During this scavenger hunt the roads were terrible. Cars were still parked in the middle of the street and the snow was very heavy. A lot of the sidewalks were not plowed which made it very hard to navigate and find places to park. Luckily the few places I chose to take pictures of were very close to one another which made navigation easier.
I learned a lot about the city/town of Central Falls. I learned not only facts, but I learned about what type of city the students are living in. Crime rates are higher in this city, there are less police officers than there should be, the community lacks resources and money, etc. Living in a city like this affects the students’ work and potential. It is important to know what students might be going through outside of school in order to better gage what type of teaching is needed in school. Thus, I now have a better outlook on the life of the students I observe.
I know that Central Falls High School has shown major improvement in graduation rates. I am now questioning what Central Falls High School has been doing to successfully inspire and teach these students despite their less-fortunate location. How were they able to raise their graduation rates by such a large increase?
I think the biggest thing I took from this assignment was that it is important to learn about your students and the community that they are involved in. Even if you don’t live in the community, you, as a teacher, are a still an active member of that community. You educate their students, and you guide them towards their futures. In order to teach your students successfully and meaningfully you first have to understand your students. You have to understand their struggles and their strengths. You have to know what goes on out of school, and, in order to understand your student, you have to learn about the place they live. What kind of community is it? What does this say about the home life of our students? What are they getting or not getting? How does this affect how they learn? This assignment was very worth while, and I found great use out of it. I think I will keep this sheet for myself for future teaching. It could serve as a guide to learning about the community within which the school I teach at will be in. Of course some of these questions are specific to Central Falls, but many of them are applicable basic questions that can be used to understand and get to know any city. You can learn a lot just from simple statistics and facts about the environment within which the school is located.
Here is what I found:
1.) Question #4: How many schools are in the city? Colleges and universities?
Answer: There are 7 schools, including:
Captain Hunt Early Learning (PK)
Margaret Robertson Elementary (K)
Ella Risk Elementary (1-4)
Veterans Memorial Elementary (1-4)
Alan Shawn Feinstein School (1-5)
Calcutt Middle Schoool (5-8)
Central Falls High (9-12)
St Elizabeth Ann Seton Academy (private elementary/middle school) (PK-8)
Unfortunately, there are not any colleges or universities in this city. While this is true, there are many colleges and universities close by like Providence College (PC).
2.) Question #19: Visit the Central Falls Library. What events or resources are available?
Answer: The Library is located at 205 Central St!
According to the records, three are 33,809 books, 442 audio materials, 1,589 video materials, 1 state licensed databases, 8 other licensed databases, and 48 print serial subscriptions. They also hold a lot of book clubs, homework help sessions, and oftentimes have readings performed. Here’s their mission statement:
3.) Question #18: What is the major religion in the city/town? Are there churches/synagogues/mosques/ temples?
Answer: Central Falls is comprised of mostly christians. Others are not affiliated with religious congregations. Here are the statistics:
MAJOR CHURCHES IN CITY:
Saint Ephraims Church
Assembly of God
Central Falls Congregational Church,
Holy Trinity Church Complex
Bible Baptist Church,
Casade Oration Gethsemane Church
Saint Matthews Church
Here's a picture of the Iglesia Evangelica Hispana United Church of Christ:
Here's the statistics:
4.) Question #12: Are there public Parks?
Answer: Yes! There are four! Here are their names:
Central Falls Historic District
Jenks Park
Central Falls Mill Historic District
Central Street School Historic District
5.) Question #9: Is there are fire station? A police station? How are fire emergencies handled? What crime statistics are available for the community?
Answer: There is a fire station located at 150 Illinois Street!
There is also a police department located next door at 160 Illinois Street. Here's some pictures!
The only crime statistics that I could find were available for the year 2012. Here are those statistics:
Police Officers and law enforcement employees: 42 officers in 2012
Officers per 1,000 residents = 1.65
Rhode Island Average= 2.34
6.) Question #10: Is there a movie theater in town?
Answer: There are no movie theaters in town. However, there are some close by. Here’s a yellow pages list of some theaters that Central Falls residents might go to:
7.) Question #8: Is there a post office in town?
Answer: Yes, there is a post office. It is located on 575 Dexter Street!
8.) Question #24: There are three professional baseball players from Central Falls. Name them.
Answer:
Max Surkont (Pittsburgh pirates and Boston Braves)
Jim Siwy
Charley Bassett
9.) Question #14: What is the name of the local newspaper?
Answer: The Pawtucket Times. Here’s their homepage and some of the headlining news:
10.) Question #29: In this scared space, the famous and the infamous are side by side. But in one part you can see the bullet holes left by a battle that took place between strikes and the National Guard? What is this sacred space?
Answer: Moshassuck Cemetery located at 978 Lonsdale Avenue. Here’s some pictures from the past and the bullet holes at the sight.
No comments:
Post a Comment