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.

Social Service Agency

333 West Julian

San Jose, CA 95110

(408) 755-7100

Mon-Fri (8:00AM - 5:00PM)

          This is the County of Santa Clara's Social Service Agency. This is one of the most visible ways that the U.S.  "promotes the general welfare" and "provide domestic tranquility." This place offers a broad range of services from child protection to financial assistance, medical assistance, and senior assistance, basically offering aide to all things socially included, and by all things socially included, I mean people. This is one of those places where the government and the common people get to interact directly. It is a moderately busy place, everyone here are quite professional, and probably have a hatred for a group of teenagers. There was a crabby lady who wouldn't let me and my group take pictures of the building under the pretense that "You can't take pictures of a federal building." It was a profound experience, and I learned that we can't take pictures of federal buildings. She was probably just wary of our group....I mean who wouldn't be......five laughing talking loitering teenagers spells no good in the adult world.

          Whatever first-hand experiences I had doesn't change the fact that this is a very important place, and offers invaluable services. In time of needs, one could always look to the Social Service Agency, and if you're too far away, you can look at it on a computer with a working internet. They have an up-to-date website http://www.sccgov.org/sites/ssa/Pages/County-of-Santa-Clara-Social-Services-Agency.aspx where you can look at services they offer, and how to contact them. I feel that this place is one we should all know about, and is one of the more "visible" government centers.

East Side Union High School District

830 N Capitol Ave, San Jose, CA 95133

(408) 347-5000

          This is the East Side Union High School District....center. There are 11 "traditional" high schools in ESUHSD, quite a lot, and the school board can be found here. I came here once in the summer to pick up my reduced/ free lunch form, and it was like a vacant building...no one was here but the door was unlocked. I wonder if this place is unlocked 24/7. Anyways, I came here again on 12/12 to work on my scavenger hunt. There was conveniently a Board Meeting here, which allowed me to meet members of the school board. It doesn't seem that there are many people in this building, but that's okay since they have an awesome website with online directories to make it easy for parents and others to keep in touch with the school board. http://www.esuhsd.org/ The website is also quite convenient in that you can use it 24/7, and book appointments with your local school board members. This place is decorated with pictures of school board members, and you can find frames of valedictorians from every ESUHD schools here, which is kind of neat. P.S. every school uses Lifetouch service, so every single student portraits look similar. 

          This place is not one of the more busy government buildings around, but if you need anything regarding education services and educational aides, you can find it here. School Board meetings are also held here, but if you want details, their website is a great source of information.

California DMV (San Jose)

Office hours: Mon- Fri: 8:00AM-5:00PM
111 W. Alma Avenue
San Jose, 95110
(800)777-0133

           This place, is hell on earth. It reminds me of a mini-airport, everybody looks expressionless. The receptionists were expressionless, the people sitting in chair were expressionless. The guy behind me when I was scheduling my permit test was the only one NOT expressionless, and he was red in the face and clearly frustrated. I went here to take my permit test and my behind the wheel test. Others also come here for vehicle registrations and voting registrations, according to my mom. I went here four times in my life, and every single time, there would be that ONE person who is sniffing and crying, which basically sets the mood of misery for the entire DMV place. The lines are ridiculously long, so it's advised to schedule an appointment ahead. There is always a lot of people here, and everything here makes me anxious and miserable, especially THAT GUY who skims over the papers and ask for my thumbprint, and tells me that there is something wrong with the computer in the midst of looking over my vehicle insurance information. I learned that I absolutely hate the DMV, and that it stands for Department of Motor Vehicle, and deals with driving related....everything, really, as well as voter registration. Despite everything painful that goes along with it, the DMV is an important part of our life, and is one of the few government places that have a lot of direct interactions with the common people...pleasant or not.