Summary
For the first Apollo project I decided to focus on gentrification. Although it is an issue that is commonly not advocated for, it is important to bring it to the forefront and inform the public. From large cities such as Houston, TX, to small ones such as New Port, NJ, towns and cities across the United States and even the world, are being impacted by gentrification both negatively and positively. Unfortunately, for many places gentrification has had more of a negative impact. Many communities have been unable to recover from the devastating effects on their economy, education system, and most importantly the people who live there. A prime example I will used for this project was the city of Baltimore, Maryland. I will community activist James Alston and examine him point of view on gentrification within Baltimore communities. I want to also examine gentrification within my own backyard here in York, Pennsylvania, and how it compares to inner cities such as Baltimore.
ENGLISH
For the English portion of the project, I decided to make a creative piece in which I reflected back on the information I gathered. Within the piece I analyzed the long-term effects of gentrification on communities and their residents, how community leaders are involved in fighting community issues, and how issues such as gentrification can be solved by raising awareness. I wanted this writing piece to bring my project full circle and "conclude" all of the research/work I completed.
Initially, I did not not know what content would be incorporated within this creative piece.
How would I conclude all of the information I found in this writing?
What would be the talking points ?
I decided to meet with my Apollo English teacher, Mr. Wes Ward to help organize the way in which I will write the piece. I was able to create the following 3 main talking points: long-term effects of gentrification on communities and their residents, how community leaders are involved in fighting community issues, and how issues such as gentrification can be solved by raising awareness. Due to all the research I completed, I was able to thoroughly support each talking point and provide context behind why each point is vital to raising awareness and solving gentrification.
Click down below to read a snippet of this piece!
Social Studies
For the social studies aspect of the project, I created a list of interview questions in which I used to interview Baltimore community leader, James Alston. I was able to gather community insight and better understand the impact on residents who live in gentrified areas, more specifically areas in Baltimore, MD that have or will be gentrified. I used the city of Baltimore due to the fact that it is one of several cities that account for nearly half of gentrification nationally. I also used this city because I consider it to be my "second community" due to being from there and much of my family living there. Within these questions, I incorporated my research by asking questions centered around gentrification in Baltimore.
Initially I did not know how I would organize all of the questions for the interview. I decided to meet with my social studies Apollo teacher, Mr. Greg Wimmer who gave me the idea to create a Diigo ( an online site used for annotation of websites) side outliner to organize the questions. Although it took time, I was able to present my questions in a clear way and also insert information within the outliner to "guide" the questions and thoughts.
Click down below to read this outliner!
English Snippet
Down below is a snippet from my creative writing piece titled "Final Thoughts on Gentrification":
"As I reflect back on all of the research and information I have gathered over the past 3 weeks on gentrification, I am astonished as to why this issue has been occurring in our own backyards for a number of years yet little has been done to resolve it. Many know little about this problem and/or a small number of solutions have been presented to fix the negative impacts when gentrification fails in a city/town. Much of my Internet research is centered around what gentrification is and where it happens but, not around what happens to the actual communities and the people who had once lived in these now gentrified areas. By conducting an interview with a community leader and completing my own hands-on research (speaking with family members who have been impacted by or has seen gentrification in Baltimore), I was not only able to find out the after-effects of gentrification on neighborhoods and their residents, but also how they and their leaders are involved in building back up their community."
"As I reflect back on all of the research and information I have gathered over the past 3 weeks on gentrification, I am astonished as to why this issue has been occurring in our own backyards for a number of years yet little has been done to resolve it. Many know little about this problem and/or a small number of solutions have been presented to fix the negative impacts when gentrification fails in a city/town. Much of my Internet research is centered around what gentrification is and where it happens but, not around what happens to the actual communities and the people who had once lived in these now gentrified areas. By conducting an interview with a community leader and completing my own hands-on research (speaking with family members who have been impacted by or has seen gentrification in Baltimore), I was not only able to find out the after-effects of gentrification on neighborhoods and their residents, but also how they and their leaders are involved in building back up their community."
Social Studies Snippet
The Final Product
To showcase all the information I gathered on gentrification, my reflective piece and the interview I conducted with Mr. James Alston, I created an informational newsletter article. From explaining the after-effects of gentrification on impacted communities, to analyzing the various solutions to solving this issue, every aspect of gentrification was explored.
Click down below to be redirected to this article!
Click down below to be redirected to this article!
Thinking Skill: CONTEXTUALIZATION
Formal Definition: To analyze a word or event in terms of the words or concepts surrounding it.
Connection to "Gentrification: Part 1" :
I incorporated the thinking skill contextualization through the compare and contrast of gentrification in small towns/cities vs. inner cities. To complete this comparison, I used York, PA and Baltimore, MD, two areas who are experiencing gentrification but in different ways. Along with analyzing the types gentrification that is happening in those areas, I also looked into how the issue is being addressed by their community, residents, local leaders etc. I was able to gain knowledge on how gentrification can vary in different contexts based on where it is occurring and how the people within the affected areas chooses to react to the issue.
I incorporated the thinking skill contextualization through the compare and contrast of gentrification in small towns/cities vs. inner cities. To complete this comparison, I used York, PA and Baltimore, MD, two areas who are experiencing gentrification but in different ways. Along with analyzing the types gentrification that is happening in those areas, I also looked into how the issue is being addressed by their community, residents, local leaders etc. I was able to gain knowledge on how gentrification can vary in different contexts based on where it is occurring and how the people within the affected areas chooses to react to the issue.
APT: After Project Thoughts
Although this is only project 1 and I have 3 other projects to complete throughout the semester, at this moment I can say that this is my favorite project idea thus far. I knew very little about this prominent issue before completing a project around it; it was a topic that I was at first just interested in. Due to me being in Apollo, I was able to not only learn about gentrification, but also become passionate about solving the problem and help those who have been impacted negatively. I have become so invested that I have decided to continue investigating this issue into project 2. I am so thankful that Apollo has provided the opportunity for me to learn about about important issues such as gentrification that have and will continue to impact ourselves and our communities.
Annotated Bibliography: Project 1 | |
File Size: | 85 kb |
File Type: |