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  Katia's IRP on Pablo Neruda's Poetry

Posted by Alexa Dunn in English 1 - Dunn on
I was reading 5 poems from a book named 100 love sonnets  by Pablo Neruda.

He is a chilean poet, he was born in 1904 and died in 1973. Neruda was called the greatest poet of the 20th century  in any language. He won  a lot of prizes one of them was a nobel prize of literature  in 1971. Neruda wrote this book celebrating his love. The book is talking about the different  periods in his relationship with his wife Matteld .


-Poem 1:

It says:  if your eyes were not the color of moon, of a day full of clay and work and fire. this is the first line of the poem. maybe that means that this love is so beautiful  but so hard it is like if we say that this love is as the most pretty  rose. but the prettiest  rose is the most one that have more thorns than any other tipe of flowers. it is maybe saying that love is the biggest hurt but the largest joie. we could know that he loves her so much, his life depend on her life and that this woman is everything  for him. as he says:           but when i hold you i hold everything that is...


-Poem 2:


The first line says: i crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. silent and starving, i prowl through the streets. It means that he strongly  wants her, and he is looking for her everywhere as he misses her so much, it is saying that he is lost without her and that he is nothing if she is not by his side. she means for him a lot and he loves her much.


-Poem 3:


It is saying that the time is so short when they are together. or maybe he wants to say there is something happened  and they were focusing on it then he could not  enjoy  her her, and now he wants to give that time to do what he could not do.

 it seems that he really likes her hair. as he says: i only want to be your stylist. also he is telling that he loves her so much, as he says:  do not forget me remember that i love you. also, he really needs her with him, as he says:  don't  let me wander lost without your hair.


-Poem 4:


The first line of this poem says: i do not love you as if you were salt--rose, or topaz...I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.  it maybe means thatthis love is a secret between him and himself and that it could be something so pretty  that we can see but it is not as it is invisible. but however he it is a beautiful  feeling inside,  as he says: i love you as the plant that  never blooms but caries in itself the light of hidden flowers.he is saying that he just love her and he can not control his feeling, as he says:  i love you without knowing how or when or frome where. he loves her so much and his heart, his mind and his soul are always with her, he is talking as there is two souls in one body, as he says:  so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as i am fall asleep.


-Poem 5:


in the first line it says: leaning in to the afternoons i cast my sad nets towards your oceanic eyes.  so, he is trying to get something from something that can not give him what he is looking for. he is putting his nets in a sad ocean where there is nothing to get,.the fire of that love is burning him and no one could take him out even  water   as he is talking about fire and  drowning. he is lost, he is drowning in that ocean which is her eyes or love, he is lost and he wants to  be in the sea or the beach, he wants to see the land, he wants to see something that tells him that he is all right and he does not need to be scared anymore, something like the lighthouse. all of these things that he wants to see are just in her eyes, all of these places where he wants to be are in her eyes. but her eyes are so far, he can not see her eyes as they are absent  eyes which means that everything is absent. he says:  there in the highest blaze my solitude lengthens and flames, its arms turning like drowning man s. i send out red signals acrosse your absent eyes that smell like the sea or the beach by lighthouse.     his love for her gives him a courage  and strength, he could do anything just to arrive to her, as he says:   leaning to the afternoons i fling my nets to the sea that is thrashed by your oceanic eyes.  it seems like this love hurts him someway but it still beautiful  and he is fighting for it, as he said:  the birds of night peck at the fast stars that flash like my soul when i love you. the night gallops on its shadowy mare shedding blue tassels over the land..


I really love these poems, i like how the poet is using the opposite language and relating everything to nature, his poems are unclear, i feel like he has some of sheakspear  language as he uses a lot of medaforms  and we can not understand   what he wants to say exactly.  if i would have an opportunity  to change something in these poems i would never change anything, when i was reading them i felt   that he  feels what he wrote or he wrote what he felt. and if the write what he feels he makes the reader live with him what he is saying. 

i am so glad because i knew this poet and i  rad  his poems i hope if i could read the haul  book. if some one is looking for something to read i would definitively  say that this book is one of the best books.


                                i loved it, i loved it, i loved it.

You and the World: Helping Those in Need

Posted by Nashay Day in English 1 - Dunn on

​There are approximately 2,203,067 homeless people including veterans living in America. Why is that? If we are such an advanced civilization, why can’t we at least help these people who are on the street, have a little comfort. About ¼ of these people live in shelters so that means that the other 75% are living on the streets, hungry, cold, and alone without a place to stay or a family to depend on. I think that we all can make a difference. In fact, I know we can make a difference if we all would stop being so selfish and contribute! There are people out there who cannot afford christmas gifts or even a warm quality coat, so they are forced to be cold and without gifts. In a season like winter, it is vital to have holiday spirit, as well as being warm, this helps prevent mental, and even body illnesses such as pneumonia or even the common cold. These people do not even have the medicine to help fight these illnesses, coats to keep them warm, food to eat, or gifts to keep them in the holiday spirit. This is why I will try anything in my power to make sure that there are as many people as possible who will be warm, fed, safe, happy and healthy. Now some people do not want to be sheltered, but they will be willing to accept things they need.


In a few more weeks I will be holding a Coat Drive for people in need, citywide. I want schools in the area to help bring food, blankets, warm coats, and blankets to people in need. This idea dawned upon when I made a reflection on myself. I have an excess of clothes, shoes, and coats, when there are people out there who have nothing. So why not give back? If you can give back and still have more than you need than there is no reason not to. In fact you should always try to give as much as you can, no matter what it is, because there is always going to be someone, somewhere less fortunate than you. This should make us all look back on our lives and see how blessed we truly are.  


This Christmas Season I am going to Mercy Hospice Shelter for Women & Children, and giving food, clothes, and gifts to those in need. I am giving everything that I possibly can to make sure that they have a wonderful christmas. Every season I will be coming up with a new project. The projects will help people in need but targeting specific problems for that season. For example, in the spring and summer, I am planning to donate air conditioners to shelters and people who cannot afford them and I will help children and adults who are illiterate spell and read. This goes beyond getting someone off the street. It is about honoring your fellow man. If we all lend a helping hand we can truly make a difference, i’m sure of it!

Here lies my sources

HomelesMous.189143818_std
HomelesMous.189143818_std

This World Called Philadelphia and How the Arts Thrive Within It:You and the World

Posted by Stephanie Dyson in English 1 - Dunn on

“I’d like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do.”
-Mae West, actress

This is the city that we live in, the city that many of us were born in and the city that many of us will die in. Philadelphia. On corner after corner there is a fusion of cultures, a melting pot of languages and accents. There are those who are old and those who are young, people all around the city with varying ages and points of view. There are the rich, the impoverished, the spoiled, the rewarded, the honored, the shunned, the beloved, the disgraceful. For nearly 330 years, this city has been thriving, bustling every day with something new for the Inquirer to touch base on.

It’s a gorgeous city; not just because Fairmount Park is the largest urban park in the world (and people think Central Park is something special...), or because we have one of the most beautiful city skylines, or because we have architectural feats such as Liberty Place and the Comcast Center. These are all credible sources of endearment for the Cradle of Liberty, but not the ones I’m thinking of.

For my You and the World Project, I am thinking of the arts in Philadelphia. I am thinking of me in this world we know as Philadelphia, and what a foundational part of my life has to do with it. Philly has the most outdoor murals and statues among all of the American states. Known for it’s public art, our city boasts projects and feats such as the Comcast Center and the ‘Comcast Experience HD Video Wall’ inside the building itself. An architectural wonder, it is one of only four buildings in America taller than 900 feet. Within the building, in what is called the “Winter Garden” (the main lobby), there is an artistic and technological wonder. This is the Comcast Experience HD Video Wall that I mentioned.

This 2,000 square foot wall stretches minds as it is the world’s largest 4 millimeter screen. At 24.5 feet high, it allows for everyone that walks into the Comcast Center to see the displays of anything from smiling businessmen and women, to a picture of a nebula, to pirouetting ballerinas. Look here for more about the Comcast Experience: http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/comcast-experience-video-wall-comcast-center/

and learn more about the Comcast Center itself here: http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/comcast-center/



Joseph-Kaczmarek-Comcast-Holiday-Spectacular-587
Joseph-Kaczmarek-Comcast-Holiday-Spectacular-587
(above) visitors watching in awe the Christmas Spectacular on the video wall in the Comcast Center.

The Comcast Center is obviously not the only spectacle our city has to be proud of; it’s known across the country that Philly is a city of art and culture. The beauty we have to offer is always moving, being rejuvenated, refreshed, and resurfaced. Bustling and busy are we. However high this city holds it's halo, though, it still has flaws. And the arts are bringing the beauty back. Especially with the Mural Arts Program. Started in 1984, Jane Golden, muralist and painter, made friends with graffiti artists around the city. Impressed by their ability to create, she recruited them to make murals across the city, covering up the ruinous work done by vandals, and creating beautiful, sky-high masterpieces that spoke volumes about Philly’s history and culture. Because over 3,000 murals have been born from the Program, our city has been give another nickname, “The City of Murals”, around the world. You can view many of these murals and the one below (N. 17th Street, done in 2004) in this slideshow on time.com

(http://http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1649278_1421152,00.html)

phil_mural_01
phil_mural_01
​

Yet, it’s not just beauty that the Mural Arts Program roots for. About 1,500 youths in neighborhoods around the city have benefitted from the Program. They cater to at-risk youths, especially. Kids who wouldn’t have exposure to the arts on such a grand scale are given the opportunity to paint and, in the end, create a masterpiece for the entire neighborhood, city, country, and even world to see.


“Educational programs use an intensive curriculum that involves mural-making as a dynamic means to engage youth and to teach transferable life and job skills such as taking personal responsibility, teamwork, and creative problem-solving,” says a bit I retrieved from the information page on the Mural Arts Program’s web site. Explore more of the Mural Arts here: http://explorer.muralarts.org

Philadelphia is a city with a past, but also a city with a future. The arts, as they thrive in our metropolis, are certainly a driving factor in this future that we possess. In my next update, I will hopefully have contacted and spoken to some of the directors of the Mural Arts Program. Please stay tuned for my next update on my project.

Click the following link for my bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zXlBiAmZbQH3QcZ2pojtVOGTRJVQ6jRvvmSex98ek4M/edit
Screen Shot 2012-11-29 at 1.17.18 PM
Screen Shot 2012-11-29 at 1.17.18 PM
(above) a screenshot of an interactive part of the Mural Arts Program website and below is a video from the mural arts program that shows just a little bit of what they do in-depth as they work on a piece called "The Roots"

Global Warming-Blog Post 1

Posted by Alejandro Bautista-Garcia in English 1 - Dunn on

​


Hi my name is Alejandro and my project is about global warming. In English we are doing a project called you and the world where we pick an issue in the world to talk about. For my issue I chose global warming.


Global warming is a huge well known problem, that many people are aware of yet they do not do anything about this terrible issue in the world. Global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt causing death to a lot of earth's animals and ecosystems. 

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Above, melting ice caps (source).

I’m interested in this topic about the issues in the world  because i hear of this issue for a long that i wanted to learn more about it and I wanted to know what happens to the earth every year and what would happened if it keeps going on in the world.

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Above, polar bear on broken ice (source).

The Global Warming started as known from the scientist approximately about the 1500’s and kept going until now 2012, over the time it changed the and switch the earth temperature and made the earth hotter melting glaciers, damaging ecosystems, nature and animals too.



Some of the causes of global warming are: green house gasses, cars, 
industries, electronics, smoke and fossil fuels. Sometimes even the smallest things that we do not even think about can cause global warming. For example, turning on and off a light switch.

Some small things that you can do every day to prevent global warming. 
Are to not watch as much TV, to not turn lights on as often, to ride your bike or walk more often, because they burn fuel. These things are helpful to the ecosystem and the Ozone layer.

Throughout my project I will learn more about how I can help the earth, and put a stop to global warming, and I will educate the readers on global warming and how to stop it. Thank you for reading, and I will post my second blog entry soon.

Click here to view my bibliography.


Amanda Grace Thieu's YATW

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on

​ Hi there, my name is Amanda Grace Thieu. For this year’s 2012 English class project to take action in the world to make a change, I’ve choose the cause Teenage Depression. I believe that this case should be taken very seriously because it’s how abominable a person feels about a situation or just in general how their outtakes on life. This was the first thought that came into mind when I heard “Pick a topic that struck you to heart and make a change” Teen Depression, I feel is a very gigantic discussion whether someone is actually depressed or just trying to get attention. But I never fail to turn my back on someone who came to me for help and advice. Many of my friends have it and since it affected their lives so much, it’s starting to effect mines. That’s why I want to make a change in the world to help these teens find their happiness. For the project I’m teaming up with my guidance counselor and English teacher to organize a monthly support group lunch here at school. The group may be as small as four people or as large as an entire classroom. But not necessarily everybody has depression maybe they just need someone to talk to or relate to their situation and make new friends. Anyone can join just to talk about their problems, Freshman to Seniors. I am hoping this will change the way people feel about life, also to learn to have a better perspective about any problems they might have.
Depression is a serious mental illness that makes you feel morbid or unhappy for a long period of time. Depression can occur to anyone, but it usually affects teens the most. The chances that teens actually receive professional help is very slim. We do not really like to share our problems with anybody else because we’ve created this wall or barrier to protect ourselves from getting hurt or judged. Now a days people judge you for the silliest things just to make you feel bad, this is basically a sign of insecurity from the person who’s bring you down. But that doesn’t mean that you should stoop down to their level and try to get vengeance. Kids aren’t usually as open to their family than to their friends because they feel that their friends do not judge them because they might go through the same thing they do, where as family members only care that you’re hurting yourself or just thinking you’re seeking attention.

PostPartumDepression300
 The  picture above can be interpreted in many ways. How I portray it is, that a mother is listening but not understanding her teen by the way you see the serious expression in her face. The teen seems like she’s crying how she is positioned and how red her forehead seems to be compared to her arms. The daughter figure seems like she has a lot going on in her life but the mother seems like she’s about to yell at her. This picture shows how the adult cannot relate to her teenage daughter. She wants to but doesn’t know how.




There are many indications of teen depression.
  • Persistent feelings of sadness
  • Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
  • Decreased interest in school or friends
  • Decreasing in grades if once a good student
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Feeling suicidal
  • Feeling alone
  • Traumatic weight loss or weight gain
  • Low self esteem
  • Sleeping too much or feeling sleepy all the time
  • Frequent Headaches
  • Experiencing difficulty concentrating or thinking
  • Anger problems
  • Behavior changes
  • Slow thinking, speaking or body movements
  • Self-Harm such as, cutting, burning or excessive piercing or tattooing
  • Neglected appearance- such as mismatched clothes and unkempt hair
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Rapid crying
  • and many more.
  • Stays in their room all day with the door closed
  • Likes being alone all the time

                                     stock-photo-teen-depression-teenager-with-hands-on-head-holding-handgun-40978147
I chose this picture above because this shows that even males have problems too, and since he is holding a gun in his hands he’s giving me the impression that’s he’s thinking about attempting suicide. He might be suffering from some of the cases below.




There are also many causes for depression. For example, family difficulties, the lost of a loved one, or perceived failures may also cause depression so does:
  • Bullying
  • Harassment
  • Self-esteem
  • Relationship issues
  • Sexuality issues

Depressed-teen-6-5-12

The picture above is expressed in a gloomy vibe, you can tell that she’s in a dark place. This picture represents the lonely feeling people have when they are dealing with a strong problem that doesn’t seem to go away, it stays with them everywhere they go.



Many teens go through problems such as sex, drugs, alcohol, relationships etc but it does not exactly mean they have depression. In a teen’s life there are many ups and downs that occur and we learned to stick it out and be strong. That’s not an option for some people. When dealing with these problems it seems like you’re alone the entire way, like you have nobody on your side. The purpose of this project is to support teens in my school that are dealing with any problems, to let them feel welcome and to be there with them right by their side


Here is a link to my Bibliography

You and the World Blog post# 1: Education In America

Posted by Soledad Alfaro-Allah in English 1 - Dunn on

​

The public education system in the U.S. is far behind those of the other world and is holding back on its true potential to raise its youth. Money from schools is being cut at bigger and bigger rates each year and by the millions. Most would think education would, and should be the last thing to cut. The public schools’ budget and make it that much harder for them to educate our youth, schools are being closed and deteriorating by the second because they do not have enough money to keep their schools afloat. The district requires the all the district affiliated schools in philadelphia to take the PSSA’S and only recently have they caught a surprising number of schools cheating because they cannot pass these tests otherwise. So much of the resources used to help prepare these kids for the standardised tests has been lost because of these enormous budget cuts, yet they almost passed a bill about increase in your taxes. So where's all this money going exactly? Obviously not to our schools. Statistics say that in the state of Pennsylvania third grade test scores are the judgement of how many penitentiaries they are going to build on account of that state that year. The United States of America has put its future in a state of emergency where we are stuck are youth is not expected to catch up after the third grade yet many schools are trying to prepare it students for jobs and critical thinking that they aren’t even sure how or when or what they will be applied to, but they no it will be needed.

It seems that no one wants to address the main problem of our schools a lot of it is money related of course but how we are teaching the youth is also very insufficient in the sense that we are putting bad authorities  that are placed in the school. Bad teachers are being placed in schools that already are under bad circumstances with kids that need better attention and cannot. It seems while no one knows what is going on with our education system everyone is an expert of some sort. We have experts diagnosing minorities with medical conditions because the education system cannot do its job properly. It is almost like revert slavery when runaway slaves would be diagnosed with diseases because they were not content with their situation. In this case it is somewhat the same way. People cannot accept their mistakes and lack of education in our youth and so they find a new blame.
The heart of the problem in my opinion is that no one is paying enough attention to the schools that are falling down the drain especially in places like camden. So many other people are pulling off of these environments in the sense that it is easier to keep ourselves afloat if we let these rougher areas deteriorate, but if we only have a select number of children in good schools and applying their knowledge to real life situations and pondering deeper questions and avoiding the one word standard answer, and understand why they are doing what they are doing. We are screwed for lack of a better term to say the least. If only a quarter of our youth is capable of navigating and imagining and developing their ability to create we will have no future. We will be in a place that either we cannot come back from or it will be like trying to spread a centimeter of butter on a meter wide piece of toast. A stretch. Other parts of the world are seeing this problem in their youth, and making a major attempt to fix it. In cuba they have created an infinite amount of opportunity in schools and the prisons are even leaning more towards better education. In the prisons in cuba the inmates are required to take a certain number of classes and read. The concept of this method is to have less repeat inmates and it is in my opinion not shockingly successful, but successful because the people in these incarcerations are educating themselves and changing themselves, In cuba they want to keep the people out of prisons while this nation is trying to put more in. Blaming the failure rate of minorities and others in bad education situations on irrational reasons. As a nation we should be trying to build a sturdy future for our country and we are doing just the opposite. Giving poor people no opportunities or resources to send their children to good schools because it has been made to keep “incompetent” children out, but how can we have competent children without any opportunity's?

Click Here For Bibliography





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You and the World Girls in Philly

Posted by Sattera Mark in English 1 - Dunn on

After reading I hope you  understand why I really would like to get involved in helping these girls out. Even You and the World Blog Post 1
     For the you and the world project my ninth grade class had to choose an issue in the world that they found interest in. My teacher assigned this project because she wanted us to help others. She also knew that people these days think that teens only care about themselves. Which is not at all true. There are teens that actually care about the issues of the world. The problem is that some teens think that they’re too young, and think that we can’t help. Maybe we can’t find a cure for cancer or adopt kids from Africa but we can start within our own communities. If I just walk outside I see litter everywhere, kids that really don’t care about their education, and teen fights. Those are tangible things that we might be able to change. I can start with something little, like getting involved with organizations and programs that seek to change things.

       For this You and the World project I would like to work with some girls in Philadelphia. I going to accomplish this goal by working with a camp called Teen Haven. I found interest in this project because I want to make a change in the way some girls think about life. In Philadelphia many girls grow up without a male figure in their life, in foster care, and have been raped. These factors can cause many girls to be depressed and build up a wall. It may also cause hurt, betrayal, and trust issues. At camp we attack these issues in group discussions and at camp fires.
      
    By reading articles and researching I’ve learned so many things about foster kids.In an article about facts on Foster care, it says that 60,000 children in the U.S. are foster chidren.  As you may know, foster kids are taken out of their home because of bad living conditions. Maybe their parent couldn’t take care of them because of money or they were being abused. Then, the kids are moved to completely different home. It;s like they have to start life all over again. They have to develop new relationships with their foster parents, make new friends, while their are still hurt by the old relationships they miss. On top of that they might be in a home that was worse than the one before. Most of the time their foster home isn’t even permanent. In a few months they might be in a new home, meaning that relationship process with have to start all over again. This might build up a wall and I can understand why. Who would want to make new friends just to have them go in a few months. All the drama that is happening in their life can cause a huge toll on them.  After foster care some girls may not be able to live normal lives. Some may have to though I haven't been through almost anything they’ve been through I know I can make a change. Sometimes all they need is someone to talk to or to comfort them. I hope that I can change their outlook on life, even though it’s rough.You live laugh and grow.
Annotated Bibliography  Click on the hyperlinks to learn more about Foster care.


Here's a link to my 2nd blog post    


Antrobus, Simon. "Why Growing up without a Dad Can Store up Future Problems." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 May 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/social-care-network/2012/may/21/growing-up-without-dad-future-problems>.

This article is about how growing up without a father can negatively effect a child’s life. This article is a helpful tool to me. I can understand what some kids without fathers feel like and relate it to my own life not living with a father.



"Foster Care System." - Student.com Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://articles.student.com/life/living/foster-care-system>.
  
This article is about what foster kids go through. It also show how much their life is impacted by their experiences. This is an excellent article because it is very insightful. This article answered all the question that I ever had about foster care. It is also well writtened.


"September 25 - October 1 | Coming of Age." September 25 - October 1 | Coming of Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.comingofage.org/philadelphia/emails/september-25-october-1>.

                 This is a good website to get pictures from because the site gives explanations of the          
                  pictures. It also isn’t just good for pictures, but article too.

"Kidsdata.org Kidsdata.org." Foster Care. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.kidsdata.org/data/topic/dashboard.aspx?cat=4>.
    
                This website has very good information on foster children. The site also gives you a clear picture on how a foster                     child’s life might be. The site is insightful and shows some stactics of foster children.

  About Teen Haven." Teen Haven: About. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.

http://wsm.org/teenhaven

  

           This website is all about Waterstreet Ministries. This website is good if you want to do                                                                                        volunteer work. It’s also good if you would like to send your child to Teen Haven camp.


"Volunteer." Volunteer. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

  http://easybib.com/cite/view

          

                     This website is good if you ideas of getting involved in foster care. The website is           also  good for stories.






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Poverty In Philadelphia

Posted by Jamison Turner in English 1 - Dunn on

Jamison Turner

11-20-12       Orange Stream

Poverty In Philadelphia

Hi My name is Jamison Turner.  I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy.  For english class we have been assigned a project called “You and The World” the aim of this project is to make a change in our world today.  We could pick any subject we wanted so I picked poverty in Philadelphia.  I think part of the problem maybe the amount of people that lost their jobs last year.  During this project I will  find try to answer a lot of questions.

One of the questions I had was how much has the poverty level gone up.  In 2010 about 15.3 % of The United States’ population was living in poverty.  In 2011 that number rose to 15.9%.  So the number of people living in poverty rose about .6%.  If the poverty number rose .6 % every year than in about 1/4 of our population would be living in poverty in about 16 years.  I think that is absolutely unbelievable. That will lead me into my next question.

My next question is what percent of people are living in poverty in Philadelphia.

The answer is 26.7%.  Since i am a Philadelphia resident I didn’t think that more than 1/4 of our population is living in poverty.  This is very depressing to hear because I didn’t think we had that high of a poverty rate in Philadelphia.  That is like saying that 1 out of four people in Philadelphia are living in poverty.  This topic will also lead me to my next Question

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Screen Shot 2012-11-28 at 9.22.20 PM
My third question is what are some reasons for this many people living in poverty.  I think it may be the unemployment rate in Philadelphia because in 2011 the unemployment rate was 11.5% in Philadelphia.  This could be the biggest reason because you can’t provide for your family if you don’t have a job.  the government could help these people out with financial aid but instead they give billions of dollars to oil companies.  The government and economy definately have something to do with the poverty and unemployment rate.

Those are the general things I wanted to know about poverty in Philadelphia.  Know I am going to try to help people out who are living in poverty.  I want to make their life easier and set a good role model for younger people in the world.  I would also like to spread awareness to the government that a lot of people are living in poverty because of the amount of layoffs in the last few years.  

Bibliography here.  Click here to see a chart of unemployment in Philadelphia.  Here is a link to see a chart comparing the poverty levels in Philadelphia and the Suburbs.

You and the World Blog Post #1: Pet Euthanasia

Posted by Dillon Hershey in English 1 - Dunn on

In English 1 in 9th grade, we were given an assignment to find an interest in current events and make a project on the issue that you choose. In the project we were to answer these questions: Why is this world issue important to me? How can I be a global citizen? How can change occur? I had so many different ideas flashing through my head but I finally chose one that is, in my point of view, very horrible. This idea has to do with man’s best friend, their treatment in the shelters and the list of animals that have been at the shelter for too long. Can you guess what my issue is? It is pet euthanasia. The killing of healthy pets just because there is no space for them in the shelter.

I’m sure that almost everyone has seen an ASPCA ad on their TV or on their computer. It usually pictures a sad and forlorn looking cat or dog and then they ask you to donate money towards the ASPCA to save the cat or dog’s life.

This is what pulled my heartstrings and made me think. I had just recently adopted a dog from PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) and when we were looking for shelters to adopt from, my parents would always choose the no-kill shelters to look at. I realized that no-kill meant that they have to keep all the animals until they are adopted. At “kill” shelters they have a list of dogs and cats that have been waiting for adoption for “too long”. Then they put them down. These shelters use euthanasia for the “unwanted animals” and the unhealthy animals. I understand why they would put the animals down so that they would be out of their misery. That is humane, but to call an animal “unwanted” only after 2 weeks, makes me think that they aren’t so humane after all.
At PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) they claim that euthanasia is the compassionate option. They state that  “no-kill” shelters can’t keep all of the pets that come into the shelter. They believe that all the “unwanted” animals would die a horrible death on the streets, and that they can solve that problem with killing all of those “unwanted” animals or “unadoptable” animals

The Daily Beast has something to say about PETA. In one of their articles they stated “The organization (PETA) has practiced euthanasia for years. Since 1998 PETA has killed more than 17,000 animals, nearly 85 percent of all those it has rescued.” PETA’s reason for so many animals killed is because of overpopulation. But some people have said that overpopulation is just a myth. They think that they can find a home for all of the healthy animals that they have been killing. Since that being said, there have been some improvements around the country but no one has yet achieved the no-kill rate of 0. In case PETA’s position on euthanasia hasn’t been clear at all, here it is. “Every day in the United States, tens of thousands of puppies and kittens are born. Compare this to the nearly 11,000 human births each day, and it’s clear that there can never be enough homes for all these animals. Shelters are stuck with the heartrending job of dealing with animals nobody wants. Those who refuse to spay and neuter their animals, who abandon animals when they grow tired of them, and who patronize pet shops instead of adopting stray or shelter animals make euthanasia a tragic necessity.” They call their animals “animals that nobody wants”. There has got to be people out there that want a unique kitten with no tail or a dog that stands out in the crowd with 3 legs. PETA just doesn’t give the animals enough time to live.



PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) is a no-kill shelter and they have plenty of shelters all around Philly that are clean and roomy, but not empty. Their animals are all waiting for people to adopt them. They only use euthanasia when necessary. Which for them is when the animal is hopelessly sick and not treatable. PAWS include on their website an about them page and on that page they say “All of PAWS’ efforts are privately funded and are aimed at reducing the homeless pet population, keeping pets healthy, and ending the city’s use of euthanasia as a means of population control for healthy and treatable pets.” They want to end the use of euthanasia and also help keep the population of homeless animals down. To me, PAWS does it all. They have foster parents, spay and neuter clinics, many shelters and if the animals have been at the shelter for too long, they put them on a special page where is says URGENT and the people adopting can usually name their price on them. People adopting tend to pick the smallest ones and the younger ones so they have a page for the “senior citizens” of the animals and if someone 65+ wants to adopt an older animal they get to name their price. There are plenty of other no-kill shelters in Philly just look it up online.

To wrap it up I have some questions that I hope answer by my next blog post. I wonder if there are any specific goals in any states in the U.S. about euthanasia. How can we change the fate of these poor animals or what could we do to help? I hope that I have given you new information for the day and that it was to some extent information that you wanted! Thanks for reading and click here for my bibliography.

You And The World Blog 1: LGBT Equality

Posted by Morgan Caswell in English 1 - Dunn on

Hi, I’m Morgan Caswell-Warnick and I’m a freshman here at Science Leadership Academy. As part of the freshman English curriculum, we have the opportunity to go out and make a difference in the world we live in. We chose an issue we’re passionate about, research about, and then we go out and do something about it. I have chosen my issue to be LGBT rights. This has been an issue I have been passionate about for a long time and I finally am going to make a change. This issue is important to me because I know people who have had this personally affect them and I don’t think anyone should have to be mistreated like that.

In the recent election, three states chose to make same-sex marriage legal, giving gay and lesbian couples the chance to be legally married. Maryland, Maine, and Minnesota all voted to get rid of the federal amendment that defines marriage as a civil union between a man and a woman. Instead, they chose to define it as a civil union between two people. In turn, North Carolina voted and kept that amendment. Gay marriage is legal in 11 states in the US: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.

While same- sex marriage isn’t legal in all states, some states recognize a civil unions or domestic partnerships. A civil union is similar to a marriage, but it is between two people of the same sex. The rights granted by it are similar to those of a marriages. A domestic partnership is different. A domestic partnership is not similar to marriage and you are not granted any rights similar to those of marriage. A domestic partnership is a sexual relationship between two people who live together and have a long-term relationship. The states the recognize civil unions are domestic partnership are Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island. The states to recognize a domestic partnership.

This is an issue that is going to continue to happen and change. With different states legalizing same-sex marriage, this is something that will evolve. And so as this keeps evolving, keep informed about it.


You and the World Blog#1:Animal Abuse and Neglect

Posted by Lauren Hummel in English 1 - Dunn on

This is the beginning of my ‘You and the World’ project for English class. ‘You and the World’ is a project that will help my classmates and I address an issue that we are interested in that is going on in the world and try to help solve the problem or at least try to be part of the solution by volunteering or raising awareness. Throughout the last three quarters of the school year, three blogs will be created and posted to our Science Leadership blogs and they will each contain information and our progress on the project. By the time we get to the last post, we will have done our volunteering or raised our awareness and put information from what we did into that last post. I chose to address the issue of animal abuse and neglect.

I chose the topic of animal abuse and neglect for multiple reasons. For one, I am a strong animal lover and for a great majority of my life have had a dog that was rescued from a shelter. I also think that animals do not deserve to be beaten and treated the way that they are in some cases. Animals are living and breathing things just like us and they have feelings too so it is not fair for them to have to suffer. The only things most animals need is food, water, a place to sleep and most of all, love. It is not fair that some animals are denied that essential thing.

The true definition of animal neglect according to the HumaneSociety of the United states is "not giving an animal the right food, water, shelter or vet care.” As I stated before, these are essential things all animals needs to survive. If the simple things listed are not supplied, the animals will most likely die and the excruciating pain they go through would be almost equivalent to the pain of animals that are abused or harmed on purpose. It has also been stated by the ‘Humane Society of the United States’ that people that have some sort of emotional problems have a tendency to beat, shoot, stab animals or even set them on fire and the people who do this are likely to do the same types of things to people. Neglect and abandonment is the most common form of animal cruelty and neglect causes animals to be extremely unhealthy in size and weight as shown in this Neglect PDF. 

Screen Shot 2012-11-27 at 5.52.06 PM
Screen Shot 2012-11-27 at 5.52.06 PM
Animal neglect and the different stages of body condition

http://www.pet-abuse.com/media/pdfs/body_conditioning.pdf


According to statisticbrain.com there are a total of 5,000 animal shelters in America and about 5 million companion animals enter into one of them each year. Of the ones that enter the shelter, roughly 3.5 million of them are euthanized. Approximately 70 million homes across America own at least 1 companion animal, about 5 million of these animals go into shelters each year and 3.5 million animals in the shelter are euthanized. You do the math because any way you put it, too many animals are without homes or are being killed.

Screen Shot 2012-11-28 at 10.24.57 AM
Screen Shot 2012-11-28 at 10.24.57 AM
Chart of statistics of animals in shelters

http://www.statisticbrain.com/animal-shelter-statistics/


In recent news, ‘Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2’ the last movie of the best selling series by Stephanie Meyer, was recently released in theaters. In the after-party for the series final film, there were caged wolves meant to be for entertainment which raised a great speculation by PETA(people for the ethical treatment of animals). A spokeswoman for PETA questioned, “Didn’t it dawn on the ‘Twilight’ event organizers that real wolves do not belong at a party with blaring music and flashing lights?” This all happened after an actress in ‘Twilight,’ Christian Serratos, worked with PETA on a ad promoting people to go vegetarian and Kellan Lutz with an ad to adopt animals, not buy them and countless other ‘Twilight’ actors and actresses ads for PETA. This contradicts what ‘Twilight’ has been really trying to support alongside PETA to love animals and treat them with love and respect. Hopefully, they can regain their ground and get their good word back with PETA.

Screen Shot 2012-11-29 at 12.53.21 PM
Screen Shot 2012-11-29 at 12.53.21 PM
  1. Kellan Lutz with his adopted dog Kola to ‘Adopt, Don’t Buy’ pets for PETA.

KellanLutzw/Kola:AdoptDon’tBuy



B. Christian Serratos posing for an ad to go vegetarian for PETA.

ChristianSerratos:GoVegetarian



C. Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart on a walk with their adopted dog, Bear.

Robert&Kristinw/Bear


There are still many aspects of animal neglect that I want to look into and get more research on. Things like where animal abuse is most common and possibly why people think it is so common there. I am also wondering what people can do directly to help these animals besides donate and adopt because some people are not economically able to donate and others are allergic or lack the space and as a result can not adopt. As I get deeper into this project, I hope to learn the different reasons that people have for hurting their companions.I also hope to really help to make a difference in the lives of some of the affected animals through the service part of this ‘You and the World’ project. Too many animals are being hurt and killed for too may silly reasons. Join me in my efforts to help these animals live a better life.

aspca
aspca
Click here for my bibliography.

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