2/05/04

 

 

 

 

2/5/04

I think project citizen is really neat. We get to show people the problem with things that we think that is important. Our classroom is doing a lot of interesting things like writing stories and interviewing people and recording what they say. We have lots of problems with our school. If people come to our school from good schools and visit did everything we did and ate lunch at our school they would not like it. We go on the internet and find things that like the CIP which means capital improvement program.

I feel that this is a really great program and that I can learn more by doing it.


I am exited about this part because I think that I can make my school a better place and by writing letters.


I am worried about this part because we might not get a new school and I will be upset because it took a long time to set up interviews and to write the stories.

 

2/6/04

This is an interview that we had yesterday.  Mr.  Sloss came to our class and we had an interview. Yes, most parents grew up in Byrd school and expect something bigger. The policy needs to be broken. Politics polices. Shawn Murphy, Michael Scott and patician drive.

My feelings about what Mr. Sloss said it is really powerful. I feel like I can do something about it.

 

2/9/04

I think that I can talk to lot of people, and put a lot of pressure on them.
I would want to do a documentary video. I would like to do this because I think it is a great thing to do. Making a video is really great.

I think this is important because I can show somebody important and they can tell somebody else and I can get a whole thing started. I can do a lot of interesting things by making a documentary.

I feel that I can accomplish more and get a new school by doing a documentary video about the school. Other people think that the school is run down and it needs to be fixed. Mr. Rev Sloss said that this is not about racism. He said everything is mostly fair.



Here are some ways to put more pressure on people.

1.Interview, Means you sit down and talk to people about the problems.

2.Petition, means when you do a survey and see what other people think.

3.Editorial means what you can write by yourself and send it to the newspaper.

4.Poll, means when you can write your own questions and people can answer it.

5.Documentary video means when you go around with a video camera and make a story.

I think i can do two of them and those two are a video and a poll.

 

 

2/11/04

Quention Curtis,


He spoke true words and I think Mr. Curtis is a very good man. We can go really far and we can probably get a knew school.

 

2/17/04

  1. What is a petition? A petition is smoething that you get support and getting signatures.

    2. Why are we having people sign our petition? We are having people sign so Byrd school can get a new one.

    3. I felt successful with the petition becuase I can help our school be a better place.And i got 32 signatures.

    4. The easiest part of the petition was getting the signatures.

    5. This was easy because I had to come up nice and ask nicely can they sign.

    6. The hardest part of the petition was getting outside.

    7. This was hard because It was cold and I had to wait until it was in the thirtys.

    8. When I was petitioning, I enjoyed asking people can they sign the petition.

    9. I enjoyed it because It was real good going around asking people for their names.

    10. When I was petitioning, I disliked nothing.

    11. I dislike it because

    12. My next steps for petitioning are, writing letters to the mayor and other people.

 

2/18/04

  1. What is a survey? A survey is a paper where you have questions.

    2. Why are we having students and teachers take our survey? So we can get a new school.

    3. I felt successful with the survey becuase we can get a knew school.

    4. The easiest part of the survey was passing them out.

    5. This was easy because, all you had to do was to give them to people.

    6. The hardest part of the survey was, nothing

    7. This was hard because,nothing

    8. When I doing the survey, I enjoyed passing them out.

    9. I enjoyed it because, it was fun.

    10. When I was surveying, I disliked nothing

    11. I dislike it because,nothing

    12. My next steps for surveying are passin them out to important like Jesse White ect...

 

2/19/04

  1. STATEMENT: Yesterday Mr. Schultz went to the Board Members of the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) to present the great things Room 405 is doing.

    How does this make you feel? Why? It makes me feel good.Because we can get a knew school.

    2. STATEMENT: The class was successful getting many responses to our school wide survey.
    How does this make you feel? Why? It makes me feel good.

    3. STATEMENT: Everyone in the class was supposed to get 125 signatures on the petition to show support. Not everybody has.
    How does this make you feel? Why?

    It is okay because people is involved with the police.

    3. What can Room 405 students do to get more signatures on the petition? ask everybody in the school.

    4. Do you think it is important to continue getting signatures on the petition?Yes

    5. Now that many classes have returned their surveys, what is the next step? Singing there names.

    6. What do you think the surveys will reveal about the feelings and thoughts about the kids and teachers at Byrd Academy? A new school.

    7. What is going to be a good way to share the results of the survey? With the school? With the community? With the city? With the Board of Education?Mail copys of the surveys.

    8. STATEMENT: Mr. Schultz combined all the students stories into a letter that was hand delivered to Rev. Jesse Jackson yesterday.
    How does this make you feel? Why?It makes me feel good.why because i feel proud that Mr.Schultz can mail our storys to important people.

    9. STATEMENT: Mr. Schultz used the same letter but changed who it was made out to and gave it to all the board members at the CRF meeting yesterday and it was very well received. Some members even want to come to our school based on the invitation from the class. How does this make you feel? Why? nothing.

    10. STATEMENT: One alternative solution to our class policy will be to combine Byrd Academy with another nearby school.
    How does this make you feel? Why? nothing.

    11. If Byrd got combined with another school, is our fight worth it? Why?no.Why because people will get hurt and suspended.

    11. I feel that I have been contributing to our cause because I have wrote stories to help our school.

    12. Our next steps for our action plan should be, going to important people and have a interview with them.

    13. To make this more fun and interesting we should,email people and mail them letters.

 

2/23/04

Today a group had interviewed 9 people. We worked with Ms. Percak she had her video camera with here. We had to run up and down the stairs. The interview was good. Each of us had to tape someone. The people who were in the group was
Lamarius, Ricky, Raynard and me Daviell. It took a long time to do the interviews because some people were busy.

 

 

2/24/04

1. How many total people took the survey? 271 people.

2. How many more girls took the survey than boys?37

3. What was the percent of girls that took the survey?55.5

4. What was the percent of PK students that took the survey?6.3

5. What was the total number of people that feel that the closets and washrooms are the biggest problems at Byrd? 148

6. What is the sum of the number of boys that took the survey and the number of people that feel the gym is the biggest problem? 168

7. What is the mode (most common answer) to the problems with Byrd? the lunchroom.

8. What percent of the respondents feel that the school is fixable? 9.6

9. What is the percent of the total that were 5th graders who took our survey?11.8

10. Which grade had the most impact on the survey results? fourth grade

Keep up the great work in the Collaboratory and with Project Citizen!
Mr. Schultz

 

3/9/04

Two days ago we had visitors from the Parker School. It was really fun to have them come to school. They were really fun. We showed them around the school and showed them the problems with. I had an interview with three people and I got really good information. We told the about our action and we have six action plans to try to get a new school.

 

3/24/04

To the students of room 405.

Do you realize how brave you are in fighting for what is right. Many adults do not dare voice their opinion but you all took a stand. Please don't give up the fight. Did you know that the civil rights movement in the 1960's was not just led by the adults but by the young people. One group called SNCC- Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee actually helped black people in Mississippi to win the right to vote in their state. Before the young people got involved these people weren't allowed to vote. The members of SNCC taught in a "freedom school" and helped youth and adults learn about their rights as citizens. These young people worked hard and sometimes felt like giving up but they were determined to make a difference and stand up for what was right. So stay strong, young warriors your ancestors would be very proud of you !!!


Thank you very much. We have been working very hard to get a knew school. We are really close to getting a new school too. We can make a difference in our community. We are never going to give up on trying to get a new school.

Thank you for comparing us to freedom fighters. We are like Martin Luther king that was really nice of you. We are just like the student of the SNCC. We just are very determined to try to get a new school. We are just like freedom fighters.


We had a interview with Eric Zorn. He was really determined to try to help us. He wrote about us in the newspaper. I am really glad that we have people that care about our school. We just like when he came.


Yesterday we had a Karen Percak and a TV producer come to our school. They helped us make a video about our school. We are almost to the limit of getting a new school. That is some more people who is trying to help us try to get a new school.

 

3/29/04

Dear 5th Grade Class at Byrd:

I am a Board member of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago and recently had the pleasure of meeting your teacher Mr. Schultz. He told us then of your mission to affect the decision making of the school system and the state in order to secure a better learning environment. I also read Mr. Zorn's article discussing the steps you have taken and will continue to take.

Your commitment to this project is outstanding. You are right to want to be in an environment which is more effective for your learning needs as you move through your school career. I encourage you to keep working towards your goals especially in the professional manner you have already demonstrated. In school, just as in a business environment, there will
always be issues to tackle and better solutions to seek out. The most important thing I have learned is to keep working towards what you think is the right solution. If you don't reach the "perfect" solution you had originally intended, I have learned that great things happen along the way and superb alternatives also appear.

I commend your approach to this problem and your passion for it as well. Even though I am not at school with you, I have learned a great deal simply by hearing of your actions and plans. While you seek a better environment for your education, it seems as though you have already, through your own efforts, elevated your education.

My best wishes for your continued crusade.

Renee Citera
CRFC Board Member
-------------------------------------------------------
Based on what Ms. Citera wrote to you, what will happen if you do not reach the "perfect" solution to your Project Citizen plans?


We have been working very hard to get a knew school. If we do not reach the perfect solution of getting a new school we will probably not get a new school. We will get some good things out of it like 2 or 3 repairs but that is it. We need a whole new school.

I knew this because I saw something like this before. I read a story about some one getting something new before but they got a new park not a school. What will happen if we do not reach the perfect solution we will get some repairs.

The author says that we have learned great things along the way a superb alternatives also appear. I believe that we can get a knew a new school. They have started by fixing the sidewalk. The story says that we have elevated our education and I think we have.

 

4/8/04

  1. Who did you interview and give a tour to yesterday?
    Yesterday we interviewed Willie Delgado

    2. What was your favorite part of the interview with Mr. Delgado?
    My favorite part of the interview was ... When he got on his knees and pretended to beg for more money.

    3. What was the best thing that he said to the class?
    The best thing he said to the class was... I was very impressed.

    4. Mr. Delgado explained that we all need to be better and different than our parents. What does he mean by this? If some parents try and give up. We do not never give up on what we are doing.

    5. Representative Delgado was impressed with Room 405. Why? Yes, because he said we never gave up on what we believed in. never

    6. What is Mr. Delgado's role in the community? The State Representative

    7. Do you believe Mr. Delgado when he says there is money for schools? Why or why not? Yes because the boe doen not want to buil the school because of the budget.

    8. What did Mr. Delgado say about different people moving into the neighborhood and how they should be treated?

    9. After the interview and tour, do you think it is possible to get a new school? Why or why not? No, because

    ***After you have completed the journal entry make sure to save it then go to the action plan folder and go to shared documents and find the Byrd Pictures iMovie. Watch the movie and then post 'discussion' on it. It may take a while to load.***

 

6/7/04

Byrd closing down


I think that Byrd should not close down. My feelings are that I am a little bit mad. I will have to go to a different school. We have done all this work and we are not getting a new school. I feel kind of glad because we have done a great job with Project Citizen. Even thought we are not getting a new school we have done great things. We went to Springfield and we have been on the news and on the newspaper. People have came to talk to us like Willie Delgado and other Senators.

Project Citizen is a real good project because it helps you with different problems that you might want to fix in you community. We have got heard by a lot of people like being on the newspaper and the television. We wrote stories about our school and pictures and peopled looked at it and said we were a good group of kids fighting for what is right. I am going to Manneir school. Our teacher it a real good teacher he helped us with our project step by step. He was encouraging us to do our best and do good when we go to the sixth grade. Byrd has Byrd pride and I will keep it when I go to a different school.