Work Cited

Michelle Galley. Extra Benefits Tied to Extracurriculars. Education week. Oct. 18, 2000. Editorial Projects in Education. Nov. 2, 2007<http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2000/10/ 18/07extra.h20.html>

Charles Davidson. Six Benefits of After- School Activities. Associated Content. Jun. 22, 2006. Associated Content, Inc. Nov. 2, 2007. <
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article /39190/six_benefits_of_afterschool_activities.html>

 

Mary Daniels Brown. Science or Soccer?—How Important Are Extracurricular Activities? Education World. 6/9/2000. Educational World Inc. Nov 2, 2007. <
http: //www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr237.shtml

 

Unknown. Pay to play for student athletes - how stupid can we get? Healthful Life Project. April 2005.The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. Nov.3, 2007. <
http: //healthfullife.umdnj.edu/archives/studentAthletes_arccchive.htm>

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eng. 070                                 Jasmine Cotts    

 

    Why do schools always worry about extracurricular activities last? Some schools do actually recognize how beneficial extracurricular activities are for the students and therefore they try there best to avoid having to give up these activities. The schools that do not worry about them are usually schools that have to work on a fixed budget. They are also the ones that need these activities the most. "When funding gets tight, don't cut activities.", said Ms. Barber, who is leading the study along with Jacquelynne S. Eccles, a professor of psychology and education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Their studies showed that activities are linked to better grades, lower rates of truancy, stronger feelings of attachment to a school, and higher rates of college attainment. Extracurricular activities and non general education classes are essential for students who wish to succeed. According to Charles Davidson, extracurricular Activities allow students to develop physically, creatively, build self confidence, team spirit, and it is a good output for stress.

When students get involved in sports they are healthy and they develop physically. They also have a strong idea on teamwork and team spirit. Also students that are involved in any sport build self confidence and school pride. Also any gym teacher or coach will tell you that all sports provide a productive way to let go of all of that anger and stress you might be feeling. When students get involved in art or music classes there is also a strong sense of creativity that students build. They also will build self confidence, and a wonderful output for any stress.

 

Eng. 070                                     Jasmine Cotts

On the East side of Aurora for example there are many kids that get involved in the wrong things because they do not get involved in school. Whether it be getting involved in gangs or even hanging around with the wrong type of people. The only way they can achieve getting involved in school is through joining clubs or sports. Also, according to John H. Holloway, a consultant with the Educational Testing Service, if a student is involved in some sort of extracurricular activity they are less likely to drop out of school. This is more likely among ethnic minoritys. I think that is a great reason to fight to keep these activities around in those low budget schools. Students being involved in these activities, makes all the difference. Even one sport that motivates them physically will affect them. They know what it takes to succeed.

Also certain states are starting to enact a No pass/ No play Law. Now I do not think this is a bad idea for fixing a little bit of the issues. This should help motivate students to try harder in their classes. This could have a negative effect also. Some students might find this intimidating and therefore not get involved. So this like many proposals could be a win or lose situation.

    According to the Health care foundation of New Jersey, school districts in 34 states are asking parents to pay fifty to one-hundred dollars in order to keep extracurricular activities. Now this is a good idea, in order to insure that their kids can be involved. The one problem is some people cannot afford to even buy their kids lunch for school, much less pay for them to join sports. The one thing that must be kept in mind is that the low budget schools are probably in a low income areas. Many of the parents can

 

Eng. 070                                    Jasmine Cotts

not afford to be spending money on this, but they should be offered the same educational opportunities as every other school. The students should be able to have the option to get

involved. Many parents might even be outraged at the fact that they would have to pay so much money for their kids to have something that is usually offered to other student in other schools. So therefore I don't think that this idea is as good as it could be.

I would recommend to have a sporting event or some sort of activity in which you can raise money solely for this cause. Therefore people will be able to see what there money is going to. Also so that those who cannot afford to even pay the fee for the activities will not have to worry about it. So that those in the community who can afford to give that little bit of money can make the difference. It should not cost the school much to give this extra effort to save these activities. It would have to be like a community project though and require effort not solely from the school.

Well this is not the simplest issue to fix and I am not completely sure if my proposal is any where near perfect, but this should be a community issue that requires community effort. After school activities and non-general education classes should be saved. They should not just be cut. They should be considered just as important as the general classes. It will just take a lot of extra effort from everyone effected or involved.

outline

Outline For Persuasive Paper
Extracurricular Activities
I. Least important?
A. Schools – on budget
1. Support from Ms.Barbar
2. Studies show?
B. 6 benefits
1. Charles Davidson
II. Explain 6 benefits
A. Physical development
B. Creativity
C. Self Confidence
D. Team Spirit
E. Stress Release
III. No activities=
A. Keeps kids out of trouble
B. Drop outs
1. Support John Holloway
IV. No pass/ No play
A. Good idea?
V. Students pay
VI. My proposal
VII. Conclusion.

Journal #15

Well I am loving the fact that I am finally finished with classes this semester but I am kind of sad about it because I did not do good in any of my classes and that is just so, so , so , so sad to me. I really feel behind this semester and Yeah thank goodness I quit that walmart job or else I don't think I would have finished this semester. It really sucks though because I have been catching up with all my work this week and haven't gotten much sleeep. So yeah hopefully now that i do have a new job next semester will be awesome and i won't have to worry as much!!

Journal #14

Well this is going to be a sucky Christmas for me because I am the only one making money. So that means I have the pleasure of buying all the presents and not receiving any. So thank goodness I like my family or else I would be mad! J/k I luv my family and I am still excited for Christmas because I love buying gifts for people. I like being able to get creative. Well Marvelous!! Well I still have to figure out what I am going to get my mama because she is complicated sometimes But i am working on it. For sure, for sure!

Journal #13

Well I absolutely Love my new job!!! Now I am working at a bank and it is marvelous! It is just really laid back, you just have to make sure that you help people when they need it and the rest of the time when we do not have customers is basically chill time. So I love that at walmart was always expected to be doing everything and that is definitely not the case with this job. The only thing that I have to stay ontop of is sales. We are actually expected to get 5 credit cards a week. So I love that because I get paid $20 more for each one I do so that is an extra $100 every week , so it isn't as bad as it sounds. Well Yeah I love this job.:-)

Journal # 12

Well my job at Walmart did not last long! I just put in my 2 week notice yesterday. It really sucks working in the deli. Well if you close every nite. I closed pretty much everynight and we have been short on people so I usually have to close alone. So it really sucks for me. Because of that I always get out of work really late sometime 2 in the morning and I am not the type of person that can handle doing that and I shouldn't have to for what they pay me, so I guess I really am screwing them over because now they don't have anyone to close during the week. But oh well I got to do me! But I did get another job already and start tomorrow. I will be working at the bank now; so that is going to be completely different from what I have been doing! It pays pretty good too, so I am happy and relieved!!!!

Journal #9

Yay! Right now my stepdad's boxing club is doing really good. So it is exciting. We have a sparring event Thanksgiving weekend and it is going to be pretty cool. Well his boxing club is non profit and right now he is only training kids 19 and under. So we have a lot more little kids b/w ages 5-14 and 2 older kids. We also have lots of girls; so it is going to be fun to watch. I go to there practices sometimes and when they do spar it is funny most of the time. One of the little girls made one of the boys cry before and that is just funny to me. But at the event we are going to have some of our old boxers come and sparr too. So they are already grown and that should be fun to watch too. So yup very interesting! Well to me, maybe. But I am excited about it even my old stepdad is going to get in the ring and get his butt whipped. So if anyone wants tickets to the event it is $5 a ticket and we are non-profit so all the money goes to the club. So let me know if you are a boxing fan, but if you are scared to cruise through Aurora. It is in Aurora so yeah just so you know.

Journal #8

Last Thursday was awesome! I got to go to the boxing semifinals in Chicago. It was pretty cool. I went with my stepdad's boxing club. We got to meet and talk to 2 of the boxers that made it to the Olympics. We got to meet "Showtime" and "Boo Boo". I think it is really cool to watch them. The best were of course the heavyweight boxers. The best fight was the one b/w Demetrius aka "Boo Boo" and Turkey. He won 30 to 8, so it was good b/c he was 1 of 2 that were USA and won. But yeah cool bean!

Narrative paper

I am writing a fiction story it is supposed to be horror/scary and there is a little bit of comedy. It is not my intent to end the story like I did. I just have not finished the story yet and there is more.: - )

The History of my house

It was a murky day in small town Aurora, Illinois. Not the best day with the cloudy sky and the cool breeze. It was unusual weather for the Gonzalez family, who were used to a nice bit of sun in Mexico and Texas. Julia was running late for school and her mother, Maria, was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

“Julia, hurry up you are going be late for your first day of sixth grade!”

“I’m going mom!”

“Don’t forget to wear a sweater or a jacket or something! You are going to miss the bus!”

“I’m going mom!”

“Julia, I am going to be late to work if I have to drop you off at school -The bus is here!”

“I’m going mom!!!”

“Hurry up!”

Then Julia came running down the stairs wearing two big sweaters, gloves, and ear muffs.

“Bye mom.”

“Bye mija. Have a good day at school!”

Julia rushed out the door and straight to the bus. Once she got on the bus, she realized that she looked kind of foolish with her two sweaters and earmuffs. She looked around and some kids just had on a t-shirt. Then she saw her cousin Laura in a big winter jacket, earmuffs, and gloves.

“Dang Laura you look like you are ready to walk through a blizzard.”

“Ha ha ha, you look like you are ready to follow me through it!”

The girls laughed at each other and talked about what they thought there day might be like. Then they reached the school and had to separate. Julia and Laura did not get a chance to see each other until the end of the day when they met up on the bus.

“It’s ok.” Julia said slightly annoyed.

“I like our old school better and our old house.”

“Yeah, Laura, I do too.”

The girls talked until finally they reached Laura’s house.

“Well my mom said that you guys are going to come over tonight. So I will see you later. Maybe you can stay over?” Laura yelled out at Julia as she was leaving the bus.

Finally, Julia was home again and she got ready to go to Laura’s house. As soon as her dad Antonio got there they were gone. Julia got to Laura’s house and stayed over like Laura had said. Julia and Laura heard the back door open and walked into the kitchen. Right in the middle of the kitchen where Laura’s 3 younger brothers, that loved to cause trouble. There was Ramon, Juan, and Menny.

“Hey you guys.” said Julia

“Hey” They all responded in unison.

“Why are you guys all wet?”

“Mom sprayed us with the hose because Menny caught the bush on fire next to the garage. Mom said he could have caught the garage on fire.” said Ramon.

“I did not! Don’t try to blame it on me!” yelled Menny.

“Yes you did, mom saw you!” said Juan.

“She said she saw one of us and it’s not my fault! You guys are the ones that wanted to see how the bush glows when it’s on fire. You told me it would look cool!”

“Well it did look pretty cool until mom ran outside yelling and spraying water everywhere.” said Ramon.

“Yeah man that was funny!” said Juan

Then when the boys were laughing tio David came in the back door with tia Sandra. The boys immediately stopped laughing and ran upstairs. Then tio David started yelling.

“I was in the garage fixing the car! What if the garage would have caught on fire!? What if the impala would have caught on fire! Demon children!”

“David!” yelled tia Sandra.

Then they started yelling in the kitchen. So Laura and Julia ran upstairs too. As soon as they got upstairs the boys slammed the bathroom door closed and locked it.

“It’s just us you losers!”

“Well better safe than sorry.” Said Juan.

Then they opened the door and the girls walked in. Just then they heard something thump in the attic. Then they looked around and saw that everyone was in the bathroom and they could still hear tio David and tia Sandra yelling downstairs.

“What was that?” Menny asked.

“I don’t know.” said Laura.

Then it thumped again.

Then Juan said “I think it is coming from the attic.”

They opened the bathroom door and walked out into the hall.

“Don’t be stupid you guys, it was the wind or something.” said Julia

Then the door to the attic blew open and everyone gasped. Then the boxes of junk from the top of the attic stares came tumbling down and they could see a shadow figure moving closer down the stairs from the attic. Then they all ran back into the bathroom and locked the door. Something started knocking and banging on the door as soon as they locked it.

“I hate new houses!” cryed Laura

Then it was quiet. Somebody was yelling at the top of there lungs. Everyone was bunched together in the shower. Julia had her hands on her head shielding her and then…….the end.(for now.)

Journal #7

Well I was watching Toy Story and Barney this morning with my lil cousin. So now I have the songs in my head. Not cool! Little kids are hilarious. He was eating some candy and I turned around and he got it all over his face and he rubbed his face against the glass of the doors. So me and my mama had to clean windows. It is funny though. The thing I love is when he dances. He dances when you sing that one hip-hop song "Hey Bay Bay". I love it because he jocs his hands like they do in the music video. And if he hears that song "Party Like a Rockstar" he tries to get Hyphy and it is hilarious.

Journal #6

This Thursday I went to go see Mana in concert. They are a spanish rock group and they were off the chain! It was really cool beans. They had some crazy cool effects that made it super interesting and that was not even the best part. The pep's that showed up were crazy and it was hilarious. I had this one cholo next to me trying to dance and it was too funny. I don't know if you have ever heard that new song "Lean Like a Cholo" but believe it or not pep's actually dance like that in real life. The dude next to me was one of those pep's. He was doing the whole thing like they do in that music video, with his elbows out rockin side to side. Well it crazy funny to watch someone dance like that especially after they drink a lil to much. Then they will be leaning and almost falling and all that good stuff and gravy. But yeah the concert was crazy cool and I will never forget it. I also won't be forgettin that dude either though!!

Journal #5

I am excited because my little cousin is starting to grow up and we are starting to plan her
Quiceanera. In case you do not know what that is it is like a spanish Sweet 16 but when your 15. It is really cute though. My Quinceanera was pretty kick ass. I loved it because every body I knew came even my family from Texas. So it is pretty interesting. We had mariachis, mexicans, puertoricans, and cool pep's to make it a party. So I am really excited about my cousins because my family is pretty good at getting together to throw super cool partys.

Journal #4

I was really extra happy yesterday because this lazy female got fired from work. She would not clean anything and would take like 5 breaks. So that was great news to know that she was gone. I really am thinking about quiting this job though because they have me closing alone all the time. When I am the only one closing it takes an extra hour to finish everything. Monday night I didn't get out till 2 in the morning which was completely ridiculous because of all the work we do and the million things we have to clean. It is just really exhausting and they are at a hiring freeze right now. So I have to close on my own until they can hire other people to close with me but we cannot hire anyone for another month-month and a half. So I am kind of fed up with it and can only do so much.:-(

Smart criminals

Well I was listening to the radio this morning( which is my version of the News) and guess what???? Well some dumbasses actually robbed a bank and since it was there first robbery one of them took a disposable camera and took pictures. And wait theres more, he actually took the camera to a local wal-greens later on to get the pictures developed, and somehow (????) someone put the pieces together and they got arrested. Now those are some smart criminals, they might as well have gone and turned themselves in. I find it absolutely amazing how dumb some people can be(and I am not to quick sometimes but duh!) It's a great story to laugh at though. Then I heard another story about some other guys that thought they were being slick because they rented a car to move some drugs. So that there is no evidence. Smart, right?- Then they actually forgot some of the drugs in the car after they turned it back into the car rental place and ended up getting caught. Dumb criminals! Now you would think with all the movies and tv shows out there that some of these people would learn something but yeah that's why they are criminals.Well I take that back because I know there are plenty of people out there that are smart at it but yeah of course they don't get caught because they are smart. But yes dumb criminals are funny!:-)

Wal-Mart

Well I am pretty sleepy right now and realized that I am behind on the journals and we just started classes. (Yup!) I actually just came home from work and I am pretty excited. I have been working at the new Wal-Mart in Montgomery( that's not open yet) and we are almost done fixing up the store so that means that we will be opening a whole week early which is cool. That means I can actually start buying stuff at work. Pretty cool! I was not to crazy about the job at the beginning but it's pretty cool beans! We have lots of interesting stuff, we are supposed to have a spa, a hair salon, a nail salon, and everything cool and interesting like that. But yes, that is not all I get to use my 20% discount too. Holla for a dolla!

Hey, My name is Jasmine and I would have to say the most dangerous thing I have ever done physically was like forever ago. I was at a waterpark with some friends and my cousin and we of course wanted to go on all the big stuff and at the time I wasn't that great of a swimmer and yeah. I went on this big ride with them even though I was not that crazy about it and then I almost drowned and the life guard went in for me and every thing but yeah. I can swim just fine now and I am for the most part a risk taker now and will do anything once. I don't scare as easily now but that was probably one of my dumbest, but true and terrifying for me, at the time, stories.