"The Township Chronicle"

American History Q4 Benchmark

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16105414/JSweeney-HistoryQ4BM

Julia's Bibliography

Alexa's Bibliography 

Charcoal, ink and pencil drawings with painted environment. 

5/30/08

    So far, in the progress of this project, my group and I have been doing some good work. We have identified our theme and began searching for lines that illustrate both the theme and the plot. The theme we chose to show is loyalty. It pretty much comes up as an issue for every character in the book and is the prelude to many of the events. We have also narrowed down on how we are going to present our script. We have decided between either a sock puppet show or a paper bag puppet show. So far, I would say my group and I are working well together. Our personalities and work habits mesh pretty well and cause for few conflict.
    One success we have had so far is working with the GoogleDoc. I personally, am in love with how easy it is making it to collaborate with the rest of my group. Also, I’m just a huge geek and I think it’s quite cool. We set it up in a chart, one row being the act/scene, the other being the person responsible for that section and the final row being the lines found that will be put into our script. We have color-coded each of our names, so we know who it is when someone writes in blue, red, ect. We even have a section for questions or conversations to have about different group decisions. Basically, we are talking about what to do over the GoogleDoc and either answering it then or later. Like I said, huge geek about it.
    As of now, the only difficulties I have reached are finding the perfect lines. It is really hard summing up an entire play into seven minutes. It is really teaching me how to sort through the text and find exactly where the most important and needed parts are.

3/25/08

    Today has been very exciting in the world of this project. In class today we did a little questionnaire about our change agents. Up until now, this has been one of my setbacks. The questions basically asked us if we had a change agent and when we were meeting with them. No one had contacted me back at that point in time, so I was left writing “N/A” on my paper. I felt defeated.
    When I got home tonight, I checked my e-mail. Alas! I saw a new e-mail from a name I didn’t recognize. It was from a woman named Melissa Levy, the Director of Development at PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society). She had been replying to my original contact for a meeting time so I could present my elevator pitch. The e-mail read, “Thanks so much for your interest in saving Philadelphia's animals! I'd be happy to set up a time to meet with you in early-April.” These were the best words I could read at that moment.
    Now, with a meeting time and the beginnings of an Action Plan outline, I’m back on track. I felt overwhelmed for a little, but this seemed to be what I needed to fix that. Sometimes, things take a while. Sometimes, things go well. This was a sign.

2/22/08

    An interesting article came my way this week while I was looking through my feeds. It was debating the effectiveness of the No Kill shelters at different locations in the country. To start, they pose the very interesting question of, “Have shelters failed these 'NoKill' plans or have the 'NoKill' plans failed the shelters?” That does seem to be the debate. Yes, the killing in these animal shelters needs to stop. But has this No Kill project been too much for the shelters to handle? Is there a better way that people haven’t thought of yet to stop the violence in these shelters?
    The author of the article goes on to say how successful the No Kill shelter program has been working in Philadelphia. As for the rest of the country, not so much. Then states, “Should we just give up trying to become 'NoKill?' Absolutely not! The ten basic 'NoKill' programs are a start but they're just a start…” I think this sums up everyone’s feelings. This is only a start. There needs to be more work done. With that statement though, another question is raised. What else can we do? How can we, as people, come together and have a bigger impact for the animals? What is wrong with the No Kill project right now? Things are getting better from the No Kill Advocacy Center. It is helping.
    My question for you, people of the world, is what is wrong here? What else? What next? I think that there is more. More that can be done. More ways to branch out the No Kill shelters in the country. I’m posing a challenge: What is the next step to take the No Kill shelters to an even more successful level?