Final Post

We began by coming up with questions that we could ask our interviewees. We interviewed three people of different races and genders. The questions focused on the challenges the interviewees faced because of their race or gender. Their answers helped us form our answer to the guiding question of "what does it mean to be an American?". Being an American means to be free and proud to live in the United States of America and to have equal opportunities and rights no matter the differences you have. We uploaded the interviews to Youtube and integrated them into our blog and presentation. We made a powerpoint that focuses on the interviews and the civil rights movement in America.

Coach Bell Interview

This is the second interview we conducted this week. We interviewed the only African American teacher at our school. Coach Bell gave us some amazing examples and his perspective of what its like to be an American minority. Coach Bell's perspective is very unique in that he is the only African American teacher at Olathe West. This was our final interview for the project.

1. What are some challenges that occur in your everyday life because of your race?
2. What does equality mean to you as a minority?
3. How do you think people of your race view Americans?
4. How has inequality in the past affected others in your family?
5. What is your view from the mountain top and why is that your view?

Coach Bell talks about the challenges he faced during high school as an African American trying to date white girls. He believes equality would be everyone being treated equally and fairly. He said he can only speak for himself when asked how he thinks people of his race view Americans. Inequality has effected his family negatively in the past. Coach Bell told us about how his parents faced fights and being spit on during their time in school. Coach Bell's view from the mountain top is that everyone is being treated equally and having the same opportunities and access to things like healthcare.

 
This interview has been edited and uploaded to youtube for the public.

Ms. Carbajo Interview

This week we have continued to research and find information for our project. We have taken quotes from Martin Luther King's "A View From The Mountaintop" speech to include in our presentation. We also did two more interviews. We interviewed Ms. Carbajo to get her perspective on what its like to be an American woman. These are the questions we asked Ms. Carbajo.

1. What are some challenges that occur in your everyday life because of your gender?
2. What does equality mean to you as woman?
3. How has inequality in the past effected others in your family?
4. How do you think American woman are viewed by the world?
5. What is your view from the mountain top?

After interviewing Ms. Carbajo, we have a much better perspective of what it is like to be an American woman and what her views on equality are. She talks about the differences in popularity and fan support for female sports and how that effected her as a high school and college athlete and as a female coach now. Her idea of equality and her view from the mountain top focus on being kind to others and the contagious aspect of kindness. Ms. Carbajo also talks about the issues of how the American culture views woman and imparticularly adolescent women. Ms. Carbajo's view from the mountain top is very attainable. If everyone was kind to one another she believes we would have equality.

This video has been edited and uploaded to youtube for the public.

Gianni Interview

For our second part of the project we interviewed Gianni Lopez and asked him these questions about his views on what it means to be American.

1. What are some challenges that occur in your everyday life because of your race? 
2. What does equality mean to you as a minority? 
3. How do you think people of your race view Americans? 
4. How has inequality effected your family in the past? 
5. What is your view from the mountaintop and why is it that way?

After interviewing Gianni, we can definitely see what it's like from a minority's perspective. He talks about the struggles he faces as a minority in America. Gianni also talks about what it was like for family in the generations before him. The fact that Gianni is an American himself but has a different ethnicity makes his view very unique to our project. Gianni's view from the mountaintop was understandable and reasonable yet most likely unattainable. His desire to eliminate racism in America is one that is difficult to full fill but that doesn't mean change cannot continue.

This video has been edited and uploaded to youtube for others to view and realize Gianni's views.

Introduction

Hello, this blog is for our fourth quarter project in English III. Our group consists of Ireland, Ryan, Grant, and Isaiah. Our assignment is to discover what it means to be American. Our idea of what being an American is is that everyone has equal rights no matter their race, gender, religion, or what they stand for. Everyone should have equality and freedom as an American. We chose this idea because this is what we believe in and what we think makes America so great. This week our goal was to establish our topic, begin our blog, and begin our research. We completed our goal and we are on track to complete our project.