Addressing the Lack of Education and Community on Poverty in Utica:
Bringing The Other Wes Moore to your community

By Sara C. Meays, Notre Dame High School, Utica, NY
smeays@syrdiocese.org

Introduction

In 2000, The Baltimore Sun ran an article about Wes Moore, who despite his troubled childhood had received the Rhodes Scholarship and was earned his master’s degree at Oxford University in England. At this same time, The Sun ran an article about four African American men who were arrested for the murder of a Baltimore police officer during an armed robbery. One of the suspects was the same age as Moore, and had grown up in the same neighborhood. Coincidentally, his name was also Wes Moore. Moore pursued the other Wes Moore’s story, and wrote The Other Wes Moore as a call to action about the consequences of personal responsibility and the imperativeness of education and community, especially for young African American men living in poverty.

Unfortunately, the story of the other Wes Moore is far too common for young people growing up in inner city areas of the United States today. However, as you have read, author Wes Moore credits his education and a supportive community system to have helped him overcome the barriers in his environment. As Moore said of his story and that of the other Wes Moore, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. They tragedy is that my story could have been his.”

Nationally, statistics indicate that a student drops out of school once every nine seconds. However, the negative impact of a lack of education and community mentors is a problem in all parts of the nation—including the Mohawk Valley.

Task

Imagine that you and your group are members of a special committee of the Utica Common Council. The Utica Common Council has identified a lack of educational opportunities and positive community mentors as key deficiencies that negatively influence inner city youth in the city. After research the topic, your “committee” will develop a proposal that addresses a solution one of these deficits. Your group will present its proposal via a Prezi and oral presentation to the whole Common Council (class).

You will be placed in a group of four students to work on this project. Your teacher will assign your group one of the problems—lack of education or lack of community mentors—on which you will work.

Process

**Be sure to read the evaluation section of this WebQuest to understand what you will be graded on BEFORE beginning your work!**

A. complete the Public Policy Analyst worksheets and use the six steps of the PPA to explore the contributor that you have selected:

1. Define the problem: What is the most important contributor to the failure of inner city youth in Utica, NY today? This contributor has been assigned to your group (lack of education or lack of community mentors).

2. Gather evidence: Find data, statistics, and evidence that prove that this contributor plays a major role in the futility of inner city youth.

3. Identify causes: Who or what is responsible for this contributor? How has it come to be so pervasive?

4. Evaluate a policy: What, if anything, is the City of Utica doing to address this problem?

5. Develop solutions: Brainstorm several programs that might address this problem.

6. Select best solution: Explore the negative consequences of the proposed programs to choose the one which will most benefit Utica, and create a presentation to present to the Common Council.

B. Develop a Prezi and prepare an oral presentation using the information you gathered through the PPA above. Your Prezi should include, and your group should speak on:

1. A working definition of the problem you selected (see Step 1)

2. A review of evidence supporting the claim that this problem contributes to the marginalization of inner city youth (see Step 2)

3. A discussion of possible causes for this contributor (see Step 3)

4. An overview of any public policies/programs in place to deal with this problem (see Step 4)

5. Your proposed public policy/program with a discussion of rejected policies/programs (see Step 5)

6. A proposed program to educate the public about respect, or the lack thereof.

Evaluation

This project is worth 200 points. You will receive a grade out of 100 points on the Prezi, and a grade out of 100 points on your oral presentation. Please read each of the following rubrics carefully in order to understand exactly what is expected of your group.

ELEMENT	Exemplary 3 points	Proficient 2 points	Partially Proficient 1 point	Unsatisfactory 0 points	POINTS
Introduction	The introduction presents the overall topic and draws the audience into the presentation with compelling questions or by relating to the audience's interests or goals.	The introduction is clear and coherent and relates to the topic.	The introduction shows some structure but does not create a strong sense of what is to follow. May be overly detailed or incomplete and is somewhat appealing to the audience.	The introduction does not orient the audience to what will follow. The sequencing is unclear and does not appear interesting or relevant to the audience.	___/3
Content	The content is written clearly and concisely with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. The project includes motivating questions and advanced organizers. The project gives the audience a clear sense of the main idea. Information is accurate, current and comes mainly from * primary sources.	The content is written with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. Includes persuasive information from reliable sources.	The content is vague in conveying a point of view and does not create a strong sense of purpose. Includes some persuasive information with few facts. Some of the information may not seem to fit. Sources used appear unreliable.	The content lacks a clear point of view and logical sequence of information. Includes little persuasive information and only one or two facts about the topic. Information is incomplete, out of date and/or incorrect. Sequencing of ideas is unclear.	___/3
Text	The fonts are easy-to-read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text. Use of italics, bold, and indentations enhances readability. Text is appropriate in length for the target audience and to the point. The background and colors enhance the readability of text.	Sometimes the fonts are easy-to-read, but in a few places the use of fonts, italics, bold, long paragraphs, color or busy background detracts and does not enhance readability.	Overall readability is difficult with lengthy paragraphs, too many different fonts, dark or busy background, overuse of bold or lack of appropriate indentations of text.	The text is extremely difficult to read with long blocks of text and small point size of fonts, inappropriate contrasting colors, poor use of headings, subheadings, indentations, or bold formatting.	___/3
Layout	The layout is visually pleasing and contributes to the overall message with appropriate use of headings, subheadings and white space.	The layout uses horizontal and vertical white space appropriately.	The layout shows some structure, but appears cluttered and busy or distracting with large gaps of white space or uses a distracting background.	The layout is cluttered, confusing, and does not use spacing, headings and subheadings to enhance the readability.	___/3
Citations	Sources of information are properly cited and the audience can determine the credibility and authority of the information presented. All sources of information are clearly identified and credited using appropriate citation format.	Most sources of information use proper citation format, and sources are documented to make it possible to check on the accuracy of information.	Sometimes copyright guidelines are followed and some information, photos and graphics do not include proper citation format.	No way to check validity of information.	___/3
Graphics, Sound and/or Animation	The graphics, sound and/or animation assist in presenting an overall theme and enhance understanding of concept, ideas and relationships. Original images are created using proper size and resolution, and all images enhance the content. There is a consistent visual theme.	The graphics, sound/and or animation visually depict material and assist the audience in understanding the flow of information or content. Original images are used. Images are proper size, resolution.	Some of the graphics, sounds, and/or animations seem unrelated to the topic/theme and do not enhance the overall concepts. Most images are clip art or recycled from the internet. Images are too large/small in size. Images are poorly cropped or the color/resolution is fuzzy.	The graphics, sounds, and/or animations are unrelated to the content. Graphics do not enhance understanding of the content, or are distracting decorations that create a busy feeling and detract from the content.	___/3
Writing Mechanics	The text is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.	The text is clearly written with little or no editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors distract or impair readability. (3 or more errors)	Errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and major editing and revision is required. (more than 5 errors)	___/3
TOTAL POINTS					___ /27

Oral Presentation

ELEMENT	Exemplary 3 points	Proficient 2 points	Partially Proficient 1 point	Unsatisfactory 0 points	POINTS
Delivery	The speaker delivers the message in a confident, poised, enthusiastic fashion. The volume and rate varies to add emphasis and interest. Pronunciation and enunciation are very clear. The speaker exhibits very few disfluencies, such as "ahs," "uhms," or "you knows."	The volume is not too low or too loud and the rate is not too fast or too slow. The pronunciation and enunciation are clear. The speaker exhibits few disfluencies, such as "ahs," "uhms," or "you knows.	The volume is too low or too loud and the rate is too fast or too slow. The pronunciation and enunciation are unclear. The speaker exhibits many disfluencies, such as "ahs," "uhms," or "you knows." The listener is distracted by problems in the delivery of the message and has difficulty understanding the words in the message.	The volume is so low and the rate is so fast that you cannot understand most of the message. The pronunciation and enunciation are very unclear. The speaker appears uninterested.	/3
Organization	The message is overtly organized. The speaker helps the listener understand the sequence and relationships of ideas by using organizational aids such as announcing the topic, previewing the organization, using transitions, and summarizing.	The message is organized. The listener has no difficulty understanding the sequence and relationships among the ideas in the message. The ideas in the message can be outlined easily.	The organization of the message is mixed up and random. The listener must make some assumptions about the sequence and relationship of ideas.	The message is so disorganized you cannot understand most of the message.	/3
Creativity	Very original presentation of material; captures the audience’s attention.	Some originality apparent; good variety and blending of materials / media.	Little or no variation; material presented with little originality or interpretation.	Repetitive with little or no variety; insufficient use of materials / media.	/3
Length of Presentation	Within two minutes of allotted time .	Within four minutes of allotted time.	Within six minutes of allotted time .	Too long or too short; ten or more minutes above or below the allotted time.	/3
TOTAL POINTS					___ /12

Resources

Use these resources to assist you in completing the PPA steps and developing your Prezi and oral presentation:

· Why Boys Fail

· In East St. Louis, inner city schools seem more like 'day care centers'

· Inner City Schooling

· A Crisis in Inner City Education

· The Inner City Prep School Experience

· No Rich Child Left Behind

· Proficiency of Black Students is Far Lower than Expected

· Anti-Violence Groups Hire Mentors with Criminal Records

· In South Side Neighborhood, Violence Still Hard to Shake

· Inner City Mentoring Initiative Aims to Boost Student Achievement

· Local Mentors Provide Inner City At-Risk Youth with Academic Resources to Achieve Success

· The Value of Mentoring

· Does Mentoring Work?

· The Top 5 Education Facts of 2013

· Large Urban-Suburban Gap Seen in Graduation Rates

Conclusion

After completing this WebQuest, you should have a better understanding of the points raised in The Other Wes Moore. Specifically, you should be able to understand and discuss how the book relates the information that you have gathered for your Prezi and oral presentation. Be prepared to discuss the following questions, while citing specific evidence from The Other Wes Moore and/or your research to support your claims:

· How well does Moore describe the culture of the streets, where young boys grow up believing that violence transforms them into men? Talk about the street culture—its violence, drug dealing, disdain for education. What creates that ethos and why do so many young men find it attractive?

· In writing about the Wes Moore who is in prison, Wes Moore the author says, "The chilling truth is that his life could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." What do you make of that statement? Do you think Moore is correct?

· Oprah Winfrey has said that "when you hear this story, it's going to turn the way you think about free will and fate upside down." So, which is it...freedom or determinism? If determinism, what kind of determinism—God, cosmic fate, environment, biology, psychology? Or if freedom, to what degree are we free to choose and create our own destiny?

Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7

· Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1.a

· Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1.b

· Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.a

· Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.b

· Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4

· Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5

· Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.