Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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So for my day of service project, I joined Cougar
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Tutors, which is a student Oregon campus that provides tutors
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to an elementary school near campus as well as a
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middle school.
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Uh, I'm gonna talk about my experience at Peck Elementary.
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So Peck Elementary is a beautiful school with an amazing
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student body of almost 600 students, many of whom are
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poor or homeless.
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It is two minutes away from you age.
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It's a colorful school, and it's huge with a lot
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of murals in the main hallway.
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And it is a certified green school.
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My experience waas Really amazing.
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Um, I was really passionate about teaching kids.
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Um, so this is something that I really wanted to
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do, and I really enjoy doing so.
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The day of service project only requires one day of
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volunteering, but I enjoyed it so much that I went
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back three more times, and I would have gone back
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more if the Corona virus hadn't, um, you know, caused
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this huge situation.
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Anyways, um, I tutored kids in math after sitting in
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on their math classes to see how their teachers taught
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and how to help them best.
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I think one of my favorite parts was volunteering because
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I could see the relationship between toujours and students.
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They had a really good report.
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But you could also tell that they had respect and
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admiration for their teachers on, so that's pretty much it.
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So that's why I saw more than just a classroom.
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I thought community everyone was super, super close and kind
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and really amazing.
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Um, these are some more details about my volunteer experience
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as well as a picture of my day of service
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receipt. Um, I have one with my signature already turned
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in. Um, okay, so most of the students that Peck
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Elementary will have to deal with some type of intersectional
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oppression in their lives.
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I mean, I hope not.
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But, um uh, with the way things are right now,
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that's what is most likely can happen on.
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Essentially 98% of the students come from a minority ethnicity.
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I think 54% are African American and 44% are Hispanic
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and 91% of soon's come from low income backgrounds on.
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So knowing that and knowing the fact that 78% of
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students were are considered at risk of dropping out of
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school. Um, I really think that that you were related.
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The background that the kids come from on really impacts
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their student success.
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So I'm going to start by defining classes.
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Um, um, I have the definition right there from our
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our lecture.
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But essentially, um it just means that income, wealth, education,
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occupation and power all affect your social status, and they
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may subject you to oppression or discrimination.
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Um, I have a little quote there that says test
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scores for low income students at Pac Elementary fall below
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the state average of all students on.
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I feel like that really comes.
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That really says a lot about how class can affect
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back to students lives even at an elementary level.
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Eso Because so many students at the school come from
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low income families, they can have a harder time accomplishing
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the same things as other students because they don't have
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the same opportunities.
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Okay, so, um, the website that I got this data
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from says that fake differences in scores or in ratings
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suggest that some students are not getting the support that
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they need to succeed.
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So all students at Peck Elementary rated four out of
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10 according to their scores on state tests.
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And Hispanic students rated a five out of 10 and
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African American students rated a three out of 10.
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I feel like the difference between Hispanic students and African
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American students really does come from their background, and that
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is compounded by not just their ethnic background on but
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also their class background.
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Both of those.
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Really, Um, I don't know the word for this, but
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they really make the other worse.
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And Okay, so, um, now I'm gonna talk about how
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activism and social justice can affect you and how it
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can affect others.
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So, um, essentially social justice and activist activism can improve
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your life, that making you more culturally sensitive by advocating
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for the rights of others.
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You learn about their struggles, and you you can use
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your clue privilege or social status in society to help
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others. Activism can help improve others lives, because even if
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your work doesn't cause actual tangible change, it is likely
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that it has sparked a conversation and brought awareness to
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a group struggle.
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Um, which is just as important as making really tangible
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legal change factual change Either way, So now I'm gonna
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talk, so I I didn't really know.
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I wasn't sure what the problem meant by how activism
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and social justice affects you and others.
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So I took that to mean as how my volunteer
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work impacted me and how impacted others.
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So I'm gonna talk a little bit about that.
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So how to during impacted me?
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I volunteered a pack because I love math.
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Um, and I love kids.
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However, once I started tutoring, I learned that these students
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have taps overcome so much to get half the chances
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as other students.
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I also learned so much about high debt.
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How diversity in school can really change how Children treat
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and see themselves.
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Um, I also learned a lot about how at sincere
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has a huge impact on students outlook not just on
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their own lives, but on life in general.
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Um, I feel like seeing other people who come from
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the same social come from the same socioeconomic backgrounds.
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You will come from the same ethnic background as you
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is very, very important.
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So how and tutoring impact of the students.
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I learned a lot from these kids, but I like
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to think that they learned from me too.
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I made real strides with quite a few students in
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math. They learn not only how to solve certain type
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of types of problems, but how to adjust their thinking
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when it comes to math.
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I don't know if my tutoring made the impact that
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I wanted it to, and only four days cut short
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because of the Corona virus.
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But within up tutors and enough students willing to learn
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we couldn't we could change these kids futures.
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Kids who had trouble with math may discover that it's
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their favorite subject and go on to become engineers.
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So, um, cougar tutors the group that I volunteered with
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gay could have.
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They could have a much bigger impact and possibly even
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bridge the gap in test scores at Pac Elementary versus
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other schools if they just had more tutors.
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And um, yeah, I really think that if more people
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volunteered with them, they could make it a riel real
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impact on overall test scores at the school.
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Um, so that's about it at the end.
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I have some references here.
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I just wanted to mention, um, I really loved doing
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this project because I I thought this only happened in
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movies. But in like while I was doing this project,
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I actually learned some really cool things about the school.
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And I just wanted to mention that, um, Carlotta Brown.
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I think that's her name.
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She used to be the principal at Peck Elementary for,
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I think, 13 years up until I think to 2018
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or 2019.
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And she did an amazing job.
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She did such a good job that she was recognized
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by Ellen DeGeneres, and she was given $100,000 for the
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school. And then Ellen gave her $10,000 for herself because
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she and her husband were struggling financially and her husband
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had pancreatic cancer.
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And, um, I know this is really like it seems
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like a shallow, zing toe learn about a school.
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But I was really, really inspired by her work.
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There's actually a, um, article about her in the Houston
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Chronicle that I have in my references on its this
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last link right here.
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Essentially, she was such a good worker and such a
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hard worker that she knew almost all of the students
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names and stories, and she worked 24 7 to help
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faculty, staff, um, students Also, there's Ah, there's a group.
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I forgot what they're called, but essentially they help homeless
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students and, um, students with low income.
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And they didn't have a headquarters anymore.
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And she let them have their headquarters that pack elementary
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and I really admired her.
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And I really loved you in this project.
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Thank you so much.