I teach in a very large community that has five elementary schools, three middle schools, and one high school. Despite being a large community, the members are actually very close and active. The community is supportive of the small local businesses and one another. The community has events all throughout the year in which members of the community can come and participate in games or activities. For example, every Sunday in the summer, the town sets up a movie screen in the park and invites members to come watch. The town will have random days/nights where the members can come out and enjoy such as family night outs at the park, bingo nights, and craft fairs. There are multiple events where the town invites the small businesses to come and introduce or sell their items to the community. These events usually have games for families to play, booths for them to shop at, and tables for them to sit down and communicate. Also in my community, there are a lot of members who value sports and athletics. A majority of the students in the schooling system start playing sports at a young age and continue until college. Even those who are not involved in the sports, will support the teams by attending the games. Each Thanksgiving, the highschool plays a football game where most of the community will go attend and celebrate afterwards. 

I can connect with the athletic culture because my family was very sports oriented growing up. My brother was a big football player and wrestler and my cousins were big baseball players. Growing up, I was involved in playing sports such as softball and field hockey, and I was involved in managing sports such as football and wrestling. I continued with managing wrestling and working for my college athletic program throughout college as a part time job. Just like the community, my family enjoyed going to all of the sporting events and saying up to date with all the programs. 

I am an outsider to the involvement community. As I know about all of the events that happen in the town for members to join and meet new people at, I never actually go. The community I grew up in was not this open and friendly with one another. We all went to the same highschool and would go to sporting events, but that was it. I am not familiar with a community where members go and interact with one another through games, music, or snacks. This idea was new to me, and quite frankly it was intimidating. The idea was intimidating because I did not know many people in the community, while a lot of the members seemed to know each other. I felt exactly like an outsider coming in, even though I know the community members are friendly and welcoming.

I hope to find out more about how the community integrates diversity and education. I am curious about this because I had three students within the past two years of the Muslim culture. However, only one student was open about their holidays and their traditions. I hope to find out what the community does to recognize and celebrate diversity. 

When thinking about the community in which I teach, I know that it is a Title I school district. It consists of one high school, one middle school, and six elementary schools. Therefore, we tend to come in contact with students who do not have as many resources or support at home. I find that many of my students are not where they should be academically, many of them fall below grade level. I find it difficult to make strong connections with my students' parents or guardians. I grew up relatively close to this district, so I had some background knowledge of what it would be like to teach in this community. I do know that most of the teachers and educators I work with are exceptional. They care about their students and their success more than anything. I have a great support system at school when it comes to my third grade team. It helps make our school culture more motivated and confident. 

I grew up in a similar culture to the one I currently teach in. I went to a Title I school in lower elementary school. I can reflect back on the culture and community within the school and I remember having teachers who worked so hard to make sure we were successful and provided with the tools and resources necessary to make progress. Although I can remember many of my classmates being frustrated with the texts we would read, due to lack of prior knowledge or being below grade level, we always had a tremendous amount of support from our teachers. 

I believe that I am an insider in my current community because of the prior knowledge I have about the district. I get along well with my co-workers and am always a team player. We strive to see the faces of our students light up when they realize they are making progress. I believe that I have put myself in a position to learn even more about the community by becoming involved in clubs and leadership positions at school. 

I hope to continue to learn more about the community in which I teach. I want to learn more about the data, I want to keep track of all of the benchmarks school and district wide to see where the deficits are and what I can do to help make a difference and fill those gaps. I believe I will continue to learn more through leadership committees, team meetings, and collaborating with other teachers and administrators. I have also joined a summer Teacher Training Academy that I hope to learn more about the community. I will be a presenter as well as a listener. I have promised myself that I would do everything in my power to learn the ins and outs of the community in order to make myself a better educator!

The community where I teach is very small, close-knit, and growing more diverse.  I know this because not only do I teach within this community, I also live there!  There are only two schools located within our community; the elementary school where I teach and then the middle school.  Due to the size of our community, we do not have a high school within our town.  The sending district of my school’s community is Paulsboro High School.  Since my town is small, everyone tends to know everyone which is why I identify my community as close-knit.  You either know people from constantly being down at our sports fields, going for walks in the park, constantly running into each other at the supermarket, etc.  The students of my school district are always spending time down at the fields whether they are playing a sport or supporting their friends.  Another example, of the close-knit community, is we have a town Facebook page where people will post things that they no longer need or want for free for someone else to claim.  It is very inspiring to see people of the town, especially parents of my students, interacting with one another and helping each other out.  The reason why I stated the community is growing more diverse is that when my mom was growing up here, everyone that lived in the town, grew up in the town because their parents and grandparents grew up there.  Nowadays, people who have grown up here are slowly moving out of the town and we are gaining a lot more short-term residents who are renting their homes for short periods of time.  

I feel that I have a very strong connection to the culture of the community in which I teach because I live in the community and am a part of the culture.  The connection that I have with my students to the culture of our community is the aspect of spending time down at the fields.  I previously stated that many of my students are down there nightly either for sports practices, games, to support, or just hangout.  That was the case for me when I was their age.  I played softball down on those fields when I was younger and was down there every night just like my students currently are. 

I would definitely consider myself an insider to the community for all of the reasons I have previously mentioned.  Living in the community where I teach definitely has provided me with the advantage of becoming an insider quickly.  I find out the news of the town a lot quicker than some of my colleagues who live in the surrounding towns. 

I hope to find out how the community is going to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing diversity of the population.  There are more Spanish-speaking students entering our school district and I would like to know what the district is going to do in order to help them be successful. 

In thinking about the community where I teach, I know that I teach in a very low income district. My school is a Title I school where over half of the students receive free or reduced lunch. From social media and conversations with people in the community, I know that many people in the community value supporting local businesses and supporting each other. In addition, I also know that many people in my school’s community live with extended family in their home. Many of my students live with one or both parents, siblings, and grandparents. Some live with aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. Many people that I work with live in the community where I work and I would consider them insiders. I also am in continued contact with a few families who have been part of my class in previous years and I would consider them insiders. 

At this point, I connect with the strong family relationships that many families in my school’s culture have. I live nearby my extended family and it has always been important to me to have my family as an active part of my life. I am hoping to find more connections through my fieldwork.

I believe that I am mostly still an outsider in my school’s community. I have been in this school district for four years and two of those years have been part of a pandemic. During my first two years at my school, I participated in many community events after school that helped me get to know the families in my school community more closely. Because of the pandemic, we have not held many community events to visit or be involved in. Before the pandemic, I had many opportunities to be an insider and observe the community from inside. However, I believe that many community values changed during the pandemic and I have not had the chance to see those yet.

In completing this assignment, I hope to find out more about the value of education to the community. I also hope to find out more about how the curriculum is supporting or lacking in meeting community values and how I can fill in those gaps.

In thinking about the community where I teach, I know that I teach in a very low income district. My school is a Title I school where over half of the students receive free or reduced lunch. From social media and conversations with people in the community, I know that many people in the community value supporting local businesses and supporting each other. In addition, I also know that many people in my school’s community live with extended family in their home. Many of my students live with one or both parents, siblings, and grandparents. Some live with aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. Many people that I work with live in the community where I work and I would consider them insiders. I also am in continued contact with a few families who have been part of my class in previous years and I would consider them insiders. 

At this point, I connect with the strong family relationships that many families in my school’s culture have. I live nearby my extended family and it has always been important to me to have my family as an active part of my life. I am hoping to find more connections through my fieldwork.

I believe that I am mostly still an outsider in my school’s community. I have been in this school district for four years and two of those years have been part of a pandemic. During my first two years at my school, I participated in many community events after school that helped me get to know the families in my school community more closely. Because of the pandemic, we have not held many community events to visit or be involved in. Before the pandemic, I had many opportunities to be an insider and observe the community from inside. However, I believe that many community values changed during the pandemic and I have not had the chance to see those yet.

In completing this assignment, I hope to find out more about the value of education to the community. I also hope to find out more about how the curriculum is supporting or lacking in meeting community values and how I can fill in those gaps.

The members within the community are mostly Hispanic and Spanish speaking. A majority of the members are immigrants, and their children are first generation Americans. It is a large transient population, and most of the community members are within the low to low- middle social economic class. 

Almost all of the students receive free breakfast and lunch. 

It is a very small school, and it is grades K - 8. The receiving district is Collingswood, so the students go to Collingswood High School. The older siblings are responsible for younger siblings. They are responsible for escorting siblings to class, picking them up after school, and relaying messages to parents. The middle school students are able to play sports through the Collingswood middle school sports team. Also, it is a walking district, so there are no buses. There are students that do not live in the district and come to school because they either moved to the next city or are homeless. 

I know my students and their siblings. Also, I am acquainted with many of the para- professionals within the school who are also parents to some of the students. 

Many of the parents do not speak English, so it is difficult for them to communicate with teachers and staff. I am taking Spanish classes, so that  I can communicate with some of the students and parents. It is difficult and anxiety producing to try and have a conversation in a language that is not my first. I connect with the parents in my communication, but I only live a fraction of the struggle within a controlled environment compared to their large daily communication hurdles. 

My father is an immigrant who came to America and did not speak any English. Also, when we brought the rest of my family to America, they needed a lot of support and guidance the first few years. I am able to understand and empathize with communication struggles. 

I am able to connect with the parents because I am a parent with school age children, so I understand the importance of relying on siblings to help with younger children. The high school I graduated from is located in a town where most of the students were walkers, so I connect with that subculture. 

I am an insider because I am teaching the young students of the community. I try to volunteer at many of the events within the school. Also, I talk to the older students within the school.

I am an outsider because I am not Hispanic, and I am not fluent in Spanish. I may have grown up in the low to low- middle class socioeconomic status, but I am not now.

I hope to find out some of the subcultures and belief systems of the community members. A lot of families are students who went to the school, and now their children attend the school. Before, there was a large Asian population before the transition to a majority Hispanic population. I would like to discover the shift from one ethnic population to another.

The community in which I teach is very small and has one elementary school and one middle school. The high school is located in the town over. The community includes upper middle-class families and is not diverse. About 95% of the community is white. Almost 100% have access to a computer. This is a very close-knit community where everyone knows everyone and news spreads quickly. Sports are highly valued and many hire private coaches. Many children play sports at a young age and continue as they get older. Parents also hire private tutors to help with homework, provide support, or enrich their child. A lot of families are part of beach clubs over the summer. Some insiders to the community that I know are colleagues that live in the community, board members, and the town mayor.

The connections I have with this culture are through school related activities. There are many parents and community members that are involved. The town has a Green Team organization to lead sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices and the school has recently created a Green Team to get students involved. Board decisions also connect me to this culture. Parents saw a need for keyboarding practice in the middle school grades. They organized and paid for a program and teachers to run the keyboarding program before school. I am familiar with local restaurants, stores, and parks that students and families frequent.

In what ways are you either an insider or an outsider already?

I am an insider in the community already because I tutor families in town, I have had students of board of education members in my class, my brother in law lives in the town, and one of my former student’s parent runs a dog walking business and she walks my dogs. I would also consider myself an insider because I dance and used to participate in cheerleading and going to competitions for this sport is common in this community. Lastly, I would consider myself an insider because I have a close relationship with my colleagues. I am an outsider as I am Japanese and fit the minority.

What do you hope to find out about the community?

I want to learn more about how diversity is addressed in the community and in education.

3. In what ways are you either an insider or an outsider already? I am an insider in this community because I have taught there for eighteen years,  I coached multiple sports, and I moderate many clubs. I have a similar background and upbringing to many community members.  I am an outsider because I am not a parent, and I no longer live in the area. 

4. What do you hope to find out about the community? Why was there such a backlash against certain texts being taught in our school, and did it represent a majority voice in the community? What are the community's goals for their children’s future, and what innovations would they like to see at the school? How do they feel about the new housing in the neighborhood, and how do they think the school and community could best welcome the influx of new families? 

I teach at a title one school district. It is in a rural area in Cumberland County surrounded by many farms. There are several subcultures in the  community. There is an apartment community located directly behind the school that dates back to World War 2. There are currently 283 families that reside there.  Many of the families in the community are one parent, or blended families. There is a significant amount of people who speak Spanish as their first language. Many children in the community identify as more one than one ethnicity.  
2. What kinds of connections do you have with this culture?

I grew up in  a single parent family and have lived in a community where the parents supported each other. I was a single parent myself. I went back to school and worked part-time to support myself and my children.  My children are half Puerto Rican and speak Spanish. Being married to their father for 17 years. I experienced the culture.

I am an insider because I am a teacher and attend events in the community. I have built a relationship with the families of the children I teach. I offer support to them in any way I can. I am an outsider because I live in a different town. I struggle to communicate with the members who only speak Spanish. There are often times parents and grandparents approach me and only speak Spanish. 

I hope to find out more about the members of the community that I do not interact with on a regular basis. I hope to find out about their traditions and beliefs. I wonder how much of the community attends a place of worship. I am curious what the park looks like on a Saturday afternoon, and where is the best place to eat, beside the pizza shop that delivers to school. 

I teach at a charter school in Camden, NJ. The culture of the community I teach in is very lively and the families love to celebrate life with music and dance. Many of my students are immigrants or first generation Americans, so many of them are ELL. The demographics are approximately 80% Hispanic and 20% African American. The majority of my students' families are low income, and all students receive free lunch. Our families are very hardworking. My experience working with parents is that a majority of them are very involved in their children's academic lives. However, most do not have resources available to them to provide extra help outside of school. They rely heavily on what we can accomplish in the classroom because they are either busy working multiple jobs or do not speak English and can not help with school work at home. They do the best with what they can. The insiders I know in the community are all coworkers in my school who live in Camden. Many of our office staff, custodial staff, and a few teachers. 

In high school I took four years of Spanish and then a little Spanish in college. I thankfully took it very seriously and had a desire to learn the language. Since working here I have continued to try to learn as much as I can. I like to be able to communicate with my parents in their own language as much as possible. I don’t speak the best, but I can read messages from parents well. This also helps me when I work with my ESL students. I try to familiarize myself with my students' favorite meals and how they celebrate holidays.

I would consider myself an outsider because of how I grew up. I grew up in a predominantly white, middle class neighborhood. Many of the challenges my students face are things I never had to face or be aware of growing up. I do think that as time goes on I feel more like an insider. It is my sixth year in the district and families in the school have grown to know and trust me. I think part of being an insider in a community is developing a bond with students and their families and expressing desire to learn about the culture. I see myself spending the remainder of my teaching career in this community. I hope to become fluent in the language and become more involved in community events.

I want to learn more about what the inside of my students' homes look like. What is life like for families who work three jobs or wonder where their next meal will come from? What opportunities does the community have to support non-english speakers? 

I teach in a large, urban community in Atlantic County. The majority of the community is Hispanic or African American. Many of my students and families are Spanish speaking and English is their second language. The community is very family oriented, and they highly value education. The community members are also very supportive of the local businesses in the area. Most of the population is within the low-middle class. Many of my students come from a blended family or a single parent household. The district is a walking district, so my students walk or get dropped off at school each day. I interact with the siblings and family members of my students daily during dismissal. My students and their families inform me of local church events, lunch specials at a new local eatery they or a family friend in the community own, and upcoming sports games for them and their siblings. 

I grew up in a single parent household, where my mother greatly emphasized the value and importance of education. Growing up, we always supported the local businesses and restaurants in my hometown. My family would frequently have get-togethers with extended family and neighbors who also lived nearby. I do not speak Spanish fluently, but I am conversational in the language. I studied Spanish up to and throughout my undergrad, and I continue to take online Rosetta Stone classes through my school district. 

 

I think I am still mostly an outsider in this community. I started teaching in this district last year, and due to Covid we were fully virtual for the entire year. I had no in person interactions with the other teachers at my school, my students, or their families. This year was my first year inside the school, and as a district it has been difficult to get back into the swing of things. We have not had many opportunities to fully embrace the community and all it has to offer. 

 

I hope to find out more about how the community members spend their free time. What is most important to them? What would they like to change to better improve education in the district? How I can better support the cultures of my students into our curriculum inside the classroom? 

I teach in a large regional school district in Central New Jersey that serves two townships (with over 42,000 residents) and spans two counties. There are ten schools in the district, including three K-3 schools, one K-2 school, one 3-5 school, one 4-5 school, two middle schools, and two high schools. The district serves approximately 9,900 students and is both economically and culturally diverse. Many members of the community at large are immigrants or the children of immigrants, primarily from Asia and South Asia. Many of these immigrant communities are insular and tight-knit. Within these communities, there are also many subcultures. There are many languages spoken within the community (many of its members are multilingual), many different religions practiced, and many multi-generational households. For example, there is a large Indian community in the district. Within this community, there are separate subcultures based on religion, language, and regional differences. 

My district is located at the midpoint between Philadelphia and New York and is home to many research centers and technological companies. As a result, it attracts many well-educated professionals and those interested in its proximity to large cultural centers. The culture of the district is academically intense, with many families investing in additional after school academic programs. The culture is focused on science and math achievement and is invested in the results of standardized testing. I would describe the culture as rigorous with high expectations.

I know members of the PTA, board of education, and township council. I also know students and their families, past and present. These families include local business owners. Finally, I know colleagues who either grew up in the community or live here now. 

I am from a family and community culture that also has high academic expectations. I am a well-educated professional. I am a parent, and therefore, connect with parents in the community. I am close with my extended family and my grandmother lived with my immediate family. 

I am an insider in that I have taught in the district for ten years. I am very familiar with the academic and extracurricular expectations of parents within the community. I am highly involved in the school community and am an active participant in school events. I am an outsider in that I grew up and live in a much smaller town and school district in South Jersey. I do not speak multiple languages and am not an immigrant. 

I am interested in the community’s response to the district’s new strategic goals (especially those around equity and inclusion and social-emotional learning) and the associated curricular changes. I hope to find out how the community’s culture is shifting as a result of an influx of affordable housing. 

The culture of the community in which I live is extremely diverse.  Our community is very large.  I believe there are four elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools.  The majority of my community seems to be made up of Caucasian, African American, and Indian families.  There is also a vast socioeconomic diversity within my community.  The culture is extremely family oriented. There are always (prior to Covid) township events to attend.  Our local park is very central to the community.  There are three playgrounds there, a path for walking, and a larger field for events and sports.  Most community events are held there.  The park is also connected to the police station.  The police are a very positive and active force in our community.  They often host and attend events for the community.  At our local movie night in the park, you can find police officers throwing footballs with the kids and giving kids tours of their squad cars.  I would consider my neighbors to be insiders that I know well as well as other families from my daughter’s school. 

I feel very connected to the culture here because my husband and I have three children.  Our two older children both attend schools in our neighborhood and play for the local sports teams.  Our lives revolve around our kids, so we are constantly at the park or at a community event or a sporting event for one of our children.  We are also very close with our neighbors.  

I am an outsider in the sense that I am not from New Jersey.  I grew up in Pennsylvania and spent most of my life there.  My husband, kids, and I moved here almost five years ago.  I am also an outsider in the sense that I am not currently teaching; however, I feel that I am an insider within the school community because I have two nieces and nephew that have attended all three elementary, middle, and high schools.  My daughter is currently a second grader at our local elementary school, and my son attends the preschool program offered by the district.  I volunteer at the kids’ school every chance I get, so I feel that most of the staff know that I am Vera and Marky’s mom.  I am also involved in our local girl scout troop; I am the cookie mom so that has allowed me to get to know many families in the neighborhood.  Both of my older children play various sports within our town, so that has also made me feel like an insider.  My husband is the coach for a few of my kids’ teams as well. 

I hope to find out more about the educational aspect of our community.  I would like to gain better insight regarding our school district’s curriculum and the resources that are available to the children in our community.

I know some things about the culture of the community in which I teach. The culture relies heavily on fishing and farming as the primary source of income. It is a low-income area. There is at least one teacher that I work with who went to this school years ago and came back to teach. I also know that a majority of the people who work there have been there at least three years or more. 

I have very little connections with this culture. My dad knows someone who has been working there for a few years and that is how I found out about this job. I am able to hear her input and comments about the culture within the community.

I am already an outsider. I went to private school growing up and this community is a public school, so I did not have the connection of going to public school growing up. The teachers that work there have been there much longer than I have, as this is my first year. I grew up in a home of teachers, where this community relies on farming and fishing. 

I hope to find out more about how the community lives, how they look out for one another, their views and opinions on education and literacy, and how they perceive their individual roles within the community.

I read through the town counsel minutes for Morristown, New Jersey. The community allows those to attend counsel minutes virtually and in person since COVID started. There was talk of a 5K in town, discussion about Women’s History Month and related events in town, different ordnances for new buildings, etc. 

Critical issues include multiple noise complaints with gas powered leaf blowers and land development issues. Many people sent complaints into the town about the noise gas powered leaf blowers make, but the town decided that they were not going to purse it any further. Land development is something that happens frequently in Morristown. Many new buildings are being built and the community is worried about the town becoming more crowded.

The community values hearing from the people of the town. They accept complains and work through them reasonably. I also enjoyed reading about the Women’s History Month celebration and other events that celebrated a variety of cultures. I have read about other communities in the area, and they do not have as many cultural celebrations as Morristown does. I like that Morristown not only recognizes, but celebrates all types of cultures.  

What events does the community engage in? 

When I read the community newsletter there was information about school registration, a blood drive, community day, and improvements to the roads. There was information provided for residents to receive assistance for utilities and home improvements. Unfortunately, no town meeting minutes have been posted since December 2020.

 What are the critical issues?

One critical issue is that the crime rate is high in the township.  The newsletter contains ways to prevent crime. It suggests that residents lock their doors and windows and invest as an alarm. There are tips provided when it comes to valuable things, such as taking pictures and labeling valuables with a sharpie, and how to keep your home safe when you go on vacation. 

Another issue is the disposal of trash and recycling. Residents are advised not to flush wipes, and ways to dispose of cooking oil. The township installed dog waste stations in honor of all war dogs. 

 What can you ascertain the community values?

The community values their citizens. They want the township to be a safe place for families to live. The community also values the environment. This is seen through the newsletter’s information about recycling and waste disposal. 

I read the town committee meeting minutes. The community engages in many outdoor and child-centered events. They discussed a new dog park, they discussed community swim (an event two times a week where families can come swim at the elementary school pool), and restoration of the local lighthouse. They also shared information about masks being optional in schools and using facilities for children’s activities.

There are many issues discussed in the township committee about selling and acquiring land in the township. There is a lot of road construction happening in the town right now, so there were many people from the committee and community members asking questions and updating the committee on the progress. Another critical issue is low speed vehicles in town.  Some members of the committee were arguing for and against it based on the town’s socioeconomic status. This discussion ended with both parties doing further research on other resources to provide more information.

In the reports section of the meeting, there were many members of the community who were thanking other members, who were reaching out about ways to help the people of Ukraine, and reopening community events. Based on this, I notice a strong sense of community and helping each other. The members of this community look out for each other, they value each other’s contributions to the town, and they support each other. 

There are several events that the community engages in throughout the year. They have annual events such as the Father/Daughter Dance, Mother/Son Brunch of Champion, an Easter Egg Hunt at the town park, Opening Day Baseball Parade, Fishing Derby, Memorial Day Parade, Sounds At Sunset (concerts at the town dock), Firemen’s Fair, Camp Out (play games in the park, listen to music, and watch a movie before retiring to tents for a night under the stars), Halloween Parade, Halloween Egg Hunt, Dermer Dreams Food Drive, Turkey Trot, Tree Lighting, and Santa in the Park and Holiday Stroll.

What are the critical issues?

-The elementary school in town was getting older and needing renovations. The school also needed more classrooms. New classroom space and other facilities would be built on a vacant lot next to the school. The new classroom space would allow for full-time Kindergarten as well as improved security. The middle school needed a new off-hours entryway and a heating and air conditioning system for the gym. With the referendum passing, it would raise the town taxes. 

-For two and a half years, the town argued about a Dunkin Donuts shop opening in the town strip mall. People argued that Dunkin’s trash would litter the parking lot, there would be a lot of traffic and cars would have trouble pulling out onto the main road, and there would be unsafe conditions for the children biking or walking to school. Our district has no school buses as our town is one square mile and all students bike or walk to school. Others argued that allowing a chain store into town would diminish the small-town charm.

-There has been a focus on making the town more sustainable with the Sustainable NJ program. There were discussions about banning gas leaf blowers, banning smoking on all public property, and revamping gardens at the school and municipal buildings. With this program, the town has already implemented a community garden, rain gardens, and a bicycle and pedestrian transportation plan.

-Lastly, a new apartment building is being built. The mix-use plan was scrutinized. The building has commercial space on the ground floor and fourteen residential units on the second and third floors, two of them set aside for low and moderate-income tenants. It was just approved in January and has not started being built.

What can you ascertain the community values?

This was very difficult to find in the news. I scrolled through about 50 online news articles online and 90% of them were on sports. The town mayor recognized a Borough resident who competed in Bobsled events at the Winter Olympics. The Mayor stated that it was great for our little town to produce two Olympic athletes and for the youth to know they can be anything they want to be is incredible. Out of the news reports I could find, I can conclude the community respects town heroes. The town had a send-off for a resident of the borough who saw action in both World War II and the Korean conflict. In the community newspaper, there was an article about two hockey players rescuing a woman after she fell through the ice on the town pond. Based on the annual community events, I can tell that this town has a sense of community. They work together to provide a sense of place, build social cohesion, fundraise, and entertain.

I read and clicked through the community website which involved upcoming events and meeting minutes. I found that the community is having multiple gathering events such as a beer festival, Wigs and Wishes Easter egg hunt, a spring leaf pick up day, and super saturdays, in which members come to the park to see small business vendors. 

The community is very active in solving or improving driving safety. One of the biggest solutions the town has created was for drinking and driving. The township has partnered with Uber and has worked together to provide free Uber rides for the members of the community. Ever since this partnership, the community has seen a drop of 80% in DWI/DUI arrests. Other ways to improve driver safety include adding new traffic lights and increasing speeding consequences. The community has also put up many signs all over that say “drive like your kids live here” to help promote safe driving in this family oriented community. 

I can ascertain that the community values hearing and helping people from the town. The community wants to help out its members especially the elderly, disabled, and veterans. I realized this value when I saw the board approve canceling taxes for multiple people and charities in the minutes. The community also wants to make, and keep, the environment safe and healthy for its members to live. I realized this value when I saw the community cleaned and refurbished the dog parks, applied for grants to improve the parks, and initiated a clean energy program for a community energy plan. 

2.  What are the critical issues? 

3.  What can you ascertain the community values? 

I lived in the town where I teach for almost 8 years but have only been teaching in the district for two years. Now that I am an insider in the school district I have become aware of the connections in town but as a resident this was not known to me. I feel that one way I am an insider is as a former resident I did become very familiar with the “new population”. Many new businesses were opened by immigrants and those new to town bringing their culture into the community. Just to name a few new businesses within the last 3 years there was a Colombian bakery, Indian restaurant, and an Asian-inspired cafe. I was always aware of town events such as community days, parades, or town-wide flea markets and would usually attend. When I lived in town, I also became a part of the community residents facebook page which is very actively used by the members of the community so I stay up to date with happenings in town and things that are important to the residents. I am an outsider in that I do not have any previous connections to the town. I am not originally from the town or even from New Jersey and since the long term residents have had generations there they connect on a level that I am not able to be a part of. 

I feel that there is some kind of a divide between the long term and newer residents of the town. I have noticed it in the cultural differences as well as other aspects. I have noticed that most of the teachers and staff members are from the long term town residents side and the majority of our student population is from the new immigrants town residents side. In completing this assignment I hope to explore the implications of this, find out why there might be a divide in the community and how all of the community, new or old can come together particularly in meeting the needs of the student population in schools. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/nyregion/reforms-to-ease-students-stress-divide-a-new-jersey-school-district.html 

This article is from 2015 but is still reflective of critical issues within the community. The community deeply values education and its schools. While people move to the area because of its proximity to two major cities, the high-ranking and high-achieving public schools are its true draw. While the school district is deeply valued by all in the community, there is tension between cultural and ethnic groups about what the district should emphasize and how it should instruct. This conflict in the community between white parents and Asian-American parents continues today. According to professor Jennifer Lee, these “misunderstandings between first-generation Asian-American parents and those who have been in this country longer are common. What white middle-class parents do not always understand, she said, is how much pressure recent immigrants feel to boost their children into the middle class” (Spencer, 2015). The article also emphasizes the importance of instrumental music instruction, advanced and accelerated mathematics programs, supplemental education programs, and academic competition to the Asian-American parents within the community.

Reference:
Spencer, K. (2015, December 25). New Jersey School District Eases Pressure on Students, Baring an Ethnic Divide. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/nyregion/reforms-to-ease-students-stress-divide-a-new-jersey-school-district.html

https://westwindsornj.org/images/TC-documents/2022/TC-minutes021422.pdf 

https://westwindsornj.org/images/TC-documents/2022/TC-minutes012422.pdf 

In the township’s council meetings there is an emphasis on service opportunities within the community, events involving the health of township residents (free and frequent vaccine clinics, opportunities for free eye examinations, opportunities for recreation), and recognition of the township's history (the township historical society was mentioned multiple times. There is also an emphasis on the contributions to shared spaces by the West Windsor Arts Council. In reading multiple minutes from 2021-2022, I found a strong emphasis on COVID mitigation measures. Town council members frequently reminded residents to get vaccinated in their remarks. Finally, there is an emphasis on environmental measures being taken with the community. The township has a large amount of designated open space and a number of parks within the Mercer County Park system. It is clear that the community values environmental protection as they are eager to remain a silver designee under the Central New Jersey Program.

http://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/M/MCL/EKP.cfm?zeeOrg=MCL 

Events at the West Windsor branch of the Mercer County Library include many children’s programs that focus on STEAM and “making,” including DIY workshops, knitting/crocheting lessons, LEGO events, and big and little “STEAMers.” The library also holds events about guiding young adults through the college admissions process and paying for college. There are also a number of events geared toward practicing English in conversation. There are also library events that support the theme of wellness found in council minutes. All of these wellness programs continue to be held virtually or outdoors (Monday meditation, outdoor fresh air fun time for littles, and a series on eating well). 

https://www.usawac.com/ 

Knowing that many of my students’ families belong to and participate in events at the Windsor Athletic Club, I also looked at their website. The club is part of a larger organization known as the Princeton-Windsor Cultural and Sports Center. I will note that while the WAC has the typical offerings of a more traditional fitness center, it also offers many culturally specific classes and events. Members may participate in Indian dance programs and youth and family enrichment programs including chess. Highlighted sports programs include tennis, racquetball, and cricket. 

https://www.communitynews.org/towns/west-windsor-plainsboro-news/ 

Local news highlights the achievements of local high school students, contributions to the West Windsor historical society, local politics, information about local farmers’ markets, and news about local authors. While the community has become increasingly suburban and population dense, it was until recently more rural. There are still many large farms that play an important role in the community.

West Windsor is home to a number of parks in the Mercer County Parks system. These parks play host to a number of annual cultural events and festivals. These include an Italian American Festival, Indo-American Fair, Kilt Fest (a Celtic Festival), and Freedom Festival (held on 4th of July weekend). Mercer County parks also host an annual Cultural Festival and Food Truck Rally. The festival features live performances of dance and music, as well as art demonstrations. The festival also includes international food trucks. It is clear that the community values the ability to participate in diverse cultural events. 

Upon reading a local online news outlet’s post I learned of a disturbing new name awarded to the city, New Jersey’s “ugliest city”. The mayor stated in response he’s “outraged,” describing the new slam as “unfair, insulting, insensitive and almost inhuman. To get painted with such a broad brush of old, false information, denigrates our residents and our businesses.” I believe this is a real issue the community and children in particular face. How disheartening it must be to grow up and hear your home labeled as the ugliest city. Despite comments like this, if you look around Camden you will quickly see that it is a city full of people who love their home and want to see it thrive. 

The community takes care of each other, and food is a huge part of that. Two restaurants were highlighted in particular over the past month. The first I learned of was the Camden Lunchbox opening at Roosevelt Plaza Park. The restaurant is built inside a revamped shipping container. The chef is a Camden native who has worked all over the country, but decided to come home to his roots and said “I’m excited. Camden is taking a good turn; I see it every time I come home. The energy is totally different.” 

Another huge cultural moment for Camden involves Corrine’s Place, an iconic soul food restaurant. The restaurant has fed people’s souls for over three decades. Corinne’s Place won a 2022 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Award, one of six recipients for the award this year. The award is given “to locally owned restaurants that have timeless appeal and are beloved regionally for quality food that reflects the character of its community.” The owner of the restaurant stated “I used to be a juvenile counselor so I carry that on as I got the restaurant,” she shared. “It was not just a restaurant, it was a haven for dysfunctional kids and dysfunctional families. Through the years, I have employed a lot of young people, starting at 14 on up. A lot are college graduates (now), case workers, they can tell you some stories. Cooking was my passion but juveniles was also my passion. It wasn’t just a job. I’d tell them how to do their hair, how to look, different things that they didn’t get at home.” 

Despite everything that society has thrown Camden’s way, through all the adversity, the community has persevered. Even being labeled New Jersey’s most dangerous city, it’s ugliest city, won't stop the city. This is a community that takes care of each other and does not give up. Community members are proud to be born and raised in Camden.

https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/2022/02/16/corinnes-place-wins-james-beard-foundation-classics-award/6813912001/

http://southjerseyfoodscene.com/the-camden-lunchbox/

https://www.ci.camden.nj.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022-03-08-2.pdf

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/camden/articles/officials-outraged-as-camden-named-nj-s-ugliest-city

What are the critical issues? 
A critical issue facing the town is the closure of a railroad crossing by NJ DOT. Citizens signed a petition and the borough hired an engineer to do a traffic study to show that this closure will pose a danger to the community, increase emergency response times, and cause major traffic flow problems.

What can you ascertain the community values? 
I can ascertain that the community values service to others as evidenced by all of the volunteerism happening across organizations. 
They value safety: “No Need to Speed” campaign by police, lights and cameras were just installed at the community center, infrastructure inspections were completed and improvements to curbs, crosswalks, walkways, and parking were made downtown, as well as upgrading water services and fire protection. Emergency services conducted training sessions at the local assisted living facility. 

They value faith and family, as evidenced by the mission statements and events listen on the websites of the Berlin Islamic, Hindu, and Catholic houses of worship, as well as the Interfaith Outreach Council.  They value the preservation and beautification of the community: local artist  painted a mural at the library, Dill House preserved by the historic society, Gardening Hotline, Girls Scouts volunteered to landscape and plant garden . 

Look for cultural moments:

Open house at newly opened historic Dill House, to be used for historic or arts programs.

Autism Awareness Day at the Mart. 

This week I was able to view the most recent city council minutes (from 3/7/22) and the community website. The city council minutes addressed multiple infrastructure agreements and grant applications submitted for upcoming approval. The fire department was also issued a grant for the vehicle exhaust system. The city of Pleasantville relies on grants for redevelopment and repair throughout the community. The council proclaimed the month of March as American Red Cross Month. They received approval for the annual Atlantic City Triathlon and Ironman Triathlon. The Pleasantville Jr. Football Organization also received an approval for fundraising a coin drop for the children’s program. This was exciting to read about, because I have several students who cheer and play football for the team. 

 

Issues in the community include the ability to receive enough grants and revenue to repair infrastructure and roads throughout the community. There have also been concerns over school safety this most recent school year. Several incidents at the middle and high school have alarmed parents and residents in regards to bullying and violence both on and off school grounds.  

 

The community greatly values coming together to support a cause.  The city is united in supporting local businesses to help the local economy thrive. Many families are rooted in faith and attend church each week. The local churches (15+) hold food banks, clothing/coat drives, and give donations to the community. Many families also attend sporting events and athletic races within the community. 

Woodlynne is a small community consisting of .23 sq miles. It is surrounded by Collingswood, Haddon Heights, Oaklynn, and Camden. Woodlynne has a large transient population, so many of the residents are part of a larger community. 

Many of the residents are part of the church community, and participate within the church community events. The church does hold many events for the residents of Woodlynne. The church is part of Catholic Charities, so they do help a lot of refugees. 

There is a large tree lighting ceremony in the town square that many residents go to during the winter holiday season. 

There is a corner store that a lot of people go to for basic groceries and snacks. The kids go there in the morning and after school to grab a snack. There is an Aldi and a Dollar General within walking distance. 

There are many other community activities at Cooper River Park that a lot of families attend, and many families go to Cooper River Park to walk, ride bikes, and play at the playground. 

The Woodlynne police often visit the school just to say hello and talk the staff and students. 

When I went to the Woodlynne Township community website, there is a large amount of information about COVID-19 resources. Other links on the website include ways to get support for rent and mortgage payments. 

There is a link to book the community hall for parties and celebrations. 

In the community, there is an 8% unemployment rate, but the employment rate is slowly declining. 

There are a lot of homes that need upkeep and repair. There are a few homes that caught fire within the last year that still need to be repaired. 

Speaking to some of the residents, they say a main issue is the Woodlynne park because the older students use the park to meet up to fight one another. Also, the park is in bad shape because it is dusty dirt ground with lots of holes. 

The school does not have a parking lot, so the teachers need to park on the street. Most of the time teachers are parking in front of houses. Many of the residents living near the school do not like this and will place cones on the street so teachers can not park there, or the residents will call the police to have teachers’ cars towed.

I went to the website to try and read the board minutes, but there is nothing posted and no links.  

Speaking to a few community members, they stressed the Woodlynne community cares about their families, home, and community. The number one priority is family. Residents do care about one another and support each other. The residents want their children and their community to be safe. 

I was surprised to see how many community events my township is currently planning.  Many of them were child-related:  brunch with the Easter Bunny, a carnival, and the planting of a children’s garden.  There were also a lot of health and wellness programs offered to the community:  sports for all ages, senior wellness activities, and bike shares.  Free concerts and movies in the park will be taking place throughout the summer.  Community members are also invited to join in the council meetings via zoom.  However, I was most surprised by the events offered to families of special needs children.  A special needs support group is offered to the community.  The group offers monthly meetings and plans activities for children with special needs to help them feel a part of the community and to give the children a chance to interact with other children.  In addition to this support group, the biggest upcoming event was the reopening of the Field of Dreams.  The Field of Dreams is a baseball field which hosts free baseball games to children and adults of all ages and needs.  Each player is assigned a buddy to assist them throughout the game.  The field is handicap accessible.  I think that the reopening of this field and program is a cultural moment for our community.  

A lot of the critical issues within the community seemed to focus on taxes.  Our community has extremely high taxes which is also something I see discussed almost daily on our local community Facebook page.  Another critical issue was a Local Concept Development study which was addressing an intersection in our area which has a very high crash rate.  Although I did not find this topic to be interesting, what I did find extremely interesting about it was the request for the community’s involvement in the study.  The community members were very much encouraged to attend this meeting and to offer their input into resolutions for this situation.

I had no idea the value our community placed on special needs children in the community.  I know that our park offered some handicap playground equipment, but I was very surprised to learn about the Special Parents and Kids Network (SPKN) which was the special needs support group mentioned above.  They had so many FREE activities offered for the children and their families.  Likewise, the Field of Dreams project spoke highly to these community values as well.  The program was not just simply comprised throwing around a baseball.  It involved specially crafted fields, dozens of volunteers, and sports paraphernalia supplied to all the players.  Another community value which I found was the importance of the people’s voice.  The community and elected officials really seem interested in what the public has to say and offers varies forums for the voices of the community to be heard and to participate in decision making.  

 

 

 

One important cultural moment that occurred last week was the sudden passing of a local firefighter. This news was very heartbreaking and shocking to the community because the firefighter was well known since he grew up right in town. He is described as a true local hero who served in the military, served in the town police force, and finally as a firefighter in town as well. In my school and district many of the people who also grew up in town knew him and/or his family and many attended the funeral services this past weekend. There were also many tributes to recognize this local hero on town Facebook pages and the local newspaper. 

As far as critical issues, in the most recent Meeting of the Mayor and Town Council minutes I was not able to gather much information besides the renewal of contracts, authorizing payments, etc. I was mostly able to gather information about what the community values through the residents Facebook page. There have been some posts recently from parents of students in the school district with concerns about student violence happening on town streets afterschool. I have seen at least two videos posted of middle and high school students getting into fights on the way home from school. Parents and community members seemed to be very concerned about this. Another emerging issue is that packages are being stolen from several house porches and apartment building lobbies. It seems that several residents have posted videos and even the local police department is requesting help through social media from anyone who may know who potential suspects are in these crimes. 

From these common threads of posts, I can ascertain that the community values safety. Many comments mention that the town used to be so safe and “a good town” but lately things have been changing. I think the community values safety and security especially for the youth in town. Everyone wants it to be a family friendly town where they know their kids are safe. 

In the past, the schools used to be separated greatly. Meaning that one elementary school has predominantly upper-class families, the other had the students from the low-income housing, and the other school had all of the special-education classes. Overtime, Hoboken has noticed this and made an effort to make each school more diverse. Overall, there is a mix of socioeconomic status within Hoboken. It is mostly upper-middle class families that make between $100,000 and $200,000 a year. There are also middle class families and low-income families in the community. The community seems to be made up of Caucasian, hispanic, and african-american. When I looked up statistics, most of the websites said that Hoboken was around 68% Caucasian.

The community at my school is very close. Many of the moms are friends and they see each other outside of school. The kids usually leave school together and the parents or nannies bring them to one of the many parks to play together. The Hoboken community is close to one another and it seems that everyone knows each other, even in a packed city. The kids are involved in a lot of extra curricula's and sports. Something to take into consideration as a teacher, is that many of my students spend their afternoons at aftercare, with nannies, or at sports. 

Hoboken is known for the small city living of shops, restaurants and events. II consider myself an insider with this part of the community. I live by the parks, shops, and restaurants in the city. I see many students outside of school, since we live right by each other. On the other hand, there is an area in Hoboken where the low-income housing is that consists of a different culture that I am an outsider to. I know about it from getting to know my students, their families and friends that I have - but I do not experience it.

I know that the community values education and appreciates the teachers/school. The parents care a lot about their child's education and are always trying to help and volunteer in the school.

What kinds of connections do you have with this culture?

I am starting to feel very connected to this community and like an insider. I moved here 2 years ago and have become greatly involved in my school and community. I am close with the parents, I do a lot of extra work outside of my teaching in the community. Some things that I do are nanny kids around town, plan events on the side, and tutor.  I also feel like I grew up like the kids in my school. Meaning that I participated in sports or extracurricular activities and my school was just like the one that I am teaching at now. 

In what ways are you either an insider or an outsider already?

My connections to the town make me feel like an insider with this community. I grew up in a similar community where students all did other activities with each other. I also feel like an insider because I am involving myself with the community of the school. I am a part of the equity team, creating the yearbook, and I work aftercare. Outside of school I nanny, plan events, and tutor. This allows me to learn more and get involved with the community. Earlier I stated that there was a part of the community that I felt an outsider to. They live in lower-income areas and are prominently african-american culture.  I have some connections to this community because of past teaching jobs that I have had that we're in communities like this one. I also try to talk with my students who are a part of that community so I can get to know more about it.

What do you hope to find out about the community?

Something that I hope to find out more about in the community is how the students and families who are not a part of the community that is close, plays together, and everything feel. The housing for them is slightly secluded from the rest of the town and I want to know how that effects them academically and socially.  

Since I live in Hoboken, I stay up to date on all the events that are happening around town. Since this is a popular city, there are many different sources for the community to find events on. There are blogs like Hoboken Girl, the city and school websites, the patch and more. While this is a city for a lot of young people in their 20’s-30’s, there are also a lot of families with children. During the warmer months, they have movies in the park every week, farmers markets, street fairs and festivals, and rec. sports. The school will plan community events like movie nights at the high school, plays and musicals, fun nights, walking school bus (where everyone walks to school together from the park), and more. Some other things that happen in the community are events like readings and art workshops at the public library. They also hold community events for holidays. Examples of some that they have had are: Christmas tree lightings, menorah lighting, and  easter egg hunts. It seems that Hoboken tries to plan a lot of free and paid events for the community and the citizens love to participate in them.

What are the critical issues? 

A recent issue that was a big deal in Hoboken was the proposal for a new high school. They designed a $241 million dollar high school. It would take place of the old high school, have some more classrooms/labs and a community center that included a football field on the roof, two pools, basketball/tennis courts and a track. The reasoning behind this proposal was that the numbers in the elementary schools are rising and they need a new elementary school. However, with limited space in Hoboken - there is no land to buy for a new school. They wanted to build the high school on the current football field, move the middle school to the high school and then make the middle school a 4th elementary school. This was a very big issue in Hoboken and many citizens were upset over the fact that the superintendent did not inform the community of her proposal or plans until she put them up for approval. Many citizens were upset about their taxes going up, the fact that it was an extravagant school, and that they weren’t even adding that many more classrooms. It ended up being turned down for now but the need for an elementary school is still there.

Some other critical issues in the town that it is being built up a lot. There is constant construction or new buildings being made, it is a little crowded, and a lot of the low-income housing is being threatened by the new luxury buildings. Another issue in the city is the lack of parking and flooding. During storms, the streets flood a lot causing damage to basement apartments and car. Citizens and commuters have a hard time finding parking in Hoboken, which is a big concern. One last issue is the rising prices for living and housing. The location of the city is across from NYC and is expensive.

What can you ascertain the community values? 

I knew that Hoboken was a giving community. However, once I started looking into the different things that they did I found a lot of ways that they give back to the community. The school constantly holds fundraisers to collect items for the homeless shelter, food pantry, and boys and girls club. Some of the fundraisers they have held are: 100 tubes of toothpaste for the 100th day, canned food for the food pantry, and pennies for patients. They also do nice things like make positive notes for the local coffee shop to put on their coffee cups or send cards to the homeless shelter. The community is very big on giving back to their community and others.

o   A children’s park in town; March 30, 2022 @ 4:00 pm

-       Sensory:

o   Cold weather, smells like the pizza place next to the park, sounds like children laughing and playing, the bench I am sitting on is metal, which makes it very cold

-       Connections:

o   I used to play at this park when I was younger

o   All the same stuff is here, except the swings are updated

-       Visual:

o   I see three different groups of people

§  Group 1: A woman and two kids – she is sitting reading a book while her children play with each other

§  Group 2: A young woman and a baby – she is pushing him in the swing and grabbing his feet. He is laughing loudly.

§  Group 3: A woman and a child – the woman is pretending she is a monster and chasing the child around the playground. The child is laughing and hiding

o   The playground is very clean.

-       Conversation:

o   All three groups are talking within their group. They do not interact with different groups, just their own.

-       Other:

o   The three groups of people play very nicely on the playground. It seems like they have been here before because the children are very familiar with the set up. I find it interesting that the three groups do not interact with each other, only themselves. This makes me wonder about the town community – is it not as open and friendly as I thought? 

For the second activity, I went to a local market and pizzeria. I asked the students where to go in town for pizza, and they suggested Marco’s. I went on a Thursday at 3:25 (one hour after dismissal).  When I pulled up there were 5 cars in the parking lot. There were two men sitting eating sandwiches (you could see them through the front window. There was an advertisement for lottery tickets, and breakfast. The sign had the price covered (you could tell it was once there). 

I entered the store, and decided to order food to take out. There were two older women working the counter, and two men working behind the deli. There was no music playing. It was quiet. I asked the women what they recommended to eat. They suggested pizza with pepperoni and Joe’s Special panzerotti, so that's what I ordered. One of the cashiers said, “Joe make it good for her”, and smiled. I paid for my food and she said it would be 30 minutes. 

I was surprised how busy the store was during this time. Noone else ordered food while I was in the store. There were 4 employees working, which seemed like a lot to me. The store had a big area for coffee with a wide variety of creamers. I was shocked that no kids or teenagers rode their bikes to the store, given how close the store is to the housing complex behind the school. 

I was intrigued by the variety of products available in the store. There were commercial sized items (olive oil, beans, tomato sauce). The store offered cleaners, dog food, bandanna, hair ties, and some much more. There was a deli counter with Dietz and Watson luncheon meat.  The 

I was disturbed by the high  prices in the store. There were also many products with no price on the shelf or the item. There was a sign that said “prices subject to change without notice”. It was hand written and taped to the counter. The store did not have any fruit or vegetables for sale. 

Observations:

Reactions:

* During arrival, I observed a lot of excited children of all ages exiting their cars and excited to participate.  Most of the kids came prepared with baskets.  

* The park was divided into sections because the egg hunt was broken down by age group (1-3, 4-7, 8-10, 11-12). 

* I observed children excited to see their friends before the race began. 

* Parents were taking pictures of their children with the Easter Bunny and with family and friends. 

* Children holding their ears to the sound of the siren to begin the race. 

Children run around in excitement looking for eggs.

My Reactions  -What surprised me? -What intrigued me? -What disturbed me?
* Something that surprised me was that all of the hunts occurred at the same time.  This made it difficult for families with children of varying ages because they could not watch both hunts at the same time if their children were on opposite sides of the park. 

* It was intriguing to see who attended versus who did not.  There were select students who I figured would be in attendance because their families are very involved in the community. 

*One thing that disturbed me was the competitiveness that came from the parents!  Some parents were out there sneaking close by eggs for their children or even yelling to the older children where the eggs were.

Connections with the Curriculum
* Positive social interactions throughout the egg hunt – taking turns, being patient and waiting for the race to start, listening and following directions to where you need to be and what you need to do, not pushing, shoving, or yelling if someone gets to the egg before you. 

* Math – counting the number of eggs you find. 

* Reading – reading the labels of the candy from inside the egg.

Disconnect between Community and Curriculum
* Including a race designed for children with disabilities to ensure they have a fair chance of finding eggs. 

*The siren that went off to indicate the start of the race was too loud for some of the students – modifications could be considered for next time. 

·       I arrived around 2pm.

·       I sat on a sitting wall by a fountain (turned off).

·       Many diverse families were visiting the aquarium. 

·       I saw workers from many buildings outside periodically on phone calls and taking breaks.

·       Traffic appeared to be from people visiting the waterfront area.

·       There were homeless individuals or individuals who appeared to be homeless sitting across the street from the the Aquarium Loop. 

·       A food truck arrived and stayed the remainder of the time I was in the area.

·       Many families walked over to the food truck.

·       Individuals who either worked for the city or the aquarium were walking around sweeping trash off the street and sidewalks.

·       There is a deli In a building next to the aquarium that people were going into for lunch. It appeared these people may have been individuals who worked in the area.

My Reactions 

-What disturbed me? 

·       One thing that surprised me was how many families I saw leaving the Aquarium area and walking towards the water front to continue their visit. These families appeared to be white middle class and I was under the impression they did not live in Camden.

 

What intrigued and disturbed me was the realization that this area of Camden is nothing like the area I teach in. As I sat there I thought to myself it appears that so much pride is taken in the water front area because it’s a tourist destination, but does the rest of Camden receive that level of care and resources from the city? 

Connections with the Curriculum 
·       Camden waterfront is an area that my school visits for field trips often. We have gone to the aquarium and children's garden in the past.

The school district sponsors a community run to provide scholarships to students. The run is loops through the Camden waterfront area. 

Disconnect between Community and Curriculum 

·       The Camden waterfront provides many real world connections to various subjects and these connections may not be intentionally incorporated into lessons. 

·       When discussing living things such as animals and plants a connection can be made to the animals and plants found at both the Aquarium and Children’s Garden. 

The battleship NJ is located in the river.This could be discussed as a real world connection to history and social studies units in the future. 

I chose to observe my son’s opening day for baseball.  The opening day festivities included a parade and a ceremony on the ball field.  The event was very large.  There were about twenty teams present, ranging from little tee ball teams to middle school aged teams.  The parade route was blocked off by our local police department.  Each team walked in the parade wearing full uniform and was accompanied by their coaches.  Once the parade ended, the players and the coaches filed onto to the field.  The national anthem was played, followed by words from the league president.  He then introduced the mayor and the members of the league’s board.  He then invited a representative from the Ronald McDonald house to say a few words, encouraging the community to support the local Ronald McDonald house.  The president then introduced all the coaches and their teams.  And finally. the rep from the Ronald McDonald house was then invited to throw the first pitch.  The ceremony concluded with the president yelling, “Play Ball!”

My Reactions 

-What surprised me?

I was very surprised at the size of the event.  There were so many family members there supporting their young players.  There also seemed to be a lot of extended family present, possibly grandparents.  I was also very surprised to see our mayor there.  The president of the league also announced all the local businesses in the area that were sponsoring the teams, and I was surprised by the mix of businesses.  It ranged from our local Shop Rite to small mom and pop businesses.  The support from the law enforcement, local government, and businesses was great to see.

-What intrigued me?

I was very intrigued by the partnership with the Ronald McDonald house.  I think that the Ronald McDonald house is a wonderful organization, but I was curious as to why the league did not partner with a local charity.  We have a few local charities, such as a local women’s shelter, so I thought that the league would have partnered with a charity within the community.  

-What disturbed me?

I was very disturbed by the lack of diversity amongst the players and coaches.  The league was predominantly white.  I thought this really contrasted the members of our community that attend our local schools.  There were also very few girls, despite the league being co-ed.  The only female players were on the tee ball teams, and there were no female coachers.

Connections with the Curriculum

Since I am not teaching, I researched the curriculum for my current second grader and my preschooler.  They both attend schools within the same district.  The very first connection I made with the event and the curriculum was the connection to the physical education curriculum for our district.  My son has 30 minutes of physical activity built into his curriculum; no matter the weather, the students must have 30 minutes of physical activity.  The phys ed curriculum targets motor skills, manipulative skills, cooperative games and sports, and team sports which is obviously supported by the baseball league.  I then decided to research the Social Studies curriculum.  Since this was a community event, I thought I would find some connections there.  The curriculum spoke a lot about being a global citizen which I feel like was directly supported by the involvement with the Ronald McDonald house.  However, I did not see any mention of any type of pf philanthropy or volunteering within the preschool of K-2 Social Studies curriculum.  Grade 1 had some focus on making friends and helping in the community, so I think that both the baseball league and the partnership with the Ronald McDonald house supported those elements of the curriculum.

This main street consists of restaurants, salons, grocery stores, a dance studio, spa, to name a few. There is an emphasis on small businesses - the only chain stores are Acme, Dunkin, and Krauzers. The majority of the restaurants in town are owned by the same people. As I sat and observed, there were many children walking or biking. Adults were walking their dogs or taking a walk. Some younger children were coming from the right with parents on bicycles and I could conclude that they were riding home from the elementary school. The other children, which I could conclude were from the middle school, were visiting the ice cream shop, Dunkin, and gathering around Tavolo for an after-school bite without parents and just their peers. I noticed that four groups of children were at Tavolo. The majority of the older children had cell phones and were taking pictures or videos together. There were lots of cars parking in front of the dance studio to drop children off. The town square had a constant flow of cars pulling in and out of the parking lot. 

Time: 3:15 p.m - 4:00 p.m. weekday

I sat in the middle of Woodlynne Ave. There was nowhere to sit, so I sat in my car parked in a street parking spot. While sitting, I was able to watch the late afternoon traffic. 

There was a lot of foot traffic and car traffic during this time. There were groups of people ranging from very young to old walking up and down Woodlynne Ave. Many of the people walking up and down Woodlynne Ave. stopped into the Woodlynne food mart. Most of the customers were teenagers and young kids. A group of teenage girls went in and came out with ice cream. They stood outside the market, ate ice cream, and talked. A sister, older brother on a bike, and friend came out of the store and walked home. I saw siblings walking home with one another, and groups of teenagers meeting up with one another to walk up and down Woodlynne Ave. 

There was a mom waiting out front of the building across the street talking on her phone and waiting for her children. All of the adults walking on Woodlynne Ave. were talking on their phone using speaker phone mode. The adults greeted one another with a hello. 

This particular area of Woodlynne Ave had only a few shops, but lots of apartment buildings. Next to the Woodlynne food mart is an apartment building that looks like an old motel. In the apartment parking lot, two women are taking out groceries from a van, and a young girl around the age of 3 is running around the parking lot. Next to the apartment, is an empty building then an apartment building. Across the street is a building with shops at the bottom and apartments up top. Below there is an empty shop and a laundromat. There is a small empty parking lot separating another building with three different sections- an empty space, a restaurant, and an apartment. 

There was a lot of car traffic. There were several school buses that drove through Woodlynne Ave, but there was no public bus transportation. Several teenagers and adults were riding bikes, and I did see someone riding an electric bike. Only three police cars drove by the whole time I was observing. 

Overall, people were walking and interacting positively with one another. It is very family oriented because parents and kids were walking together, groups of friends, and siblings were walking with one another.  

My Reactions:

Connections to curriculum:

Disconnect to the curriculum:

Corner of MLK Avenue and Main Street in downtown Pleasantville 

Sunday, 2:00 PM 

 

There were many people walking on the street outside and a decent amount of car traffic up and down Main Street. Several people who were walking outside were still wearing masks, regardless if they were alone or with another person. All of the people that I witnessed passing by on foot were adults.

 

-The street was FILLED with litter. Many trees also had plastic bags stuck in the branches.

-Many seagulls were flying overhead occasionally swooping down to pick at the litter on the ground. Multiple birds picked up trash and then dropped it after realizing there was no food. 

-A bundle of balloons was caught in a nearby fence.

-Many people were in and out of Johnny D’s, picking up food to-go. This restaurant had the busiest foot traffic on the street.

- A police officer and his partner stopped at Johnny D’s to grab (what looked like) sandwiches to-go. This was one of the two police cars I saw while observing.

-Two men walking on the street said hello to the police officers as they passed by.

-There were also many people seated and eating inside El Paraiso.

-Many buildings, including apartments, had the windows boarded closed.

-There was a sign in an apartment window that read “DO NOT KNOCK ON MY WINDOW”

-A man was standing outside the door of an apartment talking with a woman who stayed inside.

-A man pushing a shopping cart filled with large plastic bags walked up and down Main Street.

-Martin’s Liquor Store was serving a car at their drive -thru window.

-A woman was sweeping a large pile of trash in front of the liquor store.

-There is a NJ transit public bus stop with 2 people waiting for the bus.

 

The people I observed walking by on foot were all people of color. Most of the community is Hispanic or African American, so this was expected based on the demographic of the town. I was surprised I did not see any children with their parents or teenagers walking on Main Street. Many of my students talk about Johnny D's or have included this place in their writing, so I was happy to finally see where they were talking about. I was also very saddened to see to see so much garbage on the ground. It was one of the most littered areas I have witnessed. When I drive to work, I typically do not drive on this end of town even though it is only a mile down the road from my school. 

At the time of day I am observing, around 4:00pm on a Monday afternoon, there is a lot of foot traffic. Many adults walk with backpacks or briefcases. Presumably commuters walking home from the nearby train station that goes into New York City. Since it is a nice day out there are also many children at the nearby playground. Mostly it seems like small children probably between ages 3 and 7. I notice many of them have a Kennedy School uniform on. Kennedy School is the pre-k to grade 1 school in town. The playground is completely enclosed with a gated fence. Most parents are inside the fence watching their children from the perimeter. A few watch from outside the fence, seated on the ledge of stairs around the library on the other side of where I am seated. I notice that there are people playing basketball on the court. Most seem like adults or maybe high school aged. The soccer field is also full, with what seems like an organized game going on. The kids on the field look to be maybe between ages 8 and 12. 

The main street in front of where I am seated is also busy. Many cars pass by in both directions although there is more traffic going west towards the other main road Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard. 

I was surprised that although there were many children on the playground interacting and playing together none of the adults who were watching them were interacting with other adults. Many of them were on their phones or just observing their children. This makes me wonder if there are not a lot of adults/parents that are friends in town? Or do none of them want to speak up and start a conversation with another parent?

I was also surprised that I saw only a small amount of people entering the public library. All the people except one were adults. I had expected to see many children and young people entering the library since it was after school time, but this was not the case. This makes me wonder are there no afterschool programs or activities at the local library for children? Are there computers or other resources that students may use for school assignments? Is the library not an important location for the town’s youth?

Events for kids and families such as parades, sporting events, community events. There used to be a lot more. 

2. What are challenges in the community?

Lack of parent involvement. People do not speak up and are not involved in the community. The town boasts things like having a recreation center and many soccer fields, basketball courts but they are not readily accessible or available to community youth. Two specific issues related to this: the first is the courts and fields are taken over by older kids who push out the younger ones. Also, courts and fields are not available to use because priority is given to organized teams and are usually locked otherwise. 

3. What are the needs of the community that may or may not being met?

There is a need for places where young kids and teens can go in town. This will keep kids off the streets or doing other things that are not productive. One example is the town has a public library but the hours are very limited. It is closed on the weekends and closes at around 5 every day. This does not make it accessible to students for very long after school or on weekends at all which is the only times that kids would be able to go. The public library also does not offer many activities or programs aside from a few during the summer.

Another need of the community is for communication available in languages other than English. A large percentage of residents are non-native speakers of English and would benefit from communications in Spanish and Portuguese (the two most common languages in town). By communications we mean notifications from the town about events or important notices such as community food distribution. Many of the families who are most in need of food and resources may not even know about an event like a food distribution because they did not receive notice of it in their native language.

4. If you could bring the community into the schools in this community, what would you like to see?

Definitely more parent involvement. Instead of just complaining about things in the community, speak up and get involved in change and making things better. 

There are many events that the community has that make Hoboken what it is. They hold many family-friendly events like Easter egg hunts, movies in the park, read-aloud, festivals, and more. The community is also very into rec sports and a lot of the children play on teams together. There are many different areas in Hoboken that make it easy for families and friends to get together. There are multiple parks, indoor play spaces, rec centers, and fun zones (rock climbing, indoor playgrounds). This mom really appreciates the fact that the community is close and there are so many places for people to get together and activities to do.

Some of the community is split between the areas in the town. The low-income housing area is seen as the “place not to go” and they have been getting pushed out of the city as it has been growing. It used to be that the schools were segregated like this too, but they now do a much better job of making the schools diverse.

Another challenge is that the city is crowded and they are still building more. There is little available parking on the street and if you want to park in a garage, it costs a good amount of money. The number of people makes the parks, restaurants, and stores crowded. Another thing is that the streets can be loud and very busy, especially during the warmer months. While Hoboken is a popular town for young families, it is also an extremely popular town for people in their 20s and it is a college town also. With this comes loud bars, people loud in the street, and crowds.

The community needs another elementary school, as there are more and more younger kids every year. This past year the superintendent proposed an extravagant high school proposal that includes 28 classrooms, science labs, a football field on the roof, pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, a track, and an ice rink. The high school/rec center would have allowed for the current high school to be made into the middle school and the old middle school to be renovated into a new elementary school. Since there is no land to purchase and build an elementary school in Hoboken, this was really the only way to get a new one. However, many community members voted no for the high school because they were left out of the planning process and their taxes would rise more. While understandable, the community still needs another elementary school and now there is no plan for a new one. Class sizes are getting bigger and the schools are becoming cramped.

2.     Support and Involvement from families/community

3.     Importance of belonging and groups

4.     History, diversity, and culture of the community

I see diversity in my curriculum when we complete our women’s history month essays. These writing activities connect to our Reading/Writing Curriculum in 3rd grade. In my room, I have students choose a historical woman figure to do research on and write a biography. We do the same for Black History Month. We acknowledge students’ backgrounds by allowing them to create a family tree along with a narrative essay about one tradition that means the most to them and their family. 

On the other hand, I see disconnect in my district when looking into the mentor texts. I think my district could do a better job of providing more engaging and up to date texts for the children. Diversity is very important to connect to our curriculum. There is a lot we could do with this area in school. Personally, I connect diversity more to my instruction than what is in our curriculum. It is often difficult to include all of the texts in my own library because they come from my own funds. However, I always look into YouTube read alouds in order to include more engaging texts.

I know some things about the culture of the community in which I teach. The culture relies heavily on fishing and farming as the primary source of income. It is a low-income area. There is at least one teacher that I work with who went to this school years ago and came back to teach. I also know that a majority of the people who work there have been there at least three years or more. 

I have very little connections with this culture. My dad knows someone who has been working there for a few years and that is how I found out about this job. I am able to hear her input and comments about the culture within the community.

I am already an outsider. I went to private school growing up and this community is a public school, so I did not have the connection of going to public school growing up. The teachers that work there have been there much longer than I have, as this is my first year. I grew up in a home of teachers, where this community relies on farming and fishing. 

I hope to find out more about how the community lives, how they look out for one another, their views and opinions on education and literacy, and how they perceive their individual roles within the community.

The major community events are organized by the local fire department. They recently had a movie night that happens once a month. They also promote other events happening at the Union Hall. The community also attends a soup and bake sale each month. 

What are the critical issues?

A critical issue within this community is a sewer project. The question the title of this article raises is, “Can a sewer project keep a sleepy corner of rural New Jersey from fading away?” (Nark, 2022). This community relies heavily on fishing and farming. It is also not a well-known part of New Jersey, so I was very intrigued when coming across this article. 

What can you ascertain the community values?

From the community events that happen at the local fire department and the article about the sewer project, I can ascertain that this community values its resources and the people that bring the community together. They rely on farming and fishing, but they also rely on each other. 

Reference:

Nark, J. (2022, January 22). Can a sewer project keep a sleepy corner of rural New Jersey from fading away?. https://www.inquirer.com. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-jersey/downe-nj-climate-change-fortescue-sewer-20220122.html 

That being said, there are a number of areas where the curriculum and community do not align. Many parents enroll their students in outside math, science, language, and literacy classes. They do so because they do not believe the school district’s curriculum is appropriately rigorous, nor does it provide all of the options that they want for their children, especially in science and language (Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin). Additionally, these outside classes are often more closely aligned with how parents learned while they were in school. They feel better prepared to help their children with the content and how it is taught. The fourth grade curriculum could also better represent the needs of the community. For example, there is very little acknowledgement of the immigrant experience or incorporation of other histories students have learned. 

Currently, there are a number of missed opportunities to explore community issues in both fourth grade science and social studies. In science, students investigate weathering and erosion. As part of this unit, students design shore protection structures. In a second unit, students learn about earth processes and natural disasters. These topics are introduced and explored through problems along the East coast. However, this is something that could be investigated much closer to home. The community experiences frequent flooding from a river separating the two townships. This flooding causes significant erosion and damage to properties along the river yet is never mentioned in our science units. Additionally, the community places a great emphasis on its local history. In fourth grade, students learn about early American history through the creation of the constitution. We do not, however, study local colonial history. The community has a number of resources that could be successfully integrated into this study. There are historic sites, as well as a very active historical society. 

Specifically, community literacies could be integrated into the curriculum at BCS in 7th grade Social Studies by having students address what they identified as the lack of safe biking, walking, and wheelchair access from certain neighborhoods to important community resources such as the municipal offices, public library, school, rec center where voting takes place, library, and park. This activity would be supported by standard 6.3.8.A.2 Participate in a real or simulated hearing to develop a legislative proposal that addresses a public issue, and share it with an appropriate legislative body (e.g., school board, municipal or county government, state legislature). Additionally, students could research successful models for addressing homelessness in other communities, and present their concerns about local people without homes and the lack of a homeless shelter in Berlin to the local government while soliciting feedback from local budget stakeholders. This would address Social Studies Standard C. Economics, Innovation, and Technology 6.3.8.C.1 Examine the perspectives of multiple stakeholders involved in the local budget process (e.g., obtaining information, discussing priorities).” 

Connections that already exist in the curriculum are studies of some aspects of the history of the town, such as the Native American name of the town, Lonaconing, and how the name was changed over the years to the current nickname “Long A Coming,” and the historic hotel and train station. Some disconnects with the curriculum are a lack of studying the history of the diversity of the town, such as the origins of the Hindu temple, the role of Berlin in the Underground Railroad, and the reasons for the migration of many Latinx people to the area. Another disconnect is that students are very concerned with the social problems and inequities they see right in front of them in their small town. However, the current curriculum teaches simulations of budgets, public issues, and legislative proposals, rather than having students study the public issues in their community, where they can be agents for change in an authentic environment.    

Focusing on one issue in particular, students were concerned about trash and a question I would pose is how can we reduce trash through natural processes? This can be integrated into many subjects and grade levels, however for this I would focus on 6th-8th grade. Students can read a novel that focuses on human’s impact on the planet in ELA. Students can research the earth and human activity in science, which has several standards in each grade. In math and science students can create a design using natural processes to reduce waste in the city. Finally, in social studies and ELA students can work to create a presentation for the city to propose their idea.

In the curriculum human impact on earth is discussed in science. This project would expand on what is taught. Some disconnects I notice are that the curriculum does not focus on impacts in the city of Camden. The impacts discussed are generalized. It is important to talk about the community we live in when discussing the content. In addition, students are not given time to research how to solve the problem in the community. When students are taught about a problem they need to also be given time and resources in order to work to solve that problem. My hope is that this community project will unite the school and subject areas so that students can solve real world problems while learning.

In terms of them connecting to the curriculum, I see diversity in the social studies curriculum, where we teach about every holiday. Also, during the Holiday season, they hold assemblies and have activities for each holiday and educate the students on them. Something else that they have done to go a step further is create an equity team, which I am on, at the school. This equity team works to recognize racial bias’ and teaches staff members how to recognize them and educate others. Throughout the school year, we recognize black history month, Spanish heritage month, and women's history month. We complete many activities and projects to educate our students during these times and also work to incorporate this education year-round and not just celebrate it for one month. I also see how important the community is in our school and how we work to support it. Some examples of this would be the fundraisers that we do for the 100th day of school or around the holidays are all for local shelters and food banks. The administration also encourages us to incorporate Hoboken into our lesson plans as much as we can. For example, if they are learning about the weather students will think about what it is like on a rainy day in Hoboken or we will mention local Hoboken restaurants and stores.

While they do connect these two topics throughout the curriculum and school environment, there is still a disconnect. First, there is no curriculum that directly educates students on diverse topics. I looked into the curriculum that could help with this and there are a few programs that the school could use. One is called EVERFI: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and there are also many books that could guide lessons on this. While the school does try to help the community and incorporate it into our daily lessons, there is a disconnect with letting the students experience it. We used to be able to do a lot of walking field trips around Hoboken. Students would get to go to the park, public library, the waterfront, and rec centers. Bringing this back would be a great way to get them to see the community and experience it in an educational setting.

The overall connections I see that already exist within the curriculum is the discussion about what students and their families live on a daily basis. For example, their discussions about hunting and fishing. There is an emphasis put on student needs, such as implementing Social-Emotional Learning, as well as providing breakfast and lunch for students. The curriculum also addresses students driving instruction by asking open-ended questions and using evidence to prove the conclusion they came to. The overall disconnects I see and notice include the lack of community involvement. The school advertises events that occur, but there is little turn out from community members. 

               The social studies pacing guide had some great essential questions such as what is community and how do communities change?  The town council was a direct link to this as the meeting discussed areas of concern and suggestions on how to create change within our community.  Another question in the pacing guide asked how do people use our environment?    Since I could not access the detailed curriculum, I think that the issue of contaminated soil in our township could touch on this, as the contamination was man-made.  

              Another major theme that reverberated in my field work was the issues of taxes.  Obviously, this concept is too advanced for a second grader; however, the second-grade math curriculum does have an extensive unit on money.  The social studies pacing guide also asked questions about being a smart consumer.  I think that this directly relates (in a very early way) to the issues of taxes and budgeting.  Students are beginning to develop a deeper meaning of money management, budgeting, and smart consumerism.  

              The themes of family and charity were not really addressed anywhere within the second-grade curriculum.  Neither were any elements of mental health.  District wide, however, the district runs an anti-bullying campaign.  In first grade, a portion of the day was dedicated to SEL, social and emotional learning, however, I could not locate the SEL program within the second-grade curriculum.  

              I think that more literacy regarding our community should be incorporated into the curriculum, such as information on our town; a section of our township is considered historic, and there does not seem to be any mention of that within the curriculum.  Our community is very focused on volunteering and community outreach, and I think that that is something that could be elaborated in within the second grade curriculum as well. 

Another place in the curriculum where students may be able to investigate some issues is in social studies. In 4th grade and 5th grade students study how one person or group of people can bring about change in time periods such as the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. Learning about these leaders can inspire students to become changemakers in their own communities.Studying the history of New Jersey in 4th grade can also lead to present day where there is a new wave of immigration and students can investigate the effects of this on a community.  

One disconnect I notice between the school curriculum and the community is that although the town is very diverse, the texts used in school and other aspects of the curriculum do not address diversity. A large percentage of the town’s population come from Spanish-speaking countries. Although this is true, the school does not explicitly have any celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month or inclusion of Latino celebrations. School communications with families are only in English, when many parents and families need notices in their home language. Celebrations that are highlighted in school primarily are of mainstream Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter. The school would benefit from mention of other celebrations in the winter and spring seasons such as Eid Mubarak and Lunar New Year, which many of our students and their families celebrate.