English 1 - Dunn — Slate (skeleton-v3 PHP 8 prototype)

Katia's IRP on Pablo Neruda's Poetry

Posted by Alexa Dunn in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:23 pm

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.

YATW Blog 3

Posted by David Leonard in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 10:26 am

I did a power point presentation on my YATW issue and presented to my advisory. My presentation described what is affected by Global Warming and how it is caused. I worked on one slide each day for seven days. I believe that my presentation went well with explaining the topic. I didn't encounter any problems except on how many slides I should have and just had seven slides. This project hasn't really impacted me at all. I'm not sure how it has impacted the community around me. I see myself as someone who doesn't really participate in the community that much.

Click Here to see my sources
Click Here to see blog 1
Click Here to see blog 2

Poverty in the US Blog #3

Posted by Daniel Ross in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 10:25 am

Poverty is a serious problem in this world. For my agent of change part of the project, I went to a Saint John Hospice on April 25^th which is a soup kitchen.When I arrived there they gave me and my grandmother lunch. When 12 o’clock hit it was time to start serving food. Me and My grand mother helped setting up and giving out trays. About 300 - 500 men came through that line and it was about the saddest thing ever. Some of the men had so much pride that they didn’t even look me in the face. Some men wouldn’t say thank you and others wouldn’t even accept a tray from me. You’d be surprised at who was there. People who didn’t even look poor were there. One man who was in line patiently waiting to get his food suddenly fell out on the floor. People who work in the soup kitchen scrambled over as the man screamed I can’t breath. Some of the men didn’t even look homeless. As I talked to Brian (who made it possible for me to visit the soup kitchen) he said that many of these men are very intelligent but they just cant keep a job because they don't like being told what to do. Others had disabilities and other problems that kept them from getting a job.

During the process I encountered a few problems. Before I emailed Saint John Hospice I emailed another place. I wasn’t able to volunteer there because I had to be 18 with or without an adult. I also had to make sure I wasn’t interfering with my grand mother’s schedule because she is back and forth with doctor’s appointments and taking care of my great grandfather.

Volunteering at the soup kitchen has really had an impact on me. I realized I had so much to be thankful for. I am blessed to have what I have because things could be worse. For some of them that is their only meal everyday but they still keep a smile on their face. I also realized that things will always get better but you have to apply yourself. Some people think that homeless people are lazy bums who don’t want to do anything but the truth is things happen, some expected and some unexpected. Many of these men lost their jobs and everything went down hill. I will always remember that some people are less fortunate than others and it’s not right to make rude assumptions about them. We, as a community of Philadelphia are there for each other and there is always help when you need it.

YATW Blog #3: Agent of Change

Posted by Taylor Washington in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 10:03 am

Hello my name is Taylor Washington, I'm a freshman currently enrolled at Science Leadership Academy.

In my english 9 class I have been working on an year long project called "YATW" ( You And The World). This project has been designed to get us as students to get out in the world and make a change in any kind of way we felt necessary on a topic of our choice.

My topic is Teen Depression. This was the topic of my choice if you would like to view any of my recent blogs for my topic click here for blog #1 & click here blog #2

The last part of the YATW project is to be an agent of change. For my agent of change part I decided to make a public service announcement and post on youtube Facebook and twitter. Also I wanted to get others opinions on what teen depression was exactly. For that reason I interviewed a few friends so I could get an outside view on things that wasn't just my opinion. My Youtube subscribers seemed to love it and it was very fun to sit and record my fellow peers as they expressed there feelings. Great conversations came out of this. Changing some peoples view on what teen depression is and how it can inter fear with your everyday life.

Studding and getting to know more about teen depression has impacted my personality in such a great way. I now think differently on the way that i treat people. I always try to keep a good attitude even when things are bad. And i believe this could be a start in minimizing the amount of teens that feel depressed and commit suicide/ has suicidal thoughts.

Bibliography

Dejanyia Johnson helping me for my interviews.

Dejanyia Johnson & Stephanie Dyson

YATW Blog #3

Posted by Dillon Hershey in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 9:56 am

Hi guys! I’m back again! This is the 3rd blog post for my You and the World Project for English and sadly the last one. Back in November I started this project with Pet Euthanasia in mind but in January, I changed my topic to Pit Bull Reputations. If you missed either of those blog posts click here for Blog One and here for Blog Two. Since this is the last blog post I will tell you how I wrapped my project up and what is next for you as the readers.
In the past few months I have been thinking about how I can change people’s views on Pit Bulls and if it will actually work. I realized that I probably won’t be able to change their minds but I can open their eyes a little bit more and maybe get to know Pit Bulls better. So with that epiphany I had the idea of making a documentary about Pit Bulls and people’s reactions to Pit Bulls. I was originally going to a park near my house and ask people around there what they thought and also interview some Pit Bull owners. But sadly I was not proactive enough and so I couldn’t quite fit all of that into my schedule. So instead I emailed some of my family members and asked some of my friends about how they think of Pit Bulls. I got some very biased answers but that was good. I also asked the dog park my family is a part of, to see if there were any Pit Bull owners who wanted to talk about their dog and how they feel about their reputations. Unfortunately, I only got a couple of responses about that and only one interview. So again, I turned to my friends for help! I had one friend, Michaela, who owns a Pit Bull and she immediately said of course! (You can check out her blog here.) Overall I got some great footage and I made a great little PSA/documentary about Pit Bulls. I showed it to my family and have made plans to show it to my advisory next Monday, the 20th of May.
My grandmother contributed to the documentary about how she really does not like Pit Bulls even though she has never met one face to face before. When I had the finished product, I showed it to her as well. She certainly felt different after I showed her the video. She was worried about her grandchildren near the Pit Bulls and when she saw a pitbull cuddle with a little girl, I think she changed her mind. I hope that people will watch my video and get to know Pit Bulls a little bit more rather than be scared of them and run away. I have learned to tune into Pit Bull related things, like a recent shooting of Pit Bulls because apparently they were running around without a leash. Because of this, I went to a Police Meeting and listened to what the police had to say about their shooting the dogs. It was a heated discussion between dog owners and the police officers.
So finally here is the video that I worked so hard on. Please pass on this message and show your family and friends. Thanks for staying with me throughout my long process and my 3 blog posts!
For my bibliography click here.

YATW Blog #3 Agent of Change

Posted by Tiarra Bell in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 9:52 am

As you know, animal Cruelty is one of the major issues in the world. It’s among homelessness, civil rights, and war. Since the beginning of my freshman year, I have dedicated longs hours on informing people on animal cruelty and how to prevent it. A couple of weeks ago , I paired up with two of my classmates and we actually helped out a local animal shelter here in Philly.

Cole Hinton, Sydne Hopkins Baker and I all collaborated in having 2 successful bakes sales. To prepare for the bake sales, we printed out many flyers and hung them all around SLA with the help of some SLA students ( Julian Chiti Makarechi , Ameer Holmes, Brandon Yam, Rosalie Ann Swana, Jiwon Choi, Michelle Friedman, Claudia Bonita, and Javier Peraza). The bake sales were held on Tuesdays, April 23 and 25 during Y band lunch on the 2nd floor in front of the office. Some of the goodies sold were slices of Ice Cream Cookie Pie, brownies, cookies, Hershey kiss pies, etc. We raised $80.56 for the PAWS Animal Shelter on 2&Arch in Philadelphia, Pa. Sydne and I rode down to PAWS to drop off our donations and to play with some of the animals. Unfortunately our partner Cole was unable to make that trip. When we arrived at PAWS, one of the employees told us that we raised enough to feed and house a dog or cat for one week.

For my Agent of Change part, I have overcome a few obstacles and one of them being rejection. What I actually had in mind for my Agent of Change part is volunteering at either these two animal shelters: PAWS and the PSPCA. However when I applied for the volunteer application form I was rejected because I was not of age. The PSPCA required all of their volunteer to be at least 16 and PAWS required that you must be 18 or older but I’m just 15 so I had to come up with a different plan of action. I thought to myself “how could I impact animals if I couldn’t volunteer?”, but then this idea popped into my head that I could raise money for them to provided a home from them outside of the shelter.

By doing this project I learned some many wonderful things about my self, one is I’m not afraid to go all out for a bake sale. But besides that, I learned that my heart is truly with the animals and I will do anything even if I could just impacted one animal. My work efforts for helpings these poor animals will not discontinue, I plan to go farther to impact more animals. I just found another animal shelter through a friend named Operation Ava on Spring Garden, it’s mainly a dog shelter created by three young girls with a passion to love animals. In a couple of weeks I will start volunteering there and i’m greatly consider volunteering there for my ILP next year. So to all the people who helped me and as well as my collaborators and all of you who have followed my ever since blog #1, I greatly thank you for all you help to makes animals lives better. Remember, STAND AGAINST ANIMAL CRUELTY!

Here is a video of our process through our Agent of Change.

Click here for my Annotative Bibliography

Also if you are looking for an animal(s) to provided a home, click here for a list if you are looking to foster and here if you are looking to adopt from PAWS.

I'm a Agent of Change

Posted by Sydne Hopkins-Baker in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 9:18 am

Agent of Change

A You and The World Project

Hey Guys!! So I’m back with my final YOu and The World Blog. This time I don’t want to depress you with sad animals or facts about how people kill animals for fun. I definitely don’t want to type this long as ever blog about the things I do in class so I’m going to keep it simple. And I’m going to add a little something extra for you the reader.

My first plans for my You and The World project didn’t start off the way I wanted them to. Originally the plan was that I would go volunteer at a animal shelter near my middle school. My spanish teacher took us there for our Need and Deed project and it was the perfect little shelter. Things happened and I could not go that specific shelter. So I talked to my classmates who have the same topic as me and they said it would be a great idea to collaborate together and make one big project and individually talk about our experiences. On April 23rd 2013 Y band lunch Tiarra, Cole and I had a bake sale to raise money for Paws a no kill animal shelter. The bake sale was a lot of fun. We raised about $27 dollars for Paws, but that was just the beginning April 26th 2013 Y and X lunch band all three us had another bake sale which was the biggest success I’ve seen in the history of back sales. During those two bands we raised about $53-$54 which led to a total of about $81 raised for Paws. I’m glad we did a bake sale it was a lot of fun selling goodies to people. Especially when Tiarra makes her famous ice cream cookie cake that sold out so fast, I mean I blinked and the whole cake was gone. Cole also brought in some brownies and you can never go wrong with them. One thing I did learned is that once Tiarra has a goal she sets her mind to it. She wanted to sell everything so what does she do. She walks around selling the last little bit of everything, nothing could stop that child. The video of Soledad and Stephanie shows what happens after the bake sale finished. We were simply just acting silly and having fun.

(One of the many posters spreading the word about our bake sale)

(Yushhhhhh Angelo got his cake)

(Our lovely english teacher)

(More happy customers)

The next step to our Agent of change is to go to Paws and just play with the animals. On May 3rd 2013 after report card conferences Tiara and I went to Paws to deliver the money. We took a mini field trip to Old City Philadelphia where Paws is located. It was a lot of walking and a long bus ride. Sadly Cole was unable to join us but he was with us in spirit. We went in and gave the workers our money. They were really surprised that a group of teenagers gave money in for a good cause. With the money we raised we feed/housed a rescued dog for a week. It may not seem a lot but it’s saving a life. The workers also took our picture and posted it to their Facebook page. The comments were touching. The people said they are proud of our school and the work we did to save the animals.

At the end Tiarra and I got to play with some of the cats. We could not play with the dogs because we have to be older but we enjoyed the cat time. As a pet owner myself it was sad to see that these cats don’t have a good home. I read some of the papers that talked about the cats life some of them were dropped off but one cat had a sad story about animal abuse. In my second You and The World Blog I talked about the many forms of animals abuse and how animal abuse and how in some occasions child abuse are related.

I have to say that was a really depressing blog, seeing what people do to animals is just horrific, but it’s good to educate others so we can put a stop to all the hate and abuse.

Overall this was an awesome experience. It was just smooth sailing. The only problems I can think off was technical. I didn’t have enough space to take pictures so only Tiarra had them all. Another problem was transportation. Oh boy did we have to wait for ever to take a bus to Paws. BUT we did not let that stop us from completing our mission. My Agent of Change does not stop here. I want to try out a new place called Operation Ava. Another shelter like Paws but you can interacts with cats and dogs. For my ILP next year I want to work with a puppy gym that rehabilitate animals who were hurt or had surgery. I also want to have more bake sales maye start fundraisers around my neighborhood. The mayor thing is to spread the word. Paws and your local ASPCA are always appreciative if you simply donate a blanket or some animal food. If you don’t want to adopt you can always be a foster parent. For those who don’t know foster parent is like being a temporary mom for a kid or an animal. Foster parents can end up adopting if they get really attached or when the animal does get adopted they go home with their new family and say good bye to the foster parent. But adoption is always the best way if you want to adopt an animal you can call your own you can contact me and I can give you information or you can visit Paws website even your local ASPCA center.

Now like I said at the beginning of my blog I do have something fun at the end just say thanks for taking time to read my blog. The ASPCA has a kids website that have weird/kinda funny animal clips and games you can play that involve animals. Click here to access the website

Click here for my sources alphabetized and all that fancy stuff ;)

The War on Terror: Afghanistan

Posted by Joseff Filamor in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 8:46 am

Joseff Filamor
May 11, 2013
Blog Post #3
Hello everybody, as most of you know my name is Joseff Filamor. I am a Freshmen at Science Leadership Academy and for my You and the World project I am focusing of the war in Afghanistan. If you have not already seen my previous blog posts, I focused on what affects a warrior when he goes into war, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. My brother; Guz Filamor served in Afghanistan for two years and is the reason I chose to research Afghanistan in the first place. For my third and final blog post, my brother agreed to an interview.
I recorded the conversation and I wrote it out here for you all to read:
Me: What made you want to join in a military lifestyle?
Guz: Well back in the day, our Pops was pretty hardcore when it came to what we were gonna become in life. He thought the only way to become a full man was to become one through pain and humility.
Me: Did you ever want to join?
Guz: A big part of me did not want to do it at all, but I did not really have a choice.
Me: Are you went through with it?
Guz: I can tell you this, it didn’t leave me a better man. In fact it made me worse considering I had to watch men die in front of me. Although, it did make me appreciate life a lot more. I come home to my family knowing I am blessed to be there to see them.
Me: Did it impact you in anyway?
Guz: Yes it really did, I had a brief case of PTSD and I am still going to therapy to get remove it from my mind.
Me: Anything advice to kids today in hope of joining the military lifestyle?
Guz: Keep your mind straight and have a good reason to join. Do it for your family and country, not for yourself.
I had never asked my brother about Afghanistan or what it was like, but it is interesting seeing what it is like from his point of view.
I am beyond glad that I was able to do the You and the World project on Afghanistan. Ever since my father first told me about my brother being in it, I have always had an open mind for it.
This had definitely been one of the best and favorite projects, thanks Ms Dunn and Guz for helping me all the way through.
Click HERE to see my bibliography.

Childhood Cancer: Fighting for a Cure

Posted by Allison Kelly in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 8:34 am

As my You and the World Project comes to an end, my agent of change was all about volunteering for the amazing foundations that help children all around the world fight childhood cancer every day. There are so many foundations that I have talked about previously in my other blog posts (1 and 2), but I have decided to focus on volunteering for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. I attended two of many wonderful benefits that this foundation holds, a softball benefit and a Christmas party. The softball benefit took place earlier in the year, and included many men and women starting their own softball team in memory of someone they lost from cancer and competing against the other teams in order to raise money for Alex. The Christmas party took place in the beginning of December, which was a huge party for all of the families that are a part of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation who have beat cancer or are in remission. These children and their siblings have a day to themselves of arts and crafts, games, food, and presents from Santa. Being able to experience these benefits has really shown me how much this foundation does for children fighting cancer.

My process for the agent of change part of this project was mainly influenced by my aunt and uncle who helped me schedule the benefits I would be able to attend to. When a benefit was coming up I would go a day before to my aunt’s house to help everyone prepare for the benefit, things like preparing posters or decorations and wrapping Christmas presents. The following morning we would all drive to the benefit location to set up and spend the day there until the benefit attended. After, everyone helped out in cleaning up. The only problems that occurred during this process were some small issues with just changing around the benefits I could attend. Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation hold so many amazing benefits that I planned to attend, but as things came up during the year we had to narrow it down to a few, but it was easily fixed.

This project has definitely made a huge impact on me. These two benefits helped so many children and families and I can’t wait for my next benefit in three weeks. Just hearing about this foundation makes you want to help and do what you can do, but nothing compares to the inspiration you feel after attending one of the benefits and just seeing how happy the kids are, how appreciative the families are, and how many kind people come out to help. Attending these benefits can definitely turn anyone into a better collaborator because that is all that takes place during these types of things. Everyone is collaborating to make the kids happy, help the families cope, and come up with different ideas and benefits to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer.

The following is a link to my bibliography.

Blog post #3: Agent of Change, YATW Cole Hinton

Posted by Cole Hinton in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 8:30 am

Hello. My name is Cole Hinton. For my You And The World project, I did animal cruelty as my topic in the world. For those who didn't see my previous blog posts, click here for blog post #1 or here for blog post #2. In this blog post, I will be telling you about my agent of change part of this amazing journey how we left an impact on others around us.

What I chose to do for my agent of change piece of this project, was to have a fundraiser to raise money. The money raised was given to Paws, a non-profit, no kill animal shelter located on 100 N. 2nd Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106. Tiarra, Sydne, and I worked on a bake sale to raise the money for paws.The bake sale was held Tuesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 25. The bake sale was a good bake sale and we got many good comments about it and it was non-stop with students coming around one after another. We raised over $80 dollars all together after the 2 days. That was a good feeling that so many people came to the bake sale to help us with our project. I was unable to tag along with Tiarra and Sydne when they went to Paws and gave them the money but, I heard it was fun and the money was appreciated

My process of this project to me was good. My first intentions of doing this agent of change was going to an animal shelter and help out them and work with the animals but none accepted my offers. I then thought of having a box where people could put money in themselves but I thought I should do a hands on and easy way to do this. Thus, came the bake sale.

This whole experience had a great impact on me and I think I did the same with some of my peers on this issue in the world. I learned so much during this experience and how I can be a positive role model and save a innocent animal's life.

blog post 1

blog post 2

Below are pictures from the bake sale and when Tiarra and Sydne went to Paws.

"We Have Hands, Let's Use Them!" Stephanie Dyson for You and the World

Posted by Stephanie Dyson in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 2:40 am

Hello all! This is my third, and final blog on SLATE about my YATW (You and the World) Project! (click on all the images to enlarge them)

A bit of background:
In Ms. Dunn’s 9th grade English class at SLA, we are called to find a topic that interests us and, throughout the year, gradually become agents of change. My topic was Art in Philadelphia and I wanted to highlight what we have to offer as an artistic city. You can find my first and second blogs on SLATE (the SLA blog).

Though my process was simple and straightforward, it is still in the works, and I think it highlights the vast importance of technology in this day and age.

(above, Philadelphia's 30th Street Station)

In School
On April 28, I created a google form comprised of questions that everyone can answer about art and artists and the meaning of both. On April 30, I did about seven interviews of my peers. I tried to choose students of all grades, but only a certain number of people showed up for their interview. Nevertheless, this amount of people was perfect for my work. The questions were short, sweet, and simple. However, a few of my peers were avid interviewees and gave me lengthy, thoughtful answers. The questions were:

1. What is Philadelphia known for?
2. What is art? Does it have to be seen?
3. Who are artists?
4. Should artists band together to make this city beautiful

Below is a video of the interviews with a bit of commentary, please watch!

As young artists in the city of Philadelphia, we see art around us all of the time. Everywhere we go, art is intentionally or unintentionally on display. Not everything is beautiful and not everything is aesthetically pleasing, but art is still very alive in our city. For children that go to public schools, this ‘call to arms’ is louder than ever with the proposed budget cuts ahead. Over these past couple weeks, I have never been so passionate with my education as I am now. On May 7, I participated in my very first protest- one against these terrifying budget cuts, walking out of my school building with a massive crowd of fellow students and down to 440 N. Broad Street to protest with sincerity on the steps outside of the Philadelphia School District Headquarters. (Full story) . In a few weeks, my dreams of starting a beautification club will come to light. I’ve spoken to our principal, Chris Lehmann about painting the school and we’ll be doing just that in a week or so with a project titled "We Have Hands, Let's Use Them!" This is the first installment of many projects and mural-esque paintings we'll be doing that focuses on the budget cuts and why education is so important to us. Much thanks to all who’ve volunteered and helped me with this portion of my project!

Outside School

When it comes to art, my main medium is photography. When I leave high school, I’m going to college for photography- I want to make it my life. My friends and family are such big supporters of mine and a very close friend of the family has given me the job of Event Photographer for her dance company’s recital. I’m extremely excited that on June 9th, I’ll have my first big photogig of the year ( Dance Journey’s 2012 performance photos ).

(above, the young ladies of Dance Journey dancing bollywood style during last year's Open House)

Not only am I photographing for events, I’ve started a tumblr blog just for my photography called “Aestheticia” pronounced as-the-tish-uh, not so much as a psuedonym, but as an idea. I want to turn Aestheticia into a movement. I want to be a stle of photography that truly encourages photographers to beautify real-time, and to make life aesthetically pleasing. Throughout March and April, I went on many photography expeditions with my friends and by myself. There were times when we found ourselves in neighborhoods we weren’t even sure of, and times where we felt right at home. This You and the World project has helped me branch out; In the first week of my blog (April 27th was the starting date), I gained 35 followers. My pictures have circulated the interwebs and I now have upwards of 300 followers (the screenshot below was taken on May 10th) and have sold four prints of my photography to three friends and a photography enthusiast in Virginia! I also went to two arts-type festivals (Mt. Airy Day, PIFA- Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts) and plan to go many more over the summer starting with ArtScape (The nations largest free arts festival!) in Baltimore during July and ending with the Brave New Voices Festival in Chicago in the beginning of August.

(below is a photo of a piece during 2012's ArtScape when I went with a friend for the very first time)

(above: 1. a best friend of mine on a photography expedition with me in March; 2. my blog's home page; 3. 296 followers by May 10th! I'm ecstatic!)

I find this to be a tremendous achievement as many of the pictures that circulate on tumblr are all of places like New York and Paris and Italy, unbeknownst to the rest of the world that very few of the people reblogging these pictures have ever been these places and that Philadelphia is beautiful. I want to help get our city to the point where it’s not “New York’s Unsuccessful Little Brother” anymore. This is our city; it’s big, it’s vast, it’s beautiful, it’s hidden. We need to get ourselves out there- I want to do that with my photography.
On this blog, I will also create a page specifically for our beautification club titled “The Aestheticians.” When our very first project is done, I’ll post on all of my social networking sites about it. Pictures and footage will most definitely be on aestheticia.tumblr.com

I want to thank everyone who’s kept up with my project these past months! It is crucial that we get the word out there about artists and the beauty in our city! Please visit http://www.aestheticia.tumblr.com for my photography and please, please, please do ALL that you can to be informed about the School District’s 2013-14 Fiscal Year and the budget cuts we are likely to undergo. More information can be found at:
http://thenotebook.org/sites/default/files/Lump%20sum%20resolution%20FY13-14%20%28FINAL%29.pdf

*All of the photography in this blog post is mine, please do not steal any images. Thanks!

"WE HAVE HANDS, LET'S USE THEM! "

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Bibliography

English 1 - Dunn Public Feed