Pursuing A Community

I live in a rural community named Brockton, or as some like to call us “Broketown.” I have lived in Brockton for 12 unconsecutive years. Brockton is a small community, but we are publicly exploited for violence and crime. Brockton is full of influential and hard working people and not everyone gets to see this positive side of Brockton. As someone that lives in Brockton, I know how hard it is to set goals and actually have the support needed to accomplish them. Brockton has a bad reputation because of the negativity that is dispersed about Brockton resident. Brockton kids are tainted with this image that we’re all disrespectful and low achievers. I want to break that mold. I want to diminish the stereotype that Brockton kids don’t amount to great things.

It also showed us that value in education comes in different forms. For example, students like DeAndre valued education but didn’t think the education he was receiving was the best approach for him. It may appear the DeAndre was uninterested in learning but in reality he was interested in learning things that could help and resonated with his cultural history. I was enlightened by the way this article helped to highlight different types of students in a positive light. I resonate with this article because I went to a high school where students were labeled as noncompliant or “acting white”. I fell that more educators should read this article to get a well-rounded view of all their students especially those in the minority community. Furthermore, after reading this article I began to brainstorm alternatives to making school more appealing to all categories of students. According to the Boston Globe a new idea called community schools are entering discussions about better school models. The Boston Globe defines community schools as “both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities”. This idea sounds great to me because not only does it address the needs of the student

Throughout my three years at Barnegat High School I have strived to be a respectful, responsible and influential student and athlete. I have worked hard to stand out among my peers, be dedicated to everything I do, work towards achieving my personal goals and positively influence those around me. As an individual and a young adult, I believe it is the responsibility of younger generations to work towards being the best version of ourselves we can possibly be and positively contribute to others and our community. Overall, I aspire to be a well rounded individual and character that demonstrates the qualities of respect, citizenship, and responsibility.

As an American I am obligated to help my fellow citizen and my community. Grace Lee Boggs was an American philosopher, author, feminist, and social activist. She once said “You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.” We often want change but are not willing to cause it. As an individual I must first recognize my part in the community, then step up and start taking my duties to help my community seriously. Before I moved to West Virginia my church had a “Reformer's Unanimous” program, It helped addicts come off their addiction. We had a detention center right by our church, and a lot of the ladies would come over for the program. I used to volunteer

When I moved to this area, we looked to live in a “better neighborhood” not only because we felt safer, but we also wanted to ensure my daughter received the best education opportunities. While it is challenging to make changes and ensure we are benefitting all students, I feel this is a larger part of why I am currently getting my degree in this field; so that I can be a voice of change and seek out ways to benefit all students to reach their full potential.

I come from a small rural town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. My hometown is split down the middle by a set of railroad tracks. On the north side, one can find pristine neighborhoods, newer schools, most doctors’ offices, and the only hospital in town. The south side of the town stands as a stark contrast. On the south side, you no longer find the wealthy neighborhoods but rather dilapidated and condemned homes and housing projects. One seems to find abandoned buildings on every corner, many inhabited by those that have lost their homes. Limited help is coming for those who need it, mostly through churches and volunteer programs targeting the underserved. Many doctors, dentists, and nurses are giving their time and resources to help

It was the summer of 2010 and I was attending an inner city missions trip in Peoria, IL. Each morning we served in an urban neighborhood volunteering at a local school or government housing. At the school, we found chipped and faded paint, walls yellowed from old age, water stains on the ceilings and walls, and lockers that were filled with graffiti. The government subsidized housing was in a horrid state of disrepair. Bullet holes riddled the doors and brick facade on the buildings. The windows and doors did not provide the safety the residents needed: ripped screens, broken glass panes and broken door locks prevailed throughout the units. The neighborhood community center had barred windows, broken concrete walks, and trash on the property. I was overwhelmed with the deterioration of the school and the neighborhood around me. I decided that summer, I would do what the neighborhood people could not do for themselves, be an active part of revitalizing broken communities through the

For the past 17 years, Elk Mound has been my home. When most people drive through the village on highway 12, they glance ahead, not noticing the community around them. The people living, working, or attending school here are not only my friends, but in a way, my family. I have grown up with people who have more in common with my rather than just where we live. There are 66 young adults in my class today, and I have known everyone’s name since first grade. Attending a small high school has given me multiple opportunities to join a variety of clubs. If I am playing a basketball game, running in a meet, or participating at the State Academic Decathlon meet, I see familiar faces from my community. The support of a small community is personal. Since

My proposed solution to this is that school counselors and city mayors can be a major source of inspiration to children who are affected by a challenge like this. They can advise them on how to build themselves with determination to make a difference.

I have spent copious amounts of time in communities stricken with low socioeconomic statuses, less fortunate than the usual neighborhoods I see in Pikesville. The experiences has engrained a strong moral compass into me, leading me to have a solid goal; of beautifying and bettering areas of destitute.

It is time, at last, to speak the truth about my community. As an 18 year old living in Ottawa, the Nation’s Capital, I have had many feelings regarding the homeless and the poor living within my community. The homeless and the poor require much needed assistance, as their situation is miserable. Being given the power to make changes, I think this issue would be the first priority. As a member of my community, Ottawa, I must aim for a positive change. The change could be in housing, food services, and health.

Transition: It is clear that our local community is in great need, but fortunately there are many ways to solve these problems.

I was strike by the number female living on the streets. That is the first thing I noticed when I moved to DC last August. That is why I signed up for the session led by the members of the National Coalition for the Homeless Speakers Bureau. After the session, I acquired a deeper understanding of the causes of homelessness, such as the Vietnam War, the expansion of drugs in the US, domestic violence, and the decrease of low-income housing. The number I will never forget: eight thousands; the number of homeless people in DC. The words I will never forget: “regardless of who people are, everyone should have a home.” This sounds so obvious, but I tend to think that homeless people most of the time “deserve” their situation by not working well enough. Homelessness is an issue of public concern. Like any city, Washington DC is a community, so Americans have to learn how to live together. However, it seems that there is a huge social and economic gap among Washington DC inhabitants. Some people are congressmen, some are homeless: some are high-paid, some are not paid at all. The gap is big, that is the reason why people have to care. In order to raising public attention, I thought of a project that I did not have the time to work on. I wanted to meet as much homeless as possible, and taking a photo of them, within their living conditions, smiling. My message would have been: “homeless people ask you for a hello. You ignore

Saul D. Alinsky believed in the power of community organizers. In 1972, he wrote a book titled Rules for Radicals in which he created a set of thirteen rules of tactics to be used by community organizers. Community organizers are known as change agents; someone who sees a need for change in an organization and must overcome opposition to bring about change. He wrote a second set of eleven rules comparing ends versus means. This set of rules is used to answer the question, “Does the end justify the means?” In today’s business world, many people follow some of these rules in how they run their business. In some situations, this is a good thing, in others, not so much. Through studying his rules, I found a few that I agree with and others which I did not.

The mass majority of individuals past the age of thirty seem to trivialize problems that a plethora of American youth suffer from today. Simply put, the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry describes it best in his book, The Little Prince, in the quote, “All grown-ups were once children…but only few of them remember it.” We are inordinately exhausted from classes and extracurricular activities that promise college appeal, we are emotionally inept from the expectations of our family’s and peers, and we are despondent from the inability to caste away anxiety filled doubt at a future that seems implausible. My greatest contribution to my school and my community is my dedication to establish compassion and comfort for an improved quality of life. The known establishment of my human gifts to my region came about from my own experiences that caused a realization that various students in my community feel outcasted by our society. By creating a persona that promotes nondiscriminatory listening while also creating three clubs that perform as a safe space, I believe my greatest attribute to my small town of Forest City will endure the hardships of time.