The Flash Volume 1 Issue 1

A Student Production of Franklin Learning Center

June 2017

Replacing Obamacare: Trump Administration Plans Big Changes

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niversal Health Care has been an often debated issue between politicians and citizens dating back to the early 20th century. In March 2010, it seemed like major steps were taken forward after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, supposedly helping more people get insurance. The law offered several benefits such as, insurance companies not being able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and children having the right to stay on their parents health insurance plan until age 26.

Even with those positivities, the act still gained controversy with opponents.

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, millions of Americans have feared that they or their families will lose their health care if Trump and his administration successfully repeal and

by Donte Cheatham, News Editor

replace Obamacare. At the same time, another portion of the country wants to see Obamacare repealed and replaced with a better system due to philosophical or financial reasons. A lot of Americans are against the law because they don’t believe that they should be forced by the govern-

ment to buy insurance or be punished if they don’t.

Others see it as a scam to make hard working taxpayers help the poor and lower class citizens. Like a lot of issues in this nation, healthcare is divisive; health care reform could mean a lot of to this country, good or bad.

For younger individu-

Photo by Donte Cheatham

als, they will continue to get coverage from their parent’s insurance until age 26. This is one of the few provisions that will remain under Trump’s plan.

Insurance companies still cannot deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, but can charge 30% higher premiums to those entering an individual health market, regardless of health status.

Insurers are still required to cover certain benefits and over ten health services, such as maternity coverage, prescription drugs, and mental health care.

For the expansion of medicare, it will be phased out for those who don’t enroll before 2020. The amount of federal funding states receive per enrollee would be capped.

Types of enrollees may vary from the physically disabled to children. Individuals would be getting agecontinued on page 2

The Reasons Why 13 reasons why got A Peek Into FLC’s Cultural diversity factors that go into a per- by Elyse Chambers, time consuming, learning suicide wrong

by Jordy Atenca, Senior A&E Editor

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n March 31, Netflix released 13 Reasons Why. The show’s message was to be friendly because it would prevent suicides. While the show may have meant well, it did not take the opportunity to inform accurately about suicide and due to this may have even caused more problems.

In the show, Hannah Baker commits suicide and leaves 13 cassette tapes, each one emphasizing a person that lead her to the decision to commit suicide. This makes suicide seem simple.

Everyone else is responsible for Hannah’s death. It is not true. There are several

son committing suicide and mental illness is almost always the main cause. However, mental illness was completely glanced over in the show. Hannah, on her last day, went to her school counselor and spoke to him about how she felt empty and lost, clear signs of depression, and all he did was hand her a tissue. He didn’t give her any resources for her mental state and teens suffering the same depression that are watching the show may think that there is no purpose in going to a counselor because all they will do is give them a tissue and tell them to simply “get over it.”

In addition to the lack of mental health information, there were no attempts

The Circle Review:

Arts & Entertainment 6-

continued on pg 6

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Flash Contributor

nternational Day is a new and exciting event that is bringing everyone together here at Franklin Learning Center. Our school is home to hundreds of students with their own unique cultures and backgrounds, and with over 40 different countries being represented, there’s sure to be a high amount of cultural and ethnic diversity.

Students in foreign language classes have been creating country-specific powerpoints, projects, and presentations specifically for this occasion.

When asked how they felt about working on said projects, one student answered, “Although it was

Budget Cuts Bring FLC Down Editorial 4

James Ponsoldt’s The Circle, was in the simplest terms, an unfulfilling adaptation of the 2013 novel, of the same title, by Dave Eggers. courtesy of KCBA-Architects.com

about my friends’ cultures brought about a lot of cool experiences and enabled me to get to know more about them and where they came from.” These projects allow students to be more aware and knowledgeable about their fellow classmates and the backgrounds that they come from. Another student replied, “I’m very excited about International Day. You get to learn about different cultures in an interesting way, while also learni

Photo by Faridah N. continued on page 7

Prey Video Game Review Arts & Entertainment 6 Prey is an action-horror RPG. You play as Morgan Yu as you’re trapped on a space station, having lost all of your memory, with a dangerous alien enemy that wants you dead.

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NFL Draft 2017: Huge Success In Philadelphia

by Michael Galanaugh, Senior Sports Editor

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n the weekend of April 27th to the 29th, the annual NFL draft took place along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.

The change for the NFL draft was much needed, because the event was held in New York City for 50 consecutive years, then held in Chicago for the last two years. It was

Photo by Visakha Bun the first time that the draft was held in Philadelphia in over 60 years, before the Super Bowl was created. The stage of the show was constructed at the base of the famous Philadelphia Art Museum steps. Lined along the shady boulevard were tents that housed great attractions for fans, young and old, to enjoy on a beautiful weekend in the city.

Attractions included meet and greet with fan favorite current players and football legends, the opportunity to see the Vince Lombardi trophy and Super Bowl rings in person, an obstacle course, and a collection of authentic NFL memorabilia.

Among the crowd of thousands of football fans, waiting to see their future players being introduced to the league for the first time, were mainly supporters of the local Philadelphia Eagles. However, there were fans of every team around the country in attendance coming to support their team. The attendance totaled to over page 2 250,000continued fans inonattendance.

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Sports

PG 2

FLC Bobcats Basketball Season Wrap-up

by Djime Traore, Flash Contributor

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the season. They played Mastery South, a successful team that was already on their way to the playoffs.

During the last home game for the Bobcats, coincidently also senior night, many spectators from both teams filled the gym. There was approximately a total of 75 people attending, supporting the two teams.

he FLC Bobcats boys varsity basketball team had a wonderful season this year.

Even though they lost in the playoffs, they fought through the whole season. They played with heart and had intentions of shocking the public league. The team consisted of 4 seniors, 5 juniors and 5 sophomores, who all possessed great talent. They had to tryout for the team with about forty other players. Only 14 players were able to make the cut, those who showed out that day earned a spot on the team.

The Bobcats lost their first game against Randolph with a score of 44-48. They never gave up hope and fought until the last whistle was blown. They went on in the season and won 4 games straight. With the mindset of a 4-1 record, they kept the belief for achieving great success this year. Then, the team faced a hard loss against Edison by only 1 point. The guys were upset with this tough loss, but still Photo by Djime Traore went on with the season ending with them having a 6-6 record.

The team played very well the In order to make playoffs, the first half and led the other team by team must win the final game of about 18 points. The boys went into

the second half still wanting to win and kept fighting. They encountered a few close calls but still kept fighting when suddenly other team came back and tied the game with 1:30 left in the game. The game began intensify with the last minute left and the Bobcats leading by 2 points. With 10 seconds remaining, the team continued fighting and held off the other teams from scoring. The Bobcats stole the ball with 4 seconds left to end the game 74-68.

That night the team received a notice that they made the playoffs. They knew that their season was not over and there was some competition in their way. They went off to the first round of playoffs and beat Franklin Town with a score of 52-43. As they advanced to the second round of the playoffs they suffered a hard lost. Even though it didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to, they still had a fun season with each other. The Bobcats would like to thank their coach Michael Gardner for a great season and all the yelling he did. It motivated the guys do work harder and play better as a team. We are proud of you Bobcats.

NFL Draft 2017: Huge Success In Philadelphia contuinued from pg 1

Interestingly enough, for a city whose reputation as a fan base isn’t the greatest, there were no arrests at all during draft weekend, which truly highlights Philadelphia’s nickname as the “City of Brotherly Love.” This is an expectational improvement from the last two major events in Philadelphia, the papal visit in 2015 had resulted in 3 arrests and the 2016 Democratic National Convention which resulted in over 100 violations. There were 17 arrests at the NFL draft in Chicago last year. This is the first time that the event was set outside and due to the high attendance record and the incredible safety standards of Philadelphia may have allowed the city to possibly reclaim the rights to host the draft next year.

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Genesis Tejada-Peralta Associate Editor Syreeta Williams News Editors Isabelle Gil-Collazo* Donte Cheatham Opinion Editors Cara Reilly* Faridah Nguyen A&E Editors Jordy Atencia* Janelis Duran Sports Editors Michael Galanaugh* Nasir Stanley En Español Editor Jennifer Rojas-Sandoval Multimedia Editor Kineishma Rodriguez Layout and Design Editors Amos Moore* Sally Duong Social Media Editor Tyanh Hassan Director of Marketing Darnell Harris Faculty Advisor Colin Chrestay * Class of 2017

Replacing Obamacare continued from pg 1

NFL Draft Photos by Visakha Bun

based premium tax credits, with older Americans getting more.

Also in 2020, small-business tax credits would end. Most of the taxes from Obamacare would be lifted along with annual fees on entities.

The bill will stop funding states for a year to ensure that clinics such as Planned Parenthood cannot operate on abortions unless cases involve incest, rape, or danger to the mother’s life.

These are just some of the things the public should expect if this new bill becomes law in the future.

Photo by Donte Cheatham

En Español

PG 3

Los Estudiantes Inmigrantes de The Immigrant Students of FLC FLC

by Gustavo Gonzalez, Flash Contributor

by Gustavo Gonzalez, Flash Contributor

n la escuela Franklin Learn- Asustados por el hecho de que no ing Center tienen muchos puedan lograr sus metas y intentar estudiantes, todos de difer- de tener un mejor futuro. Tristes entes países. Entre ellos provienen porque hay muchos inmigrantes personas latinas los cuales son in- que tienen sus familiares que son migrantes. Los inmigrantes son enviados de vuelta a sus países, a personas que vienen de sus países y pesar de lo duro que han trabajado. no tiene papeles legales. Son estudiEllos tienen la esperanza de una antes los cuales vinieron a FLC, para oportunidad de ser feliz, tener paz y intent ar de obtener lo que quieren en la vida.

Son estudiantes los cuales intentan aprender su idioma en i n g l é s , Photo courtesy of Peyton Chung aprendiendo las culturas Americanas, una mejor vida. A pesar de las dificulsiendo más inteligentes y intentan- tades de los estudiantes inmigrantes do de tener una mejor vida de de FLC, an enseñando como ellos las que ellos tenían en sus países. mismos pueden seguir esforzándose Algunos estudiantes inmigrantes por lo que quieren y ser mejores essienten estresados, asustados y tudiantes cada dia. Esos son los estriste. Estresados por el hecho de tudiantes inmigrantes de FLC, los que intentan cada día de aprender cuales intentan de seguir luchando temas en inglés los cuales se les por sus metas y familiares, para inhace difícil de entender el tema. tentar de obtener un mejor futuro.

t FLC, many students come from different countries.

Among them are Latino people who are immigrants. Immigrants are people who move from one area to another. Some of them are our FLC students. They came here to try to get what they want in

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best, everyday, to learn subjects in English. This is very difficult because they are not used to the english language. Frightened, wondering every morning if going to school is worth it? Will I actually have a better life here than in my country?

Sad because there are many immigrants who have relatives who are sent back to their countries, de-

Photo courtesy of Alan Kotok life, such as, “the American Dream.”

They are students who try to learn the “American” language which is English, they tend to fit in with the American culture. They also try their best in learning more so that they can have a better life in the future.

Some immigrant students feel stressed, scared, and sad. Stressed by the fact that they have to try their

spite how hard they have worked.

They are hoping for a chance to be happy, have peace and a better life. Despite the difficulties of FLC immigrant students, they are teaching themselves to continue achieving their goals and become better students every day. These are our FLC immigrant students, who try to keep fighting for their goals and family, to try to get a better future.

• If ICE wants to enter your house another resident signed by a judge then ask them if they have a court then they can’t enter your house If warrant signed by a judge. If they they offer to show you the adminisdo have a court warrant, ask them trative removal order instead then to slide it under the door and verify don’t accept it because that is not it. Make sure it was issued by a enough. If ICE still wants to enter court and signed by a judge, if it your household by force then say, was not signed by a judge or issued “I’m not authorizing your entry by a court and i’m then it is a exercising false warmy right rant. Also, to remain check if silent. the warAnd I rant has demand either to talk to your name a lawyer or the as soon as name of possible.” whoevRememer lives ber that in that those house. around • If they you also do not have the have that same right court to remain warrant silent. including • The most your name importor the ant thing name of is to not Photo courtesy of www.ice.gov

lie to the agents or produce false documents because it can be used against you.

Most importantly: DO NOT sign any documents without talking to a lawyer first because there have been many cases where ICE has tricked immigrants into signing papers without thoroughly understanding what they’re signing.

If you happen to open the door to ICE then remain silent. You are not obligated to give out your information to the agents unless you want to. ONLY say your first name.

Remember: don’t sign any documents without talking to a lawyer first.

When ICE Knocks On Your Door

by Jennifer Rojas-Sandoval, En Español Editor

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ince Donald Trump’s inauguration, many immigrants have fear that they or their families are going to be deported and torn apart by the government. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the federal law enforcement agency that enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration. Many have fear that ICE agents will knock on their door and take them away. If that ever occurs, here is what to do: • Stay calm and remember that you also have rights.

• You are under no obligation to open the door at the beginning of the encounter, so DON’T open the door. If you were to open the door then the ICE agents can take you and you’ll have a higher possibility of getting deported so instead of opening the door, you can talk to the agents through the closed door.

• When you speak to the agents through the closed door, ask them what they’re there for, or what they need.

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Opinion

PG 4

E D I T O R I A L

Budget Cuts Bring FLC Down

by The Flash Editorial Board

Imagine

walking into a restroom stall to find the toilet covered by a trash bag. As you search for a new toilet, you step into a puddle of water originating from a clogged toilet. After finding a suitable toilet, you go to wash your hands and the soap dispenser is missing so you decide to just wash your hands with some water. Then, the knob on the faucet doesn’t work. This is a scenario many of the students in Franklin Learning Center experience and some of its main causes are the budget cuts that are negatively affecting our school district and our students.

This problem is not unique to FLC’s 109 year old building; facilities are unsatisfactory throughout the School District of Philadelphia. However, many districts and

Teacher to student ratios are inconsistent throughout the state.

FLC’s teacher to student Cross Country ratio curVolleyball rently sits at 22:1 while Basketball Carrick has Soccer one teachBaseball er for every Track and Field fifteen stuGolf dents. This Swimming allows Carrick to have Diving less crowded Tennis classes where Wrestling teachers can Softball more acFootball tively interact with individual students to help them reach their highest potential.

In addition to more teacher attention, Carrick students enjoy more athletic opportunities. They boast all of the sports offered at FLC plus golf, swimming, diving, tennis, and wrestling. The lower FLC Photo by Jordy Atencia sport availability at FLC

Facilities FLC

Carrick

CTE Labs Gyms Dedicated Computer Labs Art Labs Music Labs Library Librarian

3 1 (No Spectators) 1 2 3 1 0

16 2 7 4 8 1 1

Pool Football Field Track

0 0 0

1 1 1

schools in Pennsylvania do not have to concern themselves with this problem. For example, across the state in Pittsburgh Public Schools, Carrick High School, with a student population of 822, is strikingly similar to FLC and does not have to face many of these issues.

While it is an urban school with its own struggles, Carrick enjoys more CTE labs, gyms, dedicated computer labs, art labs, and music labs, as well as a staffed library, a pool, and a football field and track. Meanwhile, the trackless FLC track team trains and runs laps in the square hallways of the school. An abundance of discrepancies are apparent, but the building’s facilities are not the only inequalities between these schools.

could also be related to the lack of facilities or lack of coaches, but as previously FLC Carrick stated, facili✓ ✓ ties and staff ✓ ✓ are affected by budget cuts. ✓ ✓ It is import✓ ✓ ant to note that ✓ ✓ school con✓ ✓ ditions don’t ✓ decline to✓ ward eastern Pennsylvania. ✓ Just a thirty ✓ minute drive ✓ from FLC sits ✓ ✓ Harriton High ✓ ✓ School, in the Lower Merion School District. Since it can be difficult to compare districts of different sizes, researchers measure district spending by dividing total spending by total students. Lower Merion School District spends $26,571 per student. In comparison, Pittsburgh Public Schools (home to Carrick)

inadequacies found in the School District of Philadelphia compared to the rest of the state. The answers lie within the agencies that govern and fund our school district.

The federal government is dealing with a new budget proposal that would reduce the Education Department’s funding by $9 billion dollars. The cuts would be partially aimed at Perkins grants: state grants for Career and Technical Education (CTE). This directly affects FLC because we receive Perkins grants to fund our Medical Assisting and Business CTE programs. The money from the grants will be spent on promoting school choice--another problem for low-income areas.

School choice allows for students from low-income areas to choose schools in more affluent areas, moving money to the rich from the poor and causing underpopulation in struggling schools. Choice can also force students to travel great distances to find quality education, rather than investing in local schools.

FLC Carrick Harriton Spending per $13,494 $23,065 $26,571 Student spend $23,065 and The School District of Philadelphia spends just $13,494 per student. The problem of underfunded schools is not a whole state problem; it is mostly affecting the more poverty-stricken districts, like Philadelphia, and it is causing the quality of education for each student to deteriorate.

One may wonder what causes the

Carrick High School courtesy of Panoramio.com

Moving down the political ladder, the state government has attempted to patch the disparities between school districts by passing a fair funding formula in June, 2016. However, they seem to completely overlook the fact that there is not enough money in the educational budget to fairly distribute and have every school reach

PG 5

E D I T O R I A L

Opinion

Harriton High School Campus courtesy of KCBA-Architects.com

Harriton High School Auditorium courtesy of KCBA-Architects.com state-set proficiency standards. The Public Interest Law Center used the state’s own formula to report that they need to provide an extra $3.036 to $4.073 billion to enable students to reach state standards.

The lack of adequate funding from state government affects all schools in Pennsylvania but, in most of them, the responsibility of making up the difference for what their districts need and what they get is passed to the taxpayers. Most

districts’ school boards set a tax rate that will settle the difference and then they are adequately funded. Unfortunately, the School District of Philadelphia does not participate in this activity because they do not have a school board. Instead, they have the School Reform Commision, a government-imposed board that oversees the school district. Due to the SRC being a state agency, they are not allowed to control local taxes; therefore, they can not make up the

difference between the funds they receive and the funds they require.

Just as the cause for budget cuts in public schools are political, the call to action must take the same path. Here is what you can do to help fix our budget crisis: President Trump’s new budget plan would slash much of the CTE funding that helps our school run smoothly. Talk to your US congress people, make them aware of the resources that are going to be

cut by the bill, and explain that, by allowing the bill to pass, they will directly affect you and lower the quality of education in the country.

The best solution at the state level is to contact Governor Wolf and state senators and representatives to inform them that, while they have signed a fair funding formula into legislation, our district is still struggling because there is not enough funding for education in our budget. The necessary change is to raise our educational funds budget in order to fulfil the Education Clause in the state constitution which requires legislature to fund a thorough and efficient public school system.

Since the SRC can’t set taxes, the best solution for our city would be to abolish the School Reform Commision and establish an elected school board. If Philadelphia had a school board, they would have the power to set a proper tax rate that would allow them to offset state funding shortfalls.

In order to abolish the SRC, action is needed. We, as a community, need to contact the School Reform Commissioners, explain our role in the School District of Philadelphia (student, parent, teacher, administrator, taxpayer), and tell them that it is paramount that we establish an elected school board to ensure a higher quality of education.

Arts & Entertainment

PG 6

Circle: A Pointless Adaptation The Reasons Why 13 Reasons The

by Genesis Tejada-Peralta, the beginning. Tragic deaths like Flash Editor In Chief Why Got Suicide Wrong from page 1 Mercer (Ellar Coltrane), which to reach for professional help. The counselor should have recognized the signs of depression and referred Hannah to a professional or a hotline that could truly help her out of her situation.

Also, Clay Jensen, the protagonist, went through all 13 tapes and realized what happened to Hannah and gained a false view: that just being nice to someone will stop them from taking their life.

The truth is you need to help these people reach out to mental health professionals and give them resources like suicide hotlines and support groups.

All of this, in addition to you being there and caring for them, will help them get off the path to suicide.

Furthermore, the show’s glamorization of suicide is concerning because it will fuel copycat suicides throughout the youth. Hannah Baker committed suicide, yet she seemed to still be alive. The truth that once you commit suicide that is it, you are gone forever is not seen. The show depicts the people that caused Hannah to take her life as showing guilt and becoming changed people because of her suicide. However, it is unlikely that these people will feel any type of guilt or that they will reform in any way after you commit suicide and you will not feel any justice because, quite simply, you’ll be

dead. Feeding that idea to vulnerable teens could give them a reason to attempt taking their life. Then, Hannah was shown taking her life step-by-step. It was basically a howto-guide for anyone watching and there is evidence showing that the publicizing of suicide leads to copycat suicides.

Imagine a show that tells vulnerable teens that committing suicide will cause everyone to remember you and cause every person that did you wrong to feel guilty, that shows them how to commit the suicide step-by-step, that does not give them any information regarding mental health professionals and mental health resources, that does not give them any option other than suicide, and that does not talk about the most important cause of suicide: mental illness. Would you let your child watch that show?

If you are feeling depressed or are experiencing any suicidal thoughts please contact any of the following resources. They are here to help.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 Suicide & Depression Hotline – Covenant House: 800-999-9999 Suicide Prevention Services Depression Hotline: 630-482-9696

Prey Video Game Review

of the space satellites, alien creatures were found, known as typhons. Fast forward to the year 2030, and you’re controlling Morgan Yu, a scientist who works for Transtar, a private company that does research on the aliens. After having your memory wiped and being put in a simulation, you have to use a variety of creative tools and weapons to help you survive.

The game also introduces Nero-mods, which is a unique RPG upgrading system.

Visuals: The game looks beautiful. The graphics are amazing.

The only problem I have with

by Kyle Thiede, Flash Contributor

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rey is an action-horror RPG. You play as Morgan Yu as you’re trapped on a space station, having lost all of your memory, with a dangerous alien enemy that wants you dead. Equipping yourself with weapons, tools, and brain altering Nero-mods, you must hunt down the alien threat that lurks inside the spacecraft, uncover the secrets of Transtar, the company that owns the spacecraft you’re on, and most importantly, survive.

Plot: In an alternate universe, John F. Kennedy wasn’t assassinated. The outcome was the Cold War ended earlier and billions of dollars being spent on space travel. On one

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he lackluster Sci-Fi film starring Emma Watson (Mae Holland) and Tom Hanks (Eamon Bailey) is set in a modern day dystopia. Despite having a more than engaging and thought-provoking plot, it was executed in a manner that fell short.

Protagonist, Mae Holland, goes from her monotonous life working in a cubicle, answering calls to working for the world’s largest tech company, surely the opportunity of a lifetime. As she grows more and more comfortable within the company, Mae participates in an experiment in which she pushes ethical boundaries by streaming her day to day life for all to see.

The film itself consists of several different ideas which all fail to tie back into one narrative in a methodical manner. Due to the film moving from narrative to narrative the audience has no real time to come to know the characters in a deeper sense.

The film lacks depth within each character, hindering the emotional connection that the audience should have built with them from

the looks of the game is the completely unoriginal design of the villains. They look exactly like “Venom” from “Spider-Man.” Gameplay: The gameplay in this

would have otherwise called for some form of emotional distress from the audience or simply any response at all, felt like something short of a mere bump in the movie.

The film provides a dull and overly simplistic view of the characters with no background provided besides a few limited details.

Mae appears from the beginning of the movie until the end, without development, as a one dimensional character which in no way captures the truly complex person she was in Eggers’ novel.

While discussing the things that this movie lacked, it is a crucial to mention the climax.

The entire movie can be summed up as a failed attempt to heighten paranoia within the audience.

The minuscule sense of suspense and anticipation that was built ultimately fell with a dull thud.

The inconsistency of the narrative, lack of character depth, anticlimactic pinnacle, and abrupt and displeasing ending earned this thriller, which was anything but, a meager 2 out of 5 stars.

kill all enemies. There are a couple problems in this game though. The main problem is with key cards and key codes. In order to progress in some areas, you need keycards and key codes to open doors. The problem is that they’re small and hard to find. I’ve found myself retracing back a couple missions to find a keycard or a key code.

Also, for a horror game, Prey really isn’t that scary.

Final Verdict: Prey is a great game and definitely game is fantastic. All the controls worth a play. I give this game an 8/10. are very smooth and fast paced. I also enjoy the game requiring some skill, you can’t just use a big gun to

Arts & Entertainment

PG 7

A Peek Into FLC’s Cultural Diversity Continued from pg 1

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more about your peers.”

When asked how they felt about working on said projects, one student answered, “Although it was time consuming, learning about my friends’ cultures brought about a lot of cool experiences and enabled me to get to know more about them and where they came from.” These projects allow students to be more aware and knowledgeable about their fellow classmates and the backgrounds that they come from. Another student replied, “I’m very excited about International Day. You get to

est countries, it’s still recognized.”

International Day at FLC provides an opportunity for all of its students to come together, in spirit and in action, to celebrate the cultural diversities found within the school.

I am so thankful to Mr. Moueddene and the other language teachers Mrs. R, and Mr. Garcia, for giving us an opportunity to represent our country or maybe even another country’s culture in the positive and high regards that we have for the country. I enjoyed my experiences being able to participate in this collaborative project with my

FLC’s International Day

by Dariana Garcia-Bernabe, Flash Contributor Coming soon to F.L.C is an International Day! Started by French teacher, Mr. Moueddene, Mr. Mouddene and I spoke about what International Day is about and how it will affect our school.

Dariana:“Why international day ?”

Mr. Moueddene: “Why? That’s a tricky question. First, I had the idea a long time ago and also the administration is interested in celebrating International Day so [we’re] gonna try to make it this year. And I have done some activities in the past in other schools.”

D: “What is it about?”

M: “It’s about diversity and that’s

something we should celebrate because our school is very diverse. I already did a survey. So far we have 42 countries and I’m sure that there are more than that.”

D: “Where is it going to be presented?”

M: “It depends. I’m working on that, I’m gonna send out a call for proposal. Something that you know the students will send me what they want to do. There will be projects whether they want to present their country, in a workshop.

Do a presentation or they can so something cultural as well. Dance or song. Anything… art or exhibit from their country. And there’s also gonna be flag and costume…”

D: “Where is it gonna be located?”

M:“In the school.”

Photo by Darnell Harris learn about different cultures in an interesting way, while also learning more about your peers.”

The same grateful attitude can also be found among the students who aren’t making projects but who are still being culturally represented. When talking about her country, one student notes, “I feel proud because even though it’s not one of the wealthi-

group, representing a country that is not my own. I have learned new information that I will remember during my continuous road to expand my knowledge on different cultures. It was a great experience and it will be amazing to see everyone of every culture and country express their knowledge for Franklin Learning center as a whole to see.

Photo courtesy of Tim Ellis

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