Projects

 

Arizona Scholastic Undergraduate Scholarships A.S.U. Scholarships The purpose of this project is to simplify the process of acquiring institutional information in the pursuit of higher education. The project goal is to create a website that contains information for every college in the state of Arizona. This information includes primarily scholarship information, but also includes information about the institutions in general. The pursuit of higher education is a difficult process, and many do not even attempt to attend because of the difficulty in acquiring information or for financial reasons. This website will be a useful tool to help students and parents find information more quickly and easily. The website will have a search engine in which the student/parent can search a number of descriptors that will show results for scholarships at institutions throughout Arizona. For example, the student may be of Hispanic origin and wish to search for scholarships available to those of this ethnicity. The results of a search such as this will include scholarships for Hispanic students at all Arizona institutions. Parents and students can also search for scholarships based on grade point average, major, gender, and other descriptors.  Arizona Town Hall While assisting the Arizona Town Hall organization, I have been working alongside the Town Hall President, Tara Jackson, to create a “how-to guide” on the Arizona Town Hall process. This guide is a well laid out booklet showing the Town Hall process and everything that takes place alongside this method.. People are always asking how this process builds consensus, promotes public consideration of issues and supports implementation, all while doing so in a respected well laid out process. We are creating this guide, which shows the unique Town Hall process along with alternatives, to assist the groups and people wanting to have more productive and thoughtful progress, whether in meetings or other types of “Town Halls”. By creating this guide, people can mimic this procedure to get results in a more functional way. Knowing how to build consensus through civil discourse is essential for society to function. By creating this guide, we are helping organizations and the general public learn how to create consensus in a functional process. Arizona High School Town Hall Arizona High School Town Hall is an opportunity for high school students from around the state of Arizona to come together and exhibit civic leadership by discussing and creating solutions to various issues concerning education. In the second annual Arizona High School Town Hall the topics students will be discussing are the impact of immigration on high school education and opportunities for post secondary education. In addition, students learn about college life such as enrollment procedures and scholarship and financial aid information, as well as engage in student-life activities and experience dorm living on a college campus. After a full day of crafting solutions and experiencing college life, students convene the following morning to create a consensus on the various agenda topics and help craft a final report to be presented to education, business, and political leaders in Arizona. Casa Verde High School Project  The Casa Verde Crystallization program is meant to crystallize the minds of high school students attending Casa Verde high school. The program will be a class designated to teach students about higher education, and how to create a brighter financial future for themselves. This program will give the students a basic understanding of financial and educational information that they will need in their near future. The program consists of several meetings at Casa Verde high school regarding their present class, externship, and find solutions on how to make the program successful. The students are to attend a fall semester in school where they learn a range of financial and educational information, and then in the spring semester the students are placed in their designated jobs that are associated with their choice of career. Rodel Health Initiative Since 1985, the percentage of Arizona’s population with a Body Mass Index of 30 (or greater) increased from 10% of the population to 20-24%, more than doubling.1 Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. In Arizona, 12% of are youth ages 10-17 are considered to be obese, with another 17.5% at risk of becoming obese. Several initiatives are in place to help in the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the reduction of Arizona Youth obesity rates. However, the implementation of these initiatives is slow, and it is vital that change is occurs immediately. Therefore, it is the goal of the Rodel Community Scholars to develop and manage a Health Education Program for elementary schools statewide. The goal of the Rodel Health Initiative (RHI) is to educate our youth and their parents on the importance of healthy eating and daily exercise. The RHI will track student weight and daily participation in exercise as student’s progress into secondary schools. The RHI will promote weekend awareness walks, classroom exercise breaks, and the organization of after school youth activity programs. Furthermore, Rodel will organize “The Walk for A Healthy YOUth,” an annual walk through the campus’s of all the major universities for all fifth grade classes. The RHI will responsible for educating our youth about healthy choices, heart rate, and the consequences of consuming sugar and fats. The RHI will discuss with students the onset of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this program is to place college students in elementary classes to serve as positive role models on the topic of health and obesity. It is time to unify the state and promote a new and healthy lifestyle for our youth, and who better to bring on this change then a program that has been dedicated to changing the lives of students for years, the Rodel Community Scholars. The Rodel Scholars will meet with school administrators to implement youth activity programs and to organize times in which scholars can meet with students to discuss health topics. The services of the scholars will extend beyond the students and promote discussion with parents and legal guardians. The scholars will contract a verbal agreement with parents to walk with their children at least once a day for 30 minutes. We will ask parents to record all physical activities performed by their children and themselves, and at the end of each semester children and parents will be awarded for their dedication and participation in increasing physical activity. Annual Arizona State University Campus Walk to A Healthier YOUth Parent and Student at home activities (rewarding program) Educational resources and in-class discussions Research tracking of weights of each student (for three years) In-class breaks to increase the heart rate and promote exercise Implementation and promotion of after school youth activities Health insurance tracking and potential enrollment (KEOGH Foundation) Morning Fruit consumption and afternoon fruit consumption (Local Groceries) o Provide students with a morning fruit and afternoon fruit in order to increase the daily intake of fruits. o Fruit for Food (F for F)- increase at home fruit consumption   The Impact on free/reduced lunch on AIMS Mathematics Scores This year The Rodel Scholars explored the impact of Free and/or Reduced Lunch on AIMS Mathematics scores. Several research questions were postulated. First, are there differences in AIMS Mathematics raw scores based on schools with 70% or greater Free and/or Reduced Lunch compared to schools less than 70% Free and/or Reduced Lunch? Second, are there differences in the percentage of students who “meets” or “exceeds” based on Free and/or Reduced Lunch? Third, are their differences in the percentage of students who actually take the AIMS mathematical tests based on Free and/or Reduced Lunch. Finally, are their schools with 70% or greater Free and/or Reduced Lunch that perform in score in a positive manner to that of schools with little, if any Free and/or Reduced Lunch? This study will examine such scores from the 2002-2003 3rd grade class to the present. The Rodel Junior Community Scholars The Rodel Junior Community Scholars program is designed to emulate that of the Rodel Community Scholars program at ASU West. More specifically, designed to improve civic and community leadership through work on projects at schools with high percentages of free and reduced lunch. This program takes place at Sahuaro Elementary School and involves a group of fifteen selected students. Like the existing Rodel program, the Junior program has each group or individual scholar foster a project. The current projects include raising money through a penny war and soliciting businesses to provide Sahuaro school with better musical instruments and art supplies. The funds will also provide the Junior scholars with college scholarships. The Rodel Junior Scholars also are involved in a project to provide aide for families in transition. The Scholars meet twice a week at Sahuaro Elementary. High School Dropout & Graduate Attentional Biases Study The Rodel Community Scholars are conducting a psychological experiment to examine the differential attentional biases of high school graduates and dropouts.  Previous studies rely on surveys, batteries, and instruments to gage thought processes and attitudes toward school.  However, such approaches have a fundamental limitation to their research, namely "reactivity".  Based on prior research, The Rodel Community Scholars will create a psychological study which will examine the physiological attentional biases or shift toward school related words.  Prior research has found that problematic adolescents have an attentional bias or shift toward threatening words.  Therefore, it is theorized that dropouts will exhibit a similar attentional bias or shift towards school related words.  The Rodel Community Scholars will track students from their freshmen year in high school to the point of graduating or dropping out of school. Parental Academic Related Educational Needs Training P.A.R.E.N.T. Teaming up with La Jolla, Maryvale, Franklin Police & Fire High Schools, Litchfield, Dysart, Casa Grande, Coolidge, Round Valley, Glendale, and Phoenix (more to be named as the year progresses) school districts to essentially create a "Hitchhikers' Guide to Education" for parents of students entering high school for the first time. As students transition from middle school to high school, often parents become unaware of the educational environment of students as the educational system becomes more complicated. This guide/handbook will address key issues such as assessment, standards, accountability, special education, ELL, governing boards, charter schools, class scheduling, graduation requirements, credits, university requirements and possibilities, scholarships, teachers and administrators, free and reduced lunch, uniforms, district types, state board, guidance counselors, contact information, and school and/or district demographics. Westview High School to ASU-West Matriculation Project The Rodel Community Scholars Sarah Johnson and Bryce Reynoso are collaborating with Westview High School to increase awareness and enrollment in Arizona State University at the West Campus.  Many high school seniors make the choice to go to community colleges due to the fact that the ASU campus in Tempe is too drastic of a change from their high school lives.  It is our goal to get the seniors to enroll at the West campus in order to be in a more comfortable environment where they can receive a high quality education and graduate with their bachelor’s degree within four years.  We have multiple activities planned for the school year, including group field trips to ASU’s West Campus, on-campus tours, scholarship information and full information access. Tolleson High School Parent University Rodel Community Scholars Heather Lange and Amanda Johnson have partnered with Tolleson High School to develop a detailed handbook for their up and coming Parent University. This program will help shed light onto the often complicated procedure of helping a child successfully travel from kindergarten to high school graduation and beyond. Johnson and Lange’s handbook will be interactive and informational – a real life guide to Arizona public education for the modern parent or guardian.   Apollo High School College Matriculation Project Rodel Scholars Brittany Montanye and Josh Snyder work together with Glendale's Apollo High School, encouraging high school students to seek post-secondary education. The group acts as a resource for Apollo students to find information on their options following  high school. The Scholars work one-on-one with the students to educate them on the processes of applying to institutions and looking for financial aid.