2/6

Up and project citizen is fun we get to say waht want to say about the school I said that we need new classroom.

I feel that this is fun cause I like because it is fun to me I get to say what I want to say about the school cause we need a new school and it be fun to us.

Project Citizen is good for kids because we get to say what we want to say. and whan we and class we can not say what we want to say. mrschultz lat the

I am happy that we get to be and project citizen cause that is fun to me and the class.

2/17

What is a petition? Something that you get peopel to sign their signatures to get us a new byrd school.

2. Why are we having people sign our petition? We are having people to sign our petition to help agree that we need a new school.

3. I felt successful with the petition becuase it was fun. I got 3 pages full of signatures. I got the most signtures in my class. This made me feel liekm I did great. This was for my homework and I had to turn it in and it made me feel good to do a good job.

4. The easiest part of the petition was to go aroudn and get other people's signatures.

5. This was easy because all I had to was go to other people's houses and knock onthe door and ask them to sign this for our new Byrd Academy. They asked wheat it was for and i explained to them that is was just to get a new Byrd school. They were happy to sign becuase they think Byrd needs a new school too.

6. The hardest part of the petition was nothing. There was no hard part except the time.

7. This was hard because because I did not have any more time.

8. When I was petitioning, I enjoyed going aroudn telling peopel about Byrd school becuase I think they will agree with us. When I got a signature it made me happy and I told some people thanks.

9. I enjoyed it because...i ran into people that had good stories for me to tell others. I liked that they agreed with me. I like when peopel agree with me.

10. When I was petitioning, I disliked talking to older people. I was shy with people AI did not know.

11. I dislike it because I aint know some people and they may have had some animals runninga roudna nd I may have gotten bit.

12. My next steps for petitioning are to more signatures. I can go west and north and east to find more peopel who agree that Byrd needs a new school.

2/19

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? this make me feel like I'm doing not that bad.

2. STATEMENT: The class was successful getting many responses to our school wide survey.
How does this make you feel? Why? this make me feel like the class did good by doing what we had to do for mr. schultz.

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?

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

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

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?

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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?

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?

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?

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?

11. If Byrd got combined with another school, is our fight worth it? Why?

11. I feel that I have been contributing to our cause because I have

12. Our next steps for our action plan should be

13. To make this more fun and interesting we should be

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

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

3/24

Dear Ms. McKay,

We have been going this project for our school for a long time. We are not going to give up. We are going to keep fighting like you said. And we are having some people to sign the petition that we have going around. Some people think that Byrd school needs a new building but some people say that we can just get a remodel. Our teacher's teacher said that he can try to help us get a new building. He said that we can go to meet Jesse Jackson at Rainbow-PUSH. And we are setting up for a trip one Saturday to go to Rainbow-PUSH to see if he can help us. And we had some students from Francis Parker High School come to our school, and they said that they can help us to get a new school. They took some of our petitions to their school and they had them to sign.

On Tuesday, we had a visitor named Jim come to our school to film us while we were reading what the newspaper had. We did good at reading the newspaper. And he went around the whole school and saw for himself what was wrong with it. He even went to the hallway where we eat. And he went to the office. He got took around our school and he saw all the problems that we have in our school. He made a documentary at our school.

And we had come to the computer room and searched for our school and we found out that to get a new school it would cost $18 million. Jenner school, the one across the field, cost $15 million.

And we've been doing this since December, and we are getting better and better at getting people to come to our school and see for themselves. And you can come to our school and see for yourself.

Sincerely,
Kendall Higgins
at Byrd School

3/29

Please copy and paste the letter below into your student journal. Then make an extended response using the 4-Step chart to answer the question at the end.
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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
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Based on what Ms. Citera wrote to you, what will happen if you do not reach the "perfect" solution to your Project Citizen plans?

If we do not reach the "perfect" solution for Project Citizen, we already learned a lot for our education. She said it seems like you are already doing great things. She also said that our commitment to the project is outstanding, and she said we are right to want to have a new school. And she thinks that this is not a good place to learn. I know this because she gave me a good advice to keep it up. I read in the newspaper article written by Mr. Zorn, and I looked at the News of our class, 405, was on the news showing what was wrong with the building. We are trying to get a new shool. If we do not reach the "perfect" solution for Project Citizen, we already learned a lot for our education.

4/8

Room 405-
Your interview and tour went well yesterday. You did a great job dividing roles and taking responsibility. Mr. Delgado was very impressed!

Please copy and paste the following in your journal and respond to the questions. Title your new document 4/8/04. Please write at least one complete sentence for each question.

1. Who did you interview and give a tour to yesterday?
Yesterday we interviewed a man named Representative Delgado. He works in Springfield.

2. What was your favorite part of the interview with Mr. Delgado?
My favorite part of the interview was taking the pictures of him and listening to what he was saying.

3. What was the best thing that he said to the class?
The best thing he said to the class was he can try to help because it makes him feel so sad because he grew up in a poor Puerto Rican neighborhood.

4. Mr. Delgado explained that we all need to be better and different than our parents. What does he mean by this?
That we all should be treated the same way, if they build a new school for other people, we should get a new school too just like others. To be better than your parents means to stay in school even if your mom or dad didn't, to get your education, and get you somewhere far in life.

5. Representative Delgado was impressed with Room 405. Why?
He was impressed because he liked the way we set the interview up and took pictures of him talking about his neighborhood. And he was impressed by the work that we have done.

6. What is Mr. Delgado's role in the community?
He is a Representative of the people in Chicago to the state goverment in Springfield.

7. Do you believe Mr. Delgado when he says there is money for schools? Why or why not? No, because we should have our new school and we have been here for a long time our school should have been Jenner. If they had the money, we would have our new school already.

8. What did Mr. Delgado say about different people moving into the neighborhood and how they should be treated?
He said we all should be treated the same. We shouldn't be mad at people who move into the condos because we should be mad at the people who built the new buildings in the first place.

9. After the interview and tour, do you think it is possible to get a new school? Why or why not?
Yes, because we did too much work for this school and class 405 works so hard we deserve a new school.

***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.***

Mr. Schultz

6/7

byrd closing makles me feel so happy because I think that we do need a new school because the old byrd is not a good placs to laen and school.

project citizen was fun becuse we did a lot of thnk and project cit