Justin Rusthoven
I chose this topic for our project because all my life my my mom has been a life skills teacher and being surrounded by these kids has given me a different way to look into the problems they face. At home my mom tells me about the struggles she has to go through daily. After constantly listening to the problems she faced I asked why nothing ever changed, her response was that AISD did not even know her school had the life skills department so there was no funding at all. Hearing this I did some research and found out that many schools lack funding for their special needs departments. This made no sense to me because personally I feel more funding should go to the kids that require more personal needs. I want to be able to do everything I can to help out with these kids because they deserve the best because though they may think differently don't we all think differently, and putting them below us by not funding them is just not fair.
Charlie Kuykendall
I sat in the classroom with my group members discussing the possible issues with two of my peers. From the prominent issues of roadside pollution, helping the homeless, and helping animal shelters flowed through my mind without any real connection or passion, one issue stuck in my mind and sparked a true discussion. As soon as the topic was written down as a possibility, the entire group knew this was the issue that we wanted to address the most.
My interest in this topic was fueled by my past experiences helping children with special needs. Hours upon hours of working as a volunteer within the Champs Sports League playing basketball, and doing relay races with these children made this an issue that I felt the need to address. Because I have been able to work with these children, I understand their circumstances while also understanding that no matter what obstacle they may face, we are all people. After discussing this idea with my Uncle, a special needs teacher in Washington DC, I recognized that the lack of funding in special education programs was not just an issue within the walls of my high school. While my Uncle was very supportive of the idea, and willing to share the issues that he faced, he expressed that the school board had different opinions upon the lack of funding. While teachers experience the problem everyday and are able to feel the evidence of the minimal amount of funding within the program, administrators and people indirectly connected to the program may have no idea what is needed within the program and how small the budget truly is. Through interviews with both teachers and administrators, we saw how different these perspectives were. While the teachers experienced the extensive process to have their needs met with criticisms for the process, the administrators showed us that the process is extensive and rightfully so. The opinions although opposite to each other are in reality supposed to mutually agree upon the way the school controls funds. As a student with little experience with the school board, I am able to take in every perspective with an open mind and then form an objective view of the issue. |
David Garcia
We all hold many virtues dear to us. Most of us feel the need to find the strongest version of ourselves, whether that be through exercise, civic action, meditation, music, politics the result is all the same. But the means to reach this goal is where the joy flourishes from. Two years ago, I partook in a project called TGPLAN in which my group and I worked with life skills classrooms just to improve their days just that little bit. I wasn't helping the students in life skills I just hung out with them, their lives would've gone on just fine without me, but I wouldn't have grown without them. These students open my perspective and built my virtues. I went to a band camp this summer because my director wanted me to go and there I was told that "you will never know the true extent of your influence." It seems irrelevant, but when you think about your influence on others, you see that your words and actions mean something to others. By just sitting and having a conversation with students I may have made their day that much better, or that much worse. Being with these students is also a humbling experience because you realize that the students in the life skills classes are very talented people. I know a student who can tell you what day of the week you were born on with just the date. He is extremely smart, but has a limitation that has manifested itself through a communication barrier, but his mind is very developed. There is also a piano player who can play beautifully, but no one realizes his passion because he has limitations in social contact. So I feel that by helping students in life skills classes achieve a better education I can grow as a person. Maybe wanting to help others for my own growth is selfish, and maybe it's not; but either way I want expand my perspectives and see my influence affect others in a positive way.