Freedom Writers is a Movement

The Freedom Writers Diary

In Long Beach it all comes down to which you look like, it’s all about color. If you’re Latino, or Asian, or Black; you can get blast at any time you walked out your door. Schools are valuated to separate trials. We kill each other over race, pride and respect. We fight for our America! We are on war. Another main conflict of this book “The Freedom Writers Diary” is how people are being separate and judge for the way they look their color for their raze and where they grow up at. But at the end they realize that all of that don’t matter and what really matter is what that person is capable of doing. Don’t ever judge someone without knowing them good enough because you might have a fake opinion about them. The Freedom Writers formed a family that knows no color lines and only sees what lies deep within the heart. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

This is one of the fragments from the book Freedom Writers Diary that really got my attention. “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A truly self-reliant person finds his weak link and strengthens it." This was what the boy that wrote about his brother’s murder trial wrote on another diary entry. After the attorney sentence fifteen years to life in prison to his brother he get back to what he used to do (you know what I mean, illegal stuff). Mrs. Gruwell gave to her students the assignment to do a self-evaluation, he gave himself and F, and he automatically failed himself. Then Mrs. Gruwell asked him “What’s this? Do you know what this means?” then she added “FUCK YOU! That’s what this is! It’s a fuck you, and a fuck me, and fuck everyone who’s ever cared about you!” This was a pep talk that he never thought he would have with his teacher. Also this "pep talk", teacher to student,  in somehow inspires me to not give up on things,  to fix what it has to be fix and to learn from my own mistakes, as the phrase says "A truly self-reliant person finds his weak link and strengthens it." I'm going to find my mistakes, learn from them and correct them. These words, the way they use writing to express their thoughts, their feelings, their stories to the world around them makes me get excited and reflect on their stories to change communities like their, where everything was gang violence, even one of the Freedom Writers wrote that every night were guns shooting at the hood that he get used to it, it became his lullaby. 

Freedom, being able to make choices. Performing an action of your own choosing without limitations. “You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."(Malcolm x) The Freedom Writers Diary is an inspirational, unforgettable example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. The Freedom Writers is a movement. 

Conflict in the Freedom Writers

In Long Beach it all comes down to which you look like, it’s all about color. If you’re Latino, or Asian, or Black; you can get blast at any time you walked out your door. Schools are valuated to separate trials. We kill each other over race, pride and respect. We fight for our America! We are on war.

I think that the main conflict of this movie is how people are being separate and judge for the way they look their color for their raze and where they grow up at... But at the end they realize that all of that don’t matter and what really matter is what that person is capable of doing... Don’t ever judge someone with out knowing them good enough because you might have a fake opinion about them.

      The conflict of the movie freedom writers is to create change to many students that is having trouble in there life also it is for people to think positive and not negative. what this means is the teacher MS.G became the teacher and found out what was each student struggle and changed them and made each student unite and relate to each other. this action called freedom writer helped gain and start off a new society furthermore, the students who perceived school as they don't need it realized they did need it and it is important. this movie also changed the racism act and made African Americans and white people relate and connect with each other. what this whole paragraph demonstrates is there was a lot of changing occurring. RACISM & GANG VIOLENCE.

Like they said: “ Don’t judge a book by its cover”

Senior Project Update #3

  

My research paper will be on how to become a ranch owner, the steps that a person takes in order to become a ranch owner (rancher/farmer). Some of the ideas that I have are working at a ranch to get experience, live what a rancher lives, and do what ranchers do; how to manage a ranch, what it takes to build a ranch. The ranch where I am going to work is either at a ranch in Michoacán, Mexico or at a ranch here in California. I am looking forward to work the lands of my beautiful Mexico but if its impossible for me to travel during the next five months I might do my hours here at California or Texas. The resources I hope to use would be a ranch, obviously, the ranch owner to give like an idea of what is like to be a rancher, effort and time.

First I want to say that everything in my senior project has changed, or at least for the part of completing the 20 hours of service. So, last week while my family and I were celebrating Thanksgiving someone called our house and on the TV screen appeared a private number, I was like “who the hell calls on private number during Thanksgiving, “at the time the phone was ringing we were in the middle of eating pozole, because we; Mexicans, or at least not us eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day, we eat everything but turkey, well the point is that the phone rang and we were eating and for Mexicans when we are eating is like our holy time, we cannot get up of the table until everybody is done eating, so we let the phone ring and ring, until it stops ringing. Twenty minutes later the phone rings again, lucky for the person who was calling we were finish with dinner but not with desert, but we made an exception. It was someone from México saying that we have to go to México, right now (Family Emergency). I don’t know if that call changed my project for good or for bad, but what I certainly know is that I am living to México next week.

Fortunately, I think 80%-90% I’m done with my research paper. I told my sister if she could help me correcting my research paper or if she knew someone that could read my paper and correct it. Lucky for me she has a teacher or counselor that helped me with my research paper and I am done with it. I just need to turn it in on time and wait for what the people that checks all the research papers will say about my paper. I hope all the hours that I spent writing it is worth at the time they check my paper. For my senior project, the actual project, like I said on my last senior project update I am planning to do a model to scale of what includes a basic ranch. What I’m doing right now is drawing some sketches of how my scale model will look like, where the things that I recently bought are going to be located; technically the sketches are like the planes so to say. And now that I know that I’m going to México, my brother told me that the best base for building a scale model is like a board made of a pretty hard material called plywood. Plywood is a very good material not just for building furniture but also for doing models to scale, like in this case is my ranch model to scale. I already told my brother if he can obtain plywood for my project and some little things that my model-to-scale will have. Well, I think that's all for now.

Sentence Fixes

Mrs. Guerdard here is the Sentence Fixes document that I had to do for my conference on Thursday November 29.

"Diarios De Las Calles" - Su Historia, Sus Palabras, Su Futuro

 “Diariosde las Calles”- The Freedom Writers Diary with Erin Gruwell. I read the first pages and I was like “Damnnn!!” There are no words in my vocabulary that can describe my thoughts so far about this book, it’s a pretty amazing book that can change someone’s way to think, someone’s perspective of life, and even someone’s life. You have to pay really close attention to the words these teenagers used on their writings, the way they write on their diaries is like if they are narrating you their story, the way they live, and specially the war they face day by day and that they hope one day that war will end.

 The book is about how a 23-years-old English teacher uses the techniques of reading and writing to change 150 teens and the world around them. Ms. Gruwell was a student teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California.  Long Beach was dubbed the “gangsta-rap capital” by MTV due to its depiction if guns and graffiti. Ms. Gruwell was given the group of the “un-teachable” students as the others teachers refer to them. This group was form of Latinos, Asians, Blacks and one white boy. They lived in the projects, the so called “hood”

The book takes place in Long Beach City "gangsta-rap capital" or L B C as the rappers refer to it, at Woodrow Wilson High School located in a safe neighborhood. Its location and reputation make it desirable. So much that a lot of students that live in the hood take two or three buses to get to school. Students come from every area of Long Beach; rich kids from the shore sit next to poor kids from the projects. There's every race, religion and culture within the confines of the quad. But since the Rodney King riots, racial tension has spilled over into the school. Over 120 murders in Long Beach in the months following the Rodney King riots. Gang violence and racial tension reach an all time high. The cultural influences of the Freedom Writers Diary are that in Long Beach it all comes down to which you look like, it’s all about color. If you’re Latino, or Asian, or Black; you can get blast at any time you walked out your door. Schools are separate by sections; "Beverly Hills" or "Disneyland" where all of the rich white kids hang out, there's "China Town" where the Asians hang, the Hispanic sections is referred to as either "Tijuana Town" or "Run to the Border", then there's the Black section known as "Da Gueto".  We kill each other over race, pride and respect. We fight for our America! We are on war. Those were the words a Mexican girl said. 

       "I always thought that "odd" was a three-letter word; but today I found out it has seven, and they spell G-r-u-w-e-l-l." (Freedom Writers)

Who Would You Blame?

Who would you blame?  
Red Code, the United States has been declare a State of Emergency, childhood obesity has going beyond the limits. Like Uncle Sam would say "I want you, parent of family to take charge of your children's health!" Parents need to develop a routine of exercise and a balanced diet  for themselves and especially for their children, they are the future of our nation.

Making Progress

So far for my senior project is going pretty good. I have almost finished my research paper. Right now, I am just checking for grammar error on my paper and I had ask my counselor, Sandra, to help me on reducing paragraphs or sentence that are unnecessary on my research paper because the document is too long, is about ten pages long, including the work cited page, I looked up on the Napa High web, where are all the Senior stuff and it says that the research paper has to be 5-6 pages long including work cited page, so I just need to fix it and make it fit all in 5 or 6 pages.

On my senior Project what I am planning to do is to build a ranch model to scale. I already bought some of the equipment that are in a ranch, and have some supplies to build it. I found this big ass red agricultural tractor that when I saw it, literally I fell in love with it haha and I bought it. Then I bought a seeder, two little John Deere tractors, two cargo trucks, some animals and three trucks. I just need a barn, a warehouse, make some stockyards for the livestock (bovine, porcine, ovine, and poultry) and also make some stables for the equine livestock. What I am still thinking is how I am going to put the crops in the model, I do not know if I will draw them or make like in 3-D.

For my hours, I had contact some ranchers I am going to be volunteering at a ranch in Mexico. I am planning to go to Mexico on January so I can do my hours over there. From what I know that I am going to be doing at the ranch in Mexico is shadowing the ranch owner and the workers at the fields, watch and pay close attention to the duties they are going to be performing at the crops, pulling fertilizer, harvesting, all duties they do, and I may be able to drive the vehicles they use, like the tractors, the seeder, the thresher and hopefully the cargo trucks. But first I have to learn how to drive, I remember I drove like two three times on the fields but that was when I was like seven or eight; it is been so long, almost ten years, I think I already forgot what I learned L. That is for the part of Agriculture, and for the other part is the livestock.  The duties that I am going to be doing in the ranch with the livestock will be: feed the animals, clean the stockyards and throw their excrement, milking the cows, among other duties.

And that's all what I had been doing so far.

Just Like Us

Dear Rifkin

            I had read your article “A Change of Heart About Animals” and I’m totally agree with your point of view. Our fellow creatures are like us in many ways.  Animals have feelings just like us, they feel our actions, even do they don’t express themselves in a way that we humans understand but if one as a human pay close attention to our fellows then we’ll be able to understand or at least get an idea of what animals feel. Just by looking at their eyes you can imagine how they feel. Like those commercials that are on TV that put those pets that had been abused and they want a home where they will receive love, just by seen those looks I got that feeling of feeling sorry for those poor animals, that cruel people that abused of them have a rock instead of a heart, how can people abuse of those creatures that are the best friend of a the man. Animals can defend themselves against the people that abuse them, but they don’t do it, why? because even do the treatment they receive is not okay they don’t defend themselves just because they love their owners.  

            While I finished reading the letters to the editor in response to your article "A Change of Heart About Animals" I was laughing at the last paragraph of the second letter in response; "...vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. Meat eating and animal abuse lead to spiritual disturbance and physical disease."  I mean it is understandably what he/she is saying, but don't expect people do that, I don't think anyone will stop eat meat and start to eat vegetables, from my perspective I'm not going to do that, I'm Mexican, I like meat and I don't like to eat vegetables. What I'm trying to say is that humans will continue to eat meat and products that come from animals just because that's how the food chain goes. Don't expect a person that eats meat two to three times a week become a vegetarian from one day to another. I never met a person that just eats vegetables, I don't even knew the definition of "vegetarian" until I came here, to the United States. 

            Animals have abilities that humans could never imagine. They have an intelligence that is pretty impressive as they been animals. According to some studies made in animals, the dolphin has been declare the most intelligent animal, well after the chimpanzee. “Equally impressive is Koko, the 300-pound gorilla at the Gorilla Foundation in Northern California, who was taught sign language and has mastered more than 1,000 signs and understands several thousand English words. On human IQ tests, she scores between 70 and 95.” For me this is very impressive since I think I don't own several thousands words in English as the gorilla, and also score 70 out of 95, that's a good score for someone that it's not a human, it's an animal. 

           Also I was very surprise when I read the sentences "Strangely enough, some of the research sponsors are fast food purveyors, such as McDonald's, Burger King and KFC. Pressured by animal rights activists and by growing public support for the humane treatment of animals, these companies have financed research into, among other things, the emotional, mental and behavioral states of our fellow creatures." It was like a "what?" in my mind, I never thought fast food restaurants would be purveyors to finance the research into the emotional, mental, and behavioral states of our fellow creatures.

         All they do is give love and security is that a bad thing?

          Sincerely,

          Jaira Ontiveros

Ranching Life

My Senior Project is...

       

Basically what my senior project will be about will be on ranching and my research paper will be on how to be a ranch owner/ what it takes to be a rancher?  My end product will be a scale model of what is a basic ranch and will take me approximately more than a week to build it, and the time that will be take on the ranch will be approximately one month if I do it in Mexico, but if I do it here in the USA provably will take around twenty weekends. I am 90% sure that I am going to be doing my hours in Mexico, but i am not completely sure because of some stuff that my Mom and I have to do before going to Mexico. I am really looking forward to do my service hours in Mexico, not just because I want to step in Mexican territory again but also because the ranches in Mexico are much better than the ones in here (no offense). In Mexico are two types of lands, so to say, these are "Ranches" and "Haciendas" they are almost the same, the only difference is that the Hacienda is a lot of much bigger than the ranch is. Some ranches just focus on the raise of livestock of a certain type,cattle, pigs, horses, sheep and/or goats, but an Hacienda raise all these kinds of animals, cattle, pigs, horses, ducks, gooses, goats, sheep, turkeys, rabbits, etc. I already have talked with some people in Mexico that owns lands, raise livestock and works the lands to give me the chance to let me work with them or at least shadow them on what they do for my project. I am sure that I am not just going to be shadowing  I am going to be working really hard, because in Mexico you do not just go and stand around just looking, you got to work.

Without a Trace

Into the Wild is the story of a young boy named Chris McCandless. Chris became fed up with the society, he traveled the country without any money, and made a trip to Alaska without any gear.

Chris McCandless made lots of mistakes before going to his trip, heading Alaska.  Some of his mistakes were that he did not tell anyone that he was leaving, he did not say a word to any one of his family. He was not prepared well enough to make this trip, he did not have any idea of what he was going to live. He did not pack any gear, enough clothes and blankets, a “good” map, tools, etc.  Also, he did not accept any help at all, people offered him some blankets for his trip to Alaska but he left them under the sit of the truck. McCandless did not take any precautions for this trip, he just left.

McCandless’s decision to leave his family without a word was NOT justified because he worry their parents a lot by don’t saying anything about he leaving, also by his actions (donating all his college money to charity without telling anybody) it was NOT a justified action he brought pain to his family.  McCandless discovered something that he did not know about his father, he was infidel to Chris’s mother, by discovering that Chris became like a whole new person, it had a great impact on McCandless’s life.  At first McCandless was all nice and stuff with his family but once he left no one heard from him again.

The significance I attach to the note left on the margins of Dr. Zhivago “Happiness only real when shared” as he neared the end of his life is that he felt like he did not shared enough time to spend with his family, his last days he spent them far way from them, he die by himself; alone without anybody there to be when he need it to. It was kind of ironic how McCandless left that note and he was not with his love ones to share happiness. He realizes that all the people that he met he did not have chance to say good-bye and at the end he did not spend time with his love ones.

Undertaking My Wings

ARC 2011 "The Paparooskies"


Day One
Weather 40°F 
Time 0500 hours
Location Sagehen Creek Field Station, Nevada

Tonight is a dark and calm night, the beautiful moon is out in the sky shining like never, there are lots of big tall trees surrounding the station, shadows running through the forest, the river current was all scandalous like if kids were playing inside of it. That was my first night out of my house, out of my bed, sleeping in an unknown place with strange people. The seconds passed, then the minutes, then the hours and finally the river stay calm, he was making a nice and relaxing sound like a lullaby, after staring at the roof, well actually there was no roof, it was like sleeping under the stars, finally the sound of the river lull me to sleep, at least for a couple hours before the beginning of the adventure...

Morning arrive, the sun was up already, the sky was cover in blue with some white spots, like if God put a blue blanket with little pieces of smooth white cotton over the sky, the little birds were whistling cheeseburger over and over again and at the same time they were flying & landing from tree to tree, you could even smell the freshly smell of wet land, and also the cleanest and fresh air you could ever breath in your life.

Red Code, State of Emergency

Blaming fast food restaurants, blaming parents...who's fault is it?

Future at Risk

Childhood obesity like climate change: Outlook is up in the air   

            "Obesity"  has  become  an  epidemic  among  Americans  childs  in  society,  affecting  approximately  13  million Americans  childs,  as  a  result  of  this  obesity  epidemic  is  putting   future  generations   on  a  high  risk  of  having  heart  dicease.  "Does  elevated  blood  pressure  in  a  child  put  her  at  risk  of  a  heart  attack  —  now  or  later?  If  a  chubby  child's  bad  cholesterol  numbers  revert  to  normal  as  she  grows  up  and  slims  down,  does  she  retain  a  greater-than-normal  likelihood  of  developing  cardiovascular  disease?  Will  the  abnormally  thickened  heart  muscle  of  an  obese,  sedentary  boy  correct  itself  if  he  becomes  a  veggie-chomping  gym  rat,  or  will  it  always  threaten  him  with  the  prospect  of  chest  pain,  shortness  of  breath  and  sudden  death?"  (Melissa Healy).  These  are  the  questions  many  people  might  be  wondering  about,  facts have  proved  that  todays  kids  are  having  weights  problems because  of the  fast food  restaurants and  the unhealthy  food  they consume  each  day.  Future  generations  might  not arrive  at  older  ages.

Childhood Obesity They Know the Solution, They Don't do Anything About It

Childhood Obesity 

Childhood obesity, a problem that society is facing knowing the solution but not doing anything.

"40-day Course @ the Wilderness, away from civilization"

For  my  personal  choice  I'm  going  to  pick  "40-day  Course  @  the  Wilderness,  away  from  civilization"  Last  summer  (2011)  I  got  the  chance  to  go  into  a  40 - Day  trip  at  the  wilderness.  I got  into  a program  that  gives  the  opportunity  to  students  like  me  to  go  into  summer  trips  and  experience  situations  where  they  put  themselves   into  challenges  they  never  could  think  of  one  day  doing  it,  also  this  trip  gives  a whole  transformation  to  its  participants throughout leadership  activities.

Getting the Work Done

This is the link of Going for the Look essay

The Story You’ll Never Know

Hey! This is Jop.  I'm a teen of 17 years old.  I'm from a beautiful little  town called Indaparapeo, Michoacán, Mexico.  I've been living almost all my life in Mexico (Best country in the whole world & the most delicious food you're ever eat) until my 14th birthday that my parents decided it be a good idea to move to the United States of America. Every immigrant comes to the U.S.A. looking for the American Dream.  When I first stepped on American territory I didn't know what was going on.  Recognizing my benefit at the age of 14 years old, without having any idea my brother, my sister and I went to school.  Strange people talking in strange languages.  They ask me who am I? Where I come from?  Forced to learn the language without knowing how much was left, like my mom always looking for the exit.  

I’m that type of girl that can be so hurt but can still look at you and smile.  The type of girl who is willing to brighten your day even if I can’t brighten my own.. I’m a down to earth girl when you get to know me, but at first I’m shy and timid.  I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle, but if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best…  I believe in staying true to my inner self, always keeping my head up high and standing up for myself.  My family is first the rest is secondary.  Material shits come and go through my life, it's better to never get attach to it.  Real friends are the one around when everyone else is gone.  I also think in order to have great friends I must first become one.  I have no regrets of my mistakes in fact that's what makes us humans.  The essential is to always learn from them.  Our journey on this earth is short so I cherish every single day and I breathe like it's the last one.  I love people who can make me laugh I am convinced laughter can cure a multitudes of ills.  Children make my heart melt like chocolate and I enjoy being around them.  I love my independence and have work hard to earn it.  But there's nothing you cannot do if you just put your mind into it.  That's the beauty of the will... Now the big question: What you think about love?? Well, I think love should be about respect, trust, patience, complicity, loyalty and appreciating your other half while you still with them.  I am also convinced that worrying about people in your past is wrong, because there's a main reason why they didn’t make it to your future.  If you need them back in your life, they'll come back.  You have exactly who you need right now, and destiny will put anyone you do or do not need where they should be.  My view on religion is simple: The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world by the way I am Catholic.  And last but not least haters: I think it's pathetic to see jealousy and envy in their eyes they obviously don’t have a life of their own so they badmouth or judge mine...there’s no place for unconfident and envious people in my life.  So that's it my sweets hope this gives you a little perspective of my complex personality.

-"I’m the author of my life;& Unfortunately I'mwriting in pen!"

"Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination"

I just finished reading “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination” and I am kind of familiar with this controversial situation going around the world.  Basically the article “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination” talks about stores and businesses hiring people by the way they look, by their appearance and especially by the “American style” and not for their knowledge and experience that is something that a business should look in the people they are hiring.  This article (“Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination”) contains a few examples of people trying to find a job that actually they have the experience and knowledge about the job tasks and they had been rejected because they do not fit in with the “classic American” style businesses and companies are looking for, just because those companies, businesses, stores, etc. think that by hiring persons that have good looking, good experience and have the “classic American” style customers are going to buy their products and their businesses’ sales are going to go up.  Sadly this is true, people buy things just because they see propaganda on TV or in the same stores, or even normal people with nice look, nice faces wearing clothes and shoes looking like models, like on the Billboards or Nuestra Belleza (Beauty Contest) they see the way clothes and shoes look on them and they like it so they buy those clothes and shoes thinking they are going to look just like them or even better.  No matter what the purpose think or do they always going to buy products because of the good convincible propaganda businesses make.  From my own point of view all this thing about the good looking is true.  In all the stores that I go there always white people working just because they qualify for the “classic American” style, but not all the stores, companies or businesses do the same thing as the other companies, some stores that I’ve been in like Levi’s, that is a store where the “classic American style” does not work, the employees in there are Mexicans Americans, Asian Americans , and some white people; but of course they have a good looking and actually they wear Levi’s products making the customers think that Levis’ products look good on every person that wears them.  Some businesses have diversity among their employees and that’s a very good thing because now in days businesses need to have some bilingual employees in any case a customer comes into the store or business and does not have the knowledge of English, also businesses should have on mind that having to hire employees with good looking but not having knowledge at all of the tasks that have to be done it can bring them a lot of problems with their business. Well-known stores are like a models’ foot-bridge, because you basically will find walking billboards around the store. The marketing world is very competitive because now every company has its own models, and people go to those stores where they will find the one who like them most. Now to convince someone to buy something is very easy, because the company just has to have an attractive representative wearing the products and that is it. Appearance is something that counts a lot in today’s world because you will get a job depending on how presentable you are. People will treat you based on your outward show.