'Being successful does not only pertain to academic or financial achievement. The most successful individuals are those who also purposely contribute to their community and conscientiously do what they know is right, even when it is not the easiest choice.'
Citizenship and ethics are important morals to hold close during the course of our lives and in our pathes to success and happiness. Trying to see how far you can stretch your bank account will not bring you happiness alone - it's important to be concious of the other people around you and to give as much as you take. Having responsbility with your success and warding off greed, I believe, will bring happiness. If you happen to be successful, don't forget that it was with the help of other people that granted you that success. Give and take, live and let live.
To represent my skills in 'Citizenship and Ethics' I have decided to post my certificate of Community Service completion achieved during my junior year. To exceed my 50 hours of required service I chose to help a local environmental organization, P.I.N.A, design and upload their site to get their information out to the public. During this time I was very amatuer with my web design skills, so I'm not at all proud of my design work, but, then and now, I feel satisfied that I was able to help out a local organization with a positive mission by employing one of my central skills.
'There are many ways to solve a problem. Good thinking and problem-solving skills will help you contribute to solutions on the job. Employers and colleges will expect you to be able to think analytically and creatively, use logical reasoning and interpret information.'
The ability to think critically and to solve a variety of problems is a vital skill required while working in a team. On the more innovative end of a business it's key that one is able to contribute his or her share of innovation to the total idea. 'Critical Thinking' is the one skill among the 8 Outcomes that interlinks them all the most since, during a time of critical thought, one must draw one or more of the outcomes at one time and utilize them in the way needed in order to create and communicate an innovation. Critical thinking is an outcome that asks for one to draw from their past experience and apply it in a progressive direction.
In my perspective I believe that essentially any piece of any project at NNTHS could be used as a representation of critical thinking as every project required the employment of critical thinking throughout. I picked my representation of 'Critical Thinking' to be something individual and creative so I chose an assignment from our 'The Death of a Salesmen' portion of Political Studies. In this assignment I was required to interpret the character of Willy Lowman into a drawing that summarized his qualities as the person he is. While I don't believe I recieved the greatest grade on this assignment (36/50) I believe the assignment was an excellent representation of the abstract critical thinking needed to complete most assignments at NNTHS.
'Today's Classrooms and workplaces require that you be able to work as part of a team. You need to be able to work cooperatively with people of different ages and cultural backgrounds. When working with others it is important to understand how to resolve conflicts, negotiate, share responsibilities, accept supervision and assume leadership roles.'
In a place with a rapidly expanding population we must learn to peacefully communicate with one another to ensure cohesive progress. Collaboration, overall, is an important skill to hone since it helps to know how to ulitilize the resources of others peacefully and cooperatively.
To represent my recent achievements in 'Collaboration', I have attached a 'Collaboration Feedback' report (no longer available) that displays my Collaboration grade in our Political Studies project, 'Campaign Trail'. Within this project I worked with 5 other people to piece-work a series of articles that expressed our group's political positions on specific issues. Writing these articles required mutual understanding of our position within the group which was established with efficient oral communication and in-depth research of controversial issues along with an interpretation for each. The projected ended with a summarizing speech performed by our chosen 'party candidate' (Brianna McGee).
'Strong written communication skills are important in school, in the job search, and finally in most jobs. You must be able to read and write effectively. Effective writing means that you can organize information, clearly present your own ideas, write with your audience in mind and use correct grammar and spelling.'
Writing effectively and communicating an idea accurately through written word is another key communication skill along with 'Oral Communication'. The reason why written communication is an important skill to be considered in the NNTHS 8 Learning Outcomes is because, in almost any work environment, it's given that a larger portion of your work will be communicated through written text without another person present for explanation. It is efficient to write clearly, concisely, and professionally so that your idea may be read and understood by another person without confusion. To be able to communicate an idea efficiently like this, through written word and without an explanation from an outside source, allows for more timely production and progress.
To represent my developing skills in 'Written Communication' I have posted both my entry into the Napa District Writing Assessment, a district wide evaluation of student's writing abilities, and a copy of my essay written for the practice assessment but on an entirely different subject. To practice for the official test I wrote an essay on the politics of indoor cellphone usage and, for my official entry, an essay on the importance of voter turn-out.
'Oral communication skills are very useful in school and are of particular importance when entering and advancing in a career. In an interview and on the job, you will need to present information and ideas effectively.'
To communicate ideas clearly to an audience is an important skill both in a presentational setting, while broadcasting to a large audience, and in a conversational setting, being able to articulate to an individual or small group. The ability to clearly express yourself verbally is essential to the modern work environment because many tasks are communicated and carried out through spoken word and in very short time periods.
To represent my expressions of oral communication during my senior year I have attached both a grade for a memorized rap I performed and the lyrics to a 'Constitutional rap' I wrote to contribute to our group's performance about early American legislation. For the memorized rap performance, which was actually a song called 'Blink' written by the Blue Scholars, I ended up focusing too much on my memorization and delivery and forgot to turn in the written portion. I was unable to turn in a copy of the lyrics because I had memorized the entire song which I performed individually. For our group performance of our lyrical interpretation of the Constitution, I constributed the last portion of rhymes which are posted here in .txt format. (no longer available)
'In addition to the lifeskills outlined above, the State of California and New Technology High School have identified kew knowledge that students should have when they graduate from high school. Your academic coursework was designed to provide the educational foundations that will foster informed perspectives and a level of cultural literacy sufficient for success beyond high school. Therefore, your Professional Portfolio should include your curricular literacy in as many ways as possible.'
Clearly, 'Curricular Literacy' acts as a foundation for the other 7 Learning Outcomes to thrive upon. In order to utilize all of the above outcomes you must first have a firm basis of knowledge to articulate - a literacy in the curriculum of interest.
To represent my comprehension of the lessons I've learned within my Political Studies class, which was the core intensive class of my senior year, I have posted 3 tests that I have achieved, what I consider, rewarding scores on.
'Many jobs require computer skills, technical knowledge and the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies. Employers expect you to be able to use technology to complete tasks and to improve your job performance.'
One's literacy in technology is a defining factor in a real world job application process. Whether or not you are up to speed with today's current methods of production could make or break your chances of achieving a desired position. In order succeed in a modern world of rapidly evolving technology we must continuingly make sure our advancement in our own skills is keeping pace with the advancement of the tools we are employing those skills on. We must also make sure we're able to quickly adapt to the continuing changes made to the working-environment technologies over the course of the years to come. The more literate we are in our jobs the more efficient we will be at carrying them out.
To represent my skills in technology literacy I have chosen my website work (see above) to display. In addition, I have included a link to download my senior project, a game called 'Teamsteroids', which I believe represents an expression of my technological skills. I used the game developing platform Game Maker which utilizes a programming language similar to C++ and Java along with a comprehensive GUI. (Teamsteroids requires 2 PC gamepads to play)
'In order to prepare for a career, you need to learn responsbility, self-discipline and time management. Honesty and personal integrity are also expected on any job. In addition, it is important to have good understanding of career paths and how to find jobs in your chosen field. You will develop a career plan that describes your goals and plan of action. In order to develop a career plan, you need to compile information about yourself, information about requirements for education or traning and information about the job market.'
New Technology High School teaches the importance of career preparation throughout each year. It is a common reoccuring theme with each and every project presented in the classroom with every one incorporating lessons that teach skills needed in the modern workplace. I've appreciated this important addition as it has conditioned me to be more prepared when I enter a professional work environment.
Perhaps the most enriching career experience I've had the oppurtunity to take was to work at California
Polypeptide as part of NNTHS's Internship program. In order to complete the requirement of participating
in an internship I worked at Cal-Peptide for a total of 55 hours over the course of a couple months. Within the
time that I spent there I learned a great deal of skills I can now apply in laboratory settings in the future.
Attached is my Internship Certificate of Completion to represent my improvements in 'Career Preperation'.