Concluding the Project

Peace out! (This is not my picture)

          Wew! That was such an experience experimenting with blogging and getting to know more about my government! (Thank you, Ms.Y) I really like e-blogger as it is user friendly :) blogging was a fun new experience, and I know how to do it now, if I ever want to...start a blog on anything (nah).

12/12/2013 ESUHSD Board Meeting

Preparing for Meeting!

Not sure if I should be here....

          I had the fortune of witnessing a board meeting. We went at 3:40~ when the meeting had yet begun. This allowed us time to comfortably interact with the board members, as not much people showed up yet. We even got to take pictures of them without a hassle. Do you notice the secret door behind where the members sit? That is cool. Anyways, later on, a lot of people who I assumed to be parents showed up. The sit on the blue chairs. There is a microphone in the middle of the isles, a pity I could not take a picture of it since I'm not sure if I should be taking pictures, anyways. The parents could go up to the microphone stand thing and ask questions which would be answered by the school board members. This is a nice way for parents to feel informed about their children's education, and interact and get to know the people in charge. They could also contribute ideas and such, so in a sense, the board meeting is also an opportunity for parents to have a large effect on the education their children get. Not many people were present at the first session, but the numbers started increasing going into the meeting.
          I think that this interaction between the people affected by the education system and the people in the education system is really nice, and you all could get your parents to attend just to have the experience. It was a bit awkward for us to sit in the audience chairs.

Meeting Magdalena Carrasco

Missing the flag D: noooo

Board Member CarrascoM@esuhsd.org
(408) 347-5090
          She is the board member on the Board of Trustees. Being a member, she is very concerned with the community, and is very involved in education (obviously). She is one of the newer members on the board. She
ran for her position in 2012, and was recommended due to her desire to help residents of East Side, where she was raised. Before, she had experience under her belt in the city council running in 2010.Amongst her many community services she worked for First 5 on behalf of disadvantaged kids, which helped her understands how essential early childhood education is to closing the achievement gap in high school. She would definitely bring new ideas to the board.

Meeting Frank Biehl

Board President BiehlF@esuhsd.org
(408) 347-5091
          I got to take a picture with Frank Biehl! Yay! He was quite an easy-going happy person. See the U.S. flag in the background, apparently, it is a MUST for pictures to seem more legit. Just a new thing I learned. :) So, this was before the board meeting on 12/12.
          Not to be confused with Rose Herrera, he is the Board president.
          I learned a lot on the topic of expulsion (no idea how the topic came up but...it was an interesting one. The things one can learn by eavesdropping!) Apparently, if you are expelled from one of the many high schools in the district, you are transferred to another high school within the district, but you are not allowed back to the high school you are expelled from. Now, this begs the question what will happen if one is expelled from every single high schools in the district. Granted, we have many schools, but there is only so much so space with 11 traditional schools and 4 alternative schools...Maybe someone will rise to the challenge in the future. No. That is a bad idea.

Meeting Van T. Le

Pho use un-photogenic slouching on camera, it was super-effective!

Board Clerk LeV@esuhsd.org
(408) 347-5092
          This is Van T. Le, our local ESUHSD board clerk. She was nice enough to meet with us, thanks Nancy :). To meet the school board members, as they are busy people, it is advisable to schedule an appointment via e-mail, which is conveniently placed on the ESUHSD website, http://www.esuhsd.org/BoardAdmin/Board-of-Trustees/ 
          I met her right before the board meeting on Dec. 12, and she came on time...which was unfortunate as we couldn't ask her many questions, but eh... Anyways, she was quite friendly. (when are politics people not friendly?)
          She is the school board clerk, and is concerned with improving our neighborhood and community. She is very dedicated to the community, and spent a lot of time and efforts on community services and giving back to the people, amongst them the Vietnamese- American community. She resides in San Jose, and works to make it a better community environment and improve oportunities for students to achieve more in school.

Evergreen Valley High School

         

3300 Quimby Rd
San Jose, CA 95148
Neighborhood: Evergreen

(408) 347-7000

          Oh my god! This place looks so familiar!
Oh wait! I live here 6 hours a day, 5 days a week...
          From the age of 5 to 18, school is probably the most prominent government institution...ever. It's important to be at school, as the school had reminded us every single school year quite frankly, "Each of you are worth xxx amount of money, and we need you to be here, and if you're not *_* we WILL hunt you down and put you in Saturday School. Keep that cash flowing." Those were not their exact words, but they might as well had just said it.

The future is bright with this one.

          I learned a lot in school, amongst them is the fact that not going to school is illegal. The education system was established to provide students with equal opportunities to succeed later on in life (a.k.a. work). Some might argue that public education was started to assimilate immigrants and other cultural foreigners into U.S. culture, but whatever. In 2013, the gist is that it prepares you for your career, and therefore, concern is rising due to the fact statistics that shows schools are NOT preparing students for the workforce, and this in turn, leads to anticipations of revamping the education system. If we learn anything from history and experience, it is that our democratic(ish) government and our love for debates won't be letting us see any actions for probably a good few decades.
          Nevertheless, public education is a great social service provided to us b the government, and it's quite hard to complain when we're given an opportunity at expanding our knowledge and future free of charge. As we look upon this place with bitter hatred, we will be looking back at it as fond memories of "the good ol' days'' in the distant future.

San Jose Fire Department

2001 S King Rd, San Jose, CA
          There are many fire departments in San Jose, really. And this place is probably available anytime of day, but you'd much rather press 911 if you need their service...These people deal with domestic tranquility, specifically fire disasters. 911 is conveniently the god number for every emergency situations, as you can use it to summon the police, the ambulance, as well as the firetruck.
          This place reminds me of the wholesale foods warehouse that my uncle works in (which should be re-branded as wholesale fruits and vegetable....) It's basically a massive warehouse where fire vehicles sit until summoned. Besides that, there are these rooms which I suppose people work in...like I said, exactly in the same set-up as the wholesale foods warehouse.
          Besides putting out fires, the SJFD also deals with other types of rescues, like confined-space rescue, water rescue, and fire hazard education. Yes, they do teach fire hazard, as I remember in elementary school the good ol' days, there was a guy dressed in black and green uniform who taught us how to put fires out with the blanket thing...and talk about adventures of his job. It happened every year....in elementary school. I witnessed their job once when a group of firemen rescued a dog who got stuck in a sewer entrance. Their job ranges from mundane scenarios like pet rescues to highly dangerous operations like saving people from burning buildings.
          It's great to have an efficient fire department who gets to the scene quickly. We should appreciate this convenient network of scattered fire-department centers and our nice roads. Sure the siren wails are annoyingly deafening, but when it rings, lives are in danger, so get out ofo the vehicle's way, but please, don't panic and stop in the middle of an intersection.