communities in america. what is a community? a community is made up of a group of people who live,...
TRANSCRIPT
Communities in America
What is a community?
A community is made up of a group of people who live,
work, play, or worship together. Sometimes
communities are formed when people share the
same interests or characteristics. Oftentimes,
people in the same community live near each
other, but this is not always the case.
A person can be a member of several communities
depending on where they work, go to school, their
cultural background, special interests they have, etc.
Community Spaces
All communities have a place where people live together or gather. The place might be a neighborhood or it might be
just one building. The community's space tells a lot about the people who belong
to that community. Is the area large or small? Is it clean or dirty? Are the
buildings new or old? Are people in that community friendly to people who are
not from their own community?
InfrastructureCommunities all have infrastructure. The
infrastructure in a community may include roads, bridges, transportation (buses, taxis,
airports, trains, subways, etc.), telephone service, Internet
service, police, fire rescue, etc. Every community needs
infrastructure even if it is only one building or a network on
the Internet.
People in Communities
The people who live in a community can tell us a
lot about the community. There may be people who
are all the same age or who are different ages.
They may be mostly men or mostly women. People may come from the same
cultural or ethnic background. Or they may
be very different from each other, but they
share the same interests.
Organization of
Communities
Communities can elect leaders (such as
governors or mayors), have committees (a
small group of people in charge), or just one
leader. Decisions are made by the people in
charge or when everyone agrees to make a change or a
decision.
Types of Communities
Religious
Artistic
African American
Business
Homeless
Medical
Gay/Lesbian
Elderly
Meet Sean….Sean grew up in the Santa Ynez
valley (here).
His mother was the nurse at Dunn School, and he was the
football coach at Dunn.
He loved all sports, especially baseball and football.
He met his wife at Los Olivos Grocery where they both
worked, and they got married last year.
His wife Amanda is pregnant with their first child.
Tragedy
Sean's job was as a firefighter. His
grandfather, uncle and cousins were also
firefighters.
He and Amanda moved to Arizona for his work last year since there have
been many wildfires in the American West these past
few weeks.
But sadly, Sean was one of 19 firefighters who died
last week fighting a wildfire that was too fast and too big for them to
control or escape.
He will be missed…
"He always worked hard and was determined to be the best that he could be.
Sean was a leader, an inspiration and an all-
around good guy. He will be forever missed."
"I will be involved in his son’s life any way I can.
He will always have someone to play catch
with and talk to. I will tell him how amazing his dad
was and how he died a hero."
--Sean's friend Nick
The Community responds
The Community responds
http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20130702yarnell-fire-sean-misner-obit.html?nclick_check=1
Questions for thought
• Who are the people in Sean's communities?
• How did the community respond when they heard of Sean's tragic death?
• What infrastructure does the community have?
• Can you give an example of how a community has responded to your or your family's needs?
• How would people have responded in your country?
A Teenage Boy's Lesson
• What would you do if you returned home and found that someone had broken into your home? How would you feel?
• But what if the person who broke into your home accidentally left their cell phone in your house??
• One woman in Seattle, Eliza Webb, found a stranger's cell phone insider her car. She guessed the person who had stolen things from her car was a teen but she decided to not call the police. Instead, she called the teen's mother because she found her phone number in the cell phone.
A Teenage Boy's Lesson
• “I think bringing the police and courts into something like this can have long-term, devastating consequences for kids,” said Webb, 29, of West Seattle.
• “I wanted to meet him, talk to his parents and see if there might be another way. I felt that if I could get him to own up to what he’d done and understand there were consequences, it could be a much better outcome.”
A Teenage Boy's Lesson
• When Webb and her husband got to the teen's house, she found the 19-year-old and his twin sister crying. The teen quickly owned up to what he had done, and admitted that they had done what they did because they had been drinking and had been feeling bored. He apologized for what he had done.
• The teen and his friend had stolen cell phones, laptop chargers, sunglasses, a hat, gym shoes, and other things from 13 unlocked cars. They had been drunk when they took all those things and did not remember what they took from each car so they did not know who to return the stolen items to.
A Teenage Boy's Lesson
• Eliza went with the boy and his friend to each neighbor's door so they could apologize and return the things they had stolen. The neighbors were very surprised that Eliza would take the time to go with the boy from house to house but they thought it was a very good idea.
• The teen felt very bad about what he had done but was very grateful that Eliza had not called the police. Instead, meeting the neighbors he had stolen things from made him decide to never do stupid things again.
A Teenage Boy's Lesson
• The teen said, “I was surprised how bad my judgment was when I was drinking. I don’t want to risk my freedom over something stupid.”
• His mother said, “I’m deeply grateful to Eliza for taking the time to become personally involved with my son and giving him the chance to go face-to-face with the people he victimized and make amends.
• “Kids need somebody besides their own parents looking at them and holding them accountable. She did a beautiful thing.”
Reflection
• If I were the teenager I would decide to…
• If I were Eliza, I would…
• Please write 3-4 sentences for EACH question.