I must admit, this book has been pretty rough for me at moments. This book teaches many lessons about injustice in the justice system. It gives insight into the segregation and discrimination that many black people and others have faced in prison as well as different prison conditions. After finishing this book, I almost shed a tear, I mean hearing these stories is a serious wake up call. It makes you realize that this can happen to people you love. It make you wanna take action because no matter who you are you can connect to something in this book. Not necessarily what happens to people but you can almost feel the emotions. So when you see someone on the news who has been sentenced to death or life imprisonment, perhaps ask yourself  "what happened and do they truly deserve to die in prison?". Of course there are many bad people in the world but there are plenty of other people who need just mercy.

"Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving" {Bryan Stevenson 

From the 60 Minutes archives: The true story behind “Just Mercy”

Just Mercy readers log   Grade: Exceeds

In this project I learned about the different inequalities that people have faced across history as well as how voter suppression works. I gained some new perspectives on how things work and how inequality has changed over the years. I was given Meets on both my oral presentation and my TED talk slides. But I was given an Exceeds on my research because I went into detail and had depth.

Blood & Thunder is a book detailing the events of the conquest of the American west. We focused on the chapters that contained details about Kit Carson's involvement in these events. This book was our main source of evidence when it came to the Mock Trial.  

Blood &Thunder readers log   Grade: Exceeds

We learned about westward expansion and the removal of native tribes. With these topics relating heavily to Kit Carson, It was importaint to learn about them so that we had more context for the trial. Some things I grew in is probably just professionalism, efficiency, and sportsmanship. We had to basically become lawyers for an hour meaning our professionalism had to be top notch, and we had to be efficient with writing and fixing our questions, and knowing that this was a competition we had to be prepared to loose and be nice about it if we did. I learned many things about how court works, and how different things have evolved over time. I do not think it will apply to my future unless I happen to sue someone or if i want a speeding ticket dismissed.
I didn't learn more about myself with this project. Based on the project rubric I would give myself a Meets+ because I feel that I put a lot of work into the exhibition and helping my teammates. I put a tremendous amount of work into the questions and the best ways to answer them. Three goals for myself would probably be, Remember to practice, Don't procrastinate, and Don't get lazy!

Into The Wild Note Catcher  Grade: 

For this exhibition, I learned a lot about economics, entrepreneurship, and the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the world is focused on. We applied these concepts directly to our business plan, detailing our idea and explaining how it aligns with our chosen SDG. I must admit that this unit was relatively easy for my partner and me, as we have been doing projects like this for five years, so creating the slides and the plan did not take long. While we didn't encounter major challenges, it did take some time to figure out the operational process for our business. I learned a lot about finances, economics, and business processes, which will be useful for the future when I have to work and handle taxes. While I did not learn too much new information about myself during this project, it was interesting to learn the logistics of starting a business. I would give myself a 'Meets+' rating because I feel like we could have gone a little more above and beyond by including the specific book-fixing process. Otherwise, I feel my oral presentation was good, and I definitely did my part for this exhibition. A goal I have for next year’s Humanities classes is to continue to work efficiently and productively so I can keep producing the best work possible. I was given an exceeds on this exhibition!