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.