Grants for Education: Children are the Future

According to the article published in the New York Times "Head Start Is Given New Rules for Grants" by Mark Landler, President Obama visited a schoolhouse in the suburb of Philadelphia on Tuesday November 8, 2011 to announce the stricter standards the government's Head Start program which offers preschool training for children from low income fmailes. President Obama declared that investment in early childhood education is critical to the future of competitiveness of the United States, which reflects to his plans for the Dream Act.

"If a program isn't giving children the support they need to be ready for school then other organizations will be able to compete for the grant. We will take money from programs that don't work and put it into programs that do", the president told teachers and administrators. President Obama wants to continue his mission to make the United States students leaders in math, science, technonoolgy. We are falling behind in that area. A reason that children don't have a fighting chance is because their school does not have the funding or teachers available to broaden students horizons. The children of the United States of American do not deserve to be victims of poorly funded education systems and school districts.

President Obama criticized the Republican Party claiming that members voted in favor of cutting the financing of the Head Start and the Pell Grant program, "The Republican have been trying to gut out investments in education" the president said.

President Obama made a four hour visit to the Yeadon, Pennsylvania school. The state was a good choice foe one of three reason, first, it is a political swing state, second, educators are a great crowd to inspire and lastly, he looks wonderful behind 3 to 5 year old children. These children are the perfect candidates for a more comprehensive education.

Before his speech he was in a room full of children playing with blocks, legos, puzzles, toy cars and trucks. These children, are the next generation. They should have the potential to become the next teachers, doctors, lawyers and journalists that represent the United States. They deserve a chance to have the best education and be a part of a growing intellectual community. "There is no substitution for Congress doing it's job. If Congress continues to stand only for dysfunction and delay, then I'm going to move ahead without them." As I write my final blog series, I truly hope that advancements are made in improving the educators and students all over America.

Halloween Weekend Storm

(Tree that fell in front of my driveway Saturday night)

(My street the morning after the snow storm on Sunday October 30, 2011)

I haven't been home the entire month of October, so this past weekend I told myself that I have to go home. I miss my family so much. Well I certainly choose an interesting weekend to return home. Friday night there were calm winds and it was chilly. When I woke up Saturday morning I was astonished to see snow outside my bedroom window. Everything looks so beautiful with a small layer of pure white snow on top of it however, after a few hours I noticed that it was still snowing.

A few more hours later I finally wondered when the snow was going to stop. I turned on my local news and saw it sparking red letters that my county, Bergen County in New Jersey was on severe weather alert. Connecticut also has severe weather warnings as well. After my heart sank with this weather report, I changed the channel and than the lights all around my house flickered. Could the snow really start affecting the electricity to? I haven't even been home 24 hours yet.

My four year old niece, Alana, was thrilled that we were having more snow as she watched it endlessly fall from our living room windows. A few minutes laters I heard my dad and brother shoveling some snow from our drive way. Shortly, my family and I went to the attic to pick our winter coats and boots. I thought to myself, its October, its not even halloween yet and its snowing. This is really early. Just as we left the house the electricity was gone...

The roads were terrible, there was slush everywhere. There are many statistics that indicate that New Jersey has the highest car accident rate. I feel completely comfortable agreeing with these polls as a New Jersey resident and licensed driver because its true. Despite the snow and slush on the road, people still did not drive with caution. I must have seen at least three to four near accidents on the way to the restaurant.

On our journey back home, as I looked to my left and right, there were trees and branches down everywhere. My dad not only had to be cautious and focus on the road but the trees hovering above us as well. As my dad turned the steering wheel to drive onto our street he suddenly pushed the brakes. Our street it was blocked. A tree had fallen right in front our driveway. The tree also brought a power line down. This was scary and troubling. I was glad we weren't home at the time it happened. So we drove to the next street and parallel parked our car safely near no trees and lowering branches.

We walked back into our now cold house and searched for candles and flashlights. My house was illuminated by candles and since we couldn't turn on the television for entertainment, my brother and I brought out board games. We all played Scramble. It was actually fun for about an hour or two. I began to feel really sleepy. The next time I opened my eyes there was daylight but still no electricity and there was still a tree in front of my driveway.

My family and I were starving so we went to our favorite diner called The Arena Diner. I have never seen it so crowded in my entire life. We waited for at least an hour to get seated at a table than forty-five minutes to receive our breakfast. All the other diners and restaurants within ten miles had no power. It was chaos.

After breakfast my parents drove me back to Iona where there was electricity, heat and everything appeared to seem normal.

According to major news outlets Bergen County and many towns in Connecticut were affected the worst by this snow storm. There are over 200,000 people in New Jersey without electricity, my family is one of them. In Connecticut there is about one million people without power. When will all these power get there power back? I don't know. But, I do know that I will be watching the news to keep my eye on the next storm.

Occupy Wall Street Movement Continues...

Over a month ago, Wall Street protestors have said "enough!" That message has resonated across the country and around the world. Occupy Wall Street continues to build, and a national movement of peaceful occupations and civic engagement has sprung up in every corner.

Public officials must listen to the grievances of this popular movement. It is absolutely unacceptable to attempt to dissuade civic engagement through the use of brutality, repression and retaliation against movement participants. This is America. All Americans have the freedom to peacefully protest our government. That right defines who we are as a country and a people, and when it is denied, all of America is the poorer for it.

Last week my team and I searched for students, staff and professors around campus. We had the pleasure of having Karen Vitale teach us important techniques. I certainly was happy to have her teach me and show me how I can be a journalist. I was inspired. I am inspired.

We had some successful interviews, it was a relief to see that there are people out there who act knew what was going on in terms of politics. We interviewed one student who expressed a lot of concern about what the violence that has been inflicted on protestors.

Hundreds packed the streets near Manhattan's Union Square on Wednesday in a march in support of veteran Scott Olsen. At least 10 people were arrested in clashes with officers according to reports by CNN.

The movement seems to be growing despite a recent crackdown in several cities. Authorities made a series of arrests at protests in Oakland and Atlanta on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Should Americans Support Education for Immigrants

According to the Immigration Policy center, "Each year, approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school, many at the top of their classes, but cannot go to college, join the military, work, or otherwise pursue their dreams. They belong to the 1.5 generation—any (first generation) immigrants brought to the United States at a young age who were largely raised in this country and therefore share much in common with second-generation Americans. These students are culturally American, growing up here and often having little attachment to their country of birth. They tend to be bicultural and fluent in English. Many don’t even know that they are undocumented immigrants until they apply for a driver’s license or college, and then learn they lack Social Security numbers and other necessary legal documents".

Earlier this week undocumented immigrant students in California will be able to receive state-funded financial aid in 2013 to attend college, under a new law signed Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown said the law allows students with high grades who are on a path to citizenship to apply and receive the state aid.

About 2,500 students are projected to receive grants totaling $14.5 million, according to the California Department of Finance. That averages is about to $5,800 per student.

Currently, illegal immigrant students in California must pay resident tuition rates if they graduated from a state high school and are actively seeking to legalize their immigration status, officials said.

The other half of the California Dream Act was signed into law by Brown in July and allows undocumented immigrant students to receive privately funded scholarships administered at public universities and community colleges.

Will American be okay with supporting and providing financial aid to immigrants? Do they deserve an opportunity in the land of the free?

To be continued...

Dream Act and Immigration

President Obama has been in headlines more than ever these past few weeks. Various news outlets have reported that his ratings have gone up and down. The jobless rate is stable 9.1%, many Americans are restful but Obama encourages everyone that there is still hope.

According to CNN Money, "Employers added 103,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. And July and August were both revised higher, showing an additional gain of 99,000 jobs over the summer". Aside from these headlines the focus of my blog is going to be about the children of America and President Obama's Dream Act.

It is arguable that the United States is revered by other countries as a place of opportunity but studies indicate that the education system will be to the detriment of students in low income neighborhoods and families. This may foreshadow a generation of young American children that may not stand a chance against more affluent children raised in different neighborhoods and families. School should be an institution to promote intellectual growth and socialization. It is arguable that school is a model of the adult world and if poor children do not have a fighting chance to obtain knowledge from school it may lead to failure in higher levels of education and the adult world.

Colleges and or employers look at mediocre grades should not be accepted into college or eligible for a job position. However, some of the most intelligent kids that have been successful figures in history today that have grown up poor are people such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Einstien to more modern figures such as David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey.

These influences stood a chance in society and the young children in income neighbors will be subjected to judgement from peers, parents and other social groups that they will perform well or succeed but there are oppurtunites available such as grants and scholarships to receive a decent education but there are too few oppurtunities available to help the children.

I will be following efforts to make the Dream Act come true along with following reports on immigration.

Remembering 9/11

In my fourth grade classroom my fellow students and I heard our principal report that one of the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane. I looked at my teacher whose forehead creased with many tiny lines in anguish. My eyes fluttered around the room, my classmates and I were confused. My teacher asked us to take out our history textbook and there it was. A picture of the twin towers.

A plane flew into one the towers my teacher showed us. It was hard to understand what was happening.

I remember my daddy told me he had a meeting at The World Trade Center. Confusion and fear overwhelmed me. Minutes later, one by one students packed their book bags and waited for their parents to pick them up.

Later that day my mom explained to me that there was a terrorist attack, I didn't even now what a terrorist was. I was only nine years old. As the towers burnt down peoples lives were lost and falling apart.

10 Years Later...

I hope all the people who lost loved ones on that day have more peace and hope in their lives.

Weekend Warriors

Students at Iona College felt a few high winds and a lot of rainfall. We were not hit nearly as bad as a few other places in the New York and the Long Island Area.

In my hometown, there were a few power outages and few branches on the streets. The Hackensack River was flooded according to reports by The Record Newspaper which caused problems for nearby towns,

http://blog.northjersey.com/bergenbeat/1043/hackensack-river-causing-flooding-in-new-milford/.