ALEXANDRIA CIVICS BLOG
Layla*, a participant from Cameroon in our Alexandria program, was elected the Fall 2009 reporter. Check out what she has to say about our program at T.C. Williams High School. Thanks, Layla!
December 10, 2009
We wrote Liberty’s Promise evaluations and we took a Liberty’s Promise Quiz to see how much we learned.
We had two guest speakers. They were firefighters, Firefighter Jeffrey Harrison and Captain Luis Santano. Firefighters are people who risk their lives to save others. Although some are getting paid, it’s still a risk going in fire to save someone that you don’t even know. Some firefighters in other counties and states are volunteers. The Alexandria firefighters get paid and we say thank you.
To be a firefighter, you have to be 18 years old, and you have to have a high school diploma, etc. A firefighter most be trustworthy, and that’s why they take a lie detector test before becoming a firefighter. The reason they do that is because they want us to feel safe when calling 911. They want us to believe firefighters are coming to save us and not to take our property. Jeffrey Harrison and Captain Luis Santano had two students and Ms. Courand dress like firefighters and it took them a long time. Firefighter Jeffrey Harrison was sitting and eating pizza, and then a sound alarmed to show there’s an emergency and he just put the pizza down, rushed to where his clothes were and changed into the firefighting clothes in 58.9 seconds. That’s how much they care.
Tuesday, December 8th 2009
Our guest speaker today was Adriana Lopez from the Chamber of Commerce. She came to talk to us about owning our own business. If you own your own business, then you are your own boss. Some businesses include Saloons, Gaint, Shoppers, Ross etc. Anybody can own a business. You do not need education to own a business but having good education before owning your business is advisable because what if the business doesn’t work, what if you want to do something else, so just have the education for the sake of it because nobody knows tomorrow. Almost everything if not everything in this world has an advantage and a disadvantage. One advantage of owning your business is that you are your own boss and one disadvantage is that the business may not work. After the meeting was over, we went downstairs to the cafeteria and ate pizza and drank drinks.
December 3, 2009
Who is J. Daniel Sarmiento? J. Daniel Sarmiento is the Director of the Hispanic Youth Institute at the Hispanic College Fund. He came to tell us just like everyone how important college is. Because college is too important, there are ways to get everyone interested to go even if you do not have money. You can take loans or get a scholarship. Oh wait, what is a scholarship? Scholarship is money that you do not pay back. It’s like there are people out there paying you to go to school but they only pay you if they see that you really have interest and that you’re doing your very own best. There are too many scholarships out there that a person’s excuse for not going to college should never be because they cannot afford college. According to Daniel Sarmiento, the least GPA you need to be qualify for some scholarship is a 2.5 “but the best are always picked first,” he said.
$cholarships Tips
1) Work hard
Do not only do what you are suppose to do but do extra. Get a good GPA, volunteer, play sports and more.
2) Look everywhere
Apply to everything. According to some estimates, there may be anywhere from $5 billion to $20 billion in unclaimed, private scholarship money. Many scholarships go unclaimed because students are unaware they exist.
3) Do not limit yourself.
Apply to as many scholarships as possible. Google them, and ask around.
4) Be organized.
If you apply to several scholarship programs at once, you will need to be really organized to keep it all straight. So make sure that you have a way to track all of the scholarship deadlines and requirements so that you give yourself the best chance possible to receive scholarships by getting your information packets in on time and fulfilling all the required steps outlined in the application.
5) Share your story
Another important part of creating a winning scholarship packet is to try to personalize your essay as much as you possibly can. Tell the scholarship reviewers as much as you can about yourself. Remember this is the only way they will get to know you. Your personal story can have a large impact on whether or not you are awarded a scholarship.
6) Avoid Scams.
What are scams? A scam is when someone or some people try to get money from you instead of giving money to you. How do you do if it is real or if it is a scam? If they are talking about you paying some amount of money and they will do all your work for you, they are scammers.
After our guest left, we went downstairs for pizza and drinks.
December 1, 2009
We learned how to write a resume. Pam and Allison taught us about getting a job. We practiced writing a resume and how to dress for an interview, what to do before & during an interview, questions to ask and to not ask. Before getting a job, you go in for an interview. Pam demonstrated to us how likely you are to or to not get a job according to how your interview goes. After the demonstration, we of course went down to the cafeteria for pizza and drinks.
November 24, 2009
We had two guest speakers with two different high school experiences. Cynthia Renderos and Manny Ruiz are both graduates from college who came back to high school to tell us what we need to do or what we should be doing to get to college.Manny Ruiz went to high school in Los Angeles and then at Wheaton High School in Maryland. While in high school in L.A., Manny was a bad boy. He did not go to school at all like a normal student ought to be going to school. If he didn’t even go to school, what were the chances that he thought of community service, extracurricular activities? NONE. In 9th grade, Manny was absent from school for 40 days…imagine. But that all changed for Manny when he moved to Maryland. Cynthia Renderos went to T.C Williams High School. While in high school, Cynthia was the opposite of Manny. She had a GPA of 4.05, and she participated in extracurricular activities. She was in ESOL classes when she was young and then the school realized she had a reading disability of seeing letters and numbers backwards but it was taken care of. Though Manny and Cynthia had opposite character traits in high school, they both have something in common. They both GRADUATED from high school and went to college and graduated from the University of Maryland.
If you haven’t been the best the whole time in high school, take it from Manny and change NOW. Do not wait till senior year and if you have been doing well the whole time, do not quit. It’s never too early to start participating in extracurricular activities. It’s never too early to stop skipping and if you didn’t start yet, don’t please. *a GPA is not everything but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a good GPA*
November 19, 2009
We didn’t have a guest speaker so we played a game. The game was about two groups of people from two different cultures. The aim of the game was to show that people behave differently because of where the come from. What you think is weird is something interesting to someone else. What you think is rude is nice to someone else–it’s just like food, I don’t like American food but Americans say the food is delicious while I say Cameroon food is delicious.I learned is to always be myself and be proud of where I come from and my culture. **Be yourself everywhere you go and you’ll find someone like you or someone who will like you for who you are.**
November 14, 2009
We went to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Food and drinks were brought to us for free and even our train ticket was bought for us. We had a lot of fun, took a lot of pictures and some of us walked about half of the zoo. We saw horses, elephants and all the animals. The zoo is free, you just need to find your way there and since I am in the club, I did not have to pay for a ticket or food. We are sure glad we’re in the Liberty’s Promise Club.
November 12, 2009
Why is November 12th a day for the members of Liberty’s Promise Alexandria to remember? Because we went to the Alexandria Courthouse. Why do we have to remember it? I’ll tell you in a minute. Since we are teens, we stayed in the Juvenile side of the court. We met Judge Uley Damiani, Probation Officer Rolando Welch, and Sherriff Audrey Eskridge. Judge Damiani has been a judge for a year and she deals with Juvenile cases. Based on evidence, proof and the law, she decides your punishment if there is one. Probation Officer Rolando Welch supervises juveniles placed on probation. He told us just like everybody has said, –Education is the key to success. If you’re going to be successful, you need education. In this hard economy, you might want to be successful. Take everything you do in school serious, stay away from gangs, do homework, participate in school activites and clubs, volunteer, stay after school for extra help. A minute wasted of your life cannot be taken back. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Remember I promised to tell you why we the members of Liberty’s Promise Alexandria have to remember November 12 2009. Well, I kept my promises. The reason we have to remember that day is because we went to the courthouse. Sheriff Audrey Eskridge gave us a tour. She showed us where youth get locked up for being bad, not going to school, drinking and doing drugs. She actually let us go in one of the cells and she closed the door hard. It stinks in that cell.
In your house you eat whenever you want, drink whatever and whenever you want, but here you eat three times for the whole day. Sheriff Eskridge said, “Breakfast at 7am, lunch at 11am [imagine eating lunch at 11 am], dinner at 6pm and that is it for the rest of the day”. If you do not like the food then that’s your problem. After the tour was over, about 95% of us pledged out loud to never do anything that would get us in any kind of cell like that. Others may have pledged in their minds. We the members of Liberty’s Promise Alexandria will always remember this day before skipping school, drinking, doing drugs, talking back at teachers, going late to class/school because we don’t want to go to the juvenile cell.
November 5, 2009
We had two guest speakers. Sharmila Khushalani from Women Empowered International (the Home For Immigrant Women Artists). If you are a woman, an artist, an immigrant and you want to show what you’ve got, email Sharmila or call her. You can also contact her if you just want to be a volunteer. You can learn from volunteering. Our secound guest speaker was E-hab Abasaeed. He spoke to us about owning his own business. He owns a recording studio and makes music videos and other things. He started just making songs and knocking on people’s doors to sell his music. Now he even works with Wale and others. We asked a lot of questions and watched one of his videos on Youtube. It was fun meeting them. And before leaving, we ate pizza and drank to the fullest.
November 3, 2009
What is Financial Literacy? Financial Literacy is when you know how to spend or manage your money wisely. What is a savings account? what is a checking account? How is a checking account different from a savings account? Who can have a savings or a checking account? Okay, why is everything that I am talking about related to the bank? Because our guest speaker, Steven Blanco came and spoke to us about financial literacy, saving accounts, checking accounts, etc.
Steven Blanco works at Virginia Commerce Bank and he came to tell us how important it is to save money. He has been working in banking for eight years and six months. He is the Assistant Vice President of Virginia Commerce Bank and he is the manager of his branch.It was fun meeting Steven Blanco and learning all the above and more. If you want the answers to the above or anything else related to the bank, you can always contact Steven Blanco @ 703-360-5720 or via email @ sblanco@vcbonline.com
October 30, 2009
We went on our first field trip to Alexandria City Hall and met Mayor William Euille. Mayor Euille graduated from T.C Williams High School and was the first person of color to be the Mayor of Alexandria. He was interested in politics and government since he was young. It was fun! We asked a lot of questions like how he became the mayor and what the mayor does and he happily answered all of them. He gave every single one of us paper bags with gifts in it, and one of the gifts was a cup that said, “City of Alexandria Virginia”. It was fun meeting the mayor of our own city.
October 27, 2009
Today was a special day. We had two guest speakers, Patrick Freeman and Sandra Matoushaya. Patrick Freeman is from Ghana and he loves helping people discover their hidden talents. Patrick told us that he is only one person so he cannot help everyone but if we all put our hands together, we can do a lot. Volunteering with your community in anyway is a good way to help others. Nobody wants to have HIV. Some people in places like Africa have HIV without knowing it. Some people do not even know how to know if they have HIV or how to prevent it. This is how Sandra Matoushaya comes in. Sandra is from Zimbabwe and she wants to help people in Africa with HIV.
October 22, 2009
What is discrimination? Discrimination is when you are treated differently because of where you come from, what you believe in, gender, tradition and the color of your skin. Discrimination is wrong. Do not judge a book by its cover because you might misinterpret it. Before treating someone because of where he or she is from, what he or she believes in or the color of their skin……
and ask yourself, what if the same thing happens to you? You never know maybe that person might help you in the future. Why am I talking about discrimination? Today, our guest speaker, Paula Avila, came and spoke to us about discrimination. Paula Avila is from Colombia and is an investigator at the Alexandria Office of Human Rights. She was discriminated against when she was younger and that’s why she decided to grow up and stand up for those who are being discriminated.
Shared Stories
We shared stories about discrimination. Some people shared stories that they resolved and some shared stories that because of fear they never stood up for themselves. A girl from Ethiopia applied for a job and was told that they weren’t hiring though there was a sign on the window that said help wanted. The next day, her Spanish friend was hired at the same place just because she spoke Spanish. A girl from Cameroon was trying to help an America n boy get his quarters from the floor. When she picked them up, she gave it to him but he rudely said, “No keep it for the poor kids in Africa.” So the girl threw the money back to the floor. The next day, the same boy asked the girl if Africans have clothes, and the girl stood up for herself and said, “If you wanna know more about Africa, you can always surf the net.” Today, both the girl and the boy are friends.
It was fun and special having Paula with us. Now that you know, watch what you say to others in the name of jokes. Some jokes are too expensive, some are funny and others are offensive. Stand up for yourself, talk to someone and if nothing is done about it, call Paula Avila.
Oct. 20, 2009
We in the Liberty’s Promise at T.C Williams H.S had our fourth meeting and a second guest speaker, Lissette Pippy from JobLink. JobLink is by the Mark Center in Alexandria, VA. She talked to us about how to get a job with JobLink, the kind of jobs you can get with jobLink, etc. She also spoke with us about getting a job somewhere else, how to go for an interview, what kind of questions to ask and how to ask them, how to dress for an interview and what it takes to lose or keep a job. We asked a lot of questions and she happily answered all of them. It was fun having Lissette Pippy with us. After she left, as suggested last meeting, we went and ate pizza and drank to the fullest. Thanks to the person buying the pizza and the drinks and thanks to you all for reading our blog.
Oct. 13, 2009
We had our third meeting. We ate pizza and drank soda. The four winners for the four positions were announced and introduced to new members. We had our first guest speaker, Catherine Melton who was introduced to us by the President, Sandra* and the Vice President, Jacqui*. Catherine Melton is the T.C Williams student college guide. She spoke to us about college and financial aid, grants, loans, etc. She can help you with registering and preparing for the SAT, applying for financial aid, finding scholarships, etc. If you need help or have a question about college, Catherine Melton has the answer. In school, she’s in room A-121 all school day. For a quick question, stop by during school.
We ended the meeting today with suggestions from our President. President Sandra suggested that we eat pizza after or during our meeting because when we eat before in the cafeteria, people who are not in the club come and pretend to be new members, then after eating, they disappear.
Oct. 8, 2009 was our second meeting. It was very fun. We had pizza and drinks. We had a puzzle that stated a fact about somebody in the club. It allowed us to meet new people and people who got all the answers right got movie tickets. The nominees gave their speeches and we voted.
The Liberty’s Promise club at T.C Williams H.S began on Oct. 6, 2009. We had free pizza and drinks. We talked about what Liberty’s Promise is about, and what we will do in it. We played a game, that somebody says three things and we guess which is a lie. We talked about the responsibilities of the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Reporter. People were nominated and later called to write a campaign speech if they had the most nominations.
