Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers

Final Exam

Antonisha Duncan

After watching the movie “Freedom Writers” I was almost in tears. The movie had an extreme impact on me. It was more like a confirmation that what the goals that I want to reach are not too far out of sight. Mrs. G in my eyes was and is a hero. She went into a school in which she would be one of the only minorities and made a huge impact. Despite the barrier that was between her and her students, she still conquered her goal. Which, was to show her students that no matter what their circumstances currently are, they are somebody. She realized that all kids cannot be taught the same way. Instead of giving up on them she found a common ground that would interest them. She went through great lengths to help get the kids the tools to learn. Mrs. G picked up part time jobs to help pay for the books that she could use to connect with her students. That right there speaks volumes. The average teacher will not do what she did to make sure her kids succeed. Reflecting back on the issues that the teens were dealing with, it definitely makes the text book become more alive. Although I cannot relate to the teenagers family life, I can relate to the violence and gang activity. Majority of the students in the movie lived in the “projects” with a lack of parental supervision. Some of the students parents/siblings were in prison, for crimes that they personally committed or someone they were with committed. It is sad to say that those teenagers became a product of their environment. They were living in what they considered a war. They really did not have a choice to not become involved in criminal acts because that is all that surrounded them. For them it was either stay connected to their own kind, or be killed. This is extremely sad but that is the society that we live in. When it comes to the kids growing up today, I am very hopeful for them. I believe that there is always for the youth. There are plenty of teachers that are just like Mrs. G. I believe the problem is, the lack of encouragement and positive energy that they are surrounded with outside of school is the issue. Teenagers that are fortunate to go to school where there is a teacher or positive role model in my eyes are closer to success than they think. All it takes in one person to cross their paths and their whole lives can be changed for the best. All they need to know is that somebody believes in them and knows that they can make it. So to sum it up yes I have a lot of hope for the youth in today’s society. After I graduation, my goal to be a juvenile parole officer and a teacher in the Detention Centers. I plan on going to the urban cities and helping the teenagers that truly need some encouragement and guidance. When I was a teenager myself and in my young adulthood, I would to go to the detention centers and volunteer my time. I was not the smartest kid out of the bunch but I used to help the juveniles with their homework. Then is where I realized that these kids really are not bad kids. They are kids that just really need some attention. The majority of those teenagers grew up in the projects where their parents were nowhere around or they were working two jobs to provide for them. Due to the lack of guidance and parental advisor they got themselves caught up in illegal activity, with the wrong people. Or they joined gangs because they felt that nobody cared about them. Then is when I realized that the only help that I wanted to become more involved with teenagers who have somehow lost hope or have found themselves in a bad spot. I want to take on the challenge of being the only minority in a room full of different ethnicities. I want to help guide these teenagers back on the right track. I feel as though, all they need to know is that they have somebody in their corner pushing them forward, and that has their back in the midst of hard times. I realize that I may not be able to save them all, but if I can reach 10 teenagers, those 10 can reach 100 and those 100 can reach 1,000. We have to start somewhere, and all it takes is for a group of individuals that has the desire to want to see teenagers succeed. Just like Mrs. G, I vow to be one of the individuals. Hear is a little piece of my story. When I first went to college in 2004 on a full ride basketball scholarship, I thought I had life figured out. I then dropped out and moved to Kansas from Illinois to be close to my then boyfriend and now my child’s father. Unbeknownst to me he was deeply involved in a gang. I was getting shot at every day. I had to move three times because my house was shot up. I was selling drugs, and just living the street life. I really did not know what I was really getting myself into while I was making those decisions. But, what I do know is, I was very fortunate. I had parents that never gave up on me and allowed for me to move back home so that I could get back on the right track. I also had a basketball coach that never gave up on me. He allowed me to come back to school on a scholarship and play basketball. Last year I graduated with my Associates and next year I will graduate with my Bachelors degree. I believe that I made it because of the individuals that never gave up on me. They pushed me and encouraged me to do better in life. This is why I have so much hope for the future. This is also why I want to give back to my community. The Community of East St. Louis

The city of East St. Louis consists of 28,996 residents. More than 3/4th of the city is consumed of low in-come housing, commonly known as the projects. This city has been known to have at least 30 murders every year. Half of those murders are committed by people that are 22 and younger. Those individuals have normally dropped out of school, and have begun to live the street life. Much like the school in Long Beach California this school also has many divisions as well considering that this city has so much low income housing to offer. The majority of the students are African American, but there is a hand full of white students. The majority of the division amongst the students takes place because of the many gangs that are in the city. East St. Louis only has one high school that, much like the school in Freedom Writers. Due to Budget cuts in the system there is no public transportation to take the kids to and from school. So due to a lack of income, and their parents not having cars they are walking to and from school. Some walk as many as twenty blocks to get to school. As a concerned individual of this community I would like to implement some programs that will help these youths on their paths to success.
The first program I want to start is a “House of Redeemers Educational Program”
This is a program based out of my church The House of Redeemers. In my church there are many educators ranging from elementary school to college. These educators will go to East. St. Louis High School and adopt a Graduating class. Elementary educators would adopt a elementary class. Jr. High School Educators would adopt a Jr. High School class and High School educators would adopt a High school class. College educators would adopt a College class.
In the movie Freedom writers Ava had to move to her aunt’s house because of the court case she was involved in. Due to the long trips to and from school the probability of them getting their homework done effectively was slim to none. So to help ensure that their homework gets done the educators of my church will volunteer their time to help further educate these students. These educators would go to their appropriate schools after school has let out and help these students with their homework. In most cases many of these students do not ask for help in the classroom if they do not understand the material being presented. Simply because they are embarrassed to ask questions for fear they may be made fun of. So this will assist them with their homework and help them to better understand the material.
Lastly, since this program is based out of a church, we will also give them some religious studies if they desire. We will offer transportation for them to come to our youth services on Wednesdays and Sundays. This will help them understand that they have people around them that are dealing with the same struggles. It offers a religious background that they may or may not be involved in. It also gives them a break from the rough environment that they are subjected to.

My goal is to build a recreation center in an urban city. So I would like to start an after school program that is based out of the center. It will be called the “Hope Center” This center will offer a range of activities for the kids to be involved in, from sports, to dance, to music. This center will be a free, and open to all ages. The main focus of this center is Education. In the environment that these kids live in, they have experienced the loss of many things. I am a firm believer that people can take many things away from you but they cannot take you knowledge and education away. So to start the program you have to start at Par 1. This level will consist of educational help, for the students who are not succeeding in class. They will come to the center after school and get assistance with their school work. Once they have gotten their grades up to passing levels they will be able to move up to Par 2. This level allows for them to participate in a recreation of their choice. They will only be able to participate in one of the activities that we offer and it will be for a certain amount of time.
After they have gotten their grades up to all B’s we will provide them more activities. When I child enters Par 3 this means that they have exhibited good behavior in school and out of school. They are not involved in criminal activities, gangs, or drugs. This is the highest level one can reach. At this level they will be able to be taken off campus and go on field trips that we sponsor. These field trips will include: Amusement Parks, Visits to Colleges, Camping, and trips to educational Museums.
In the movie Freedom Writers all those teenagers really knew were the streets. When they got out of school my assumption is that they were involved in criminal activities because they did not have anything else to do. My hope is to show these kids that once they have excelled in their school work they can do whatever they want to do. It takes hard work, dedication, and the desire to want to be successful. These kids need a place where they can go and be safe. They are surrounded by violence day in and day out. They are subjected to things that teenagers should not be subjected to. In my opinion as long as these kids are active and busy there will be very little time for them to get in trouble.

The next program that I would like to put in to place is a “Youth Internship Program”
In East St. Louis the community in consumed with a lot of families that are living in poverty. The majority of their parents do not have a stable job or a career. So this program will give these kids an insight on the many careers that are available to them. In this program we will partner up with different businesses and corporations. The individuals of these different career fields will team up with the juveniles and educate them on what that particular field consist of. Once they are fully educated on the different career fields they will go to work in that particular field for a week at a time. They will work side by side with their mentor and learn all the areas of that career. Once the week is over they will write a detailed essay on what they learned about that career. They will keep the essay in their portfolio that we have provided for them, so as they grow older they can look back at their portfolio. This program is in place in hopes to help them get an idea of what they want to be when they grow up. Many kids do not begin thinking about what they want to be until they are in college and have to pick an area of study. If they start looking at different career fields at an early age I believe that it will give them the courage to want to excel in school so they can reach their ultimate goal in life.

My last program that I want to start is one called “R.I.S.E. (Respect Integrity Success Excellance)” This program is only for juveniles that have been in trouble with the law, or been incarcerated in a detention center. Although most juveniles will have a probation or parole officer, I feel like they need more than that. These teens need to face the reality of the crime that they have committed and face the victim of their crime. This program will not allow murders, because I do not feel as though this will help the victim at all. This program will allow for them to meet with their victim and discuss the reason for committing the crime. They will also partner up with their victim and discuss how they can make them whole from the crime that they have committed. I personally feel that these juveniles are living with a sense of guilt that will hinder them from overcoming there crime.
In this program they will have to do some community service to restore the community. I also believe that when you are able to talk about your wrongdoings you are able to get over them. So this program will allow for these juveniles to go to different schools and other youth facilities and talk about what it is like to be in the system. Hopefully this will help deter other youths from going down the wrong path. It has been in my experience that juveniles do not listen to adults, but they listen to their peers. So hopefully that will help the other youth of society.
The last stage in this program will be helping the juveniles get ready to return to society. The successors will help them get into jobs that will help them stay away from criminal activities. They will also help teach them respect, integrity, and excellence. Most teens in the system have learned these simple elements to life. It is my hope that they will be able to grasp on to these key elements. Once an individual has learned these key elements they will be able to take on the world. They will strive to be their best, learn how to respect others, and they will learn that integrity is the key to a person success.