Part of the journey to adulthood is being able to drive – onward to the future [Baba].
October 8, 2016
First driving lesson with a licensed driving instructor. 2 hours of practice driving. AMS is signed up for 8 hours of behind-the-wheel driver training with a licensed instructor. Then she needs to drive with a licensed adult for a minimum 50 hours (with 10 hours of night driving) before taking the driving test. [Baba]
May 24, 2016
DMV Appointment – passed the written test! Now I needs one hour minimum professional training before I can start driving with a licensed driver at least 25 y.o. (Dad?) in the passenger seat.
Driver’s License Mug Shot
Next Step
The next step is to start in a professional driving school program for beginer’s.
“Camp Unity is a requirement for the social justice pathway since it is great camp that focuses on social injustice of all types that help students become leaders within the school. This goal ultimately aligns with the Social Justice Pathway’s (SPJ) goals for our students as it serves as foundational understanding for our students in terms of discussion, understanding of leadership, and our perspectives when considering social justice issues.
Furthermore, this camp will help unify the students within SJP as a shared experience. Ms. Evans and I find that this will be such valuable experience for Amelia because it will give her a platform to explore issues she is interested in as well as allow her to bond with other classmates beyond her immediate friend group.”
Day (Evening) 1:
We arrived at Camp around 7:00 PM after a long and windy trip through traffic to Boulder Creek, in which my friends and I pretty much just slept the entire way, as comfortable as we could get in the cramped bus seats, one torso piled on top of another.
First things first; bags out of the buses, and we entered into the main lodge with our duffles piled on a lunch table outside and newly made nametags secured around our necks.
“Rainbow!”, someone called, and we learned that “Rainbow” meant the whole room shuffled around seats, actively trying to sit with people not of the same race, gender, or friend group. One of the best traditions of camp, as I don’t believe all 60 of us would’ve gotten half as close if we hadn’t been forced to sit and eat and talk to everyone else we didn’t know.
It was here we first met Richard, the lead counselor and adult of Camp Unity. Not so tall, not so short, bone white hair and a grizzled, tanned face. I remember one of the first things he said to us, an order to enjoy the food of our first dinner, to clean our plates because of how good the pasta bake was. I jokingly replied, “we’ll try,” and he clapped me on the shoulder and chuckled.
After dinner, it was bunk assignments and I got to meet my cabin mates. Luckily, they put me in one closer to the main hall so I didn’t have so far to go in the morning.
Back at the main hall, we all sat in a huge circle and introduced ourselves and “built community”, until the main event of the evening; tackling racial stereotypes. No notice, just straight “hey kids while this particular ethnic/racial group steps out of the room, please come up with every derogatory term/slang/stereotype for them you can think of, and we’ll bring them back in and make them look at them.”
Peer Comments
“Ace Emelia Straight”
strong sense of self
not afraid to talk about it
educator & tolerance
fearless spirit
always looking out for others
a voice for those who can’t
voicing your opinion
you know who you are
strong and courageous
gorgeous
teach and educate
passionate
very unique
born leader
Peer Comments
Conclusion
In the end the entire camp became friends and started talking about their shared experiences, triumphs, failures, successes, preconceptions. And the world moved forward one little step in one small way.
AMS has been nominated by her teacher to participate in this new program at Paly. See the excerpt of the email sent out to her parent.
“Dear Paly parent,
Congratulations! Your child has been nominated by the school’s teachers and administrators because theyve been identified as a leader on campus and someone whose voice is heard by other students. They will be receiving an invitation letter this week (SEE ATTACHED) to participate in a new school-wide program at Paly called Sources of Strength.
What is Sources of Strength?
Sources of Strength ( sourcesofstrength.org) is a training program that brings peer leaders together in partnership with caring adults. Sources is a widely used national best practice program. More than 10,000 youth leaders have participated from across the U.S. and Canada. The program uses a fun-filled style of active learning to encourage open discussion about the very real problems that youth face and the sources of strength that help in navigating those problems. It trains peer leaders on how to connect their friends – and themselves – to the help and support they need when they’re struggling, aiming in particular to significantly reduce those in severe distress who may consider ending their lives by suicide. The program will be led by a certified trainer and adult leaders from Paly. Ultimately, Sources is an “upstream” wellness program designed to leverage student voice to help change the culture of our school for the better – one that helps youth identify, discuss openly, and strengthen protective factors in their lives.”
Joining friends and family to celebrate NVM Gonzalez’ Birth Centennial at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco. A postage stamp will be issued by the Philippine Government in early 2016 to commemorate NVM.
AMS started training in Aikido by joining the Saturday Teen Class at the Aikido Center. After about a month she was invited to start attending the Beginning/Basic Aikido class on MWF. So she’s going to Aikido 4 times a week. Her progress has been meteoric due to the amount of time she’s spending on the mat and her 10 years of ballet training.
The Way of Harmonious Spirit
September 19, 2015
AMS is now attending the Adult program on Saturday. Soon she will join the other adult classes on Tuesday/Thursday. We’re still trying to balance her schedule between school work load and Aikido. She is also a founding member of the Paly Aikido Team. Her teacher for that is also a black belt at the Aikido Center. He has suggested she’s ready to test and because she’s training with the adults she will be able to skip two belts and go straight to BLUE.
Aikido
Fall
Aikido Pin
The Pin
Aikido Throw
November 21, 2015
Amelia has been accepted by the circle of black belts practitioners. Although she has enough practice time to rank, she will wait to test for 5th kyu in March 2016.
AMS has been accepted into the Social Justice Pathway at Paly starting in 10th grade.
From the Social Justice Pathway Blog (http://palysocialjustice.blogspot.com/:
“The Social Justice Pathway is a three-year program featuring self-direction and project-based learning in an interdisciplinary model rooted in community action and collaboration. This program is for students interested in empowerment, conviction and the passion to build a better world. It’s an opportunity for authentic education and experiential learning beyond the high school walls.”
Mission Statement:
The Social Justice Pathway is a three-year program featuring self-direction and project-based learning in an interdisciplinary model rooted in community action and collaboration. This program is for students interested in empowerment, conviction and the passion to build a better world. It’s an opportunity for authentic education and experiential learning beyond the high school walls.
While our vision gives us a “North Star” and provides direction, our mission statement simply defines our purpose and it is a biggie: build a better world. It helps us to answer three questions about why Paly Social Justice Pathway exists:
WHAT—a three-year high school program that blends subject curriculum with community action to empower students to make positive change to “their world”
WHO—students and teachers who want more control over and value from their education
HOW—give students and teachers to the responsibility and opportunity to connect individual convictions to real world change. To, Access, Adapt, and Act to make our community and world a better place
