IHSS Blog 2019-2020

After doing the research for my challenge project on kill and no kill animal shelters, I have decided that I want to find a way to educate people on the internet without stating any form of opinion in order to be informative without being offensive. What I want to do is make a website that will have information both good and bad on kill and no kill animal shelters in an effort to educate the public on the matter. many people will for blind opinions on specifically kill shelters as they don't do the research and end up attacking people without any information on the matter. This is something that people need to know about because it is important that people who are thinking about adopting an animal know what they are getting in to before they do so impulsively. I will also include information on why sterilizing animals is so important to the issue of strays and why people should consider sterilizing their household pets as well as it only puts their animal in danger and makes them w...

Connor Kissack Mr. Roddy IHSS 20 May 2020 Reflection Blog When I chose to do research on the Galveston Bay I primarily thought little of it. The only details I knew were that the beach is definitely one of the worst because of two reasons; the oil rigs as well as all the litter that has been tossed upon the beach by the people. These reasons were in fact correct and this helped me realize what has been happening in Galveston. I learned that no one has put millions of dollars into trying to remove a lot of the oil that has been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico that continues to wash up into Galveston Bay. I also learned that lots of erosion and lots of pollution comes and washes up on Galveston from hurricanes that start near the continent of Africa. The beach continues to get hit at year by year with no goal insight. I interviewed a variety of different people on their own beliefs on how they feel about Galveston and I even interviewed people who work in conservation groups...

Oliver Erdmann Mr. Roddy IHSS May 20, 2020 Interview Blog For one of my interviews, I interviewed my cousin. He is a rabbi in New York City and grew up in Houston. He said that he thinks anti-semitism will always be a thing, no matter where you are, there will always be anti-semites. They might not be currently acting on their hate but they are are thinking it. Although there are much less anti-semites today than there used to be, they can still hurt someone a lot, wether it be mental or physical. Mr. Hollopeter has been affected by anti-semitism for his whole life, starting in Bellaire and now in New York City. Because he has been affected by it his whole life, he said that his synagogue is meant to be a safe space for people experiencing any hate, not just anti-semitism. 

Oliver Erdmann Mr. Roddy IHSS May 20, 2020 Reflection Blog For my interviews, I chose my cousin, a rabbi, and Alex Karni's grandmother. After we had an in-depth conversation, I realized that I had gotten some good information. Both people told me their stories about anti-semitism and how it played a role in their lives. The interesting thing I found out about my interviews was that both of the stories I heard were very similar in some ways, even though they grew up in completely different places. Alex's grandma, Costa Rica, and my cousin, in Houston. This shows how anti-semitism is a world wide problem and a lot of people are affected by it. During the interviews, we talked about how they overcame the tormenting from when they were a kid to now. I realized that, what if people like my interviewees, told children how to overcome it. I feel like this would be one step closer to finishing the hatred. That is why Alex and I created an instagram account to help stop...

Alex Gross Mr. Roddy IHSS 20 May 2020 IHSS - CP: Reflection Blog For my Challenge Project on Antisemitism I overall learned more than I ever thought I would have. I started my research paper thinking that all I would do is talk about Antisemitism, and possibly attend an activism event. I started to see this project as more of an opportunity then a requirement, which I really think stuck with me throughout the entire process and changed my work ethic as well as the end result of the work I put out. Although this opportunity became impossible due to the coronavirus, I feel that what I was able to do instead was actually much more impactful. After writing my Challenge Project research paper I decided that I would focus on not just the problem that Antisemitism is, but also how unrecognized it is. I reached out for many interviews but did not get many responses. I ended up interviewing my dad which was basically my guaranteed one, and Sarah Yonas, the Texas regional leader for a...

Cidette Rice Mr.Roddy IHSS 5/19/2020 Chinese Exclusion in the Late 1800s In the mid 1800s, there was an economic crisis going on in China. It’s been theorized that this decline happened due to the sudden mass exporting of silver after decades of steady import of it. This decline started in 1820 and continued until the late 1850s and was called the Daoguang Depression. Not only was there a depression, but the Opium war and the Taiping rebellion also played big parts in influencing people to leave China. Many Chinese immigrants, mainly young single men, came to America to seek better financial opportunities that were popularized by the California gold rush. This led to an influx of chinese immigrants who either worked for other miners, or tried to find their own gold. After the initial craze of the California gold died down, many people moved on to jobs such as railroad workers, which led to the eventual construction of the transcontinental railroad by mainly immigrant chinese. I...

Cidette Rice Mr.Roddy IHSS 19/5/2020 Reflection Blog When I took up beekeeping in spring of 2020, it was because I felt restless not having a school routine. I felt like I needed to start something new and I had to have something else to focus on while I tried to process the huge changes that it took over my life and many others. I didn’t predict that I would have so much fun with it and that I would learn so much just through working with my mom on hives. The first time I asked her if I could be keep with her was a week before I actually started beekeeping. She thought I was joking at first so she initially pushed it off. It wasn't until six days later that I reintroduced the idea and she realized I wasn’t just playing around. on the seventh day, I suited up and she walked me through all the hives in our front yard and said that the next would include me going with her to a client’s house. I was excited but nervous, seeing it was only my second day beekeeping and...