Our PlacesEnglish II

Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then; a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o-clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.

To Kill a Mockingbird, p. 5

Your Assignment

• Choose one image that inspires you.• Write a short poem that describes the

way you feel while viewing this picture.• As you write, be sure to imagine a

speaker (the narrator of the poem) and an audience (the person the speaker intends to address).

What is Photovoice?Photovoice is a process in which people – usually those with limited power due to poverty, language barriers, race, class, ethnicity, gender, culture, or other circumstances – use video and/or photo images capture aspects of their environment and experiences and share them with others.

What is Photovoice?

The pictures can then be used, usually with captions composed by the photographers, to bring the realities of the photographers’ lives home to the public and policy makers and to spur change.

To help those who are often

unheard gain a voice, enabling

them to record and reflect on their

experiences and their

communities’ conditions, both

positive and negative.

Photovoice has three main goals:

To encourage critical

consciousness. Through

choosing, discussing, and

reflecting on the subjects of their

photographs, the photographers

can come to a clearer

understanding of their

circumstances and the economic,

social, psychological, and

political forces that shape them.

Being in Poverty Hurts! Genevieve Jones*, 2006

The pain and stress affect all areas of one’s life. It is often acted out in destructive ways including: inability to trust and build support—friends or community programs, etc.—through addictions, child abuse of all kinds, and/or spouse abuse.

• To bring about change that will improve conditions and enhance lives by reaching and influencing policy makers.

The Empty Shopping Cart Butterfly Russell*, 2006

To me the empty shopping cart is symbolic. A shopping cart should be full of groceries and have a little kid bouncing up and down in the seat. But for many, every time they look at a grocery cart they feel guilty because they don’t have enough money to fill it up with groceries. And the other thing I think when I look at a grocery cart is, ‘Thank God I’m not the one who’s got all my worldly possessions in it.’ Or I could be wandering up and down back alleys picking up pop bottles. So the shopping cart has a lot of meanings.

My house has great significance to me. I like my house. I like it because it is where I live. I've lived there for about 12 years now.

This house is where I said goodbye to my other half

My best friend that I met in 1st grade and became instantly attached to was a German girl named Elena. We had many things in common, including our nationality (my mom’s side of the family is German). We spent most of our time together, having sleepovers every week and playdates basically every afternoon.

This is a photo of Elena's house.Elena and I grew extra close when we started riding our bikes to school together in 3rd grade. When we were halfway through 5th grade, my parents told me and my older sister that we would be moving to Australia. I was completely heartbroken. I was completely against it and it took lots of persuading, but I finally gave in. In the beginning, my parents said we would only be gone for 2 years, so I would see her soon, but it ended up being 5. I haven't seen Elena in person since the day we said goodbye, in her front lawn almost 6 years ago now. She moved to Germany 3 years ago, and it has been impossible for us to meet up, so far. I am hoping though, that very soon, I will be reunited with my best friend.

This is a photo of the St. Francis of Assisi Church. This place is significant to me because this is where I go every Sunday to mass. At the mass I listen to the lectures of the priest and it strengthens my understanding of my religion and deepens my faith in it. I also learn a lot of moral lessons and it makes me realize things I never thought of before during the course of my life.

This place is like a sanctuary to me. It has helped me when I have been confused or lost at some point and continues to help me to this day.

The place that means the most to me is, Sutherland Dr. This is the street I grew up on. I had a house on the corner with a wooden play structure in the backyard. My Dad and his friend built me that play structure when I was about three years old. It had a swing set attached to it and when I was four I fell off of the swing and I cut my chin right before we went to Disneyland for the first time, so in all my photos it looked like I had a goatee.

I also remember when my Dad was working on cars in the garage, he would let me play with his tools. When I was really little I would climb on his blue ladder and try to grab at the air planes in the sky. We both spent so much time around cars that he got me my own Power Wheels kid car to drive up and down the street every weekend.

The thing I remember most is going on walks with my dad around the block. I would either roller skate, walk my wooden duck, or sometimes I would get lazy, and he would pull me in my red wagon. I remember seeing my next door neighbor Cameron Brant when I went on walks. I would go over to his house and we would play on his trampoline. This place is important to me because this is where I had some of the first memories of my life, and I hold them very close to my heart.

The place that means the most to me is my backyard. My sister and I used to hang out and chill with our dog there. There used to be a swing set and a hammock when we were younger. We used to love to play for hours on end but now that we are older its been taken down. I still miss the good old days where my sister would actually tolerate and hang out with me. Sometimes when I want to get away from the house, I would take my dog with me for company and sit on a chair and read. It’s the perfect place to clear my head and relax.

This is room C-11 and CVCHS, where the gaming club has its meetings. It is important to me because it makes me happy and is a way to hang out with my friends without needing to go to a house. It has become part of my daily life at school and is a source of entertainment for me. I am able to be myself here.

The thing that is important to me is my lego collection. When my grandmother got me my first lego set, although I can not exactly know which theme it was because it was ten years ago, but I do know some of the themes thanks to wikipedia: pirates juniors, knight's kingdom 2,vikings, and spiderman 2. Over the years, I have been collecting lego sets all my life. Most of the sets are star wars, and the rest are DC superheroes. I have heard that the box of the toy is worth more in which I do not understand the ways of. I think it is because of the artwork where people are amused of. I myself have collected some lego boxes and they are now in my garage. when I have a child, I will give my sets to my son/daughter when they are the appropriate age. So from years to come, I will enjoy the best selling plastic toy that is lego. I hope you enjoy this email !!!

A special place to me is a soccer field. it is where I had some of my best memories, and sad losses. It is where I made countless friends and spent countless hours. A soccer field is a second home to me.

This photo of Nick Klarman and Duncan Jue show great significance to me because this to people have been my friends forever and there always there for me when I need them even though I can’t play basketball this year I’m so glad I get to see this two do great thing this year. With their season ending I’m so glad on what they have done throughout the year.

This is my bag I use for swim meets and practice. I've been swimming recreational and competitive for about ten years, so it's a big part of my life. I take the bag with me and it holds memories; It isn't the first one I've had but it still holds significance.

It's dirty and smells like chlorine, it's wet because of my suits, caps, and goggles, and has held many wet and dry towels. I look at it and remember green hair (Because of the pool water) ribbons from races, and many water bottles I've since long forgotten about. It's annoyingly heavy and bulky, but it represents my swimming life and even though it bothers me sometimes but it's special to me.

This is a picture of my old house that I grew up in. The reason that this is important to me is because this house started as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house. My brother, sister, and I all shared a room for a year, it was terrible having to share with them in such a small room.

After my parents figured everything out we started to rebuild it. We built my grandmas cottage in the back the started on our house. We tore the old house down and started from ground up. My dad built the whole thing with his bare hands with the occasional help from a couple of his friends. This house eventually became a 5,200 square foot home. Being able to grow up building this house was amazing and i learned so much from my dad along the way.

One place that is important to me is my school Clayton Valley Charter High School. The reason why my school is important to me is because that is where I learn things so I can be someone in live. That has a good job and money the other reason why my school is important to me is because that is where you can make new friends and have some fun. That is the place that is important to me.

With In Shape, I could make a lot of things possible with Martial Arts. For those that don’t know what martial arts is, it’s a fighting school that teaches you about self defense, balance, and respect. Martial Arts isn’t just an easy sport. It’s really hard to do it and it takes a lot of effort to commit to it because it’s a hard sport /school. This is one of my memories in the bay area that I have.

In Shape and Martial Arts are one of my memories. Why is In Shape and Martial Arts one of my memories? In shape is one of my memories because I love to work out there so I could be better at Martial Arts. It helps me with Martial Arts because I also train there so I could get better and stronger.