Alexandria Program Blog

Alexandria Civics & Citizenship Program
ALEXANDRIA CIVICS PROGRAM BLOG
Layla*, a participant and immigrant youth 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!	Past Blogs: Oct. 2009 Nov. 2009
Our last meeting is Thursday, Dec. 15. See you again in March 2010!
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 Miss 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 doesnt 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.
*Not students' real names.