Days of My Life

This unit in Endurance, we learned about mental and physical endurance. Endurance is being able to have the perseverance to an action or challenge. Mental endurance is having perseverance through a challenge that affects the brain, or how you think. Physical endurance is having perseverance through a challenge that affects the body. An example of physical endurance would be someone who has put in jail for no actual reason, like Martin Luther King Jr. An example of mental endurance is someone who was placed in Auschwitz during the Holocaust; they would have to mentally assure themselves for a better tomorrow. In class, we read Night by Elie Wiesel; we had discussions where we took quotes from each section of Night and led a discussion about mental and physical endurance. The purpose of this Action Project is to write a chapter in our autobiography in 30 years. In the chapter, we should discuss our mission in life and how our past experiences have to lead us to achieve our mission/goal. I enjoyed working on my autobiography chapter, it made me think about my future and what I will accomplish on this earth. Below is my chapter for my autobiography, enjoy!

Young Laylah Flexing, LD, 2018

                                                          Chapter 1:  Days of My Life

My mom was out picking up my sisters up from school while I was home waiting for something to do. My dad snored loudly while laying on the couch in the front room. I snuck into my parents' room, grabbed my mother’s black heels and took them to my room that I shared with my three sisters. I began to throw clothes left and right and out of the drawers, trying to coordinate the most fashionable and colorful outfit to walk the runway. Finally. I picked out the golden outfit. I strutted down the hallway as if it were my runway with my oldest sister’s skirt and jacket on, my mother’s heels and with my favorite Children’s Place tights on. I looked in the mirror down the hall, admiring myself and the outfit I assembled. Suddenly, I heard keys jangling, the doorknob twisting, and there were my mom and sisters. They caught me red-handed! I ran back to the room changed as quickly as possible and hoped they didn’t realize I had been wearing their clothing. Phew… nobody had seen me, or so I thought. 

First, my sister yelled at me, then it was my mother who realized her shoes were gone. At the time, I didn’t care if they’d yelled at me, I just wanted to create cute outfits to wear. This routine would happen almost every day while being homeschooled by mom. When I was in middle school, I would take hours choosing what outfit and pieces to wear together, it made me feel like a model and a designer at the very same time. Soon enough, I began to cut up t-shirts I found weren’t as fashionable and started to cut patches and glue them onto my pants and jackets. To this day, my mom and sisters criticize me for wearing their clothes and for being so indecisive choosing what to wear. But to me, it isn’t about the clothes at all; it was about creation and design.

When I was young, my dad used to take my sisters and me to Salvation Army whenever it was back to school time. I had always felt self-conscious about going because it meant that we didn’t have enough money to go shopping at regular retail shops. A struggle that I faced during my younger years was I went thrift shopping for clothes. Whenever people at my all white private middle school would ask me where I would get a certain article of clothing, I would respond, “Thrift store” and they would give me a certain face that communicated, “Are you poor or something?” But as soon as, thrifting became a hip thing to do things began to change. Thrifting meant you were edgy, had a cool style, maybe poor, but either way cool, but I digress. In high school, I began to dress in different styles and frequently went to thrift stores with my friends and family. Thrift stores were a cheap and accessible way to try a variety of fashion trends. Through my clothing, I was expressing my creativity. 

During high school, I started to explore more artistic mediums. Junior year, my close friend Genesis and I went to a program that was provided by Chicago Public Library called Youmedia. At Youmedia, I began to learn about cameras, camera equipment, film and online design programs. The first month there, I made a short film where we asked people if they were fulfilled; this allowed me to get more comfortable with camera lenses and lighting. Shortly, I began to take pictures of high schoolers who attended Youmedia and began to shoot people for their shows. I gained a lot of experience from working with other young artists, instructors, and filmmakers. 

Photograph of Grace, LD, Camera

After high school, I attended Parsons School of Design in New York. I wasn’t expecting to attend an art school for college; I had heard so many negative comments about art schools. But once I had gotten accepted into one of the top design schools in the country, I knew I was destined to go. I had planned to go in for Strategic Design and Management but figured out that I didn’t want to focus on the strategic aspect of design. I was more passionate and interested in the process aspect of design. I switched majors sophomore and junior year to Product Design. I went in only knowing a few 3D design programs, but by the end of senior year, I had already created numerous products such as lamps, chairs, cups, etc. During my time at Parsons, I had the opportunity to intern at Google, Apple, CannonDesign and 3D World Renderings. 

After graduating, I wanted to start my own business. I wanted to create a business based in New York with my closest friends and acquaintances. Our design firm would be partnered with the top design companies and stores, creating a variety of design products. The only problem was, I had no idea where to start; I didn’t have the physical money to start my business up. I was struggling with aligning my passion with my career and how to start my business. I knew had to talk with my dad who created his IT business from the ground up with a few friends. I wanted to know where to begin and how I could start getting funding. He gave me great advice; he said to start local and start telling people who are interested in design and innovation who might be willing to be apart of the business. Later that day, I had called and texted some people whom I met at Parsons and from internships, asking if they’d like to help fund my business. I started to post and asking if people were willing to help, donate anything and people began donating money to kickstart my business. Years and years passed and finally, I had begun monetizing my business and creating partnerships with stores.

Art/Design, LD, 2018

It took my blood, sweat, and tears to get people to believe in my idea and new innovative ideas of design, but nothing good ever comes easy. That's something my dad has always told me, he had struggled with the exact same issues I encountered like getting people to pay me, trust me, and believe in my company. I remember when I was younger, my dad would come home yelling about one of his client not paying on time and having to hold his composure in a meeting because of how disrespectful people treated someone who was an African- American male. I knew that one day, I would have to endure the same struggle as he did. Once my business was flourishing, I felt that I accomplished one of my biggest dreams: becoming a designer. 

When I was younger, I was passionate about aesthetic, colors and crafting something that I could show off to others. It was until I saw the opportunities, creation and life design could create when I realized I wanted to take that love and not only implement my creativity into what I wore, but through everyday items. Items people use on a day to day basis may seem minuscule, but it’s about creating a world one product at a time that is more economical, innovative and aesthetically pleasing. I care about the world and more so for the things that live in this universe; through design we can recreate what was has been destroyed and damaged due to carelessness.

A Person With and From Within

During this unit, we learned about psychology and took a variety of personality tests. One test that stood out to me was the Myers-Briggs test because I got results that aligned with how I view myself.This test gave numerous scenarios that you would have to disagree, agree with or choose somewhere in the middle. For this Action Project, we had to create a self-portrait using all the psychology knowledge that we’ve learned over the past few weeks and create an artist statement explaining your piece. Below are my art piece and artist statement. I hope you enjoy!

A Person With and From Within, LD, 2017, Collage

My art piece, A Person With and From Within is a character that portrays LD, this character shows the traits that I have within myself as well as traits I don’t identify with. To create this piece, I used a 14 by 14 piece of fabric that is layered upon more fabric to create the character. Before creating my piece, I sketched out what I wanted my art piece to look like after I gathered a variety of different materials and followed my sketch as to what I wanted the character to look like. In the outside world, I am viewed as extroverted, a natural leader, spontaneous and adaptable. I have taken a few personality tests during the past month; one test whose results surprised me was the DiSC test. The results stated that I am Dominant and Cautious meaning I am decisive, driven, logical and analytical. While some of this might be true, I don’t view myself decisive at all. To highlight my indecisiveness in this piece, I decide to use different materials to create the character to symbolize that I find it hard to stick to one thing. Another test that shocked me was the True Color Test. I found out that I was best described as the orange color because I am good at making decisions, a natural leader and can dominate a situation. What is strange about these results is that I disagree with all of them; I view myself as a follower and have always hated the fact that I couldn’t make my own decisions. To incorporate this into my piece, I decided to I use fabric instead of paint or markers to symbolize that I feel as if I have to display different personalities.

When people view my piece, I want them to understand that we humans possess a variety of personalities but it doesn’t mean we are not being authentic or true to ourselves just because we acknowledge one and ignore the other in situations. There are also test that dictate how you will do in an outside environment such as the TKI test and the Myers-Briggs test. The TKI Conflict Mode Instrument test measures the different degrees of assertiveness and cooperativeness. This test is often used to see how one might solve issues in the job field. My results came in as Competing, meaning that I express above average assertiveness and below average cooperation and that people I work with tend to think that I like to have things my way. I think I am Avoiding because I don’t involve myself in conflicts at all, but when I do I do tend to like to have my things a certain way, I can see both sides of an argument and reflect on my own opinion. I view myself as being the exact opposite of assertive; I am passive and will not involve myself in any conflictions. I found a trend when taking these test that I am a dominant or assertive.I decided to incorporate that trait in my piece because although I might not view myself as this, there might be a part of me that are these traits. The dramatic features such as the lips, nose, eyes, and eyebrows symbolize my dominant personality traits like being assertive.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a test that measures psychological preferences in how individuals perceive, interact and make decisions. There are 16 different types of personalities that the Myers-Briggs test presents. I got ENTP meaning I am more extroverted and get more energy from being with others, I am more intuitive meaning I act on things instead of observing. I think more about my decision than act on my feelings. I feel like this is the most accurate depiction of how I view myself. To incorporate these results into my piece, I decided to make the pupils tiny to represent that I don’t observe as much as I act.

The Senior class went to the Museum of Contemporary Art to look at the art as well as the artist’s statements. During my time there, I found a few artist’s statements that had lots of detail and a deep understanding of the purpose of their piece. I also saw a few that left me a bit confused; they lacked context or purpose. I took inspiration from an artist named Siobhan Hapaska by giving lots of detail and explanation about my piece in my artist statement.This process was a bit long because I had to make each piece look like a facial feature. Overall, creating the piece was extremely fun for me because I like to make art. I really enjoyed this Action Project, I enjoyed creating my art piece by cutting different fabrics up and gluing it onto the page because I don’t have time to create art as much as I used to. If I were to do this project again, I would incorporate more elements to my art piece. I felt as if I didn’t have enough time to make it exactly how I wanted it to look, but it looks similar to what I had in mind.

Works Cited
“Career Assessments, Myers-Briggs® & More | Career Assessment Site.” A Clear Path for the Future, careerassessmentsite.com/tests/thomas-kilmann-tki-tests/about-the-thomas-kilmann-conflict-mode-instrument-tki/.

“Free DISC Test.” DISC Personality Testing, 15 Jan. 2018, discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/.

“Free Personality Test.” 16Personalities, www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.

“Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIydyH2H8Y.

Mapping a Better Tommorow

This unit in Thin Red Lines, my class learned about the importance of maps. Before this class, I had always thought of maps as just being a tool to get around the city. But after taking this class, my idea about maps have broadened. Maps can be used as a tool to get around, more importantly, they tell a story.  Maps can tell an interesting story, meaning having one perspective; it's important how you map an area because it can skew your idea about a place. Thin Red Lines has been an exciting class, one FE I really enjoyed was going to Google. We went to Google to talk and ask questions to people who worked with Waze and partnered with Google. I learned that although they'd like to map history and important information regarding each community, it is hard to make a functioning map that helps people get around as well as tell information. For this AP,  I had to create 3 separate maps about a specific community by representing and revolving conflicts amongst the people who live there. This AP took lots of researching for data and choosing which data best improved my argument. In the end, I think my final AP came out decent. Below are my maps, enjoy!


Map 1:


The first map of Bronzeville displays what type of assets are in the neighborhood. As a cartographer. I wanted to accurately portray Bronzeville as what it is; to get exact locations I explored Google Maps and searched for locations where there are vacant lots, stores, high schools, etc. Vacant lands are black on the map, hospitals are in navy, TIF in brown,  Liquor stores in red, fast food restaurants in yellow, and high schools in white. In Bronzeville, there a lot of vacant spaces, this shows that developers aren’t investing in the area. These mass amounts of vacant lots also make the area look blighted; it makes others and the people who live in that area think negatively about Bronzeville. The Bronzeville TIF only covers a small part of the neighborhood, where the entire area is in desperate need of help. I decided to map the green and red line to show that there are train stations near. Transportation is important for every neighborhood, it allows people to travel around the city for opportunities. I mapped high schools in the area to show there are a few high schools in the area. After looking at each schools’ stats on Niche, I found but they aren’t performing as well as schools in the city. I asked my family members if they could fix something about Bronzeville what it would be, my mom said that she wished there were more grocery stores with better food options like Trader Joes or Whole Foods. She said that she ends up buying a lot of snacks instead of food when she shops at Walgreens or Marianos. I decided to include grocery stores on my map to show that there aren’t enough grocery stores to supply food for the number of people or families living in Bronzeville. As you can see, there is more fast food restaurant than there are grocery stores, where people can buy real and healthy food. To continue to map this idea of food, I mapped fast food restaurants. If there are more fast food restaurants than grocery stores, it is more likely that someone will spend less money for more amounts of food at Mcdonalds. This affects the people living in the neighborhood mentally and physically. In order to keep the body and mind functioning properly, you must eat food that nourishes the body instead of destroying it. To juxtapose that idea of having more fast food restaurants than grocery stores, I mapped hospitals in the area. As shown on the map, there are 4 hospitals in Bronzeville. I don’t think a community would need that many if the people were eating well and taking care of their bodies. If there are more fast food restaurants that led to illnesses, there is going to be a higher demand for hospitals in the area. In addition, I mapped liquor stores to again highlight the proportion of things that can negatively affect the community than there are places that could benefit the people. Based on data from CMAP, people living in the Bronzeville have the highest rate of deadly diseases. This could be from the mass amounts of liquor stores and fast food restaurants or lack of grocery stores. This map notes that across from a high school you can find a fast food restaurant, a liquor store and a hospital: a recipe for disaster.


Map 2:


The second map of Bronzeville displays changes in the area based on community demands. I took the assets that were on the first map and changed the property and added something beneficial to the community. To help the entire community, I expanded the TIF through the whole Bronzeville area. This would help redevelopment of the community by getting rid of those vacant spaces and instead of adding residency or businesses that would improve the area. I brought in more residencies(displayed in maroon) to make the neighborhood have a better sense of community, as well as bring in more families into Bronzeville. According to CMAP, Bronzeville has a plan to develop the area into a mixed-use area that provides commercial and residential spaces. 53% of the current land is residency, while the next highest percentage is 14% being vacant land.  Businesses displayed on the map as the color orange is included to bring in more jobs for the community, as well bring in black-owned business to restore the African-American culture Bronzeville is slowly losing. I decided to keep the high schools where they are now, putting another one in the neighborhood would be pointless. Merging the schools could lead to more issues in the neighborhood, so therefore I kept the schools the same as they were before. Taking what my mother said about the area not having enough grocery stores, I decided to add 3 more grocery stores. If it were up to me to decide which grocery stores, I would bring in a Trader Joe's, a Whole Foods Market and a Stanley’s. These stores would allow people around the neighborhood to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and overall better food options than what’s currently there. I didn’t change the hospitals since it is convenient for people to not have to travel a long way in case of emergencies. One of the biggest differences of this map is the liquor stores, I took away 3 and left 1 for the neighborhood. According to Dr. Marie Crandall from Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, who found out from a study that neighborhoods with a higher number of liquor stores risk more violence in the area. By taking away most of the liquors stores, I could potentially lower death rates; by keeping one, people still have the option to go the liquor store. Another major change in this map compared to the first are the fast food restaurants. I removed the 5 of the fast food restaurants from the area and kept 2. Since I put more grocery stores in the area that would allow people to go there meaning that there shouldn’t be a high demand for fast food. Although I removed 7 of the fast food chains, there are 2 places to eat fast food in case there are people who cannot afford to go to grocery stores. It’s important that those people eat something even if it’s unhealthy, it's in the vicinity of the high schools displayed on the map. This second map that displays community demands is one that will ensure a healthier and more efficient community.



Map 3:


The last map is a transformational map of Bronzeville. When creating this map I wanted to change Bronzeville in the most beneficial way for the people living there and for the people who travel through. In order to do so, I looked at the first two maps, took what is already there and what the community demands were to create my final transformational map. First, I kept the transportation train lines the same as before. There are already 2 lines in Bronzeville that allow you to travel north and south in the city; buses are also accessible in the area, yet not as efficient as trains are. I decided to add a park underneath the green line station near 45th St where there was once vacant land. This park will bring revenue to the neighborhood while also bringing in more families with children that can play in the park. I decided to keep businesses condensed in the same area to get a mixed-use area with residency near. As stated in the second map, businesses will bring in jobs for people and create a better economy for the area. I didn’t change much involving the high schools, but instead, I changed what is around the schools. Although the high schools’ performance levels are poor, there isn’t anything I can do inside the school to help; I can help by providing better food options to help stimulate their brains. I dispersed the grocery stores around Bronzeville hoping to make them closer to each school. By making food accessible to students I can indirectly help them do better in school. There are still 4 hospitals in the area that are accessible to anyone in the area and in Chicago. As people start to eat less fast food there won’t be as much as a need for many hospitals in one area. One of the big transformations of this last map is the fact that there are no liquor stores in the Bronzeville neighborhood. This will change the community in a positive way. I took away the liquor store because more families are coming in. If there are liquor stores every street, it creates a violent environment to live in. I called my local community organization and asked what the biggest issue is in Bronzeville. One of the organizers said that the violence and shootings that happen almost every week are dangerous for everyone. The most important thing was the fact that there aren’t liquor store near any schools where they can be put in danger. Lastly, there are 3 fast food restaurants dispersed around the area. At first, I wasn’t going to put any on this transformational map, but after thinking about how some people rely on fast food to keep food in their system. This map isn’t interested in one party, but all different types of people that are living in different situations. The goal of this map is to show a transformation of Bronzeville by looking at its current situation and changing it for the better.

Works Cited:

1. “Affordable Rental Housing Developments | City of Chicago | Data Portal.” Chicago Data Portal, data.cityofchicago.org/Community-Economic-Development/Affordable-Rental-Housing-Developments/dkgm-i9fi.

2. “Bronzeville Neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois (IL), 60653 Detailed Profile.” Bronzeville
Neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois (IL), 60653 Subdivision Profile - Real Estate, Apartments, Condos, Homes, Community, Population, Jobs, Income, Streets,
www.citydata.com/neighborhood/Bronzeville-Chicago-IL.html.

3. Chicago Health Atlas, www.chicagohealthatlas.org/indicators/life-expectancy
Demography, www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/962.html.

4. “History and Demographics.” Bronzeville, bronzevilleviolence.weebly.com/history-and-demographics.html.

5. “Public Health Statistics- Selected Underlying Causes of Death in Chicago, 2006 – 2010 | City of Chicago | Data Portal.” Chicago Data Portal, data.cityofchicago.org/Health-Human-Services/Public-Health-Statistics-Selected-underlying-cause/j6cj-r444.

6. Senior, and Niche User. “Explore Phillips Academy High School.” Niche, 26 May 2017, www.niche.com/k12/phillips-academy-high-school-chicago-il/.

7. “Study Links Liquor Stores and Bars to Shooting Risk.” Tribunedigital-Chicagotribune, 19 Sept. 2013, articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-19/news/chi-study-links-liquor-stores-and-bars-to-shooting-risk-20130918_1_liquor-store-gun-violence-crandall.

Planning My Future

For this unit in Economics: Risking Value, the senior class explored the world of economics; we learned about the market, stocks, supply and demand, opportunity cost, interest rates and much more! or an FE, we went to Capital One Cafe near our school. I really liked the cafe ambiance of the bank; it made banks seem less intimidating. The purpose of this AP is to choose a career that you plan to do in the future and have two options of how you will get there. I really liked this AP because it is relevant to my situation as a senior about to graduate. It made me realize what options are realistic and which are not.

Below is my Project:

Introduction to Economics AP, LD,2017,Soundcloud

Script:

Hi, I’m LD and a senior at GCE Lab School currently taking a class called Economics: Risking Value. I’ll be graduating this year and after high school, I’d like to become an entrepreneur in New York City. After New York, I would like to expand my business in Japan. I want to build my own film production business as an outlet for young teens to produce their own work. It will become a means for young teens to voice their opinion on mainstream media. In order to do this, I must attend college.

I chose my top 2 college choices: NYU Stern and Parsons School of Design.

They are both in the heart of New York City, which is where I’d like to be. Both schools have entrepreneurship majors as well as film programs. The main difference between the two colleges is that NYU is a pretty large school that cost a lot of money while Parsons is smaller and cost almost a third less NYU. Throughout this AP, I am weighing options to decide which college is better for me.

During the process of this AP, I wanted to interview my dad who has created his own IT business with his close friends. I look up to my dad because he has been through a lot during his life while trying to build his own business. While interviewing him about college and how I should go about my own business he said,”You should go to a college that best fits your interests, get in where you fit in, you will be amazed as to where life gets you, so never give up on what you want to do, even if you have to make some sacrifices for it.”

Total Cost of Parsons School of Design,LD,Google Sheets.2017

Total Cost of NYU,LD, Google Sheets, 2017

Looking at the calculations, the total cost of NYU is $911,702 and the total cost of Parsons is $347,303. The annualized increase rate is 5%, causing the price to increase every year. This shows that money today is worth more than money tomorrow because I didn’t have enough money to pay the full amount, every year I would have to pay an interest. Going to NYU would take 20 years if I paid 58% of my salary going toward the loans and 25% of every check going to my loan for Parsons School of Design for 19 years.

By referring to my Current vs. Future Market that shows the current market for being a film producer/director, you can tell that the supply and demand for the job are increasing. A market is when both parties are selling and buying. The seller's objective is to sell goods and services at the best price. The buyers objective is to acquire goods and services at the best price possible. Supply is the total amount of goods or services while demand is the consumers want to buy a good or service for a certain price. The number of people in the field in 2014 is 122,600 and n 2026, the number of people in this field is predicted to increase by 11,100. My salary as a director/producer as well as a small business owner will increase also. 

 Current vs. Future Market, LD, Google Drawings,2017

Throughout the project, I made a few assumptions to predict the future.These assumptions allow me to create a model; if assumptions are done incorrectly they can lead you down a wrong path of false numbers and calculations. A few assumptions I made were: the tuition cost of both colleges assuming that I didn’t receive any financial aid or scholarships, how much money I would be making as an entrepreneur for the first few years and the annual salary raise( how much my salary raise would increase every year). If I did receive a scholarship, then this calculation would differ and I wouldn’t end up paying the full amount. Assumptions are important because they allow us to accurately predict the future.

So, is NYU and Parsons a better for me? My final decision is Parsons School of Design. I think it is an overall better choice financially and realistically. I would only have to pay 28% of my salary of $171000 for 19 years, if I decided to go to NYU I would have to pay much more and for a longer time. Although the programs may not be as great as NYU, I can still work toward my business. I will spend 4 years at Parsons and after graduate with a BBA.

Sources:

“College.” Flickr, Yahoo!, www.flickr.com/photos/76657755@N04/7027599019//?rb=1.

“Entrepreneur.” Sokanu, www.sokanu.com/careers/entrepreneur/salary/New York/.

“Future Success.” NYU Stern, www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/undergraduate/future-success.

“Registrar.” Tuition and Fees 2016-2017 | The New School in New York City, www.newschool.edu/registrar/tuition-and-fees-2016-2017/.

“Registrar.” Tuition and Fees 2017-2018 | The New School in New York City, www.newschool.edu/registrar/tuition-and-fees/.

Summary.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/producers-and-directors.htm

A Justified Case

This unit in Policy we learned about specific cases, their rulings and how it relates to policy. Our class mostly focused on the Brown v. Board case that desegregated schools during the 50's. The final rulings were unanimous and the judges ruled that "separate but equal" was unconstitutional. Fortunately, my class had the opportunity to see a case happen at the Criminal Justice Courthouse. After the case was finished, we even had the chance to talk to the Judge. It was an unforgettable opportunity! The purpose of this Action Project was to choose a case that we found interesting and decide whether the final ruling was justified or not. I decided to take on the Tinker v. Des Moines case and explore the effects it's had on society.

Below is my paper:

Mary Beth Tinker and John Tinker, (1954), SCOTUSblog.com

The Tinker v. Des Moines case was one that challenged the rights of freedom of expression and speech. John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker, and their friend Chris Eckhardt decided to plan a silent protest by wearing black armbands to school to protests against the Vietnam War. On December 14, 1965, the principal of the Des Moines schools districts decided to create a policy stating if students were wearing the black armband they would be asked to remove it, students who violated that would be suspended because it would be “disruptive”. 2 days later John, Mary, and Chris decided that they wanted to exercise their 1st and 14th amendments rights by wearing black armbands. During their suspension, the parents of the children sued the school for the violation of their free speech. This case was so important at the time because the students were challenging such a conflicting war during school ground and because students were politically expressing themselves-something school officials weren’t comfortable with. The Supreme Court ruling was justified by stating that this suspension was unconstitutional because it limited the young protesters rights.

Mary Beth Tinker, the plaintiff of Tinker v. Des Moines argued that her suspension due to their silent protest was a violation of her 1st and 14th amendment rights. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the defendant of the case argued that the protest disrupted students during class. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 stating that the first amendment applied to every situation and that school official couldn’t censor speech unless it disrupted the class. Wearing a black armband wasn’t disruptive, therefore the court held that the first amendment protected the student's rights. Justice Abe Fortas wrote the majority opinions: “ It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”The ruling of Tinker v Des Moines is just, the first amendment states:”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...” The first amendment plays a big factor in the Tinker v Des Moines case, without the first amendment Mary, John and Chris would have been suspended without any justifications.

The ruling of this case affected how our school system is run today; it may have given students freedom, but it also set some limitations on freedom and expression. There has been a numerous of cases that challenge the freedom of expression school groundsnd, for example, the Layshock v. Hermitage case. A student in the Hermitage district was suspended for using vulgar language about her principal on Facebook. Although the words used were offensive and vulgar, the court ruled in favor of the student claiming that punishing students off school ground violates the first amendment(Prezi.com). Because of the Tinker rulings, students have been expressing themselves more freely through their attire. Most schools now allow nose rings and dyed hair but disallow offensive attire such as a t-shirt with a Confederate flag. June of 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that schools can limit student speech that advocates illegal drug use. Concerning a case when Joseph Fedrick, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School who was suspended for having a banner that said,” Bong Hits 4 Jesus” around school grounds(New York Times). The Tinker v. Des Moines brought a term called, in loco parentis, which means in place for parents in Latin. In loco parentis means that school officials can act as your parents on school ground by disciplining the student if it is disruptive.

The Tinker v. Des Moines case allowed students to express themselves, whether it be a political movement or as small as an article of clothing. It allowed for the constitution to override what the school officials deemed to be disruptive to the class. The ruling gave power to the 3 students voice for the protest against the Vietnam War and allowed them to make a change in the world.

Citations:

The New York Times. The New York Times. Web. 28 May 2017.

Constitute. Web. 28 May 2017.

Johnson, John W. The Struggle for Student Rights: Tinker v. Des Moines and the 1960s. Lawrence, Kan.: U of Kansas, 1997. Print.

Leski, Joanna. "How Did the Tinker vs. Des Moines Decision Affect Student Speech?" Prezi.com. 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 May 2017.

"Tinker v. Des Moines - Landmark Supreme Court Ruling on Behalf of Student Expression." American Civil Liberties Union. Web. 28 May 2017.

The Unjustified War

This unit in Policy we learned about wars, war policies and the soldiers who fought in them. Specifically, we focused on the Vietnam War and the Korean War. Throughout the unit I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a collection of stories about the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. The chapters we read focused on the specifics of war and the effect it had on the soldiers. Occasionally we would have discussions and got to share our thoughts with one another. As a class, we visited the National Veteran Museum where we visually got to understand war and inside the minds of the veterans.  A tour guide showed us the Things They Carried exhibit,  where I got to put the war in my own reality(it was quite eye-opening). For this Action Project, we had to choose a war that we've been learning about in or out of class. Then we had to choose whether America's involvement/entry in it was justified or not through the policies and actions throughout it. I choose to write a paper about Vietnam War because  I feel strongly about it being unjustified and I believe it was morally wrong.

Below is my paper, enjoy!

Vietnam War, Britannica, 1955

The Vietnam War was a brutal, costly and strung out war that lasted 20 years. The US involvement in the Vietnam war was unjustified and morally wrong. The US had no real concrete reason as to join, other than the fear of the domino theory. That fear got enhanced by violence which led to more violence. Vietnam War destroyed lives(mentally and physically), took away people's homes and destroyed Vietnam's natural resources. Although we may have won the fight, we lost within our morals.
The Vietnam War officially began on November 30, 1955, it all started with Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader in North Vietnam who founded the Indochinese Communist Party. He wanted to unite Vietnam under communism so he declared war in 1959 (Olson,6). South Vietnam was opposed to this idea and wanted independence from communism, in order to do so they got help from anti-communist countries such as the United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, and the Kingdom of Laos. The anti-communist fought against North Vietnam, who was allied with Soviet Union, North Korea, Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge.The war was fought in four different locations: North Vietnam, South Vietnam , Laos, and Cambodia. America spent roughly $780 billion on bombs during the Vietnam War. US troops would use a burning chemical called Napalm. Napalm was a mixture of plastic polystyrene, benzene and gasoline that creates a jelly substance that burns up to 1,500 Fahrenheit to 2,200. It would usually be used on buildings (vietnamawbb.weebly.com) . Another tactic used by US ground troops were Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide that would destroy plants and agriculture. Agent Orange was later deemed a violation of the Geneva Contract and using any other herbicides during war. The Vietnam War was fought to stop the spread of communism of Southeast Asia, the immediate causes of it was: the communists attacking the capital of Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin incident.The underlying causes was to stop communism for the sake of capitalism. In order for capitalism to thrive in the U.S there must be other countries to build the market.The domino theory (the concern that communism would spread across the world) opposed to what capitalism wanted- free market and the ability to become rich.

The presidency in America throughout the war had no conclusion as how to deal with the it knowing that we were already in a sticky situation. The Vietnam War lasted for such a long time that 4 presidents served over the course of the 20 years: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. As the years progressed, America got more immersed in the war, something we did not expect or want to happen. Dwight Eisenhower didn’t want to get involved with the war. During the President’s News Conference of 1955 Eisenhower stated: “I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved now in an all-out war in any of those regions.”(Presidency.ucsb.edu)JFk tripled the military in Vietnam thinking that it would be best for America and Southeast Asia. Lyndon B Johnson was appointed president in 1963 during the Vietnam War after the assassination of JFK. After assuming the position of Kennedy, LBJ had to take part in the crisis that was happening in Vietnam. His primary goal was to put an end with the involvement of the war , but instead he ended up deploying more soldiers. After two U.S warships radioed that North Vietnam had fired onto their surface, President Johnson requested permission from US congress to increase our military in Indochina. August of 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that would further any military actions that Johnson saw fit to retaliate and maintain peace in Southeast Asia. This led to more violence, making the US more involved in the war than we ever were.

In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. Congress proposed and passed the War Powers Resolution due to the negative and messy aftermath of the war. Congress wanted to ensure that there was an agreement between both legislative and the executive branch. It states that the President must notify Congress within 48 hours of sending armed forces into military action. The War Powers Act was passed by the House of Rep and Senate but was vetoed by President Nixon.

President Nixon vetoed the War Powers Act believing that it took away the rights of the President as the Commander in chief.“(The war resolution act) would attempt to take away, by a mere legislative act, authorities which the President has properly exercised under the Constitution for almost 200 years. …The only way in which the constitutional powers of a branch of the Government can be altered is by amending the Constitution.”(Presidency.ucsb.edu) Nixon began bombing Cambodia in secret without consenting with Congress or announcing to the public. People began to lose trust in the government because of this and that feeling of distrust intensified when the Pentagon Papers(a compilation of papers that revealed secret information about America’s involvement in Indochina) became public in 1971(Billofrightsinstitute.org). I believe that the War Powers Act is legal in every aspect. The role of Congress to is to declare war; the war powers resolution act assures that the President doesn’t declare or make any decisions along those lines. Stated in Article 1 section 8, Congress has the power to “...To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”(Loc.gov) Thus meaning that Congress and only Congress can declare war, but some may argue that the President as commander in chief has the right to send armed forces to the military. This blurs the role of the legislative and executive branch that eventually leads to conflict.The effects of the war powers resolution of 1973 were that it led to confliction between the executive and legislative branches.

America’s involvement in the Vietnam War was unjust, chaotic and immoral.We fought for free market-capitalism and to stop the spread of communism. America spent over $780 billion over the course of 20 years on bombs, weapons, and equipment. $780 billion wasted on killing people-- some even innocent--, destroying the lives of veterans that we as a country don’t acknowledge and ruining the land of Vietnam. Next time you hear about the Vietnam War, do not parade what seems to be a win on our part but recognize our losses.

Citations:

Dwight D. Eisenhower: The President's News Conference - February 9, 1955." The American Presidency Project. Web. 22 May 2017.

Napalm, Agent Orange - The Vietnam War. Web. 22 May 2017.

Nixon and the War Powers Resolution." Bill of Rights Institute. Web. 22 May 2017.

Olson, James Stuart, and Randy Roberts. Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-2010. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014. Print.

"Richard Nixon: Veto of the War Powers Resolution - October 24, 1973." The American Presidency Project. Web. 22 May 2017. 

"War Powers." War Powers | Law Library of Congress | Library of Congress. Web. 22 May 2017.

Dear Sophia King...

This term in Policy, I learned about the policies we have here in America. A policy is a set of principles that is adopted by the government in order to maintain a civilized society. My class went to the Chicago City Council for an FE thinking that we would hear the council discuss hate crimes. Unfortunately, that discussion was postponed and instead praised officers and schools. The purpose of this AP was to write a letter either proposing or supporting a policy to someone belonging to the Legislative Branch. I chose to write to my Alderman, Sophia King, supporting the Municipal ID cards. Below is my letter to her:

ID Card, 2017, LD

Chicago Municipal ID Card
Sophia King
435 E. 35th St.
Chicago, IL 60616

Dear Sophia King,

I believe that every human deserves to be granted the same services and quality of life despite where they come from or their background. I applaud you for voting for the Municipal ID card. As I’ve been learning about policy, I wanted to get in contact with my Alderman about the importance of having the Chicago ID cards. I believe the Chicago Municipal ID should be available to all residents of Chicago. It will allow for people who’ve suffered from domestic violence, immigrants, homeless people, and LGBTQ who have been living in Chicago to take part in services.

As a high school student, I've rubbed shoulders with a variety of people from different backgrounds. Some of my peer's families quality of life is limited because their parents sacrificed their lives to seek what we call “the American Dream”; wishing for a brighter tomorrow for the next generation. I’ve heard stories about how tough life was back at home for them, success is as important to them as it is for everyone else.City Clerk, Anna Valencia pointed out that,”there are a lot of different people that will benefit from this program, including returning citizens, seniors, LGBTQ, domestic violence survivors, homeless, young people and, of course, undocumented.” Anna Valencia was elected City Clerk in November of 2016 and has been working towards having the Municipal ID cards.

Sophia, imagine yourself undocumented, scared that at any moment you could be ripped from what you call home and brought back to what you purposely left behind. Everyone should have a chance at life and this theirs. The ID secures the future of the next generation and beyond. Rahm Emanuel being highly supportive of the ID says that ”we are helping people, but we are also creating a line of protection”. With the dangers that come with being undocumented, they are risking their lives and have to live in the dark.

During the debate to see who was in favor of this proposal, 4 out of 48 Alderman voted against the ID Card. Your colleague, Alderman Anthony Beale of the 9th ward criticized the ID card saying that the federal or state government should be dealing with this issue instead of the city. The ninth ward is in a majority African-American neighborhood, where most immigrants aren’t residing, but just because it doesn’t affect the people in your ward doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect others. There are around 511,000 immigrants in the state of Illinois, 183,000 of those immigrants are living in Chicago. By pushing the problem onto federal or state government is disregarding the problem, if you have the power to help others then you should contribute to the cause, which in this case is allowing for immigrants, homeless people, and LGBTQ to have an ID card.

With the hatred spewing from our own president, it’s important to acknowledge the people whose rights are being taken and ignored. As someone in power such as yourself, it’s important to remind people around us that we all deserve a chance at life no matter your background.

Amending the Code

This unit in Argument, we studied the constitution and contradiction within it. Analyzing my rights as a U.S citizen, I learned that the framers(writers of the constitution) has contradicted and excluded people and laws that shouldn't be ignored. To learn more about the constitution and argument, my class visited the Chicago Courthouse. My class sat in for a trial about mal practice, this was one of the most exciting FE's I've been on. Watching the trial made me wonder how to set an argument effectively.The purpose of this AP is to amend a rule that is contradictory, unjust , has a logical flaw or needs to specified. in the GCE Code of Conduct. Through reading the Code of Conduct, I found that the rule truancy needs to be specified, read below to know more about the changes I've done to this rule.

The rule in GCE's Code of Conduct I've decided to amend is truancy. The code of conduct states:Truancy is considered tardiness or absence(s) without a valid excuse. A student out of school without a valid excuse is considered truant. Truant students must arrange with their teachers to make up missed work. Parents will be notified of excessive tardiness or absence. While reading this rule, I began to question,what does valid mean?, I knew I had to amend this rule because I've been in many situations like this. The Truancy rule leaves too much room for interpretation and power to the staff member, because a student doesn’t have a “valid reason” to the next person doesn’t mean it’s not valid for them.

Truancy Sing Post,(LD),2015,Texascourt.gov

I began to think about what the framers of the Code of Conduct were thinking, and to get into their head, I created a syllogism.The logic for this rule is to make sure students don’t skip school because they simply don’t feel like going to school.

GCE’s Syllogism:
P1: Students are required to attend school .

P2: There must be a valid reason for missing(unspecified).

P3: Whether the reason for absence is valid or not is up to the teacher.

P4: A Truant is someone who misses school without a valid reason.

C: A student who misses school without a valid excuse is a Truant.

A situation that has happened to me several times and any student that has a lot of siblings, is getting to school on time. The issue is that everyone has to be at school on the same time at different places. Having all my siblings run on different schedules means that someone might be late. For example, If I were to miss school or be tardy because my siblings decided to go slower that day, then my teacher or head of school would think this reason was invalid. They would question me and suggest that I need to get up earlier or take the train. If a certain student didn’t have access to the train or only have one parent that can drive them school, such as myself, have no power whether they get to school early or not. This rule needs to amended because it makes a student’s reason for being absent or tardy invalid, it leaves the decision to the teacher without a further conversation.

My Syllogism

P1: Students are required to attend school

P2: If the student is absent or tardy their reason can be justified through a discussion with teacher or head of school

P3: There must be a conversation to discuss whether their reason for absence/tardy is justified.

P4: A Truant is someone who misses school without a valid reason

C: A student who is a absent or tardy must talk to the head of school or teacher to justify their reason of absence/tardiness. That will determine whether they are a truant or not, whether they are or not, they must email teacher for missed work. Excessive tardiness or absence will result in a discussion that will involve parents.

By changing the world valid to the word justifiable allows the absent or tardy student to fully explain why they missed school to their teacher. The world valid is more of a one sided conversation that lets the teacher to make their choice, this could be because of a bias or not. The world justifiable allows there to be more communication and will lead to a more respectable community.

A reason for absence is not day or night.This means that the reason for a person’s absence should not be wrong or right, but more so a choice that they must justify to their teacher. The student should have the right to miss if they can justify their actions to their teacher. Students should know that they must email their teachers to make up their missed work.If this rule were to amended, there would be more communication to solve issues rather than letting a staff member decide whether the issue is justified or not. I would be more open to discuss issues, rather there being a miscommunication and leaving with hard feelings toward someone and vice versa. As a whole, this rule is beneficial to my school life because it leaves everyone with a voice.My co-signer/peer that supported my argument for amending this rule is AL. She said, student's excuses are different than others depending on who they are and what they find important enough to miss or be tardy.For example she always has family matter and another student could live very far."

The 9th amendment relates most to my argument, the ninth amendment states that there are rights of citizens that may not be written in the constitution, but this doesn’t mean that they can be violated.This relates to my argument, the students of GCE can be seen as the citizens as mentioned in the constitution. The rule of truancy, gives the person in power(staff member/teacher) to decide whether the reason of absence is valid or not. But, it states,” A student out of school without a valid excuse is considered truant.” This sentence in the rule gives the students rights that they may not know or is not explicitly written. As a whole, I think that the Code of Conduct is written intentionally to be vague to give students rights that may not have been written or thought of. 

My amendment demonstrates true citizenship, it allows every student and teacher to have equal rights.Students and teachers will have equal rights because the teacher won’t be deciding whether the excuse is valid or not,instead, it would be discussed. It would let the student tell their side of the story and the teacher saying what they think. Together, they would decide if the students reason is justified or not. If the rule isn’t amended, it’s possible that the teacher/ staff member can take advantage of the student because of a bias by letting them decide whether their reason is invalid.

Evidence

P1: Leaves room for interpretations and biases towards student.

P2: Change word from valid to justifiable for better communication and understanding for both parties.

P3: Relates to the 9th amendment by having rights that are not specified that need to be.

The Lens of Independence

This term in Argument, my class learned about how to form an effective argument. We learned about premises, which is evidence that will lead up to the final conclusion. I compared two arguments from Phyllis Wheatley in her poem a Hymn to Humanity, and the Framers that wrote the Declaration of Independence. I had to decided what were the premises and conclusion, then decide based on the premises which argument was best executed. My class also went on a Field Experience to a federal law office, where we spoke to attorney’s. They helped us know our rights,if a police officer would detain us. For this Action Project, I have to declare independence by stating an argument of either a inductive or deductive argument. A inductive argument states a broad generalization into specific cases, a deductive argument is the opposite- specific cases into a broad generalization. 

I declare that there be an independence study on learning how to make films, the name of the class would be, The Empowerment of Filmmaking.Learning how to make films should be accessible for any student in school.Film is a form of art and a way to express oneself in a creative way, every person is an individual and can bring something new into the film industry.

The purpose of school is to learn new information from teachers and your peers and apply that into life. The things you learn in school will shape what career you want to pursue. My unalienable rights as a human being in America is that"...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." If I am allowed to express myself in anyway(which film will allow me to do), I am pursuing my own happiness. That pursuit of happiness will not only turn into a career of my choice but will allow me to contribute to society.

Content
- In Empowerment of Filmmaking, students will learn how the elements of film and apply it by creating their own short film.

- The course will begin with the history of film and how it has empowered people throughout history.

- We will learn about how lighting, camera angles, script and story can be best represented in film.

- We will learn how to empower ourselves through film.

Logistics
- Deliverables more of history and watching short films.

- Field Experiences going to watch short films in theaters, visiting film productions in Chicago,visit Chicago Film clubs,etc.

- Course would be a whole elective term around 5-8weeks.

- Action Project of completing a short film.

Resources

-Teacher to supervise, most likely Brent because he has background of studying filmmaking.

- Cameras or students can supply themselves with their own camera on their phones

-Lights similar to production lights

-Screening room to watch short films and independent films.

-T-room so the entire class can sit around and discuss what type of film they are making and have discussions about everyone's film.

My guiding question is,“how does film empower the youth?" To answer this question,we will discuss everything that is written inside the content section. This course represents GCE's morals that are accountability,autonomy, purpose,gratitude and achievement. The Empowerment of Filmmaking will specifically go with autonomy, having freedom/independence. The class will allow students to explore film while having freedom to make things that empower themselves.Although there was a similar class at GCE called Ollywood, where students learned how to critique a film by watching and reviewing films. The Empowerment of Filmmaking is going to remove that element of focusing on critiquing/reviewing and change that into creating.

The idea of motion pictures began in 1896, a time of social progressivism, a movement during the 19th and 20th century that wanted to bring a positive social change through organizations and government organizations. The Motion Picture Patents Company(MPPC)was one of the major trust of American film companies, many filmmakers declined to join into this trust and decide to make what we now call, independent films. The MPPC was ended because the Supreme Court cancelled the patent on raw film, including MPPC'S,this led to the support of independent filmmakers. In 1941, the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers(SIMPP) protected the rights of independent filmmakers and allowed any person that was interested in films to create their own without a major film studio. Students of The Empowerment of Filmmaking will create their own independent film, and prove to themselves that you do not need a lot of money or production to create a film.

Similar to the Declaration of Independence of America, it declares independence by expressing that the system needs to be altered because of a tyrant. Writing this declaration to independence through studying film, I am expressing my opinion to alter GCE’s school system. Film can change or challenge the status qou, it can range from documentaries or movies. Film can be historical, for example,"the Boy in the Striped Pajamas", is a movie that depicts two children living during World War 2. The boy in the Striped Pajamas, is one out of many historical movies that can challenge the status qou. Students in this film course will express how they view the world and it will empower them and give them a voice.

The desired outcome for the Empowerment of Filmmaking is to allow students to come together with other students to learn how to make films, collaborate with others,and have then feel empowered by their craft that they will have created by the end of the course. As a child living in modern society, we have the ability to explore filmmaking, but most don’t despite a camera being accessible to them almost anywhere at all times.

Premises 1:GCE is about accountability, autonomy, purpose, gratitude and achievement.

Premises 2: A filmmaking course help students understand what film is, then be able to create an independent film to express themselves in a creative way.

Premises 3: A filmmaking class allows students to achieve independence and feel empowered.

C: A Film course that expands on how to make films should be included in the GCE curriculum.

My syllogism explains that film empowers people especially young adults who are slowly starting to become independent.Teaching students to learn how to make films will allow them to express themselves in a creative way.