Final Presentation Day - Agenda

All of the students are working hard to prepare for their final presentations tomorrow! Below you will find the agenda for the day! 

TCNJ Pre-College Program

Friday, July 25, 2014

  

Final Presentations

10:00am – 10:30am              Arrival and Refreshments – Education Building Cafe & Room 113

10:30am                               Welcome – Education 115

10:45am – 11:10am              Overall Student Presentations – Education 115

• 10:50am – Digital and Social Media Marketing
• 10:55am – Garden State
• 11:00am – History 165
• 11:05am – Sociology 101

11:15am – 12:15pm              Individual Class Presentations                                               

• Digital and Social Media Marketing – Education 115
• Garden State – Education 204
• History: American Cities & Suburbs – Education 113
• Introduction to Sociology – Education 113

12:25pm – 12:45pm              Closing Sessions 

• Digital and Social Media Marketing & Garden State – Education 115
• History: American Cities and Suburbs & Introduction to Sociology – Education 113

1:00pm – 2:00pm                   Move out & Check Out – Eickhoff 3^rd Floor Lounge

Course and Service Updates!

Courses and Service 

The students are all in the final stretch of the program and are working hard to complete final papers, presentations and their service projects. The next three days will give a true look at what it is like to complete college level work and prepare final presentations to show that you understand what you have been learning.


Sociology 101

• Course Work
• Students who are currently taking Sociology 101 with Dr. Bates are working on research papers on different topics they are interested in related to their service site. For example, a few students are looking at the impact of gender on kids in the summer program, while others are looking at the learning abilities and disabilities of students like those in the summer program. Here are some examples of class posts: 
• "In present day society, people in higher-ranking groups usually receive larger shares of valued social items like wealth, power, and respect, while people in lower-ranking groups usually receive smaller shares of these social recognition and rewards. The term social stratification refers to a hierarchy of positions regarding ones economic production evaluation the ranking reward system that influences social rewards to those in positions (McIntyre 195)."
• "The most influential social system for determining the life chances of the people I am working with is the ascribed stratification. In an ascribed system, people have no say in what class they are born into. For many people, this unchangeable destiny chosen before birth affects them in a negative way. Being born into a lower class makes it more difficult for some people to achieve a higher status in life. These people will also be labeled everywhere they go in life by their clothing, housing status, or race." 
• Service
• Pre-College students have been working with elementary school kids in the GGrant 94ft. summer camp. The first few days the students attended the regularly scheduled programming to get to know the students and then they moved into a leadership role in the classrooms. The students taught the kids mindfulness skills using the Mind-Up Curriculum. The students have bonded with the kids and said they are going to be sad to say goodbye to them tomorrow. 

History 165

• Course Work
• Students in Dr. McGreevey's class have been learning about 20th Century Trenton and the changes that have happened over the years, and what effect those changes have had on the community and economy. Each student chose another city to compare to Trenton for their final research paper and presentation. Here is a taste of one student's research: 
• "Before each of the cities declined, they were industrial centers; Philadelphia was involved in textiles, navy yards, and electrical equipment; Trenton was involved in steel, rubber, and pottery. Philadelphia initially experienced job losses after the end of WWII (this was expected) however the economy continued to slide. An economist identified the cause of this trend as the gradual shift from manufacturing jobs to service jobs. Trenton experienced a different cause of their issues, caused by the shift from local to national capitalism. Although the trends were different, they are national trends that effected many more cities across the country." 
• Service
• Students started their service by learning about the impact of art on the community and in schools. They visited a local community arts organization called the Sage Coalition. Then the group began working on two murals for Foundations Academy Elementary and Middle Schools. Students were involved from start to finish of the project. They started by touring the school with one of the school staff, then they learned about the mission and vision of the school, met with a few students to learn what they thought, worked on a design, got approval from the school administrators, and began painting! 
• "My proudest moment today was when I recognized all the hard work I have accomplished thus far in the program. From learning about Trenton’s past and working on my research paper, to learning how to open a paint can and paint a wall, I realized how much I have done in the first week. Additionally, I was really proud to see how I have developed my reading and writing skills into what I have written of the paper so far. By the end of the second week, I hope to see the finished mural(s) that our team has put a lot of work into designing, planning, and painting. I would also like to finish the research paper and have that over with! Overall, I can’t wait to hear a few reactions about the impact our murals will have on the charter school." 

Weekend Activities

This weekend the Pre-College group kept very busy! On Friday, the group visited Magic Gardens in Philadelphia.  They split into pairs and participated in a photo challenge.  Each pair was given a list of various objects such as a circle, the letter A, the color blue, and had to take a picture with that object.  Friday night was our talent show! The rule was everyone had to participate so we had a great variety of signing, dancing, magic tricks, jokes, and skits! 

On Saturday, the Bonner staff engaged the Pre-College group in two workshops.  The first workshop was called "Leadership and Personality." During this workshop, students took a personality color test then broke up into groups depending on their personality color results.  The students who had the same personality color results then discussed how their personality directly related to their leadership style.  For example, a student who's personality color is Blue is more likely to lead by making positive, encouraging relationships while a student who's personality color is Orange is more likely to lead with enthusiasm and creativity.  

The second workshop was called "How to Revise Content and Grammar in Your Writing."  Students learned how to revise and edit their essays to reach college level writing.  The students had the rest of the day for study hall to complete their annotated bibliography. The day ended with a few games of volleyball and a trip to the movies! 

(It was a tough few games!)

Sunday was completely dedicated to finishing their annotated bibliography and starting their research paper.  The Pre-College Non-Credit program, a one- week program, also started on Sunday.  The students were able to met the new group and participate in a few more team building activities.

The Mural Has Been Started!

The group taking the history course with Professor McGreevey have started on their mural this week! After days of planning and meeting with staff from Foundation Academy Middle School, the mural started going up and is looking great!

First Impressions of Trenton

As part of our service-learning, we ask the Pre-College students to think critically and respond to a few discussion topics.  Here are a few of the responses to our first prompt! 

What were your first impressions of Trenton? Where did you go, what did you see, and how did your experience match up to your expectations of the city? 

"As we loaded up in the fifteen passenger van towards the Martin Luther King School in North Trenton, I did not know what to expect. My family and friends warned me about the neighborhoods and violence in the area. As we pulled up to the school, it was like an oasis in the desert. This beautiful school was placed in a neighborhood filled with trash, broken windows, graffiti, and abandoned buildings on all sides. Knowing the crime rates of the city, I prepared for the worst. I expected to be dealing with some of the worst children in Trenton. This assumption cannot be further from the truth. With guidelines from the counselors, the campers followed the rules of the camp and respected all of the Bonner volunteers. We played basketball, tag, and soccer and learned reading and math skills throughout the morning. This camp is an excellent opportunity for leaders such as Greg Grant and volunteers to give back to the community and give children the same opportunities they had."

"My first impression of Trenton was the lack of spirit and vitality. We went to North Trenton where the Martin Luther King Jr. School was located. North Trenton had a lot of abandoned buildings, trash filling the streets and run down business. My experience at the school was very pleasant. The campers were very inviting to teenage strangers. It completely changed my view of the young kids in the neighborhood. They were well mannered shared their food with their peers and bonded nicely with one another. This changed my perspective of the city's demographic of young children."

"I have personally volunteered in Trenton so I already had an idea of what Trenton looked like. However, my first impression when walking into the Martin Luther King Junior Middle School was that the Bonner students were the minority. The majority of the kids were either Black or Hispanic. I was hesitant to go say hi everyone but after introductions the kids loved us all."

First Day - Team Building!

The first day of TCNJ Pre-College program is all about team building and getting to know each other! On Sunday, and throughout the week, the group participated in different activities to get them to work together, show their funny and competitive sides, and most of all meet each other!

The group participated in activities such as Ships and Sailers, Send Me Your Captain, Human Knot and "Waterfall, Light Saber, Baby Dinosaur" (our own version of Rock, Paper, Scissors!).  These games might be corny but are definitely a lot of fun!

Here are some of the highlights from the team building activities!