CF community part 2

Claggett Creek Middle School is located in Keizer, Oregon. Keizer, Oregon is in Marion County and has a population of 36,220. The school is across the street from Weddle Elementary School. Keizer has 7 elementary, 2 middle, and 1 high school that is a part of Salem-Keizer School District. It has a wide range of ethnic groups, but is dominated by a high white population 85.5%. As of the 2000 census, Keizer also has .75% Black, 1.38% American Indian, .2% Pacific Islander, 1.49% Asian, 12.7% Hispanic and 7.22% other. The average age of a person living in Keizer is 34. 80.4% of the people have received their High School diploma and 24.4% have received a bachelor’s degree. Out  of the 36,220 people, 9.3% are below the poverty line. Over half of the population live in houses. The average price for a home in Keizer is $165, 028. Keizer has some anuual events within the community. Every year they have an annual tree lighting right after Thanksgiving. At Keizer Station, which is a shopping center, they hold the Iris festival. Keizer also participates in National Neighborhood Night Out, which is held on the second Tuesday in August every year. Keizer is the home of the Volcanoes baseball team. They also have a Heritage museum inside the Keizer Community Center. The building was an old school house that was built in 1916.

In the neighborhoods surrounding the school, most of the houses look like older homes. Most of them look like they are kept up. There are few that need a coat of paint and maybe a few boards need to be replaced. There is also a mixture of newer and older cars in the neighborhoods. I did see a few motor homes/trailers. One a the neighborhood that was visited had a row of newer homes. These homes were large, at least one of them had a 3 car garage. In this neighborhood, there was a couple of little boys playing on scooters on the sidewalk. Close to the school there are apartment complexes and town homes. Many of the neighborhoods had no sidewalks. Some of the houses had Halloween decorations up. There were a couple of small parks in the neighborhood and there were no kids at the park at about 10 am on a Friday. In less than a mile away from the school, there are cows in a field. About 1 mile away from the school are many fast food chains including Sonic, Burger King, and Muchas Gracias. The Kroc center is also close to the school. The Kroc center is a community center that was open after 2004, when Joan Kroc left money to the Salvation Army. That money was split up between 20 centers across the country. Local funding for the rest of the money needed to build the center made the center possible.

Claggett Creek Middle School is a part of the Salem-Keizer School District. The school district has 40,481 students that were enrolled in the 2009-2010 school year. There are 67 schools in the district, which include 45 elementary, 10 middle, 8 high, and 4 charter. More than half of the student population is considered to be living in poverty. The school district contains a diverse population of students which include, 1% African American, 1% American Indian, 2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 36% Hispanic, 4% multi-Ethnic, and 54% White. Salem-Keizer School District has programs for students with special needs. They have a TAG program, which includes 9% of the student population. 14% of students are a part of the Special Education program. There is also an ELL program, which has 18% of the student population. The top 3 languages other than English that are spoken in the schools are Spanish, Russian, and Marshallese. Salem-Keizer has 28 schools that are receiving title 1 funding.

By basing what I have seen and have looked up from other sources, the students that attend Claggett Creek Middle School come from all walks of life. I am going to have to adjust my teaching style accordingly. By looking through the neighborhoods, most of the families may middle class or lower economically. By reading about the Kroc center, this lead me to believe that many people in this area have a since of community and pride. This is something else that I have to look at when I start teaching. By looking at the percentages of different  cultures, I need to remember that not every student has experienced the same thing. This statement holds true to the students that come from different economic and social backgrounds as well. While teaching, I will need to remember that some things I will have to explain a bit more than others ( ex. not every student has experienced the ocean). It will also be important to have students share their experiences with everyone, this way we can all learn.