So I cannot figure out how to change the email over. This will be my last post ever because I am graduating from high school and therefore I will lose access.
Thank you, internet. I'll be around.
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The Girl with Seven Names is Hyeonseo Lee's autobiography. She tells you how her parents met, and how life was like growing up in North Korea. She saw a man get hanged under a bridge at age seven. Her dog got run over by a car, her dad commited suicide in the hospital. She saw people get shot at the airport, and their family had to sit in the front row. She crossed the Yalu River at age seventeen, right before it would be illegal for her to do so. She enters China and goes to stay with her aunt and uncle, who escaped right before the Korean War. Her uncle tells her everything she learned in school was fake. Kim Il Sung wasn't even born on Mount Paektu, he was born in Siberia. Her uncle and aunt try to set her up with a man named Geunsoo, but all he does is play video games. She moves to a different part of China and ends up working at a male hair salon that isn't really a hair salon. She goes to another different part of China and gets a job at a restaurant. She now begins thinking about going to South Korea. The police come and interrogate her about being North Korean. Her Mandarin is good enough that she passes and is set free. Had she failed, she would be sent back to North Korea. Then, someone hits her in the back of her head, and she blacks out. She was hit in the head with a one liter bottle of beer. She begins dating a policeman named Jinsu. He rounds up North Koreans and sends them back so she breaks up with him. She tried to get a connection back to her family but that gets her involved in a gang. The story keeps going, seriously, we're only 1/3 the way through. But basically, more stuff happens, she ends up in Seoul, South Korea. She wants her mom and brother to come over, but Minho (her brother) has a girlfriend who's mom is in the bowibu (secret police). Once Minho and their mom got over the border, Minho couldn't go back. Their journey is much tougher, but shorter than Hyeonseo's. Her family doesn't know Mandarin, so it is tough for them to get around. Hyeonseo sends them to Laos, and they get stuck in a Laotian prison because the broker that had to take them over went as far as he could. So, Hyeonseo has to work with the South Korean embassy, who wasn't being too helpful. She gets them out of prison, but doesn't have enough money to get them plane tickets. Dick Stolp helps her, and gives her lots of money. Hyeonseo is able to get back to South Korea, but has to wait awhile before she can see her family again. She reunites with them, helps them get settled, and teaches her mom about high fives. Hyeonseo meets her future husband, Brian Gleason in a bar. They date. Brian proposes. Hyeonseo asks her mom for her blessing. In the epilogue it talks about them going to the US for the wedding. Her mom orders a coffee in English. The end. If you want all the details, and all seven names, just go read the book. Here's the Amazon link. It's free with Audible.
)So, this book matters because it tells the story of what North Korea is really like. Had Hyeonseo, or Yeonmi or any other defector not written their books or told their stories, we wouldn't know what life was like inside the Hermit Kingdom. We would be believing that everyone lives like how it is like in Pyongyang, for the elites. I guess the most valuable idea from the book that I got, was that the world isn't always as it seems. Hyeonseo grows up believing her country is the best in the world, that others are living in poverty. Though, later in the book, at the time of the famine, it is shown that they aren't really the best. Though that doesn't change her opinion right then. I believe it starts then, though. Here is when Hyeonseo believes North Korea is the best, "This was a very happy time for me. We were the children of Kim Il Sung, and that made us children of the greatest nation on earth. We sang songs about the village of his birth, Mangyongdae, performing a little dance and putting our hands in the air on the word 'Mangyongdae'. His birthday, on 15 April, was the Day of the Sun, and our country was the Land of the Eternal Sun." (Lee, 22). Here is when her uncle tells her the truth about everything, "'You know all the history they teach you at school is a lie?' This was his opening shot. He started counting off all the fallacies he said I'd been taught. He said that at the end of the Second World War the Japanese had not been defeated by Kim Il-sung's military genius. They'd been driven out by the Soviet Red Army, which had installed Kim Il-sung in power. There had been no 'Revolution'. I had never before heard my country being criticized. I thought he'd gone crazy. 'And they taught you the South started the Korean War, didn't they? Well, here's some news for you. It was the North that invaded the South, and Kim Il-sung would have lost badly to the Yankees if China hadn't stepped in to save his arse.' Now I knew he'd gone crazy. 'Were you shown the little wooden cabin on Mount Paektu where Kim Jong-il was born?' His tone was heavy with sarcasm. 'It's a complete myth. He wasn't even born in Korea. He was born in Siberia, where his father was serving with the Red Army.' He could see from my face that I did not believe a word of this. He might as well have been telling me the earth was flat. 'He's not even a communist.' My uncle had worked himself up into a rage. 'He lives in palaces and beach condos, with brigades of pleasure girls. He drinks fine cognacs and eats Swiss cheeses - while his people go hungry. His only believe is in power.' This rant was making me uncomfortable. At home we never mentioned the personal lives of the Leaders. Ever. Any such talk was 'gossip' and highly dangerous... What my uncle said about my country had a depressing and repelling effect on me. I did not want to know." (Lee, 107-108, 109). Here is a part at the end that shows Hyeonseo's full change, "I started thinking deeply about human rights. One of the main reasons that distinctions between oppressor and victim and blurred in North Korea is that no one there has any concept of rights. To know that your rights are being abused, or that you are abusing someone else's, you first have to know that you have them, and what they are. But with no comparative information about societies elsewhere in the world, such awareness in North Korea cannot exist. This is also why most people escape because they're hungry or in trouble - not because they're craving liberty. Many defectors hiding in China even baulk at the idea of going to South Korea - they'd see it as a betrayal of their country and the legacy of the Great Leader. If the North Korean people acquired an awareness of their rights, of individual freedoms and democracy, the game would be up for the regime in Pyongyang. The people would realize that full human rights are exercised and enjoyed by one person only - the ruling Kim. He is the only figure in North Korea who exercises freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, his right not to be tortured, imprisoned, or executed without trial, and his right to proper healthcare and food." (Lee, 288-289) As you can see, the world wasn't how Hyeonseo believed it to be. It was good, kind of, but her country was far from the best. Had this book not been written, had no defector said what it was like, we wouldn't know about the true North Korea. This book is still valuable today because of recent events at the DMZ, with Moon and Kim meeting, what could this mean for the North Korean people? With the peace talks, we still must remember what is going on in the North, or what was going on. Until the North Koreans know what the world is actually like and learn their true history, the rest of us mustn't fall for the propaganda. So, that's what. We must not forget about North Korea and what went on/is going on until peace is reached. Even then, we mustn't forget.
Here's a sing-along version of Mangyongdae.
If you want to do what Hyeonseo did, put your hands in the air whenever you see "만경대" on screen. Transliteration and Google translation of lyrics will be posted soon.
***UPDATED: 4.27.18 @ 8.30p -- When I had first posted this, the meeting between President Moon and Supreme Leader Kim hadn't yet begun. But hours later, it did. So, I'm updating the post to fit it so. I will still leave the original post below, but I am adding the connection in regards to the meeting here.***
So; what exactly happened yesterday night and this morning? Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Moon Jae In of South Korea met. They discussed ending the Korean War. The Korean War never officially ended, it's still in a ceasefire. But, the leaders of the two Koreas want to change that. Also, Kim might be leaning towards denuclearization of his side of the peninsula! Yesterday night (4.26.18, our time: around 8pm), Kim Jong Un crossed over the DMZ border to meet Moon Jae In. Had Hyeonseo tried to escape that way, she would've been shot and her family been sent to prison camps. A LEADER OF NORTH KOREA ENTERED INTO SOUTH KOREA!
They talked for a very long time, around seven or eight hours, if I remember correctly. Anyway, this is crazy! This even happening would've been unheard of in Hyeonseo's time. North Koreans were taught that South Korean kids pick through the dirt for food. Now, their own Dear Leader is crossing the border. To talk about peace! The two Koreas are making agreements, and plan to end the Korean War, this year! There are soldiers of both sides of the border, everyday, staring at one another. If peace were to come about on the peninsula, just think of the things that could happen! Maybe reunification won't happen since the two Koreas are now very culturally different. But what if North Koreans could go South, and Southerners to the North! They could learn a bit about the world outside their hermit kingdom. In the book, Hyeonseo's mom didn't know what high fives were, she thought it was the salute of the youth league. Maybe high fives could make it to South Korea. Maybe if Korea gets the Olympics again, they would sing the Arirang (unofficial anthem of Korea, very popular folk song, has an affect on Koreans young and old.) This could mean a lot for the future. As for the American side of things, Mr. Trump believes that a meeting with Kim Jong Un is imminent. Though, I believe that the US should just stay out of this one, it seems that Korea has got it under control.
Now, how it relates to the book. Well, briefly, the book is about the author escaping North Korea and going South through China, with her mother and brother having to go through Laos, a much more difficult route. As I stated before, peace talks such as these were not even a figment of the imagination of the North Korean people. Their class system is based off of how your family was before the Korean War, for goodness sake, so they were still a tad bit salty about the whole issue, although they invaded the South. This is truly history in the making. We might see a reunified Korea in our lifetime! Kim Jong Un, although still keeping his citizens under a skewed view of the world, is doing a much better job than his father or grandfather, who started a famine, and the latter who made North Korea what it is today. _________________________________________________________________ Keep reading if you want to see the original version of this post and some cool videos! Sorry if my writing seemed a bit excited, I just really am, this is crazy historical! Have a nice day, I will continue to update you all on the issues and events as they arise. **NEWS UPDATE 4.29.18** Kim Jong Un said he will denuclearize if the US does not attack North Korea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The book I am reading is The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee. It is Hyeonseo's autobiography, though she is still alive today. The book is pretty heavy content wise, so here's a quick summary of each part of the book. Part 1, The Greatest Nation on Earth: Hyeonseo's childhood and growing up. Also the story of how her parents met, got split up, and finally married. She learns all the propaganda, and sees multiple public executions. Part 2, To the Heart of the Dragon: Crossing the border into China, getting to South Korea. She almost gets caught, and works at a barber shop that isn't really a barber shop. She gets set up with Geunsoo, but doesn't really like him. All the propaganda she was taught in school is revealed to be false. Part 3, Journey into Darkness: Getting comfortable in South Korea, bringing her mother and brother over. She also meets two people of European descent, Dick Stolp (who helped her family so much, I'll link their reunion down below) and her future husband, Brian. Minho (her brother) also learns English, and so does Hyeonseo. ***If you would like me to post a full summary then please let me know in the comments below! The book is just a lot to summarize in full. If I do a full summary, it will be in a Google Doc, which you can view here. The summary might not be finished by the time this is posted, but it will be completed eventually. ***If you want a summary of Hyeonseo's story but not the book, check out the Historical Connections blog post (keep scrolling), and watch her TED talk, I highly recommend it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now, for the actual current day connection. I'll do something a little lighter, turning off the propaganda at the DMZ (demilitarized zone/38th parallel). So, when Hyeonseo was growing up in Hyesan, there was no mention of South Korean propaganda. Most likely because Hyesan borders China instead. Had she lived in Kaesong, she might've heard something. So, why is South Korea turning off the music? (Yes, they play music into North Korea, among anti-Kim sayings, and the weather). They are turning it off because soon, Jong-un Kim, Jae-in Moon, and Donald Trump will be meeting. In 2015 there was actually gunfire threatened by the North because of all the messages. So, the government is turning off their music, but other anti North Korean groups are not. The other groups are sending balloons into North Korea, filled with dollar bills, anti-Kim propaganda, western movies, and more. They have been asked to stop by the South Korean government, so that the meeting with North Korea will be peaceful. Also, North Korea has been putting propaganda of their own into South Korea, but I have yet to find videos of that. North and South Korea had a joint concert back in April, called Spring Comes. Ok, so, how does this relate to Hyeonseo's story? Well, when she was growing up, reunification wasn't really on the table, not even peace talks. In school, they were taught that it was South Korea's fault for the Korean War, and that South Korean children aren't well fed. That the rest of the world was poor, and that North Korea is the greatest country in the world. Today, they still teach similar things, but, now it seems reunification, or at least peace between the Koreas, might be coming. North Koreans probably have no idea about the peace talks, but they might happen. I know that Kim Jong-un's sister went to the Olympics in Pyeongchang, and that she and President Moon were polite to each other. The two Koreas even walked under a unified flag, but the North Korean athletes were kept under strict supervision as to prevent defection. As said in the article, the border loudspeakers have been there for ages, and that they are getting turned off, that's a big deal! When Hyeonseo first arrived in Seoul, North Koreans weren't treated very nicely, they were seen as outsiders, such as Korean-Americans, or foreigners. It is often hard for them to adjust to life in Seoul, and for those in Seoul to be nice to them. But now, there's all this progress, such as a show called "On My Way to Meet You", a show whose cast is primarily defectors, and they talk about North Korean things. On a popular show called "Hello Counselor", a North Korean defector came on, and once he told people where he was from, they talked down to him and treated him differently. His episode helped bring light to the issues faced by defectors. In conclusion, these events between North and South Korea are very progressive as compared to the 90s. There could be an older Korean person who was born before the Korean War, lived through it, and could be alive today to see what is happening. Hyeonseo herself even met President Trump herself. A North Korean defector met the President of the United States. So, these events show how far we have come since Hyeonseo was in North Korea, and left. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some videos, hopefully it'll give you a better understanding of the issue. Also, I hope at least one of the videos will make you smile. Here is the article I mainly used for the post. Here is Hyeonseo's Twitter, Instagram, and website. Once the meeting happens between the leaders, I will update you all here if you are interested in the issue. I also highly recommend that you read Hyeonseo's book for a complete understanding of everything she has been through. The way she describes thing can be a bit sad, she was only a little girl when she saw her first public execution. She saw a man get hanged on a bridge, then his body thrown on a truck. Later, she also saw people get shot in the head as a public execution. Their family had to sit in the front row. Her dog got run over by a car, then her dad commited suicide in the hospital. She has been through so, so much. Rundown of the videos: 1. The "Hello Counselor" clip mentioned in the post. 2. Dick and Hyeonseo's reunion (this video is actually mentioned in the book's epilogue.) 3. Report on non-government propaganda balloons going into North Korea. 4. Report on the joint North/South pop concert. (Interestingly- when the concert aired on N. Korean TV, some of the southern performances were edited out.) 5. North Korean propaganda song about reunification (from the mid '90s). 6. Another North Korean propaganda song about reunification (from the mid '90s.) 7. South Korean loudspeaker broadcast going into North Korea, featuring the weather, some news, and a Girl's Generation song. 8. The aforementioned Girl's Generation song :).
The book I am reading is "The Girl with Seven Names" by Hyeonseo Lee.
It is an autobiography of sorts by the author. It starts with her parents meeting, and goes through her leaving North Korea, and ends at her getting her mother's blessing for marriage. (Hyeonseo is still alive today). There are a lot of historical events that take place in the background of the book, such as the North Korean Famine/ the Arduous March, the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il being put into power, and, although it isn't super historical, the mass amounts of defectors getting caught at the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I'll mainly focus on the famine and the death of Kim Il-sung. Part 1: First up, the death of Kim Il-Sung. July 8th, 1994. At this point in the book, this is the big historical event going on. For all North Koreans, this was a big deal. The country was in mourning. Kim possessed an almost god-like status among the people, and him being dead, well, their world stopped. "Kim Il-sung, the Great Leader, the father of our nation, was dead. The announcement made on the radio was equally dramatic: 'The great heart has stopped beating'." (Lee, 71) This event in the book was how Hyeonseo heard it in real life, she was going to a friend's house, and Ri Chun-hee was announcing the death on TV. At the time, Hyeonseo was just as sad as the rest of her peers. She mostly believed what the Party was telling her, but she was still like the other North Koreans. (The captions in the below video are in Japanese, but you can just ignore them. Sorry about the video quality, it's from 1994.)
Part 2:
Next up, the famine. Below, you will see two videos. One is Hyeonseo's TED talk and the other is a song she mentions in the video. In the book, the famine begins a few chapters after the death of Kim Il-sung, which is accurate. Kim died in July 8, 1994. The famine lasted from 1994-1998. Hyeonseo mentions it was 1995, and she also starts talking about the famine. Hyeonseo's family was fairly well off due to their songbun (the class system), but people were starving in the streets. The government "let them" eat two meals a day, though, it was mainly because the Russian government had stopped paying North Korea, so the government couldn't give rations to the people. It is quite sad how she describes it in the book. "A few days later, I witnessed famine for the first time. I was at the market outside Wiyeon Station in Hyesan and saw a woman lying on her side on the ground with a baby in her arms. She was young, in her twenties. The baby, a boy, was about two years old, and staring at his mother. They were pale and skeletal, and dressed in rags. The woman's faced was caked with filth and her hair badly matted. She looked sick. To my astonishment people were walking past her and the baby as if they were invisible." (Lee, 80) So, as you can see, Hyeonseo is seeing the famine first hand. At the time, she was only a teenager! She thought that it was so sad, and terrifying. She mentions the "let us eat two meals a day" campaign, but I can't find the quote for it. Poorer North Koreans were experiencing this famine, eating corn cake (a.k.a the poor man's cake), suffering in the streets. But they didn't know why. They still thought they were the best country in the world, and had nothing to envy. "A shadow began to fall across Hyesan. Beggars were appearing everywhere, especially around the markets. This was a sight I'd never seen in our country before. There were vagrant children, too. At first, only in twos and threes, but soon many of them, migrating to Hyesan from the countryside. Their parents had perished of hunger, leaving them to fend for themselves, without relatives. They were nicknamed kotchebi ('flowering swallows') and, like birds, they seemed to gather in flocks. One of their survival tricks was to distract a market vendor while accomplices snatched the food and ran off. In a horrible twist of irony they were regularly seem scavenging in the dirt for grains, peel or gristle - exactly how we'd been told the children in South Korea lived." (Lee, 81) Imagine that. Homeless kids, picking through the dirt, and that's how they thought kids in South Korea lived. Poor Hyeonseo. At this point, she wasn't really buying all the propaganda, but I bet some people were. Also, now, kotchebi has become the name for North Korean homeless kids in general, but they're not allowed to use the word or mention them whatsoever in media. In the eyes of the government, they are still trying to show the perfect country to their people, but I doubt some of them are buying it now. ... I think I answered the questions in the post itself, but in case you couldn't find them, here they are straightforward, and not very beefy answers for some of them, but you can find evidence in the main part of the post. a. What was historically happening in the country where your book takes place? Part 1: The death of Kim Il-sung. Part 2: The North Korean Famine (known in North Korea as the Arduous March or The March of Suffering) b. How do the events in the book compare to the real-life historical events? 1: This was the real-life historical event, told from the perspective of a young girl, from her perspective, the funeral, and the news reports. 2: Again, it was the real-life event, just from Hyeonseo's perspective. Seeing an almost dead mother laying on the ground, seeing kids picking through the dirt. It was all real. c. What perspective or point of view did the people of that country have on the conflict? What perspective do the characters in your book have? 1: In terms of feelings? Well, they had to be sad, for their safety. Had they not cried enough, they would've been ridiculed in front of the class. They couldn't have any other perspective, politically or emotionally. Hyeonseo had to fake some tears, but she was still sad. Kim Il-sung was the only leader these people knew. Some thought he couldn't die. 2: They most likely had to ignore it. Starving was known, but like the experience Hyeonseo had with the mom and baby, people acted as if they were invisible. Hyeonseo, however, wanted to help them instead of ignoring them. d. What other connections are made between your book and the historical events of your conflict? 1&2: Well, I'm not quite sure. Hyeonseo was living through both of these events. Is she a connection? She experienced both of them, and knows what they were like, firsthand. She was there, she lived through it.
Below, you will find some North Korean propaganda posters with the captions Google translated by yours truly. They aren't directly related to Kim Il-sung's death or the famine, but I think you might find them interesting to look at.
I'll add more posters as I can, the translating just takes awhile because I don't know how to copy and paste words from the picture, and I don't have the Korean keyboard memorized yet. Enjoy! **Click on the pictures for where they came from.**
"Misery and rhythm- let's drive the US invaders!"
"Everyone goes through soldier days!"
Yeah... not very accurate. One translation somewhere else said "Let them be soldiers!" or something like that.
"The Great Leader Kim Il Sung is with us forever."
Introduction Our issue is the lack of mentors in our community, specifically for low-income children in Wake County. There are 46 Title One schools in Wake County. In Title One schools, 40% of the population are low income kids. “The Title I program in Wake County provides supplementary instructional support in the areas of reading and math. Schools qualify for Title I funding by demonstrating economic need among its population”. (Wake County, 2016) We are interested in this topic because we want all kids to meet the high academic standards, after all it is not fair for the low income kids. We are also interested in this issue because we believe that everyone should have the same opportunities. We want everyone to be successful for the greater good. With mentoring, everyone can have the same chance. That is, as long as mentors are accessible and affordable for the families who need it most. We are recommending that other people in our community should help the kids that need help to meet the school standards. It is helpful that all kids in the school can meet the school standards because it will be part of developing the school and the learning skills of the students. Having mentors would also help the children become more prepared for life. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2017) You should care about this issue because what if, one day, your kid is the one that is falling behind, or if you see a classmate struggling because they have no mentor or no tutor. What if in university, you need a tutor, and there are none available to help you. This is a problem. We don’t want to leave others behind just because of the lack of resources which they cannot do anything about it. Discussion of the Issue Every day students in Wake County fall behind on schoolwork due to a lack of role models in their life. We believe that it is important for every child to have an important adult or mentor in their life to look up to. This issue affects parents, students and the community around us. Students lacking a role model has been an issue in Wake County for a very long time. Students are being valued less and less each year (Beller, 2016). According to the Public Schools First North Carolina Organization students in Wake County Public Schools are not getting full attention through education. This leaves them falling behind and needing tutoring and help with school work.“In 2016, 31% of third graders in Wake County were not reading at grade-level,” (WakeEd Partnership, 2017). This statistic quote shows that students (especially third graders) are below grade level in reading. This mentor issue could be struggling with school therefore falling behind in schoolwork or it could be struggling with family problems and at home problems also affecting their schoolwork.With our plan of reading to third graders at Stough Elementary we are hoping to decrease this percentage. Students without a role model or a mentor is a problem in Wake County because it affects the way our community reflects on other communities or counties. This can affect how our community grows and becomes a better society. As you can see the lack of mentors is causing many different problems in Wake County. These problems are affecting our community to react in such ways. For instance when a student does not have a good role model who influences them they fall behind in schoolwork. This causes the school board to decrease in education levels. This then causes the county to look bad in comparison to other school boards in communities. If this issue is not taken care of in an efficient way it could cause our community to not be successful. With our school system being the largest school district in the state, (Hui, 2016), it is important that the students are successful as they will play a big part in the future of our state. Discussion of Solutions There are many different programs in Wake County that help children with lack of mentorship, or with tutoring. One organization has two programs, the YMCA. They have Y-Learning for tutoring and Community HOPE for mentoring. Community HOPE is targeted towards the children that live in affordable housing. They meet throughout the school year. Community HOPE is for kids K-12. (YMCA, 2018) Y-Learning, the other YMCA program, wants to “bridge the educational gap”. Y-Learning is for elementary-aged children. Unlike Community HOPE, the focus of Y-Learning is tutoring, rather than mentoring. It is one teacher for every six kids. (YMCA, 2018) Another program is WakeEd Partners Read, which puts mentors in 1st and 2nd grade classes to help kids read on grade level by third grade, because, according to their website, “can change a child’s life”. They also want to help fill the home libraries of many kids. (WakeEd Partnership, 2018) One that you might know is Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle. An organization that pairs people 18 and up with kids. The “Bigs” are regular people, and so are the “Littles”. According to a study done by Public/Private Ventures, after 18 months with their “Bigs”, “Littles” were 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27% less likely to begin using alcohol, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less likely to skip a class, and 33% less likely to hit someone in comparison to those not in the program. It was also found that “Littles” were more confident in school work, and got along better with their families. (Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle, 2017) There is still a need for mentoring in our community because in 2015 49% of North Carolina children lived in low income families. If these organizations and our day of service do something, hopefully we can decrease this percentage, if it has already hopefully fallen over 3 years. (National Center for Children in Poverty, 2017 It isn’t good that almost half of the children in North Carolina live in low income families, the number needs to drop and we can be apart of the change. For comparison, the national average is 43%. The average of one state should not be bigger than the 49 other states combined. If we don’t do anything the average will begin to climb. A lot of these organizations have volunteers who do the majority of the helping, so if you fit the target age, then you can be apart of the solution. But the main way people are helping are through these organizations, by volunteering and directly helping the kids. If you want to help indirectly, you can donate to these organizations as well. Conclusion Our plan to help this issue in Wake County is to go to Stough Elementary to read to 2nd and 3rd graders, and to give fifth graders advice about 8th grade. There will be about twenty students volunteering and two chaperones. We will meet at Martin around 9:00 AM in the lobby. Everyone will get on one bus and leave at about 9:10, we will arrive around 9:20. When we get to Stough Elementary school we will split into two groups. We will transition and set up from 9:30-9:40. The first group will be talking to fifth graders about social problems in middle school such as, making new friends, lunch, school events etc. We will also be playing a few games and icebreakers with the students at the beginning to get to know everyone and to make the students feel comfortable with the volunteers. The second group will be reading to 2nd graders. They will ask the students questions such as, “Who are the characters?” “What is the setting?” and more questions based on the book. After we read the book we will give the students an option of retelling the story in their own way by either acting it out, drawing it out, or telling the story in their own words. At 10:45 the groups will switch tasks. The second group will talk to the fifth graders about academic work such as electives, homework, grading, etc. The first group will be doing the same thing the second group did when they read to the 2nd graders but will ask them more advanced questions about the book, and they will be reading to 3rd graders. We will leave around 12:30. Some requirements that the volunteers need to keep in mind is to be good role models for the students you are working with, be responsible and have a good behavior. We need to make sure the volunteers are energetic and positive when working, especially with children. The volunteers need to work well with children and enjoy being around them. Another requirement is to make sure the volunteers know the information they are giving to the fifth graders and be prepared to answer questions. Our goal for this project is to provide more understanding to the children so that they feel more prepared about eighth grade and reading. This project should be picked because many children do not have mentors/role models at home. Usually kids are scared to go to middle school, because all they’ve known is elementary school. Middle school can be a very big change for a lot of them, especially if they aren’t well prepared for the stress and responsibilities that come with it. Middle school can be very different than elementary school and there can be changes that students might not be used to in their new schools. Many students don't have a role model to look up to so therefore students are falling behind in their school work and are struggling to get an education Works Cited Beller, Kristin. “Schools Our Students Deserve: Per Pupil Spending is Everything.” Public Schools First NC Supporting Public Schools through information, education, and engagement. 24 January, 2018 <https://www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org/ red4ed-teacher-forum/schools-our-students -deserve-per-p upil-spending-iseverything> Hui, T. Keung. “Wake County school system seeing fewer new students than expected.” The News & Observer. 09 December, 2015. 24 January, 2018 <http://www.newsobserver.com/news/ local/education/. article48670670.html> Hui, T.Keung.”Wake County is now the 15th largest school district in the country.”News & Observer. 2016.24 Jan 2018<http://www.newsobserver.com /news/local/education/article122995664.html> Moziru.”Puzzle Clip Art Hand ”.Pin Art.2018. 31Jan2018<http://moziru.com/explore/Puzzle%20clipart%20hand/> Stephens, Henry.”How to Deal with Students Frustrated at their Slow Progress.”The Teachers Handbook.2008. 31 Jan 2018.<https://www.listenandlearn.org/the-teachers-handbook /how-to-deal-with-students-frustrated-at-their-slow-progress/> University of Nebraska-Lincoln.”Why mentoring is important.” University of Nebraska-Lincoln.2017.24 Jan 2018<https://.www.unl.edu/mentoring/ why-mentoring-important> Wake County Public School System.”Title I.”Wake County Public School.2018.24 Jan 2018<https://www.wcpss .net/domain/110> WakeEd Partnership. “Partners Read”. WakeEd Partnership. 2018.24 January 2018. <http://www.wakeed.org/programs/early-literacy/> YMCA. ”Community HOPE.”YMCA of the Triangle. 2018. 24 Jan 2018.<https://www.ymcatriangle .org/programs-services/tutoring/community-hope> YMCA.”Y- Learning.” YMCA of the Triangle. 2018. 24 January 2018. <https://www.ymcatriangle.org/ programs-services/tutoring/y-learning> North Carolina has a plan to turn around its struggling schools: the Innovative School District. As of September 7, 2017, there are 47 schools in the district. It is a group of schools which are advised by someone not involved with NC Public Schools. A problem that came up recently with the ISD is with Southside Ashpole Elementary School in Robeson County. They had to make a decision, they could either close the school or turn it over to the ISD. The Robeson School Board decided not to close it for the good of the children. This relates to our community because it has to do with the state of North Carolina, also known as the state we are all in right now. What if one of the schools you were to go to was one of the ISD schools? I am interested in this topic because I believe that no school should be underperforming, that a child’s level of education shouldn’t vary depending on the school. I think that when they say “underperforming” they probably mean in terms of standardized test scores. People in our community (that being the students in the schools of North Carolina) are affected by this issue because they might experience sudden changes if their school ever becomes a part of the Innovative School District, and they might not know if these changes are good or are bad. Others should care about this issue because they might end up to going to one of these schools, or their current school might become one of them. They should care about their peers. Now, here’s what I think we could do. I think that maybe instead of having something else run the school district, perhaps not have the performance of the school be based on standardized test grades. Or, to see if maybe it is just a test problem (since some people just circle and bubble whatever and don’t take it seriously) maybe NC could take away standardized testing for awhile at these schools (or just chunk them up into little, period long tests) so that they aren’t as big. Then they could see whether these schools need to be whipped back up into shape. You can’t really judge a school by their test scores. Another option could be to send the students from these schools to other schools, and send students from high performing schools to ISD schools to see whether it is the student or the teacher. So, I don’t think there is a whole lot we could do about this issue, maybe we could have the School Board take the EOGs and see what grades they get (just kidding). What are your thoughts on this issue? Let me know in the comments and I will reply. Here are some links if you want to read more about the ISD or Southside Ashpole Elementary: List of schools in the Innovative School District About the Innovative School District Older article about Southside Ashpole ES and the ISD (Originally posted Nov. 7 2017, updated Jan. 10 2018) More recent article about Southside Ashpole ES and the ISD (posted Jan. 10)wunc.org/post/robeson-county-schools-votes-turn-over-elementary-innovative-school-district#stream/0 I couldn't get it to link properly for some reason, sorry! https://www.robeson.k12.nc.us/saes Southside Ashpole ES website (again, couldn't get it to link properly) I believe that languages can connect and isolate people.
One day, sometime in the middle of October, my mom and I went to a frozen yogurt shop called “Yopop”. It was quiet, as usual, with just the hum of the machines and smell of frozen yogurt filling the air. I filled up my cup with the flavors I usually get, and put on the toppings. I put my cup onto the scale, and my mom attempted to make conversation with the cashier, as she normally does. But this time was different, as it wasn’t the usual cashier, neither the young girl or the older woman, this time it was an older man. He was quiet, and didn’t initiate a conversation, so my mom asked him where he was from, he replied proudly, and said he was from Korea. My mom asked how long he had been here, and he said about eight months. She then inquired if he liked it here, and he replied with a frown and the shake of his head, “No,” he said, “I prefer my country. My son is at the university,” he motioned with his hand behind him, “I am staying until he is finished.” Time passed, my yogurt slightly melted. I stood there quietly while the two talked, wondering if his son would stay and he would go back home, or if the two would go back together. My mom then said cheerfully, “Have a nice day!” and the man looked at her with confusion. My mom explained the phrase piece by piece, yet the cashier gave her a blank look, she then proceeded, and somewhat succeeded, with teaching him the phrase. She turned to me and asked me if I knew how to say have a nice day in Korean, which I did not. I squished up my face and mumbled, “Well… not exactly… I… uh… know how to say thank you, though,” looking down at my feet. My mom turned back and smiled at the man, I thought that she could’ve pulled out her phone and googled how to say it. The battle between languages continued until another customer wandered into the store, so it went on for a few minutes. My mom said, “Good night!” or another farewell to the man. I smiled an awkward smile, and the man leaned over the counter and smiled, “You too.” We walked out of the store and to the car, and I began eating my frozen yogurt. I thought about the wall of language that was dividing us from the man. If we had been able to communicate with him in Korean, would that have made him happy? He was the only one in the store all alone, in a country he wasn’t too fond of. I don’t want people to be in the position of the man, nor my mom and I. I want everyone to be connected somehow, this is why I believe that languages have the ability to connect or isolate people. |
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June 2022
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