So recently, I have been discussing the fact that I have been very disappointed with the outcome of my project. I am happy to announce that that is no longer there case. I shared that I received an email from Mrs. Johnson regarding a meeting with Ms. Burger, the 8th grade counselor at TMS. On Friday I was able to get together with them and discuss the future of my ideas. They asked me if I would be interested in becoming a mentor for the Trickum Middle School Mentoring Program. Of course I accepted the offer. To begin my mentoring I will be assigned a small group of 8 Latino students that are at risk for giving up on their academics, and eventually the group will keep growing after the students andI become comfortable with each other. I am currently working alongside Mrs. Johnson with coming up with a curriculum to begin with, and Ms. Burger is working on making a calendar to schedule my visits at Trickum. Once we get this whole plan together we will present the idea to Mrs. Sands, the principle so I can be officially granted access to becoming a mentor. I am so grateful for this opportunity and I cannot wait to actually start getting close to those kids.

I have received some amazing news from the ESOL teacher at TMS. I recently recevied this email Mrs. Johnson received from the 8th grade counselor, Mrs. Burger:

Subject: Next steps for Latino small group mentoring
Hi Ms. Johnson,I wanted to follow up with you regarding the young lady you mentioned to Ms. King and I.  Can you schedule a meeting with her so I can get an idea of her plans for the students?  I would also like you to give me a list of 10 students maximum who you think would benefit from this venture.  Ms. King,  I can take the lead on this and gather the information and then review it with you if you'd like.

- Mrs. Johnson has told me they are trying to make me "official" at Trickum. We have been working on a date for all of us to meet up together. I am excited to share the upcoming news after we have this meeting. My passion is helping these students, and I could not be happier!

We are coming to an end with this project and I am beginning to become disappointed with my outcome. I have been hearing of the great things my peers have done and I feel like I have not done enough to have a successful finale to my project.

I am constantly trying to contact the ESOL teacher at Trickum, but I don't ever get a secure reply. I would like to meet with the students as much as I can before the final presentation. I would love to be able to share a successful story to my classmates, but for now I realize I only have one success in this whole project.

I am beginning to think I need to contact other schools, but a part of me is only interested in helping out TMS. I want to help the kids in my community grow; especially those in the 8th grade. I personally think that 8th graders would be more attentive when I reach out to help them because they look up to me since I am in high school and they want to know all about it.

It seems like I only have complaints on how terrible I think my project is going, but enough of that; it is time to grind. Wish me luck!

Current plans

I was absent last Thursday when we worked on 20% time in class, but I did work on things outside of the class. I received an email from Mrs. Johnson that said she was thinking of me, and she would love if I came to Trickum soon. I am so happy she finally got back to me because last time we tried to schedule a meeting it was hard to find a time that was convenient for the students because they had just started a schedule, and they needed to get more used to it. My goal is to prepare at least 3 more meetings with the middle schoolers, and even meetings outside of school where we can go to the park or starbucks and just talk about life and ourselves. Also, I want to provide a tutoring service for them.

I have been unable to talk to the students for a while now but I have been working on lesson plans and ways to get them to be comfortable around me.

During my journey of preparing for colleges I have realized that most of the schools I am interested (UGA and Emory) offer programs for Hispanic students like myself. I have personally attended to programs which both schools offer in which they hold informational days for both Latino parents and students in order to really get them to understand the college applying process.

With that being said, I am very grateful for the opportunities out there that many schools provide to assist Latino students. All of these new experiences I am going through are vital to helping the students I am trying to work with.

The amount of assistance for Latinos that schools are providing will keep increasing through out the year because they truly want to help us be successful with our education. My goal is to raise awareness to the young students at Trickum about all of these wonderful opportunities they have for them.

I have slacked on writing my blog on time each week. Last 20% time in class I focused the majority of my time on researching statistics on Hispanic education. I want to learn as much as possible about the information that is out there on the education of Latinos.

Currently, there is a rise in Latino students, but it is still not as high as it could be. My dream is for every Hispanic to make education a priority in their lives. I understand that some people are not meant for school, and there are people that do better working on things outside of a classroom. That is still not an excuse for dropping out of school, or not even trying to do well in class.

It infuriates me that some Latinos in the US do not take advantage of the endless opportunities they have to succeed here. There are people in foreign countries that would do anything to attend school and have the chance to further their education, but they have limited resources available. Here in the US, there are so many resources we have to make our education valuable, yet people seem to ignore this and give up pursuing a higher education.

With that being said, my goal for the next meeting is to express the educational opportunities that the Latino population should take advantage of. I still have not heard from the Arcado principle so
I am assuming she doesn't want me to participate with the students.

Hopefully by the end of this week I will have the next meeting with the TMS students scheduled.

Today, I attempted to contact the Arcado Elementary School principle, Penny Young. I previously emailed her when I began this project, but I received no response. 

My younger sister really wants me to go in and speak to those ESOL students. She told me that she spoke to Mrs. Young, and apparently Mrs. Young really enjoyed that idea. Also, when I went to Trickum, the principle, Mrs. Sands said that she spoke to Mrs. Young, and she told her that I went in to speak to the students. 

Even after those remarks, I am not sure if Mrs. Young is interested in having me come in to speak to the students. I am trying my best to do so because I believe that if I reach out to those students now, I have the ability to change the rest of their educational lives. 

Also, I am still trying to set up a meeting time with the TMS students. It is hard to go speak to them because I really do not want to disturb their class time. Hopefully, we are able to work something out. 

I am currently doing some research on ways I can truly impact each student, and how I can motivate them to succeed. 

I have not been able to meet with the children at Trickum due to new procedures going on at their school. Mrs. Johnson wants the kids to get adapted to the changes before we disrupt from their class time.

We have been talking about having me visit during their ESOL class hours but the hours are from 8:55- 12:15. I would love to make arrangements to go visit them during that time because I do not want to intervene with their learning time.

As I said before, I plan on meeting up with the 8th graders because I want them to get as much information of high school as possible.

I have been keeping in touch with Mrs. Johnson so she can let me know when she will be ready for me to go teach my lesson.

I have everything prepared and ready to go, but all I need now is the time to meet up with those students!

I have such a passion for this. The first time I met up with them was so amazing. When I got up in the front of the classroom to talk to them, I felt an adrenaline rush. I cannot wait to go back. Also, Yanet reached out to me and told me should would love to join me to talk to the students I am working with. I plan on inviting her to come meet with them next time I am able to visit them at TMS.

Upcoming events

I have just finished preparing a PowerPoint for the students at Trickum. The next meeting is coming up and i want to make sure I have a lesson planned for them

For this meeting I am focusing on the 8th graders. I am interested in them because this is their last year in middle school, and soon they will be attending high school. They are the future of Parkview, and I want them to be prepared to succeed.

Also, they 8th graders seemed to be the most attentive at the last introductory meeting. They are curious about what high school has to offer for them.

The PowerPoint for the 8th grader has the following information on it:
- Description of Parkview
- Classes offered
- Clubs offered
- Sports
- Fine Arts
- Expectations from teachers and suggestions from me
- Scholarships
Click here to see PPT

This week I began meeting with students at Trickum Middle School. On Tuesday straight after school, I went to TMS. Once I got there I finally met Mrs. Estrada- Johnson and I quickly remembered that I was her student for Latin my 7th grade year.

She had a list of students that she was pulling out of class to come talk to me. There were about 25 Latino students from 6th to 8th grade. Immediately the students wanted to know the reason why I was there.

I put together a presentation on the information about my organization.

After I was done talking they had many questions. Here are some of them:
- How is high school?
- Where can I get more information on scholarships?
- How will college be?
- What if I don't know what I want to be when I grow up?

On October 6th I will be visiting them. I made a sheet for them to fill out so I can get to know them better. I had a great connection with these students and I am so excited to start working with them more.

Also. Mrs. Johnson and I really got along. She told me about her experiences as a Latino student when she was younger. I'm so thankful I have get help on all of this.

The past week has been such a great week for my organization. I was able to schedule 2 meetings to get together with Latino students and discuss academic success.

Tomorrow I am meeting with the ESOL students at Trickum Middle School and I am sharing my academic story with them.

Later next month, I am meeting with Bethesda Elementary 5th graders to tell them about my academic success.

Here is an outline on what I want to speak to them about:

• About me 

- My current academic performance
- My past academics
- Fun personal facts so they can know me better

• Ways that I was able to overcome academic setbacks

- How teachers helped
- Getting past the language barrier
-Doing homework
- Importance of reading and writing

• Latino Success

- Statistics
- Failure should not be expected from us
- Raise above the stereotypes

• My assistance 

-Explain how I can help them out

• How to get involved and be academically successful

-Extracurricular (Clubs, Sports)
- AP Classes
- Be on good terms with grown ups
- Study
- Stay motivated and do not give up.

I am so excited to share some awesome news. As I said before, I emailed Mrs. Sands, Trickum Middle School Principle, and I explained my organization to her. She gladly forwarded my email to the TMS ESOL teacher, Mrs. Johnson- Estrada. 

I politely asked Mrs. Johnson if there was anyway I could meet with her students. She was delighted about the fact that I wanted to be involved with the ESOL kids. I am working on scheduling a meeting with these students. I was told that their ESOL class was from 8:55 to 12:15, and unfortunately at that time I am still in school. However, she is willing to put together a day where the students and I can meet in her classroom after I get out of school. 

I am currently working on getting together information to share with the students. I have decided on putting together a motivational video for the students. This video is going to include the negative reality about Latino education in the US and how we can change that reality to make a better future for ourselves. I am also going to write out a questionnaire for the students to fill out, so I can get to know about their home life, school life, and academic/life goals. 

Also, Lilburn Park is hosting an International Festival and Mrs. Johnson will be there to represent Trickum Middle School. I am planning on going to visit here while she is there and discussing my plans with her. 

Progess

This Friday in class I emailed the Arcado Elementary School and Trickum Middle School principles. I informed them about beginning this ELL organization. I still have no received respond from the Arcado principle, however, the Trickum Middle School principle, Kay Sands, responded.

She replied saying:
"Hello Emily,
I have copied Ms. Estrada-Johnson, our ESOL teacher.  I think she will be
interested in knowing about your goal and be able to coordinate something
with you.  We are participating in the International Festival in Lilburn,
and you may be able to contribute to that by working with the Latino
students.
I can here the passion in your email, and it is a delight to know about
your success story!
Hopefully Ms. E. can work with you regarding your idea.
Take care,"

After receiving this email I began to feel so uplifted and I am hopeful that this organization will be successful. 

My plans for this upcoming week are to hopefully receive an email from the Arcado principle, construct and informational sheet to give out to the parents of the students I begin to be introduced to.

Also, Monday and Tuesday night I am volunteering at Knight Elementary School to translate for Spanish speaking parents during conferences. I will take this opportunity to speak to parents and teachers about the organization.  

20% Time Introduction

My project name is called "ELL Organization" meaning "Emerging Latino Leaders Organization". I'm planning on creating an organization to help Latino students emerge as leaders. My goal is to mentor them throughout their pathway towards success. I want to have a long life impact on each of their lives. The ultimate task is to put together a two group of students (one elementary & one middle school) and talk to them about how to become successful.
I have come up with a to-do list consisting of tasks that will all lead up to meeting with the students.

•Email the principles of Arcado Elementary and Trickum Middle School and ask for permission to speak to the teachers in order to get the word out to them and the students
•Come up with an informational form that explains the purpose of the organization
•Brainstorm what I will say to the students
•Create an outline of the lesson plans/topics I want to discuss with the students
•Construct a student questionnaire for the children to fill out in order for me to get to know them better (will include plans for the future, questions about family life, personal info about them)
•Come up with a schedule for meetings & plan on where meetings will be held/ what time

I am so excited to begin meeting with the students. I have a passion for helping others. I want to guide Latino students that might not be aware of the opportunities that are available for them.