Group Presentations!

WOW!  The presentations this week have been wonderful.  From what I've seen, everyone has put in a lot of time and effort into their final products.  The passion for the subject matter was also very obvious to me.  GREAT JOB, EVERYONE !!!

"After Work Activism" - It's a wonderful gesute that an organization has been formed to allow students and people who work during the day to take an active role in social justice issues -- and, not to be counted out because the rallies/marches are held during times which are inconvenient for their school/work schedules.  Meeting the "time-factor" need is very essential to those who would otherwise not be able to get involved with worthwhile community issues.  Bravo, for your efforts!  :-)

"Project H" [Homelessness] - The initial video (faces of homelessness) was very effective, and the background music helped to get the point across.  Interviews with professionals who work with the homeless population as well as members of the homesless community really helped to make the picture more clear for me.  It also helped to erase ignorance about the topic, and characteristics of the individuals who are directly affected by it.  I agree with Symone that facing this issue head-on causes me to really count my blessings.  There are so many things that people take for granted because we don't have to think twice about how (or, whether) certain basic necessities will be available to us on a daily basis.  Keep up the great work, ladies!  I know you won't stop at this one project.  And, thanks for sponsoring the Food Drive; great idea for immediate action.  :-)

"Executive Orders" - Though you kept coming across obstacles in your attempt to get answers about executive orders themselves, your perseverance is what counts in the end.  The information you've presented to the class has helped to enlighten me in several ways:  (1) I now know something about executive orders; (2) I'm encouraged to keep researching and asking questions until I get solid answers about topics which are important to me and those I care about; and (3) Having some basic information about a topic of interest, then passing it along to others is more enlightening than giving up on finding the info. at all.  Here's a quote that I came across a few years ago which has helped me through many tough situations:  "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal."  (I don't remember the author, but they're still good words to live by.)  Keep on searching for answers to the tough questions!  :-)

"Educational Disparities" - The opening video clip covered a lot, and was a very effective attention-getter for me.  It's sad that there's such a huge difference in the educational opportunities for children, based on the part of town in which they attend school.  I definitely agree that positive educational activities for children at a very young age (infancy; actually, they start learning while in the womb) is very essential to how they think about school and the overall process of learning.  There are always success stories of children who live in impoverished neighborhoods, yet someone takes an interest and mentors them to (and, through) the road to college.  Great job, ladies!  Keep coming up with ideas to help motivate parents and students to take more interest in their learning and future endeavors!  :-)

Here are a couple of things which came to mind during the presentation.
* I'm not sure whether this is available in all schools (or, in every school district), but one way of parental involvement is via e-mails to and from the child's teachers about progress reports/homework/projects/upcoming events, etc.  This was available when my (now, 26-year-old) son went to Kealing Middle School here in Austin, and is still available at the middle school of a co-worker's son (in Round Rock or Pflugerville?).
* A friend of mine was taking some education classes at ACC last year, and as part of her grade, she had to do observations at the elementary, middle school, and high school level.  She told me about her experience at LBJ High -- it was not a positive one at all.  The students had uncontrollable classroom behavior (being loud and disrespectful to the teachers and fellow students).  She said that the teachers didn't enforce classroom order.  Emphasis was more on "attendance" (as the school overall received credit from administration and TEA for this), safety and security of the student body as a whole -- academics took a back seat to these three obviously more important areas.