Today I had a busy day that ended with an even crazier school board meeting. We were expected to all meet at Dejean Middle School at 6 sharp. Don warned us that there would be many teachers attending the meeting so parking might be difficult. In preparation for this my mother and I left our house at 5:15 giving us lots of time to find parking.
As soon as we arrived I found the entire ILC group. This was fun because we had never all had the chance to be together before. I recognized a lot of people from my school and it was a good chance to talk to all my fellow peers. After socializing as an entire ILC group we broke up and formed smaller groups with our cohorts. It was fun to catch up with my fellow brown members and our chaperone, Tiffani Neal, as we were waiting for the meeting to begin. Tiffani went over name pronunciation and the order that we should stand in to present for the school board.
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| The Audience at the School Board Meeting |
As we reentered the room I was shocked to see that almost all of the chairs were filled. There seemed to be all types of people present. I saw entire families, teachers, and other community members. We found a row of seats all together and sat down waiting for the meeting to begin. Directly in front of us was a group of people protesting to continue the funding of adult school in our district. They were holding signs in all different languages to explain how important adult school is for language learning skills and general success. There were also many groups of teachers around the room. These teachers were fighting for raises.
The room quickly quieted as the meeting began. It started with the Pledge of Allegiance, introductions, and a few short speeches from the school board members and two student representatives who were joining the meeting. The school board members dealt with a few business matters and then they went on to the awards and recognition section.
DeAnza high school was the first group to be recognized. They won the 2015 California Ribbon Schools Award. It was a pleasure to hear from some of the teachers and students who have worked so hard to make DeAnza deserving of this award. They all showed so much hard work and perseverance in the development of their school.
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| Don and His Masterpiece |
After we had heard from the DeAnza group it was time for all the ILC cohorts to get recognized. Each cohort was sent up to the front separately. The chaperones explained our trips and the schools that we would be visiting while we are back east. Then they would introduce each student, their grade, where they go to school, and what class they are taking this summer. One student from each cohort stood up and spoke for the group. I really enjoyed listening to all of the speakers who articulated all of our thoughts and feeling so well. I want to especially thank Cindy Reyes for doing an amazing job speaking for all of us Brown ladies.
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| The ILC Students Waiting for Pictures |
As soon as the recognitions were finished we heard an amazing speech from a past ILC member and Don thanked all of the sponsors and individuals who make the program possible. As soon as all the speeches were finished we all crowded out of the room and into the gym. It was time for everybody's favorite part, the group picture.
Don, the photography expert, had a well thought out plan ready for us. He arranged all us ILC students by height and gender then directed us to our specified spots. As soon as we were in place the chaperones and parents were allowed to crowd in behind us. The actual taking of photos went very quickly and we all said our goodbyes and left.
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