Ethnographic Conversations (6-8 ppl) Goal: Through these conversations, we aim to identify community issues and resources Parent-->

t; Espie's connection (parent center) Student--> Espie Administrator --> Principal (Cerina) Community Member --> Cerina's contact person Teacher Possibly Mrs. Rodriguez?? Isabella Elected Official--> Garvey (City Hall, phone number: (213) 485-2121) Interview Template: General: How they feel about the community themselves? How do you define community? What is your role in the community? What do would you like to see more in the community? Where do you go if you were sick? Potential users of services: Do you utilize any community resources? Do you have access to these blah blah blah services? Community members: FOCUS QUESTIONS ON CIP PROJECT HANDOUT How do you impact the community?/How does your business serve the area around Hamilton High School? Do people use it? What population does your service serve? Who has access to these services? Elected Official: Demographics Students, Parents, Administrators, Teachers: [INTERVIEWER NAME] [INTERVIEWEE NAME] [DATE] [METHOD OF INTERVIEWING] Ex. Terry Nguyen - Mr. Tran - 8/25/1998 - Phone Interview Isabella Chiang - Ms. Rodriguez - 8/21/13 - In Person Interview & email 1. How do you define community? Group of individuals who help each other in solving any problems that need to be solved; uplifting each other so that theyre on the same level. Harder to get people to care. Everyone is involved & helps each other out. 2. What is your role in the community? Teacher. Not role model, but example. I am a product of this high school. Tells kids about what it was like when she used to go to the highschool. Students are able to see example of what they could be. She was a huge slacker in highschool. Wants to show the children that they CAN SUCCEED. Kids just need to be getting that wake-up call.

3. How do you feel about the community? Mixed feelings. She left the community after graduating because she didnt like to be in a big city so she went to undergrad at UCSC. She first started teaching at East LA. After teaching there, it changed her perspective; it had a homogenous Mexican American culture. She liked that community because there was so much that the kids didnt get at home that she could give to them; and she was able to help. Now, as much as she likes this community, she still wants to help those that dont have any[thing]. There are so many resources here. A LOT of connections e.g. UCLA afterschool program. Back in East LA, they were close to CalState LA, but there were no connections. The kids here have a lot of benefits. She is used to working in low-income environments; she is aware of body language. Some of the kids here can be bratty. Outside of the school context, the neighborhood has a lot of children now so it is much more kid friendly, didnt used to be. Its more comfortable now and a lot safer. 4. What would you like to see more of in the community? Not sure, still learning. Things have changed. 5. Where do you go when you are sick? via email 6. Do you use any community resources? If so, which ones? Are there enough resources? via email 7. What do you think of the communitys general health? via email Garvey Su - Paul Koretz - 11/27/2013 - Phone Interview A government teacher, Wayne Johnson, got him more interested in politics, significant source of inspiration. Walked a picket line with him when teachers in Hamilton went on strike; friend at UCLA Bruin Democratic club helped more interest, ran for city council, Koretz ran his campaign as deputy, friend retired and Koretz ran and won his seat. Played a very direct role. 1. How do you define community? About Hamilton, very educated and involved. Get a lot of feedback on issues, lot of good ideas about legislation and changes in the local area, get a lot of complaints. If things not going well, people let him know. Great community to represent, lot of bright people and smart ideas, been a great pleasure. Only oddity is that South Robertson area of Hamilton, commercial area never becomes that successful; generally non-descript businesses, most storefronts not fixed up and not looking very well. Nobodys banded together and created a nice district (like the arts) to give it an identity. Fair amount of community members asked him to provide guidance to build it up. 2. How have you been involved in the community recently? Just met with South Robertson neighborhood council and had a discussion; biggest problem and concern is proliferation of illegal marijuana. Other suggestion is the business community (described in #4). One other issue is Beverly Wood traffic thats generated by projects; traffic spilled from the city over to Beverly Wood, streets becoming too congested. 3. Could you describe some of the demographics around Hamilton?

Demographics interesting; when he was in Hamilton, had a big issue about integration and bussing to school; Hamilton was already integrated, but there was a divide on Robertson. Blacks were east of Robertson, Whites were west; worked out to be a very integrated school. Every other school was trying to artificially integrate, Hamilton at the time was a perfect way to do it. Interesting mix, broader community include black, white, Jewish, orthodox Jewish; little bit north we have other minorities. Hamilton has changed over time; when the bus issue occurred, a lot of white flight to private schools. Large percentage of white families in Hamilton involved in magnet programs that pull them back in (Music, for example). 4. What are some issues within the community that you can identify right now? Only oddity is that South Robertson area of Hamilton, commercial area never becomes that successful; generally non-descript businesses, most storefronts not fixed up and not looking very well. Nobodys banded together and created a nice district (like the arts) to give it an identity. Fair amount of community members asked him to provide guidance to build it up. No reason why its not successful; close to people. 5. What resources or services are there within the community that deals with some of the issues you mentioned? Development issues dealt with neighborhood council and homeowners association; put pressure on Koretzs office to deal with the traffic problem. 6. Any health or social services offered? Most social services targeted towards seniors; meal programs, senior centers, one thing done in budget process is funding meals-on-wheels but was cut by federal government, so pushed city to cover that so the couple thousand seniors werent left without food. Some social services related to homeless; program called PATH that pulls homeless into their transitional housing and identifies their problems (drug or mental issues, for example) and deal with their problems and give them a job to save money. Very intensive; drop in the bucket compared to the need.

Debbie Galo-School Staff (Interviewed by Esperanza Ochoa) Business and Organizational (Health, Community, and Social Services) Reflection in which you synthesize and analyze what you learned about the related issues and resources in

the community from these interviews. Be sure to include direct quotes and excerpts from the interviews. Debbie Galo, a parent representative at the Hamilton High School Parent Center, described the community around Hamilton as active because of the many activities that happen in the community all year round. The neighborhood council, known as Zorro, is the main organization that organizes event around the year: the Robertson Festival open for all the community members, the Alumni Reunion in which Hamilton students reunite, and others. The Zorro council, is one of the community programs that creates spaces for the whole family to be involved Debbie also described the community as diverse, especially because Hamilton High School serves students from different ethnicities. There is also a diverse class status on one side of Robertson thee is the wealthy upper middle class and on the other the working class. There are African Americans, Hispanic, Caucasian, Jewish, Asian and Middle Eastern students. As a parent representative, Debbie goes to parent council district meetings, where she gets information on what the district feels are good ways to get the parents involved in the program. Through that training, the parents representatives organized workshops. Few of those workshops is to teach parents how to teach their teen get to college or what questions to ask, FAFSA workshops or college workshops. One of the things that Debbie things the community things is more parent involvement because teenagers do need their parents in high school. She noticed that parents are involved but those involved are those that dont need to because their kids are doing well. She mentioned how parents should be able to ask their child: did you do your homework or what did you do in school? Debbie recognizes two community services that she is part of: One is the hospital service. In terms of insurance, she has a private insurance called Cedarsinar located in Robertson and Beverly at the Beverly Center. She said that only people with insurance can take part of that benefit. The other service she recognized is the bus, specially the blue bus because she herself commutes. When I asked her what impact she can make in the community she said: I like to feel used as a parent representative connecting with the parents. However, I can only serve the parents if they care. She also said she wants to work with both parents and students. She also said that there are few things that can be improved in the school. For once , Hamilton doesnt have a college career center anymore. Since the school cant afford it anymore, one of the school counsellors took it upon themselves to continue the career services. Collectively all teachers and staff update regularly the scholarship website. Debbie herself was a student at Hamilton High School. Ever since her graduation, she noticed that there were things added to the school that made it improved its conditions. Things like: painting, cement on the floor, chairs and tables added with umbrellas, more gym weight machines and a parking lot added. She also noticed how that the UCLA involvement in Hamilton, going now for 3 years, specially the after school tutoring at the cafeteria. She supports the program Communities in Schools where UCLA students work with students who struggle in school and work with him 1-1. She also noticed that parents

like this too because sometimes the parents pick them up from them.

Milton Arze- Hamilton Student (Interviewed by Esperanza Ochoa) He is a sophomore at Hamilton, a recent immigrant from El Salvador. He lives in La Cienega. He rides the expo line from La Cienega to School. Coming from El Salvador, he thinks the neighborhood is quiet and secure. La insertidumbre del pais no esta, que se siente en un pais inseguro. (The insecurities he feels from insecure countries are absent in this community. The families that he encounters treat each other well; he notices that they are educated. He notices that the community people are nice- the people have good habits, Buenos habitos no tiran la basura en la calle, en forma de manejar en su conducta. Milton wants to study, he wants to finish high school and ser util a la comunidad [para] ayudar en lo que se puede, (be useful in the community to help in what is needed. He wants to help out in the community in whatever is needed. He personally wants to talk to people that are addicts, drug or alcoholic, to tell them what they are doing is wrong and that they should stop. When I asked him why, he said because it looks bad, its unnecessary. He thinks they only do it because they want people to see them. They are just wasting their time and money. He thinks another way the community could be better is if they are friendlier towards each other, especially to those that need food, para que sea una comudidad unida (so it could a unified community). Milton uses several community services, including the bus, the park, and Starbucks. When I asked him if he has free access to health services, he said he doesnt. When I asked him what impact he has in the community, he said he already helps the elderly a lot by helping them with big bags when they are crossing the streets.

Parent Interview Record (By Esperanza Ochoa) The parents think that the area around Hamilton High School is nice not that bad. They think its full of questionable characters. However they always feel safe because its really close to

the west side. Sometimes they get weird feelings from there though-it gives off a sense of hopelessness. When I asked then how they define the area they said well its where the 10 meets the 405. They also defined it as a thriving community. Culver City was run down- it was a good area, it is prospering, a lot of people are doing better, its the central location, and the transportation is better. When I asked them what their role is as parents, they said our role is to make sure my parents are safe. As parents, they would like to see more activities in the community that would help the young and the adolescents. They think the youth should be engaged in activities that would keep them out of the streets, basically, that would keep them from going on the wrong path. When they get sick, they go to free clinics, because they dont have insurance. When I asked them what services they used they said they use the bus. They dont use the library and one of them wants to learn English. When I told him about the adult school, he said he will look into it. As parents, they said they can impact the community by being good parents to our children. They would like to participate in spaces where jparents from the community can get involved.

Ethnographic Conversations: Interview Reflections Based off of the interviews we conducted, we learned that many of the community members have similar thoughts and ideas about the community around Hamilton High. They feel that the community is safe and full of diverse people, ranging from blacks and whites to Asians, Jewish, and other minorities. Because some members went to Hamilton High School in the past, they recognize that the community has "become more kid-friendly" (Ms. Rodriguez) and the school is now "involved in programs that bring students back in, like magnet schools" (Koretz).

However, they still admit that more programs and activities, particularly involving the parents, could be used to keep students and kids off the streets. They generally feel that the community is coming along nicely and do not have any significant problems aside from a few run-down areas that could use some improvement. In terms of social and health resources, the members said there are a wide variety of resources available, and judging by the diversity of their answers, we see that there are many resources catering to specific audiences or groups. Koretz stated that "most social services targeted towards seniors", and that they even have a budget to support that. The parents take advantage of the free clinics for their health issues, but the student, Milton Arze, claim he does not have access to that. This means that the adults are particularly aware of the resources, but not the teenagers within the community, for whatever reason. This could definitely be proof that parent-student involvement is helpful in assisting the students with Hamilton, and allowing parents more responsibility to keeping the community safe and kids off the streets. Overall, we gained some helpful insight into the differences of awareness of the social and health resources between parents and kids, insured and uninsured, and this knowledge helped us develop our focus for our CIP. We also learned a lot of information about the community in general, such as demographics, changes within the past few years, and existing problems being addressed.