It’s been…quite a while!

I haven’t posted anything since last semester and everything has gone fine since then. Since then, I have received an acceptance of the invitation, which I sent out during December, to most of my hopeful-panel members. Dana Lipinsky, Rob Christy, Betsy Phillips, Frank Duffy, and Molly Socha are now part of our team, in which we plan to receive assistance from each one in different ways.

Sometime last week, Cesar and I talk to Morris Nwogwuwu and Kathy Heinzerling about Breakthrough since they worked for that program. After our discussion with them, we received a 7th grader’s application and were told the requirements that they needed. This helps us out because now we are able to base our application and requirements needed on theirs. It won’t be exactly the same but similar because our two programs are very similar.

We have been thinking about our program and thought about if it will work. We thought of several things to ensure that it’ll work and figured the best thing to do is test it out. In order to do this, we would need time to set up a time and place so that applicants can come to “test” our program. We were thinking about making Chinuapin become our place to have our program. That means we would have to coordinate all of that with Ray.  

We originally planned to meet Frank Duffy last Tuesday but that plan got destroyed. We were told that we couldn’t miss any class periods and couldn’t use school days to interview people. We now have to reschedule that meeting with Frank soon. Frank is part of Pennies for Peace that is an organization that was formed with the help of people from Three Cups of Tea.

Cesar and I wrote a proposal, planning to go to an elementary to observe, interview and analyze the students there. Susan wants our proposal to be a lot more specific so that is what has been on our plate.

Narrowed Down

I think I've pretty much narrowed down my project. It wasn't easy but with the help of some people I did it. I want to create a Chinquapin summer program where students will volunteer to tutor and counsel other kids throughout the U.S. It will be like a Big Brother, Big Sister program for where the Chinquapin students will be the "Big Brothers/Sisters. After talking to Lorena about my project, she informed me that Kathy Heinzerling was one of the main people who coordinated Breakthough and that I should talk to her about giving me advice on where to start on this project.

One Word: Inspirational

Well as you can tell from the title, this TED talk by Dave Eggers is very inspiring to me. This video to me was the ideal inspiration I needed to conduct my project. I like this idea of "one-on-one attention." I have realized that there are a lot of people who need tutoring and this "one-on-one attention" may be a problem. If I can create this community service project that Susan has brought to my attention, then the "one-on-one attention" will probable be successful. Well going back to the TED talk, it talks about how Dave Eggers and his companions had trouble bringing in the kids to tutor because of "trust issues." I didn't take into account about "trust issues" prior to watching this video but now it has made me think of ways to create a child-friendly area. Does anyone have any thoughts of how to do this?
Another reason why this TED talk is inspirational is because if the factual truth it has in it. Dave Eggers has the right thinking and is trying to spread his thinking to anyone who is willing to absorb the truth. He says that the children do not realize how good they are and how smart they are. They need people to tell them how and show them how things are done, listen to them and guide them to a better education. He says that we "can shine that light on them one human interaction at a time"

A Tutoring Partnership

I initially wanted to create a facility where disadvantaged children could come to get tutored and counseled. Now, Susan has brought to my attention that creating a facility would be a different path to this project. It would seem as if my focus was creating the facility so instead I am going to find a way to make a partnership with an existing organization. I'm thinking about making this partnership with a high school. I'm not quite sure which high school exactly but I am going to narrow it down to a high school that I believe is in major need of guidance academically and emotionally. I realize that it is difficult to concentrate on anything if you are stressing. While I was attending public schools I was exposed to an extreme lack of care from the teachers compared to Chinquapin. I realize that life here at Chinquapin is a lot easier because we are have a great bond with the teachers. Because of this bond, we are guided in to academic and emotional relief, in some sense. I want other students who are willing to give it their all to have the same benefits.