Getting Truthful

         Okay, I must say this. I have cried a lot this year, much more than I had expected. Researching child abuse and neglect is hard for me. There are so many stories that social work doesn't help the client. It's hard not to get attached. A man sexually abusing his 16 month old son. A woman declaring that her daughters are spawn of the devil and beats them and lets their stepfather sexually abuse them. The Child Called It, Precious. A feral child rescued by the system. A child from the past that helps us in the future.

Danielle "Dani" Lierow

   The Girl in the Window, this is the most recent case of a feral child. In 2008, a couple in Plant City, Florida saw a little girl's face by broken glass where they thought no child lived there. She was malnourished,dirty and broken. Social services has helped her find a new home, a new family, a brand new start. You can check her story here if you want to know more. 

Sylvia Linkens

   There also cases like Sylvia Linkens. Her parents left her and her sister, Jenny, with Gertrude Baniszewski. This woman and a group of children tortured, abused and finally killed this 16 year old in the 1960s. There are some books and films you can read about this crime and you can make a correlation with The Lord of the Flies. This is a case where no one was aware what to do when they saw signs of child abuse and how to report it. This case haunts us. You can read about this case here. It's a strong, explicit case. Don't read it if you can't handle torture, humiliation and so on.
   This case helped the push of getting everyone informed of child abuse and neglect and how to talk about and report it to the authorities. Witnesses saw her and saw the abuse and no one spoke up. If one person said a word, just one to the right person she would have lived. She helps us remember that this is unjust and that we don't want children to go through this. She left her legacy with her death. Let's make a difference in her honor. I hope to get a fundraiser going to give money to abused and neglected children the items they need in school.  
   Hopefully doing this will help me move on from my past and help people know the signs of child abuse and neglect and the multiple ways to report it. Learning about this cases has helped me looked for ways to help. Let's see how my mentorship goes.Sorry I got carried away.

Second Interview Questions

Content: 
The purpose of the second interview is justify your mentor as an expert in the field.  Thus, you will be asking at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?
 I'm looking for a new mentor who works with abused children. I hope it's with the House of Ruth. 

2.  What five questions will ask them about their background?

• Why did you choose to work in this field?
• What did you study in college?
• What was one of the hardest cases you helped?
• How long have you worked in this field?
• Did you think before that you were going into social work?

Blog 5: Project Reflections and Working EQ

Content:   

So far, you have: completed your summer mentorship, started doing some research, maybe completed the interview and hopefully found a mentor.

Using what you have done so far, answer the following 5 questions (be specific and use examples).

The Pentagon: 
(1) Positive Statement: What positive thing happen as a result of what you have completed so far? 

My eyes have been open to some signs and laws against child abuse that I have never have thought would have mattered. For example, it's harder to punish someone for child abuse if they aren't the parent or caretaker.              

(2) EQ Content:  Pick a piece of research or your interview.  How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic?

There was a list of signs and symptoms of both parent and child when child abuse is involved. There was also various federal laws to protect children and some states have some of those laws reinforced. Well, it has helped me know some of the things a social worker has to be in the lookout for.

(3) What has worked for you so far in the senior project?
The research has been helping me a lot. I'm getting to understand what social workers have to do

(4) What hasn't worked so far?  
Something that hasn't worked is procrastination. Also, some of the mentorship hasn't worked out yet.

(5) Finding Value:  

•  What is a potential question you would like to study this year?  (working EQ)

How does a social worker provide the necessary  mean for an at-risk family to be safe?

•  What do you plan to do for mentorship?  If you haven't found a mentor yet, then discuss where you are currently looking and who you are talking to to find it.  

I plan to volunteer at the House of Ruth center in Pomona. I would get to follow people on their jobs and do office work. 

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?
        I plan to interview Marina Wood from the House of Ruth. She has a background in social work. 
2.  You have to ask 5 questions.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  
         1. What made you chose this career?
         2. What brought you to the House of Ruth?
         3. Why did you focus on battered women and their families?

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

1.  List your topic here: Social Work  for Abused Children

2.  What do you plan to do this year to show growth in each of the ESLRs?  Be specific and use an example.  Examples can come from senior project, model assembly, core, and/or participation in senior class ASB or other organizations on campus (clubs etc).

• iPoly Citizen - I plan to be punctual or earlier and prepared to classes, any activities. For example, bringing something for the show and tell and the potluck.

• Effective Learner- I plan to deepen my knowledge for my core classes, learn more about what confounds me, make time and get help when I struggle in my core classes like when Erika told Mrs. Pittman for help when she felt over her head in Physics..

• Effective User of Technology - I plan use all the computer skills I have acquired and help people learned what I learned and use my resources efficiently for the I-Search paper and senior project.

• Effective Communicator - I plan to talk to all my teachers for any need for clarification and take their criticism and improve. I also plan to talk with classmates and offer help to those who I can help like creating a study group with some friends to help each other understand different subjects. 

Summer Mentorship Component

This is the link to my hours: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtrznTCVopOUdGJFQlRPWkNqdXRESmoySG9vTHhoblE#gid=0

The name of my mentor Yvonne Gratianne and her number is (909) 868-7732.
This are some questions I had after the experience:
This social work has pushed of me to help battered women, specifically their children. I want to help them get out mental 'jail' and help them cope with the pain and move on. 



  1. Could I have been more open-minded about some of the situations people go through?
  2.Should I do something that concentrates on a certain type of need? (disabled, abused, ect. )
  3. Was I really prepared for what this job calls for?
  4. Did I distance myself from the situation so I could see the next step?
  5. Should I volunteer at a free health fair again? 
    
The most important thing I gained from this experience is open-mindedness. I guess I judged people without realizing their history and how it has brought them down. 

2013 2-Hour Presentation Reflections

Literal:  

1.  (Know) What presentations did you see?  Name the topic and the person's first name.
       The presentations I saw were Hairdressing by Ana B., Karate by Rene L., Personal Trainer by Andrew D., Marine Biology by Elijah A., Stage Managing by Gabriel B., Early Childhood Education by Perla V., Foster Care by Victoria Y., Physical Therapy by Elizabeth R., Computer Analysis by Brent K., Photography by Austin B., Special Olympics by Logan R., Theoretical Physics by Hannah S., Homeless Youth by Angel C., and Graphic Design by Stephany H.

2.  (Need to know) What questions do you have that haven't been answered about the senior project? This can be about the senior project in general, any components or about a presentation topic you saw or what they said.  
       Most of them were pretty in depth. I guess is to know were to draw the line between too much and too little.

Interpretive:

3. What has the most important part of the senior project based on what you are seeing in the 2-hour presentations?
     The information and how the activities flow with it. You have to simplify and still teach a class for 30 minutes. You have to make sure that the activities are interesting and and have a base in the essential question. You also have to know were you got your answers from. You also can't be nervous.

Applied:

4. What topic are you considering doing and why?
    The topic I'm doing is Criminology because it's something that interest me and people have misconceptions about.