Blog 18 : Answer 2

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1.  What is your EQ?
How can we close the food gap between the middle class and people in poverty?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
Reducing food waste is a way to close the food gap between the middle class and people in poverty.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
Using oppositional politics to address economical inequalities are an important way to close the food gap between the middle class and people in poverty. 

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
Oppositional politics
-The best way to participate in oppositional politics is to address issues such as the wage gap. Money is definitely the biggest factor in making food accessible and by giving people a living wage it therefore makes it possible for the food gap to close. 
- An important way to close the food gap is to treat farmers better. This involves eliminating the pesticides that get continually sprayed on people who work in the fields. 
- Destroying the stigma of fat people because many people lose out to job opportunities and such because of their fatness. It is important to look beyond those stigmas and into the underlying  reasons there.
 5.  What printed source best supports your answer?
Weighing In By Julie Guthman
6.  What other source supports your answer?
Food Politics by Marion Nestle
7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.
I think that these two sources that were written specifically to talk about how to use oppositional politics to combat food stigmas will definitely help me. 

Blog 16 Independent Component 2

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
For my 30 hours of independent component I want to either start a composting site or system at the school with approval from Flores, or if that does not work, I want to start a compost at my home. 

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
I will be taking photos of the compost progress, hopefully in a time lapse fashion. To meet the 30 hour requirement I expect it will take 3 or so hours to do the research on how to compost. I plan to meet with the people who run Pomona College organic farm for information on the best composting materials. I want to meet with Flores to discuss a possible compost plan. All of these things will already take close to 10 hours. For the other twenty hours... it will take at least 15-30 minutes a day to maintain the compost ( turning the soil, keeping pests out.) and even more if I do the compost at school because I will need to moniter the bins and such to make sure people are composting the proper things. I will also need to move the soil once its done to another location. All these things will take approximately, take 3 to 4 hours a week. 

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.
This really addresses my food waste answer to my EQ. It delves into the systems that would help eliminate food waste, and illustrate how difficult it is to get these programs off the ground. Furthermore, it would limit my own, and the schools food waste. 

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.


Independent Comp Log 2

Independent Component 1

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(a) Write: “I, Kyle Levin, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b)Michelle Torres and Megan Nehamen from Foothill Family Shelter guided me through my 30 hours of mentorship.
(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.??

• (d)Through out my time working at Foothill Family Shelter I continue help to reorganize the shelves, work with other volunteers, and sort through donations. During the holidays especially I find that volunteer work is the most important. Over the break, we received more donations than we possibly knew what to do with. 
• INTERPRETIVE 
  Well, I have a log that tells the reader exactly how many hours I have done and what I did during that time. Independent Comp Log.    I was not allowed to take photos at my mentorship due to confidentiality purposes. My mentor only verified that I may take photos last night. 
  
• APPLIED
  I found that while I was working at Foothill Family Shelter, that I was looking at my project all wrong. Through careful research and observation I realized that there are many misconceptions that the public and myself had about obesity, food justice, and overall the food system that we have in America. I felt that it was highlighted especially in my work at Foothill Family Shelter due to the lack of resources and understanding that I personally found through my mentorship. In a way... it is like I was focusing in on one leaf of the tree ( Foothill Family Shelter) when there is a whole system of charities, companies, food programs that contribute to figuring out a solution to the food gap problem. 

Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I am very proud of the presentation I gave because it had a lot of content and it was ordered in an understandable way. Throughout the presentation I felt very confident and that felt really good. 

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I filled all the requirements and I kept the audience very engaged. I was not boring. I hit all the points hard with confidence. 

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
My powerpoint really guided the presentation and the content. 

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

I forgot to mention why my hook was important. 
5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

Policy change. 

Blog # 14 Interview Prep

For this interview, you will prepare 10 open-ended questions that focus on your newly approved EQ (in fact, your first question can be your EQ). Remember, all interviews must be done in person unless they are specifically approved by your house teacher. Additionally, one person may be interviewed a maximum of two times.

 1. Who do you plan to interview? What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan to interview Nancy Neiman. Her area of expertise is political science and she leads two courses on food justice.

 2. Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview. What is the date and time of the interview?
 I have talked to her in person before the interview post came out, and I am waiting till next week to schedule an interview because classes are starting up again for the college she works at. 

3. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
What are some of the models scientists are working on to help limit the food gap?

 4. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).
 What types of projects would you suggest I work on to get hands on experience with my topic? 

5. Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.
 How did you get involved in the food justice branch?
Why did you choose the locations you did to start up programs to help people that are food insecure?

Other Possible questions :
What were some of the effects that your programs had on the community?
Do your personal values align more with the second wave of food justice activists or the third?
Do you feel that there is a truly perfect model of a world with no hunger?
Have you personally been able to bring your food waste down to zero?
What kind of effects have you seen in student's personalities after taking your class?
What do you feel is the most important factor in help limit the food gap?

Blog # 13 10 Hour Mentorship check- in

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1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
Foothill Family Shelter 

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?
Megan Nehamen. She has been working at foothill family shelter for twelve years. She is the co- executive director of the nonprofit, and has had years of experience in all aspects of the organization.

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).
38 hours. 

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.
I spend most of the time working with the volunteer coordinator. I feel like I don't get adequate time to talk with my mentor and that is frustrating to me. I plan to spend the remaining hours working at the volunteer place but also working concurrently with a professor at Scripps College for more guidance.

*You need 50 hours plus the original 10 in the summer by May.   The original 10 from the summer do not count toward the 50.  By the end of the year, you will have 60 hours counting that original 10.

Blog #12 Holiday Project Update

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1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
 Over the break I learned more about my topic. I found out that it actually has a name. ( Food Justice) It is a social movement that has been slowly arising. Unfortunately I found out about it too late to strongly incorporate the ideas I learned from food justice thus far, but I hope to be able to give a better explanation of it in my final presentation. I also volunteered at my mentorship for seven hours. I almost changed the whole focus of my project. I reached out to a professor at Scripps College, who I will be talking to tomorrow about my project, so I may get a stronger insight into my topic. I looked at my local grocery store and priced out items in preparation for my 1st component. I struggled with should I write journal entries for my 1st component or vlogs. I hope to talk to Mr. Holt about that soon. 


2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?I learned that you can't take breaks. I took a huge gap during my mentorship between November and December. When I came back I felt so out of the loop. I missed so many important events. I felt terrible because I didn't help, but I also realized how much of an impact the volunteer work is. During the holidays, people donate ALOT more, so non profit organizations get swamped and need as many volunteers as they can or they can't effectively do their job. 


3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?
If this conversation goes well with the Scripps Professor I hope to interview her. ( Nancy Neiman) She teaches two classes pertaining to my topic and also has started two programs in the local area for food justice. I hope that she can give me insight into the questions I dont know I should be asking and more resources to look at in the area.