When Dr. Mark Marino first unveiled the Save Our Summer/SOS Classroom Project around Mid June 2009, our Advanced Writing 340 class became immediately involved with his groundbreaking concept. Unbeknownst to many of us studying at the University of Southern California, we learned from Dr. Marino that the Los Angeles Unified School District had fallen victim to severe budget cuts and was being forced to cancel summer school. It was clear that educational services would cease to be delivered to struggling kids. As we listened to Dr. Marino’s presentation, the scope and impact of the school district’s cutbacks gripped each one of us like witnessing a train wreck. I myself experienced an almost emotional reaction in thinking about kids who would be prevented from accessing their classrooms at key stages of their academic development, especially in grades K through 8 that would affect their future.
Listening to Dr. Marino, I found the SOS Classroom project to be deeply appealing. I could see the whole class coming together to create an academic forum that would reach out to our local community and perhaps even the larger national community to further important educational goals. The project wouldn’t be about one person; from the outset the SOS Classroom was clear about bringing multiple talents and ideas together to shape a significant resource. Right from the beginning, the SOS Project possessed the potential to address more than just summer school. It seemed to be a larger project with the potential to be helpful to different kinds of students in different locales at different times of the year through the creation of a website where students can access a wealth of academic resources at www.sosclassroom.org. I was immediately excited that the project would use cutting-edge Web 2.0 technology in ways that hadn’t been utilized before. The project would create an educational locus with unique social bookmarking tools like Diigo and del.icio.us, giving students an opportunity to explore the capabilities of these new technological tools in academia.
Enthused, I immediately went to work in preparing to interface with LAUSD schools as school liaison. My goal was to obtain a list of principals’ emails in anticipation of getting the word out about the SOS site. In a very real sense, the school liaison position seemed to complement my ongoing appointment as a congressional intern, where I’ve assisted the Director of Homeland Security. From my congressional office experience, I’ve witnessed how first impressions and phone contacts can affect future dealings with institutions.
I went to work creating a phone log and daily activity journal in the same manner that I conduct work for the Congressman’s offices. Keeping track of phone calls, conversations and progress, I called the LAUSD Superintendent’s offices and found a warm reception to my description of the SOS project. In that conversation, I enquired about getting principals’ emails but was denied this information by the LAUSD staff who declared the list off-limits. I followed up with literature and promise of a future contact. Nevertheless, conversations describing the SOS Classroom project went well and I gained the telephone numbers of key LAUSD administrators.
The feedback I gained in searching out emails for the SOS project generated positive enthusiasm for the project. I spent significant hours canvassing and compiling a call list from my personal and professional contacts to find access to emails. At the point I made my calls, the final materials of the SOS project and the website were still under development per the Daily Diigo updates. As of the July 22nd update that was posted on Google Docs, we’re awaiting the announcement of the official press release upon which to act. Extremely enthused about people’s responses to Save Our Summer and at the request of some business owners and professionals, I went ahead and printed a hundred of the preliminary cartoon logo announcements that feature the SOS web address that are being distributed within the Chicano community.
From phone numbers and further enquiries, I discovered hubs of authority within the LAUSD that could get the word out to schools. I compiled this list after making a number of long distance phone calls that enabled me to put together this list as well as a roster of schools’ emails that could be accessed on a per school basis. Some schools offered individual message boards to principals but no direct email addresses. However, other schools did not offer the message board feature on their sites which I observed in more than a hundred locations. I put together a list of schools and remain ready to individually paste in emails to principals where message boards are available. Working with Taylor Randall, my school liaison colleague, we’ve kept each other updated on progress and have kept in contact with Liz Warden and Matt Schrader who continue to spearhead the PR effort.
In continuing a deeper search for principals’ emails, I contacted prominent educators and discovered that the Orange County School District is more open about providing access to principals and the dissemination of information. However, my assignment was within the LAUSD and in this forum, I constructed my list as thoroughly as was possible from my limited access to information. Undaunted, I continued my enquiries, but came to the conclusion on legal advice that any emails I found other than those obtained on authority from the LAUSD would be considered an invasion of privacy and a matter for legal action. Nevertheless, I’ve continued to work independently on the SOS project.
From my combined experiences interfacing with schools and making connections, I’ve written a report that contains some positive suggestions that would help conduct school liaison activities. Independent from my updates, the report is a draft of some my creative recommendations for the SOS project that take it beyond its present purview. I would be delighted to submit this paper for consideration if asked to do so.
Above all, I’ve wanted to continue the positive excitement of the SOS vision. I combed the web in order to post quality sites for students to log onto within the SOS classroom. I found Math Forum at mathforum.org offering tips on math that would be useful to students studying at various levels of mathematics. I also selected the teaching and English language learning portal Waylink English, that links to the United Kingdom. Through the SOS classroom, right at children’s fingertips at their computer, worldwide educational resources can become available in an expanded learning environment. In support of SOS content, I’m continuing to post academic sites and will continue to do so after the class concludes.
Building on excitement in getting the word out, as an artist I’ve responded to the “DreamList” posted on the Save Our Summer update that appeared on Google Docs. I’ve made progress in constructing some prototype models I’m donating to the project that are necessary to the eventual process of obtaining bids from production companies. I’m excited about how the SOS lunch box and Sosie doll are coming together in newconcept designs. I’ve also redesigned a children’s SOS t-shirt which has just been delivered from manufacturing and I’m delighted to announce the adult t-shirt as well as the large poster are complete. Hopefully, these promotional items will be helpful to the commercial end of the project in anticipation of a developing market.
I’m also excited about the promotional presentation I’ve worked on to get the word out on SOS! I’ve put the finishing touches on a PowerPoint video telling the story of SOS, and I’ve posted it on YouTube. I enjoyed writing the script, finding the music and putting the pictures together.
In conclusion, the SOS classroom project is an innovative milestone of tremendous excitement and consequence. We’re working together as a group on the SOS, and I believe the project is creatively moving forward!
Blueberries and Cream Bread Pudding
2 years ago
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