UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT HUMACAO ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Special Project:
Phase II: Final Report
(Title: Donation of a Projector, Two Tables and Five Chairs for the Ninth Grade English Classroom) (Removal of vegetation in path for the access of the park behind school) Juan Ponce de Len Bilingual School Humacao, P.R. Cooperating Teacher: Mr. Harry Bonkosky

Eliezer Morales Ruiz Student Number: 442-08-4107 EDPE 4006 /Secc. 001 Dr. Anbal Muoz Claudio Date: April 22, 2013.
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Table of Contents

I. Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 II. Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 III. Recomendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 IV. Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

I. Results (Action Plan Table 2):

Fiscal Resources (Budget)

Objectives

Activities

Time Line

Person(s) involved Mr. Eliezer Morales Ruiz (Teacher Candidate), Dr. Anbal Muoz Claudio (Practice Teaching Supervisor), Mr. Abiezer Luzunaris Vargas (School Director), and Mr. Harry Bonkosky Medina (Cooperating Teacher).

Results Everything was met, but I needed to make some changes. The fact is that we had a change of school director and I added another part to my special project. So, I had to redact another letter and made adjustments to the original one.

Redaction of a donation letter to companies, professionals, and government agencies.

Look for the approval of the letter with Practice Teaching Supervisor, the School Director, and the Cooperating Teacher.

Week from Monday, February 25, 2013 to Friday, March 1, 2013.

Investment of letter copies.

Hand in the donations letter to companies, professionals and government agencies, hoping someone will be willing to do some kind of donation.

Visit companies, professionals and government agencies to hand in the donations letter, hoping someone will be willing to do some kind of donation.

From the week beginning with Monday, March 4, 2013 until the week that ends with Friday, March 29, 2013.

Mr. Eliezer Morales Ruiz (Teacher Candidate) and Mr. Juan Perez Domenech (Teacher Candidate).

Everything was met and we were able to receive some donations.

Fundraising activities that are allowed in the school.

Example of activities: Casual days or Jean days.

From the week beginning with Monday, April 1, 2013 until the week that ends with Friday, April 26, 2013.

Mr. Eliezer Morales Ruiz (Teacher Candidate), Mr. Juan Perez Domenech (Teacher Candidate). For the approval: Mr. Abiezer Luzunaris Vargas (School Director), and Mr. Harry Bonkosky Medina (Cooperating Teacher).

The students will pay from .50 to $1.00

Since we have a new school director, we are in the process of the coordination of these activities of fundraising. Adjustments to the timeline and persons involved needed to be made.

I. Results: The Action Plan from the Proposal of the Phase 1 for the special project was almost completely met. I was able to redact a donation letter to companies, professionals, and government agencies. The letter had the approval of Dr. Anbal Muoz Claudio (Practice Teaching Supervisor), Mr. Abiezer Luzunaris Vargas (School Director), and Mr. Harry Bonkosky Medina (Cooperating Teacher). But later, while I was in the process of handing the letter, the school had a change of Director because Mr. Abiezer Luzunaris Vargas wasnt permanent at the school. So now, the new School Director is Sra. Nydia Vega Cintron, the last permanent school director. Then I needed to make some adjustments to my letter to have approval of the actual school director. Also, I needed to make a new letter to request the removal of the vegetation that was invading the school property and the access to the park the students use every day as part of the Physical Education class. This was something that caught my attention and I added to my special project. This also represented a danger of animal pest to the school. So, I was able to hand the donation letter to my dentist office, Dr. Aileen E. Smith, and we received a donation of $50.00. That money was enough to buy the chairs we needed for the classroom. I also handed the petition letter and the donation letter at the Humacao City Hall. I was able to met with the Humacao city mayor, the Hon. Marcelo Trujillo and the approve of a donation is currently in progress, and also the removal of the vegetation invading the school property from the old man house. The donation from the city hall will be a start for the funds we need for a projector. We are in the process of coordinating fundraising activities with the approval of the school director and the school board. To see the donation and petition letters, and also pictures of this special project, look for the Appendix section of this document.

II. Reactions: The process of working in a special project for the Juan Ponce de Len Bilingual Junior High School has helped me integrate to the school community. Although Im going to be member of this school community for just a semester, I wanted to leave a legacy with my special project. In Phase 1 of the special project, I was focused on looking for materials the English ninth grade classroom needed; but on Phase 2, I added another thing I did for the whole community. Each day, as I arrived to the school, I started to notice the overgrown vegetation and bad conditions of the home of an old man, right next to the school. The vegetation was invading the school property and the access to the park the students use every day as part of the Physical Education class. It also represented a danger of animal pest to the school. So, I started to do some research and interviews to the school personnel in order to get to know why the old man was living in an unsafe environment. By this experience I was able to get know more about the school community and interact with the personnel. I discovered from this process that the situation was bigger than it seem, so I decided reach the Humacao City Hall and its city mayor Hon. Marcelo Trujillo to address the situation. I had to go through the process of designing petitions and donation letters I order to have a formal backup of every move I was going to make. Then, I was able to meet with the city mayor at his office and the situation is taken care. I reached some offices at the city hall and I was able to get an economic aid or donation for the material we needed for the English ninth grade classroom. Also, I got a donation from Dr. Aileen E. Smith, a dentist from the region and we were able to buy the chairs with that money. So, knowing that I made a contribution for the learning of the actual and future students in the school is an amazing feeling. As a temporary member of this school community I feel that with this project, we are becoming part of the school community for years to come.
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III. Recommendations: During the experience of working on the special project, Im glad to say I have no regrets. For the people that love to serve others, we may think that always we should have done something more. The fact is that the opportunity that the special project offers to us can go beyond our expectations or requirements for the project. Maybe there are some things in the process that I may have done different, but in my case, I also depended on the efforts and dispositions of other people and I had to be patient for that. My advice to other teacher candidates is to start working on the project as soon as they can when they arrive at the centers. My experience has been that, depending on what is the contribution you want to make to the school, it can be a long process by also following the requirements of the project. Sometimes other responsibilities can get you behind on the process, but is very important to keep on track with the Action Plan in order to fulfill most of it. Looking for aids from other people and designing the things you are going to do, can be longer than what you think. Although it can be a long process to complete the special project, I encourage other teacher candidates to go the extra mile all the way. In the Action Plan, I suggest to be focused on the contributions from micro to macro. What I mean is that, first we should think as English teachers, what contribution we can make in order to support and promote ESL learning in the school. Then we should also think about in a project that involves all the school community and will improve their educational environment as well as self development. I gladly was able to manage a contribution for the English ninth grade classroom and also I worked on helping an old man that lives right next to the school that is living in subhuman conditions. The conditions of this old man house represented a danger for the school community for the fact that the vegetation surrounding the home was so overgrown that invaded the schools property. Due this situation, some clas srooms had to work with pest animal control in order to provide a safe learning environment for the students. The results of my special project are detailed in other parts of this Final Report. The most important thing throughout the process of the special project is to have the good spirit and motivation to complete your Action Plan, knowing that what you are doing is a contribution for the better of the humankind.

Appendix