by C.G May 31, 2007: Throughout my high school career I have devoted myself to improving my community and school. After finishing my post high school education, I plan to enter into governmental politics with a focus on humanitarian aid. To achieve this, I wish to create a non-profit organization to help students and community members in impoverished communities. The organization will work closely with the community members and schools within a certain radius. The program will focus on increasing students understanding of society in order for them to build the necessary skills for life and community development. Through the use of this program I wish to help develop a responsible, educated and moral society. Growing up in Watts has opened my eyes to some of the basic problems from an impoverished community.
In order to benefit from the programs resources, the student will have to participate in community service projects and attend a tutoring class once a week to track their progress. The program will provide college prep classes and workshops to build academic skills. Once a month, students will attend a class at a designated university to study Sociology.
You may ask yourself how will this help society? By promoting educational programs, volunteer opportunities, life skills and job opportunities, many skills are learned that could aid society as a whole. First, by providing educational programs students will become academically prepared for the rigors of college. Not only will the organization’s educational programs help the students succeed academically but they will also teach students about societal and humanitarian issues. The students will have learned the information and they will have gained in depth understanding of the issues and try to come up with solutions for them. For example currently with the war in Iraq, Middle Eastern individuals are portrayed as savages and, thus, they are discriminated against. If knowledge is power, then the understanding that the students and community members gain of the Middle Eastern Culture will empower them. Through the program they will learn of opportunities that can be utilized thanks to their education. The benefit of such pursuit will inspire the people to seek knowledge regarding political issues that may be occurring and encourage them to make a difference.
The next stop is to build morals which will come through volunteer opportunities. The various volunteer projects will take place in Watts and in other locations. This will allow students and community members to help in their own community and learn about others as well. The projects will range from feeding the homeless, to mentoring others. Such activities will build character and strengthen their morals, and make them humble towards society. One effective way people learn is through hands on experience. To provide a needed service to someone without getting paid and to really understand what this service means can only be achieved through the work itself. Volunteering has made such an impact in my life that I wish for other students to value this. Another way to build morals will be for the staff to place students in certain situations to test their judgment and morals.
To make responsible citizens I plan to create job opportunities for students and help get community members employed. Financial security is essential in order to survive. Without it, people may turn to violence, because crime is often the result of unemployment and poverty. Providing employment, for students and other members will learn the true value of money and time. It has been proven that when city youth are employed during the summer, crime rates are reduced. By committing to the program, students will learn responsibility by showing up and managing their resources. Members will learn then and conduct themselves as they need to. Providing jobs will help create more tax paying citizens, increasing tax revenue which can be used for public services and boost the economy.
The final skills that will be learned will be support for future life scenarios. This life skills lessons will encompass all of the projects stated above but will focus on students teaching their newly discovered their newly discovered skills to other people. As this community lives in an age of materialistic desire this neighbor always spends its money “out there” instead of keeping the funds within the community. The plan is for the students to reach out to the community and serve as an example. They will teach and show how things should be done. The classes that will be held will focus on buying a car, filing your own taxes, and shopping for a house. These are the types of skills that people in this community need. Now the people smart enough to find success in impoverished communities leave to go else where. What then? The goal is to increase education by involving the students and the community in various activities that will build skills and responsibility. To retain the knowledge in the community so a bank of knowledge and professions are built. To make the program more interesting some parts of the program will be ran by students. The purpose of this is to allow them to gain hands on experience in leadership and gain responsibility with managing paperwork and their time.
The program will allow both students and community members to be involved with their own progress. They will be in charge in how their community functions and brainstorm of what they can do socially and economically to make their home a better place. This is my dream to help communities rise out of their ashes and flourish by creating this program in order to make a responsible, educated and moral society.
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WASC Accreditation
