Final Week: Reflection

Students did a great job on Friday, April 23rd, Global Youth Service Day, presenting their movie to the entire school. Students worked hard to secure the in-kind donation of Caribou Coffee for parents and teachers who attended morning meeting. Students also worked hard finalizing the petition and got 150 signatures to send off to Representative John Lewis. Since April 24th was rained out -- students will take the petition home with them to ask their family and friends to help support the petition. We will send the entire package to Rep. Lewis on May 10th.

The PSA is posted below. Here is a link to the script.

Students spent the last week reflection on their progress, the positives, and things to work on regarding project planning and just developing as a leader in general. Students recognized their contributions to the group and thought about how far they have come over the year. Students also talked about what comes next--where do they take this new spirit of activism and service? Deep questions that I hope they continue to grapple with for the rest of their lives.

Finally, we discussed our end of year celebration. More details to come as we finalize with a restaurant. I am very proud of each and every leader in our group!

Puppy Mill PSA

Petition by Joshua

STOP PUPPY MILLS!

A petition by The Everyday Leaders at Atlanta Charter Middle School

How would you like to be stolen from your mother at birth and placed into a cramped, filthy cage for your entire life? How would you like to have to wallow around in your own filth and only get a piece of bread and a cup of water to eat every day? That is exactly how it is for puppies in puppy mills. They live their entire lives in terrible conditions. They are abused and neglected on a regular basis. We want to put a stop to this cruelty now. No creature, human or animal, should have to endure that kind of torture.

Many people go to pet stores ecstatic that they finally have their own pet. They would not be so happy if they knew where their animals came from. Would you buy your pet from a pet store knowing that their animals are shipped there from a puppy mill? Buying a pet from a pet store whose pets come from a puppy mill is just going to put money into the pockets of the puppy mill owners who care nothing about their animals. If puppy mills did not exist, than this would not be a problem. Not all pet stores get their animals from puppy mills, though. Buying pets from more legitimate pet stores is the first step towards getting rid of puppy mills.

In addition, many puppy mills are extremely abusive. They mistreat their animals for no good reason. The bad thing is, puppy mills are legal in many places. The abuse that they do there is illegal, however. So why would you legalize something that does illegal things? It makes no sense. Puppy mills should be abolished for good. We would like tougher laws in Georgia to ban animal ownership of the convicted of animal cruelty.

***The petition will be available to sign on April 23 at school and April 24 at the Inman Park Festival (see early post for details!)

Courier Article by Noah

Everyday Leaders is a service-learning club that is committed to making a change in the community. Right now we are in the process of planning a service project for Global Youth Service Day on April 24. Our Global Youth Service Day project we have filmed a movie informing people about puppy mills and telling people what they are and why they are a big problem in our society. When people see this movie we encourage them to do some thing to stop puppy mills EVERY WHERE. If everybody in the ACMS community knew about this we can help stop this problem by making sure we know where our pets come from. This will help people that have pets in our community take better care of their pets. With this movie, we can raise awareness about homeless pets and animals. We will present this movie April 23 at morning meeting.

There is free caribou coffee for any parents that attend the screening at morning meeting on April 23, so drop off your student and stick around!

On April 24 we will be going to the Inman Park Festival and set a stand on near Alta & Euclid (1009 Euclid Ave) to inform people about puppy mills and homeless animals/pets. While we are informing people about puppy mills and homeless animals, we will ask for donations to give it the Atlanta Humane Society so that they can spay and neuter animals. We will be doing this project on a Saturday afternoon from 12:30-2 pm so stop on by while at the festival!

Your Everyday Leaders

Anna Thompson, Ylaysia Taylor, Olivia Phillips, Myles H-P, Noah McGee, Joshua Stephens, Carter Peatman, and Hunter Peatman

Week 16: Putting it all together

Students work on many different tasks today -

1. Finalizing the petition (posted next on the blog)

2. Viewing the film and making suggestions. Hunter & Carter will continue to edit.

3. Wrote a thank you letter to Caribou Coffee

4. We also went over the logistics for April 24.

5. Finalized the Courier Article (also posted on the blog next)

Here are the details:

Service Project: Raise awareness around homeless animals in Atlanta through the students’ PSA, raise funds for the Atlanta Humane Society, and collect signatures for a petition to strengthen animal cruelty laws in Georgia.

Date: Saturday, April 24 Location: Inman Park Festival Time: 12:15 pm – 2 pm

Ø On April 23^rd, students will share their petition and PSA to the school. On April 24^th, they will share it with the community, trying to teach others about puppy mills and homeless animals in Georgia. Here are the details of the day:

Ø Students will have a table set up in front of Ms. Laura’s Euclid Ave apartment at the entrance to the Inman Park Festival. The drop off and pick up site is a community center three blocks from our table, due to street closings

Ø Students will meet either me or my husband, Guthrie, (if I am setting up!) at 12:15 pm at 1083 Austin Avenue, NE Atlanta, GA 30307

Ø Close to 2 pm, we will clean up, and walk down to the community center (pick up/drop off site) for pick up.

Ø Since we will be in front my apartment, students will have access to water, some snacks, bathroom, etc. Remember to dress for the weather and wear sunscreen!

Ø Any questions? Transportation issues? Please contact me!

Peace,

Laura

Week 15: Filming the PSA

Students worked very hard today to complete the filming for the PSA. We will post the link as soon as Hunter and Carter finish the editing. Everyone was involved and it was fun to watch the students work out the kinks, adjust scenes as they came up with better ideas, and work together.

Our EL t-shirts are also in! Take a look at our design:

Great work everyone! Next week we will look over the edited film and also go over the logistics for GYSD.

Our final exciting news: Ylaysia and Olivia were able to secure free Caribou Coffee for our Friday Morning Meeting film screening for parents and teachers. Way to go and thank you Caribou at Edgewood!

Peace,

Laura

Week 14: Even more leadership committee work...but this week we are outside!

With environmental club now meeting every other Monday, the students are working hard to get everything in place. The petition and Courier article are complete, posters are made, logistics ready for Grant Park, and the PSA script complete. Next week, the students will take a break from their leadership committees to shoot the PSA. They have just one day today, and then writer/director/editors Hunter and Carter will complete the final editing for GYSD as we focus our efforts on Grant Park.

Peace,
Laura

Week 13: Leadership Committees Continue

Students worked hard in their leadership teams creating the story board for the PSA, the proposal for Mr. Underwood, the in-kind donation letters for local businesses, and a letter for the Courier. We also took a break to play a fun game as a group. Overall, the students are working hard as we only have a couple more sessions before GYSD! Keep it up!

week 12: leadership committees

Today we debated and divided into leadership teams to divide and conquer. There are four groups of two with one substitute. One group are the Experts who are in charge of learning more about the issue and creating the petition. The second group is of the Writers/Directors of the PSA on puppy mills and homeless animals. The third group is in charge of Fundraising and Event Planning for the Global Youth Service Day event. The final group are the Journalist in charge or getting the word out about our event. I am very excited about how much work the students did yesterday--we are definitely in good shape for GYSD!

Peace,

Laura

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - It's a day ON!

Monday was absolutely fabulous! I am so proud of all of the Everyday Leaders who participating in our service kick-off on January 18th. When you all could have been sleeping in, playing outside, or watching TV, you came out and served. You carried on in the spirit of service of Dr. King.

We served at the A.G. Rhodes home on Boulevard and Woodward close to the Old Fourth Ward and the King Memorial Center. Students came prepared with interview questions to tap into the residents' knowledge about MLK, the Civil Rights Movement, and the 1960s. It was an inter-generational exchange of stories that off the students should be proud of. They were excited and learned a lot from the seniors.

Great work! Next week, Everyday Leaders joins forces with other students to form the ACMS Environment Club!

Peace,

Laura

Week 10: Preparing for MLK

We had a busy week getting ready for our first service project: the MLK Day of Service on MLK Day (It's a day ON!) On Monday, January 18th, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and his dedication to service, we will serve with residents at A.G. Rhodes home on Boulevard just north of I-20. We have prepared interview questions for the seniors to talk to them about their experiences with the Civil Rights Movement and their feelings on Dr. King.

Everyday Leaders prepared for the weekend by watching parts of the PBS special, Citizen King. Citizen King is a great documentary not only highlighting Martin Luther King's more notable accomplishments, but it goes beyond the I Have a Dream speech into more of his work with the Poor Peoples' Campaign as well as his opposition the Vietnam War. We a held a group discussion following the film.

Students also decided that on Global Youth Service Day, the group will create a Homeless Animal Awareness Campaign and share it publicly. The students are hoping to host this at Grant Park's Dog Park.

Head's up - the Environment Club is start on January 25th.

Looking forward to next Monday!

Peace,

Laura