t mean he’s the Ripper, right? So now it makes me wonder if she would have never reported to the police about the man she saw, how would that change the book. I think it’d also be interesting to hear the story from someone else’s point of view, like Jerome, her crush. Or Jazza, her roommate. Or, the Ripper himself. That’d be really good! This book makes me also want to read a few other Maureen Johnson books because I like the way she takes personal experiences and makes them so exciting and mysterious.

The Name of The Star was nominated for an Edgar Award. This book would be enjoyed by those who love a good mystery. It is different because of the fact that the narrator is a schoolgirl and how all of a sudden, she becomes a target of a serial killer. The book is set in the late 1980’s so the language is not hard to understand. The book would also be enjoyable to those who appreciate a good young adult book. You have the opportunity to connect to the different characters because the author gives background and talks about different obstacles they had to overcome.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. Published by The Penguin Group on September 11, 2011. The novel consists of 372 pages plus acknowledgements. The book falls under multiple genres which are young adult, mysterious, and fiction.

I’m from Philly.

Same place where Kevin Hart, Will Smith, Seth Green, and many more grew up.

Reading terminal, South Street, and cheesesteaks.

Lincoln Financial Field, Liacouras Center, and Wells Fargo Center, home to our Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers so go enjoy a game!

Philly has some of the most die heart fans.

That jawn is popping! Go get some wooder!

You’re probably thinking, “What is jawn and wooder?”

We aren’t as dangerous as you may think, come visit!

It’s dangerous wherever you go if you want to be technical.

I don’t know, it doesn’t seem that dangerous to me.

Philadelphia, so historical.

But how many Philadelphians actually go to Old City?

I went!

I live in West Philadelphia.

Busy, but never boring.

The el, the subway, the trolley, the bus.

Currently, the fact that we are rumored to be one of the most dangerous cities, and our educational system is skeptical, is disappointing.

Every city needs work, none are perfect.

But it takes the right people in order to make the change.

Not just a few, but a community.

One day, I will leave my city, but I will come back.

I can’t wait to give back to my city.

I will never forget.

I’m from Philly.

We all have biases. Unfortunately, sometimes our biases distract us from what is right. In the recent  past, there have been several criminal cases in which justice was disrupted due to law enforcement’s bias against or towards a certain group of people. Whether it’s racial profiling by law enforcement or stereotypes held by the jury, bias can turn the entire justice process inside out. Racial bias affects criminal cases to the extent that the criminals often get turned into victims.

Professor Jerry Kang from UCLA calls them “schemas”. He goes on to explain that we often associate these schemas to larger ideas. When our mind categorizes simple things into larger concepts, and we associate them with larger ideas. “Automatically, we categorize individuals by age, gender, race, and role. Once the individual is mapped into that category, specific meanings associated with that category are immediately activated and influence our interaction with that individual”. This means that when we have an experience or simply learn about a category of people, our minds automatically influence our judgement.

In 1989, there was a case in New York City that sparked a lot of controversy in America. The case involved 5 African-American/Hispanic teenagers that were convicted of raping an upper class white woman, Trisha Meili- the “Central Park jogger”. On April 19, 1989, Trisha was attacked and severely beaten. The 5 young men convicted at the time were: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. Once the police got the the crime scene, they bought them in for questioning. The boys were giving little to no information that can give the detectives a lead. The detectives told the boys that all they needed to do was give a story, confess and they can go home. Each of them did thinking that it was it. The prosecutors and detectives used the confession tapes to convict. However, 13 years later the real rapist, Matias Reyes admitted to the crime.

The two main prosecutors in the case were Elizabeth Lederer and Linda Fairstein. The detectives investigating the case were Det. Humberto Arroyo and Carlos Gonzalez. When the boys were brought in for questioning, they were intensely, almost violently questioned. Such treatment led the boys to essentially confess.  It is understandable that a detective trying to solve a case, will get inpatient and upset, but it is unacceptable to carry it as far as the did. The detectives split the boys up and tricked them into admitting to a crime they didn’t commit just to get a confession. The details of the five boys’ stories didn’t match what was found at the crime scene, but these inconsistencies were ignored. Elizabeth Lederer , the lead prosecutor didn’t even bother to put the boys on the stand.

The documentary, “Central Park Five”, was released in 2012. It focused particularly on the differing stories of the boys. . The prosecutors, police, and jurors involved didn’t choose to participate in the film. Identifying the bias of the law enforcement agendas is obvious. specifically wasn’t hard at all. Implicit bias is the certain stereotypes that affect our decisions, and understandings. Implicit bias is being studied in the judicial decision making. This means making a decision based on your current understanding or even stereotypes that we are familiar with.  During conviction, all the boys went to juvenile detention centers except for Korey. He was the eldest and was sent to Riker’s Island. This was simply unfair being that just because he was 16, he was sent to an adult facility. This is age discrimination, treating someone less favorably because of their age.  Racism was and still is an issue today in many ways but it is only discussed when something like this happens. When the racial bias of law enforcement is publicized. When a rape case of an upper class white woman hits the air, all of a sudden everyone is interested. Sometimes, the subjects of the case determine whether the case will be covered as severely or publicized. Example, the previous rape recently in New York that got little to none because the attacker and the victim were of the same racial background. A test of our “justice” system. Donald Trump contributed to the storm by saying, “You better believe that I hate the people that took this girl and raped her brutally. You better believe it.” Not only did he openly voice his opinion, but he added it in 4 local newspapers saying that the death penalty should be brought back. Would Donald Trump care and have commented if this woman were to be found in an alley or in Harlem? Wasn’t hard to find either. A woman, the same night of the jogger attack, was rapped and thrown off a four-story building. Sure, teenagers have a reputation to always be under some sort of mischief, but African American teenagers? Guilty without question; but it wouldn’t be fair at all to bring the death penalty into play without even testing DNA and hearing their statements. In the documentary, there was a connection to Emmett Till. Young black males, white woman as victim. Harsh punishments. The racial bias was obvious to this point that a connection can even be made! Emmett Till’s punishment doesn’t fairly compare to a prison sentence but at a minor extent, they are similar. Justice wasn’t served in either case.

The goal of the prosecutors were clearly to put these boys in jail. To punish them for a crime that they knew that they didn’t commit. There was no evidence. The DNA from the crime scene didn’t match any of the boys. When Trisha woke up from a coma, she was not able to recall anything from that night of the attack. A white journalist says that it was a good thing. Maybe because she could have sent these boys home.  ⅗ of the boys family’s were able to afford to bail them out. Raymond and Korey remained imprisoned. The truth still hadn’t come out yet. Social psychologist, Saul Kassin stated that once we form a strong belief that someone is guilty of a crime, all the details that can prove us wrong, we tend to ignore them. This proves that original goal of the prosecutors. Once they associate “guilty” with these young men, it was impossible for them to steer off and let them walk. Can perhaps their bias be against African-Americans? I think it is safe to conclude that this was a racial hate crime.

The bias within this whole case is clear. Little to nothing was fair. Terrorizing and pressuring these young teens to admit to a crime they didn’t commit. Sending Korey to an adult facility! Adding extra time to Raymond’s sentence when caught with a drug charge just because he was apart of this case prior. It seems that some people are comfortable with their bias within society, that is, if we identify it. Implicit bias, is not limited in the judicial system and it must be something that the system is comfortable with. Sometimes it is a bad thing but it becomes a personal thing because then we’d sit around and judge everyone because of their bias but if they are fine with it, who are we to judge because we have blind spots of our own. My personal bias attracted me to analyse this case. My reaction watching the documentary was like many, “Wow, that’s unfair!” and “What kind of “justice” system do we live in?” but my reaction may be different of someone not within my “category”. I am a African-American teenager. The subjects of this crime were African-Americans. We are within the same “category” so my understanding and sympathy may be stronger than an “outsider” who might not understand but I have a connection with the boys that the “outsider” wouldn’t. The way I viewed the case is okay being different than someone else.

Citations:

1. Gove, Tracey G. "Police Chief Magazine." Police Chief Magazine. N.p., Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. <http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch>.

2. "Central Park Five." NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five#trial2>.

3. Central Park Five. Dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon. Perf. Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, and Yusef Salaam. 2012. Netflix.

4. Press, The Associated. "Woman Is Raped and Thrown From a Roof." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 May 1989. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/04/nyregion/woman-is-raped-and-thrown-from-a-roof.html>.

5. "Age Discrimination." Age Discrimination. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. <http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm>.

OMG yo, it’s not that serious mom.

I bought it for you, you can’t accept a gift like damn! I was tryin’ to do something nice for you!

Ard I hear you.

What’s this?

Oh, a letter from dad. “Dear Keshone, I want to apologize again for the decisions I made that caused this to happen. I’m glad that you’re writing back constantly though, thanks. So how’s school? I know you are your sister are keeping those grades up! Listen son, I know we had this conversation last time you came, but I wanted to let you know again how bad I feel. I know you’re in high school and have a lot going on and becoming a man you feel obligated to provide. You’re my son. Look, all I’m saying is listen to your mom, do what she asks. Try bonding with Jada or something. Don’t make stupid decisions like I did; I’m telling you, everything it seems to be, isn’t always what it really is. I would’ve stopped dealing a long time ago if I knew this would be the consequence. Just think about what you doing. I love you kid. You make me even more proud everyday. Tell everybody I love them. Dad.”

God. Umm, I’m not really sure how to do this so is it okay if I just talk?

I know when I used to go to church they’d say “Dear Heavenly Father…” or something. And by the way, they need to keep that church two blocks down open at all times. I tried to go but it was locked last night.

(sigh)

I don’t know what to do. I tried this lil trapping business so I can help, ya know? I just wanted to stop hearing my moms cry, Jada’s complaining about this and that and now she done had her own baby knowing our situation! Moms is out of work taking care of the baby too. It’s not my fault I was hindered with the responsibility to pick up where he left off. I never imagined moms worrying bout where she’s going to get our next plate from, how she gonna pay this bill, and I got all those senior dues coming up. Man, when pops was here he treated her like a queen and I want to do the same but she seems to have a problem with my recent gift. You know how many drops I had to make to get her that. I ain’t even gone tell you how much I paid for this Louis Vuitton bag. Well, you could guess. But seriously, I’m not selling drugs for just the designer stuff, that was just some little extra money left over, but I want my mom to know that I’m doing this for her. Busting my ass, I’m sorry. I mean, busting my behind to help her out, she don’t even know I have it all worked out so she doesn’t have to worry bout nothin no more. God, please,  just please give me some type of sign that we’ll be ard and I’ll stop.

YES MOM! Yo…(breathes heavily)

Why she trippin’ ? She wasn’t even suppose to be in my damn room anyway! Don’t go diggin for something and when you find something get all mad!

No, lemme stop. I’d be suspicious too if I found a Louis Vuitton bag full of money and drugs. I got her though…I’ll stop, soon as I get my sign.

(slams bedroom door behind him)

Mom, please, not right now. I’ll be right back

(slam front door)

Diseñado por:

Sean Morris:

• Ubicación: Londres, Inglaterra, Area code: 20

• Teléfono: 555-267-4939  

• Email: smorris@scienceleadership.org

Jada Tarrell:

• Ubicación: Filadelfia, Los Estados Unidos de América

• Teléfono: 215-235-3590