Our Mission Statement:
The John Adams Middle School (JAMS) College Dreamers' mission is to ensure that all students at John Adams Middle School, especially girls and their families, are aware of, and informed about, the importance of a free and public education, LAUSD high school graduation requirements, the A-G requirements, the advantages of attending a community college, the difference between CSUs and UCs, how to make college affordable or even free. In addition, we want to impress upon all learners in our community the importance, and value, of
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) in supporting our mission
OUR PROJECT, (Need and Research):
Our school is 96.2% Hispanic, and according to kidsdata.org 14% of Hispanic students in California dropped out of high school in 2014. According to avid.org in 2014 only 22% of Hispanic students in the United States graduated from high school while also completing the four-year college entrance requirements. Also, according to lausd.net, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s graduation rate rose in 2014-15 to 72.2 percent, a 2-point jump over the previous year, with increases reported across all major ethnic subgroups, but LAUSD's goal is 100% graduation. We want to change these statistics for our school and our community by educating our students and their families about LAUSD high school graduation requirements, the A-G requirements, the advantages of attending a community college, the difference between CSUs and UCs, (including a field trip to UCLA for their "I'm going to College" fair and a women's basketball game between UCLA and USC) and how to make college affordable or even free. Also, parents at our school have expressed many fears surrounding the idea of their child going to college. Many students and parents become discouraged by all of the paperwork (i.e. applications, personal statements, financial aid packets, etc.) We want to alleviate those fears, and motivate all learners in our community to go to college, through education with school assemblies, parent workshops, and computer coding workshops using hourofcode.com.
PROCESS: Please see our "Timeline" below and click the button below to go to our "Media and Images" page.
IMPACT, OUTCOMES, AND FUTURE BENEFITS:
Our proposed impact is for 100% of John Adams Middle School students to graduate from 8th grade, continue on to graduate from high school, and to attend a four-year college. We feel strongly that we have ensured that all students at John Adams Middle School, especially girls, and their families, are aware of, and informed about, the importance of a free and public education, LAUSD high school graduation requirements, the A-G requirements, the advantages of attending a community college, the difference between CSUs and UCs, and how to make college affordable or even free. We did this through education and shared experiences. We took a field trip to UCLA for their "I'm Going to College" Fair and to see the UCLA Women's Basketball Team play a game against USC. We invited our entire school community to see "Boys in Peril" for free in our school auditorium. We held parent workshops covering the topics of the above mentioned items (i.e. the A-G requirements, CSUs vs. UCs, community colleges, and parents' college hopes and fears). We held A-G Assemblies for EVERY student at John Adams Middle School, and we hosted a Career Day featuring 8 guest speakers, with the majority working in STEM fields. We held a College Fair which included information from several colleges in the form of brochures, handouts, pennants, stickers, buttons, and catalogs, and we had a student from USC, Alexis Maggelet, who was featured in our "ASK A TROJAN" booth. Finally, we will host a free screening of "Hidden Figures" on Thursday, April 27th, from 3:15 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. so we can share the amazing story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson with our students, families, and community. All of these goals will be/were met, and the value to our community and to our society as a whole will be immeasurable. We have prepared "all students for college readiness and success in a global society." (avid.org)
The outcomes of our project are as follows: We feel confident that we have increased the number of JAMS (John Adams Middle School) students who will graduate from high school, and go on to college, which will be measured by increased graduation rates for the classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023 at Santee HS, Jefferson HS, and West Adams HS. We educated all students, and many parents, in our JAMS community about the LAUSD high school graduation requirements, the A-G requirements, the advantages of attending a community college, the difference between CSUs and UCs, and how to make college affordable or even free. This was measured by sign in sheets at our “Boys in Peril” screening, and the parent workshops. The were done through all History classes, and was mandatory for all students in attendance that day. So, attendance records for those days will measure impact. We also have a list of students, that attended the "I'm Going to College" fair at UCLA. We took pictures of students when they visited our college information booth on March 24th. Lastly, we will ask all JAMS students to “Pledge to go to College,” and we will collect their pledge signatures.
EVIDENCE: Please see our "Timeline" below AND click the button below to go to our "Media and Images" page.
REFLECTION: At this point we are all very happy with how our project has unfolded these past few months. All of our events went smoothly, and were enjoyed by the attendees. It was pleasantly surprising to see the positive reactions from the parents who attended our 3 parent workshops. They were attentive and inquisitive, and they showed an outpouring of appreciation for us when the presentations were over. (It certainly didn't hurt that we fed them Subway sandwiches and chips, and gave them drinks, too.) Having the In-N-Out Cookout Trailer here to help us promote our free screening of "Boys in Peril" really helped bring in a large crowd. We had the support of our administration from day one which was critical for our success. If we could have done anything differently we would have liked to have been more proficient with our social media accounts, because that was a challenge for us. That is an area we plan to improve upon for next year. Since October our entire team has selflessly given up their free time to make this plan happen. We are passionate about educating our community about the opportunities college can provide, and about promoting careers in STEM fields (especially for girls). We worked together, helped each other, always stayed positive, and we are proud to be part of Girls Build LA.
TIMELINE:
December 5th through December 9th, 2016, periods 2, 4, and 6 - Every day this week all of Ms. Ward-Loveland's 96 students will participate in the "Hour of Code." So, it will techically be a "Week of Code." Every day we will be escorting Ms. Ward-Loveland's 7th and 8th grade students to the computer lab and help them learn to write computer code.
January 10th, 2017 - 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.: Field trip with my GBLA team, The JAMS College Dreamers, and 29 other female students, to USC's Galen Center to see "Hidden Figures", which according to the official FOX studios website (http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/hidden-figures) "is the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe)—brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big."
January 22nd, 2017 - 3 p.m. until 8 p.m.: Field trip to UCLA's "I'm Going to College" Fair and Women's Basketball game between UCLA and USC.
Friday, February 3rd, 2017 - from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.: A-G Parent Workshop
Friday, February 24th, 2017 - from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.: CSUs vs. UCs Parent Workshop
March 2017 - ALL MONTH - College Door Decorating Contest: Homerooms will be encouraged to participate in a school wide door decorating contest to feature their dream college, the path to college, or several colleges. The judging will take place on Wednesday, March 29th. The winners will be announced on Thursday, March 30th, and will be rewarded with a donut party for breakfast!
March 1st through March 9th - A-G Campaign: Everyday announcements will be made during homeroom sharing a new A-G Requirement. All students will be given a worksheet in their homerooms that can be filled out daily with the "Letter of the Day." March 1st we will begin with "A," and March 9th we will end with "G." Then as a review of what all students have learned about the A-G Requirements through the morning announcements, an assembly will be held every period for all History students to attend featuring a presentation on the A-G requirements.
Wednesday, March 8th, 2017 - 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.: Free screening of the film "Boys in Peril," the true story of Julio, Edgar, and Abel, 3 AVID students, and high school seniors, at Bell Gardens High School as they navigate their way through their final year in high school.
- From the back cover of the DVD: "In an effort to better understand our dwindling college-bound American population, Los Angeles filmmaker Graham Streeter embeds himself in East Los Angeles, where he befriends Julio, Edgar, and Abel: three Latino high school seniors; each attempting to navigate through the daunting and challenging transition between high school and college in their own unique ways. The feature-length essay is a compelling look into the common obstaces that face young Hispanic men who truly aspire to better their lives by obtaining a college education and the goodness of teachers, parents, and programs that strive to make that possible. Streeter captures the realistic, inspirational yet heart wrenching angle to each boy's journey, while still underscoring its big picture relevance; its economic and social impact on our nation as a whole.
Wednesday, March 8th, 2017 - 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.: The In N Out Cookout Trailer will be here serving meals for $5.00 each. Each meal includes your choice of a hamburger or cheeseburger, a bag of chips, and a drink. Tickets will be sold from February 13th through March 6th.
Thursday, March 9th, 2017 - A-G Student Assemblies (to be presented period by period to all History classes)
Friday, March 17th, 2017 - Special Bell Schedule Period 2A (8:38-9:53) and Period 2B (10:18-11:33) - Career Day Assembly (All Students) to promote STEM and College Access, and encourage students to pursue careers in STEM. Panelists included a Structural Engineer, a Chemistry Professor, a Nurse, a Documentary Film Maker, a Post-Production video technician for ABC, an Art Therapist, a Lawyer, and a Textile Designer
Wednesday, March 24th, 2017 - 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.: College Hopes and Fears Parent Workshop
Friday March 24th, 2017 - 1:00 p.m. until 2:38 p.m. - College information booths for students, with an additional booth featuring a USC student titled "Ask a Trojan"
Thursday, April 27th, 2017 - 3:15 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.: Free screening of the film "Hidden Figures" to promote STEM and College Access
- From the back cover of the DVD: "'Hidden Figures' tells the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) - brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn, a stunning achievement that turned around the Space Race. The visionary trio crossed all gender and racial lines and inspired generations."
Proposed Budget:
gbla_budgetproposal-year2-johnadamsmiddleschool.docx |
career_day_panelist_letter-revised.docx |
college_fair_flyer.docx |