PROJECT PLAN
Mission Statement:
Who we are: We are a team of 7th grade girls at SFIAM. We attend a school that focuses on opportunity and change. We take classes where we are used to being team members and leaders. We are used to working on projects that utilize technology and creativity. What we are doing? We are focusing on redefining our own identity. We are doing this by discussing issues of identity and gender expectations. We are learning about women who have created their own identity and who have defied gender expectations. We are interviewing students to learn more about their experiences, when they stop up for themselves, and whether they believe girls should stand up for themselves. Why we are needed? We are needed because in order to change a problem, you must understand it, investigate it, and talk about it. We are having that conversation at our school. We turned what we learned into movies that we can share with other students so they can talk about it. Our hope is by talking about it, kids will think about it, and change. We want the world to be a place where anyone can be anything they want to be. We want people to not put each other down or limit each other. Project Need What problem did your team solve/address? Our essential question was: How can we take charge of our own positive identity? Our team addressed the issue of gender expectation and identity. Our focus was to discuss the issue and create movies that also addressed these issues. We want people to discuss, think about, and change their perspective on gender expectations. We want girls to live in a world where they can be anyone they want to be and do anything they want. We want girls to not base their identity of who they are told to be but who they really are. How is this need aligned with your impact area? This is aligned with our impact area is civic engagement and leadership. The identity girls take on will determine their future careers, their future involvement in their community, and whether they become leaders or followers. Helping girls to create a positive identity is a community issue because communities raise children. If we want to mold girls into leaders we have to make sure we are raising leaders. A lot of what girls see on tv and online makes them think they should focus on being pretty and skinny. That isn't going to turn them into leaders. But before we can turn girls into leaders we need to understand the problem and convince girls they have the ability to be who they are. We have to convince girls that they are strong just being who they are and they are enough being who they are. What research did you do to find out what has come before or already exists? We researched the following community groups: Commision Feminine, HOPE- Hispanics Organized for Political Equality, Tia Chuchas, YPI- Youth Policy Institute, DIY Girls and Latinas in STEM. We wanted to connect to these groups and hopefully share our videos with them. We also researched videos promoting that girls take charge of their own identities. We discussed what qualities worked or didn't work. We contacted DIY Girls to be a part of the Latina Hour of Code so we could change the way we looked at our own identity. By being a part of it, a lot of us learned in a new way. We also helped other girls at SFIAM see themselves in a different way. How did you identify the problem that you wanted to solve? First, we brainstormed issues that girls faced. We realized that a lot of problems have to do with gender differences. Girls are treated differently. Girls are told that they are expected to be different then boys. Girls are often told what is expected of them and how people expect them to act. We want girls to be themselves but also to realize they can be anyone they want to be. We want girls to realize they can accomplish anything if they believe in themselves. What evidence (observational data, test scores, or research) did you use to identify this issue? When we decided to create a movie on gender differences, we researched women who are breaking the rules. We researched women who are doing the things, girls are told they can't do. We researched strong female role models that prove that gender differences don't have to exist. We also created our own research by interview SFIAM students about how girls are treated, what is expected of girls, how they stand up for themselves, if they think other people should stand up for girls, why they think this. We were able to discuss the difference in how boys view things verses girls and the differences in how 6th graders think verses 7th graders verses 8th graders. |
Process
How did the team conduct their work throughout the year?
It was a process for us. A big part of our process was discussing the issues that affect girls. We had to discuss the problems to try to understand the issue. We need to plan out the Why which took us through a lot of other questions. If you look at our Our Journey Page, you will see that we also did activities to help us reshape our own identity, such as learning the rules of 3rd, speaking to elementary school kids, working with a professional storyteller, learning about photography and video, learning to code etc. Every activity Ms. Garcia had us do, showed us a different side to ourselves. I think as we created our videos to share a message with our school, it was also a message we learned as we have been working on our GBLA project.
To recruit girls for GBLA, Ms. Garcia sent out flyers to girls at SFIAM. We started with one set of girls but as the year got busier some of them started being a part of other activities. The girls that were left were able to recruit other girls we knew and girls that were part of the after school program to join us. Word also got out about it and people asked if they could join. As a club, we met every week on Wednesday and Thursday from 3:10-4:30pm.
We were not very good at documenting the process and keeping up with social media. A lot of our time was focused on figuring out our project and planning our movies. Everything was new for us so we had a lot of learning to do. We did update our website when we had an event or activity that we wanted to share.
*Please look at Our Journey Page for the more specifics on our process and events.
How did the team conduct their work throughout the year?
It was a process for us. A big part of our process was discussing the issues that affect girls. We had to discuss the problems to try to understand the issue. We need to plan out the Why which took us through a lot of other questions. If you look at our Our Journey Page, you will see that we also did activities to help us reshape our own identity, such as learning the rules of 3rd, speaking to elementary school kids, working with a professional storyteller, learning about photography and video, learning to code etc. Every activity Ms. Garcia had us do, showed us a different side to ourselves. I think as we created our videos to share a message with our school, it was also a message we learned as we have been working on our GBLA project.
To recruit girls for GBLA, Ms. Garcia sent out flyers to girls at SFIAM. We started with one set of girls but as the year got busier some of them started being a part of other activities. The girls that were left were able to recruit other girls we knew and girls that were part of the after school program to join us. Word also got out about it and people asked if they could join. As a club, we met every week on Wednesday and Thursday from 3:10-4:30pm.
We were not very good at documenting the process and keeping up with social media. A lot of our time was focused on figuring out our project and planning our movies. Everything was new for us so we had a lot of learning to do. We did update our website when we had an event or activity that we wanted to share.
*Please look at Our Journey Page for the more specifics on our process and events.
Outcome
What are your team’s top achievements from the GBLA project? What evidence have you collected to share (use of data)
Our team's top achievement was creating our movies and sharing them with our school. We felt very proud of putting together two movies that send positive messages and encouragement. We had never had to plan out a movie, organize it, research, interview people, edit it and make sure it was the very best it could be before. We also had never been part of an assembly or actually organized one, so getting 440 students together and organizing our agenda was a very big deal. The evidence we have is our movies, footage from our assembly, and pictures.
What are the short term outcomes (qualitative and quantitative) to affect change in the community or with the students?
The short term outcomes that affected our school community was getting kids to talk about important social issues. There were so many people that heard about GBLA and would ask us about it. Our classmates would ask us about the problem we identified and our project. A lot of kids wanted to be a part of our videos. They wanted to be interviewed. They wanted to discuss how girls are treated and how they felt about it. Showing our video to the school started a big conversation about how girls and boys are treated differently and why that happens. Boys were surprised at what some of the women in Gender Differences did. Girls were excited to learn about these strong women. Stand Up made kids talk about standing up and why it is important. They talked about how girls are affected in different ways then boys.
We impacted 440 students and 25 teachers. We can't put a number on how exactly we impacted them, but we can say we brought up a conversation that needs to happen in schools. Our movies and our assembly got people to ask questions and talk about an important social issue.
What will be in the long term outcomes to the community?
The long term outcome is hard to evaluate. Every girl who was part of GBLA has changed. We've learned a lot and have changed our view of ourselves and what we are capable of. We will bring that to our families and friends. I think every if we only changed the minds of 10 people in our assembly, that will have a big effect. Because those kids will impact their family and friends. Those kids will eventually be parents and if they are more supportive of their daughters that will make a big difference!
How were the outcomes aligned with the need and impact area?
Our outcomes were aligned with our impact area civic engagement and leadership because this experience built leaders. Who we were at the beginning and who we are now has changed. Every girl who participated in GBLA learned how to be a leader and we learned a lot about ourselves. We also provided the girls at our school with opportunities to change how they viewed their identity by hosting Latina Hour of Code and taking all the girls at SFIAM to watch Hidden Figures. By creating our video -Gender Differences, we gave girls examples of strong leaders. By creating our video- Stand Up, we gave girls a voice to share what they believed and to inspire others. By showing our videos to our school, we gave students an opportunity to talk about important social issues. By giving out bracelets, we promoted a positive self identity that students could take with them. By being a part of GBLA and taking on this project, we modeled to everyone around us what girls are capable of, how easy it is to become a leader, and how you can make the world a better place just by caring and trying.
Our team's top achievement was creating our movies and sharing them with our school. We felt very proud of putting together two movies that send positive messages and encouragement. We had never had to plan out a movie, organize it, research, interview people, edit it and make sure it was the very best it could be before. We also had never been part of an assembly or actually organized one, so getting 440 students together and organizing our agenda was a very big deal. The evidence we have is our movies, footage from our assembly, and pictures.
What are the short term outcomes (qualitative and quantitative) to affect change in the community or with the students?
The short term outcomes that affected our school community was getting kids to talk about important social issues. There were so many people that heard about GBLA and would ask us about it. Our classmates would ask us about the problem we identified and our project. A lot of kids wanted to be a part of our videos. They wanted to be interviewed. They wanted to discuss how girls are treated and how they felt about it. Showing our video to the school started a big conversation about how girls and boys are treated differently and why that happens. Boys were surprised at what some of the women in Gender Differences did. Girls were excited to learn about these strong women. Stand Up made kids talk about standing up and why it is important. They talked about how girls are affected in different ways then boys.
We impacted 440 students and 25 teachers. We can't put a number on how exactly we impacted them, but we can say we brought up a conversation that needs to happen in schools. Our movies and our assembly got people to ask questions and talk about an important social issue.
What will be in the long term outcomes to the community?
The long term outcome is hard to evaluate. Every girl who was part of GBLA has changed. We've learned a lot and have changed our view of ourselves and what we are capable of. We will bring that to our families and friends. I think every if we only changed the minds of 10 people in our assembly, that will have a big effect. Because those kids will impact their family and friends. Those kids will eventually be parents and if they are more supportive of their daughters that will make a big difference!
How were the outcomes aligned with the need and impact area?
Our outcomes were aligned with our impact area civic engagement and leadership because this experience built leaders. Who we were at the beginning and who we are now has changed. Every girl who participated in GBLA learned how to be a leader and we learned a lot about ourselves. We also provided the girls at our school with opportunities to change how they viewed their identity by hosting Latina Hour of Code and taking all the girls at SFIAM to watch Hidden Figures. By creating our video -Gender Differences, we gave girls examples of strong leaders. By creating our video- Stand Up, we gave girls a voice to share what they believed and to inspire others. By showing our videos to our school, we gave students an opportunity to talk about important social issues. By giving out bracelets, we promoted a positive self identity that students could take with them. By being a part of GBLA and taking on this project, we modeled to everyone around us what girls are capable of, how easy it is to become a leader, and how you can make the world a better place just by caring and trying.
Evidence
Our Solution: After researching other organizations we decided on a solution. Our solution was create movies addressing issues girls face everyday and inspire them to take charge of their own identity and future. We will also share our videos with our school community.
Our first video is Gender Differences. We want the world to know that women can achieve the same accomplishments as men. We just have to try.
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Our second video Stand Up is based on interviews with SFIAM students. We wanted to learn about their opinions, expectations, and advice to girls. We want everyone to realize that we are equal. We need to continue to empower girls by treating them equally, standing up for them, and helping them to stand up for themselves.
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School Wide Assembly
On April 21st at 7:45am, our SFIAM Girls's Build LA team presented our project and videos to 440 SFIAM middle school students and teachers. The video above shows clips of our assembly. To see pictures click here.
We presented:
On April 21st at 7:45am, our SFIAM Girls's Build LA team presented our project and videos to 440 SFIAM middle school students and teachers. The video above shows clips of our assembly. To see pictures click here.
We presented:
- What GBLA is about
- Our team
- GBLA's purpose
- The mission of our team
- Our essential question
- Our solution
- Our Gender Differences Video and purpose
- Our Stand Up Video and purpose
- Passed out our bracelets promoting positive self identity.
Reflection
Think back on the direction your project took over the course of the year. What was surprising, or what would you have done differently if you had to do it all over again? Is there anything else that you want to share with judges?
I think we were all surprised how long it took us to plan. We thought the process to plan what we wanted to do, plan our movies, and film everything would be a lot faster. However, I don't know if we could have done any of those things faster. In order to do our project we need to discuss, learn on the spot, try, reevaluated and try again. I thing the process taught us a lot. If we had to do it again, I don't know if we would do it differently because there was a purpose to it. But next year will be easier. Now that we have learned how to do a project, how to identify problem, how to come up with a solution, how to plan a video, how to do research, how to plan an assembly and just how to work together, our next project will be better.
We want to tell the judges that we wish we could have worked with more organizations. We had hoped to show our videos at conferences and to reach a wider audience. But the videos took us so much time that there was a chance. But its not too late! Our videos are online and we plan to share them with as many people as we can!.
I think we were all surprised how long it took us to plan. We thought the process to plan what we wanted to do, plan our movies, and film everything would be a lot faster. However, I don't know if we could have done any of those things faster. In order to do our project we need to discuss, learn on the spot, try, reevaluated and try again. I thing the process taught us a lot. If we had to do it again, I don't know if we would do it differently because there was a purpose to it. But next year will be easier. Now that we have learned how to do a project, how to identify problem, how to come up with a solution, how to plan a video, how to do research, how to plan an assembly and just how to work together, our next project will be better.
We want to tell the judges that we wish we could have worked with more organizations. We had hoped to show our videos at conferences and to reach a wider audience. But the videos took us so much time that there was a chance. But its not too late! Our videos are online and we plan to share them with as many people as we can!.