5 Things I Learned About Philly.

1. The Wage Tax is collected on Philadelphians’ employment income and is the City’s largest revenue source.

2. Minor taxes include the 5% Amusement Tax collected on admission to special events, movies, or concerts, and the 20% Parking Tax on parking in a City garage.

3.Philadelphia, like all cities, receives a portion of its operating budget via state and federal aid. Most of this money is specifically earmarked for certain departments and/or programs.

4.Property Taxes in Philadelphia are low by big city standards, and the assessment system is highly controversial. At present, the City levies an annual 8.26% tax, but assesses real estate at just 32% of its market value. And market values are actually pegged at just 70% of resale values. Thus, in reality the property tax is approximately 2% of a property’s actual value.

5.Philadelphia, like all cities, receives a portion of its operating budget via state and federal aid. Most of this money is specifically earmarked for certain departments and/or programs.

Constitution's Sister School.

“Man if I had a bunch of Afghanistan kids up in here, they would probably be being quiet and paying close attention, while you guys are goofing off”, stated Mr. Romero (one of Constitution High School’s English teachers.) The topic was brought up when discussing the fact that Constitution High School has a “sister school” in Afghanistan. A sister school is a school is a school that is closely related to another. We use the word sister instead of brother because brothers fight, while sisters usually have closer relationships. Wondering where your sister school is I bet? But anyway, our school will be exchanging articles with our sister school in Afghanistan. I was a little worried about the idea so I interviewed a student and a teacher to get their views on it. I also had an advantage because on Friday, March 13th, 2009, a man from Afghanistan came to our school, showed us pictures and told us information about the country.

When interviewing Mr. Romero, I asked how he felt about writing to Afghanistan and boy did he have tons to say! It seemed as if he was very excited about the situation due to his tone. He said that he likes that fact that our school is doing something new because we have never communicated to a school out of the country before, so this is a first. One quote that was pretty funny was “I am very excited to write articles, which is sort of like a lost art form.” I was like wow!

Nicole Golden, a tenth grade student at Constitution High School stated that she loved this whole idea. She totally supported the fact that we would be exchanging articles with the school in Afghanistan. One quote said, “Its nice because they get to walk in the shoes of an American, as well as we are to.” This meaning that they get to learn a little something about us but at the same time, we are learning about them. This is really a great experience because we are reaching across the world to another school and learning about what goes on over there.

Although us Americans may not look the same as those from Afghanistan or any other country, we are alike just as much as different. When listening to a speaker from Afghanistan, a lot was learned on my part. One way that we are alike is because we both use the websites blogger and twitter to communicate. As far as school, we are very different because when Nasim (man from Afghanistan) showed us pictures of the children in school, I felt bad. They had no chairs so they had to sit on the floor. Us American students are very lucky because we have a good support system for our school. Nasim quoted, “We cherish our education”, which I find interesting because the average student comes to school and goofs off.

One day, I see myself standing in front of a bunch of foreigners and them looking at me like I’m crazy. When this does happens, I will always remember the day Nasim came to our school and talked to us about his country.

Spring of Life.

Have you ever been torn between a decision of either having fun or being bored? Well, in my lifetime I have been in numerous amounts of these situations but I’ve always chosen “having fun” over “being bored.” I know you’re thinking “so what” or “duh” but the twist to this situation is that for every action there is a reaction. One’s interpretation of having fun may not be fun or amusing to someone else. Wondering what this has to do with anything right? This is all leading up to the seasons of life, spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring is my season, meaning I have a light load on my shoulders and so much of my life ahead of me. My attitude, responsibilities and choices play a big role in my season of life. Enjoyment with this essay is guaranteed.

For one, my attitude plays a big part in my stage of life. My maturity isn’t quite fully developed to the point where I can control my anger. “He say, she say” stuff still catches my attention and I still get in many fights. Little things like the continuous tapping of a papermate pencil irritate me to the point where I go crazy! One day I was walking down the street around my neighborhood when a girl walked up to me trying to start trouble. Me being me. fed into her little plan and got into a huge fight with her. But hey, that’s just me.

Lucky me! To have little to no responsibility. How many teens do you know get allowance without even doing any chores? If any, add one more to your list, me! Don’t really mean to brag but I have no job, no bills to pay, no children to provide for and don’t have to buy any groceries. Can pretty much say, “I got it made.” Don’t have to worry about anything because when I go home I know I can just sit back, watch a little television, get on myspace if I want and eat until the refrigerator is empty. One time, my mother asked me to do the dishes. I asked her if it was “April Fools Day” and laughed. My mom was speechless because she knew that she couldn’t get mad due to the fact that she spoiled me pretty much my whole life.

Last but not least, my choices! Choices, choices and more choices! Never gets old. Like I mentioned in my introduction, everyone has a different reaction to things. Being me, my choices and reactions aren’t really thought out before done. Consequences involved? Ugh, who cares, I just want to have fun! The only time I really think about my choices is when it has something to do with hurting someone. Hurting people isn’t really my twist and I can sort of relate to Lizabeth from “The Marigolds” with this topic. When Lizabeth’s brother was throwing stones at Miss Lottie’s fence, she had a chance to join in but she didn’t. Her decision had something to do with her kind-heartedness. She didn’t want to hurt Miss Lottie.

Don’t lie, you know this essay was the bomb! Here I go bragging again, but I can’t help but state the obvious! Spring of life is where I stand due to my attitude, responsibilities and choices. Give me two more years or so, I’ll be more mature and probably in my summer of life. So, what’s your season?

& She Makes The World Go 'Round.

& I heard somebody talking, talking about a female named Ashante. They call her Stank doe.

The things they were saying, I believe everyone should know.

“Oh the jawn Ashante? Yeah she breaks necks! & she makes all females show respect.”

“Yeah, you aint here how she true to the game? & she make thug niggas feel ashamed.”

“Oh yeah & she got mad heart, anytime, anyplace she will fart.”

“Haha! & she could care less what a hater gotta say. Shawty ready to rumble anyday!”

“Yeah I heard. She really tough as a hound. Yo Ashante really makes the world go ‘round.

The Rebel Essay.

When reading this poem by Mari Evans call “The Rebel”, there lied three reasons as to why I liked it. Length played a major role in my fascination with this poem. Secondly, death was involved and lastly, I liked the structure of the poem. I will be discussing these three reasons more briefly. Feel free to read along if interested.
First of all, I find the length of a poem very important when choosing one to read, I really wouldn’t want to bore myself. When taking my first glance at this poem, I realized that this poem happened to be extremely short. Exactly twenty-seven words existed in this poem and it had no more the four words to a line, “curiosity” being one of the biggest words. This poem was equivalent to two sentences. My love for how Mari Evans used little sentences appeared to be amazing. The phrase “When I die…” makes the reader want to read more.
Another reason why I was drawn to this poem was because I liked the fact that it had something to do with death. Something about death seems to be fascinating. The first sentence I read head the word “die” it. After seeing that, from that point on I knew it would be interesting. The rebel talks about having a big funeral. I loved the sort of mystery feeling that the rebel had, kind of like he was wondering who would attend his funeral and how it would turn out. I figured this out when reading this quote, “I’m sure I will have a big funeral.” Feeling as though the rebel had some sort of curiosity to how his funeral would turn out, made me want to continue to read.
Lastly, the structure of this poem was incredible. So many questions and ideas popped into my head when looking at the structure. Well, I wondered if the skinny structure of the poem could resemble the rebel’s casket. Really enjoyed the fact that the poem contained no real sentences. One quote said, “Curiosity seekers…coming to see if I am really dead…” Mari Evans sort of replaces periods to end a sentence with continuous dots to make the reader’s mind ponder.
Overall, I loved this poem because it was short, I mean I grew up kind of lazy. My fascination with death made me understand the rebel’s point of view. But the structure of the poem topped it all off.

NHD Reflection .

For my NHD 2008-2009 project, I did a performance Bessie Smith. I worked in a group with Georgia Mink, Kameko Daniel & Lashay Anderson. At first, I was scared to do it, but once we started to put our script together I got more and more excited. In our thesis statement, we discussed how Bessie had to deal with racism, sexism and segregation throughout her life. Somehow, Bessie was able to overcome these obstacles and became one of the highest paid African American artists of her time.

During this project, there were a lot of difficulties. Some difficulties were getting everybody in the group to do there part. Our original group was Lashay, Kameko, Georgia, Shaquetta and I but by the time our project was due, we kicked Shaquetta out. Also, the hard part was having to revise our script when we felt as though it was perfect. I guess it all paid off though. Aside from difficulties, there were a lot of fun and easy parts. For instance, the acting part and typing up everything. The process paper was also very easy. We have Ackerman and Ms. Gold to thank for the finishing touches on our project.

I've been doing NHD for two years now. I feel as though, this year I did way better than I did last year. This is so because, last year I got a "B" on my paper and this year i got an "A" on my performance. Also, this year I made it to the city competition where as last year I didn't even present to the judges. If I had to do anything over, I would include myself in the script more.

Ninth Annotation.

Primaryaccess.org. 24 Oct 2008 .

Bessie Smith was a talented African American blues singer. She was a rough, crude, violent woman. She was also the greatest of the classic Blues singers of the 1920s. But during her career she had her ups and downs. She was turned down by three record companies because they felt she wasn't commercial enough, but Columbia Records soon signed Bessie. Her first record "Down Hearted Blues" sold more then 2 million copies within a year. At her peak in the 1920's she earned $2,000 a week, making her the highest paid black entertainer in the country. In 1930 her career had begun to fall due to the public’s change musical taste. By 1931 the Classic Blues style of Bessie Smith was out of style. The Depression, radio, and sound movies had all damaged the record companies' ability to sell records so Columbia dropped Smith from its roster.

Eighth Annotation.

"Bessie Smith's Blues." enotes.com. American Decade. 21 Nov 2008 .

Bessie smith was known as the " Empress of the Blues". Started touring with a vaudeville show as a dancer in 1912. A protégé of legendary blues woman Ma Rainey, she eventually became the most respected African American singer and so did Bessie when her time came.

Seventh Annotation.

Forman, Roanna. "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAZZ MUSICIANS." Jazz.com. 20 Nov 2008 .

When Bessie's mother and father died she was left to take care of her three brothers and sisters by taking in laundry. This strong work ethic made a lasting impression on Bessie. She was determined to leave the poverty and inequality of Blue Goose Hollow, and show business was her ticket. She started street corner singing and dancing with her brother Andrew to boost the family’s income. She did an audition Stokes and later hired Bessie as a dancer, since he already had a singer Ma Rainey. During this time, she developed a reputation as a performer at black theaters across the South and along the Eastern Seaboard. Bessie was decidedly an original, and a natural singer. Bessie Smith is a soprano with a more urban, polished style. In any case Bessie undoubtedly learned how to handle herself on stage from Rainey, even though their styles were different. Things began to change after the 1920s, in 1923, Smith, then living in Philadelphia, auditioned successfully for a recording contract with Columbia and that's where her success begun.

Sixth Annotation.

"Biographies Life and times of the great ones." PBS.org. 13 Nov 2008 .

Bessie Smith was the most successful black performing artist of her time. She not only sang the blues she also did acting too. Bessie began her professional career by sing in 1912. She made almost 200 recordings, of which her remarkable duets with Armstrong are among her best. Although she excelled in the performance of slow blues, she also recorded vigorous versions of jazz standards. By the 1920s, she was a leading artist in black shows on the TOBA circuit and at the 81 Theatre in Atlanta. Her first recording, Down-Hearted Blues, established her as the most successful black performing artist of her time.

Fifth Annotation.

"American Decades." enotes.com. 20 Nov 2008 .

During her lifetime the blues was regarded as a form of black expression; she performed for mostly black audiences and recorded for what were classified as race records that were not stocked in record shops catering to whites. Unlike Louis Armstrong, who reached all audiences, Smith was unknown or unavailable to most white Americans during her career. She was a black artist working with traditional black material for a black public nevertheless, Smith gave special performances for white audiences in some large cities.

Fourth Annotation.

"The Red Hot Jazz Archive." Bessie Smith 1. 17 Oct 2008 .

This website gives alot of information on Bessie Smith's personality. According to the website, she was a rough, crude, violent women. She was talented. She had a strong voice and she was famous and popular to both blacks and whites. Eventually people grew tired of her but she was still very popular in the south.
This website also talks about the kind of music Bessie Smith made. She was really popular in the 1920's. Some of her famous songs include "a good man is hard to find", "any woman's blues", and "baby doll."

Third Annotation & Thesis.

Hemsworth, Joan. "Bessie Smith Empress of the Blues." 14 Dec 1998. 14 Nov 2008
.
When Bessie was a bit younger, she was once removed from a job as chorus
girl-because her skin was too black. Years later she dealt with a similar
situation at the famous Apollo in New York by demanding that a very dark chorus
girl be kept-though she accepted a dimming of the lights. Bessie also despised
blacks that attempted to become like whites.

Thesis: Bessie Smith was a famous African American blues singer born during a time period of segregation. Bessie was always acknowledged for her singing but never for her courage. Being loved by not only blacks but whites as well, there was a lot of obstacles that stood in her way but she overcame them and became successful in her career. Bessie influenced a lot of folks to follow their dreams because anything is possible.

Second Annotation

Smith, Elizabeth. "Bessie Smith Biography (1894-1937)." biography.com. 2007. 14 Nov
2008 .
Bessie Smith ran away as a teenager to join a traveling show as a dancer. In 1912,
Bessie began performing in the same show as blues vocalist Ma Rainey. She really
became famous when she started to record in 1923.

First Annotation

Women In History, "Bessie Smith Biography." Women In History. 25 Jan 2008.
Lakewood Public Library. 14 Nov 2008.
.
This website taught me that Bessie died in a car accident around age 43. She was
born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Topic Selection NHD 08/09.

I choose Bessie Smith for my NHD Project because I am interested in how African Americans were popular and influenced generations of musicians during a time when there was segregation (1920s).

Bessie Smith is important to history because without their efforts, many African Americans may not have felt as though they could fulfill their dreams just because of their race & also, the blues probably wouldn't be appreciated as much by all races.

For this week's research, I found a biography of Bessie Smith at (http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/smit-bes.htm). I will read and summarize it for next week.

Reflection from May 9th

1. Reflect on Friday's meeting (May 9). Specifically answer:
a. I learned that center city has the most homeless people.
b. I learned that it is easier working with a group if we all speak one at a time.
c. If I were in charge of this group I would change the members i picked for it.

2. We are going to make posters about a can drive that we are going to drive.

Friday's Service Learning Reflection

Friday, our group worked hard with Mr. Ackerman to come up with some type of project that has to do with helping the homeless. I came to the meeting with an idea about making meals for the homeless or buying them something to eat. By the end of the meeting, we came to the conclusion that maybe one day out of the week we will bring in bread, peanut butter && jelly to make sandwiches for them && give them a little juice or something. Then we will take it down to a homeless shelter. So far, three things that i liked during our meeting was the fact that we had to pass around a ball && if we didn't have the ball we couldn't speak. Another thing that I liked was how Mr. Ackerman controlled the group. What I mean by that is that e kept us under control but in a fun/nice way. And the last thing I liked about our group was ow much progress we made. I didn't dislike anything because I agreed with everyone's ideas.

Service Learning Project

Me && Ishmael Johnson have decided to start up a group with Mr. Ackerman for service learning. Our group is mainly focused on helping people at homeless shelters. We are not pretty sure which shelter we will be attenting yet. We thought that it would be fair if we went down to a homeless shelter at least one day out of the week and bring the residents meals. These meals could be anything from home cooked meals to McDonalds. We know that this will cost a lot of money so we will probably start a fundraiser. Maybe a bake sale or something. I really look foward to doing this project && i hope it is a great success.

Helium Poem

I am Helium.
My atomic number is that of 2.
I won't combine with other elements, myself, or you.
4.0026 is my mass.
And I am an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas.
-268.93 is boiling point, extremely low.
Aside from hydrogen, I'm the least dense gas known.
I was first identified as an element in 1868.
Janssen discovered me by mistake.
Really studying solar eclipses in India.
Neon, Argon, Xenon, Radon are part of mi familia.
We are part of the noble gases also known as the inert.
I am the 2nd most abundant element of the earth.
& because I can fill up things that fly like balloons and balls.
That makes me the best of element of them all.