Kirsten Manriquez
Managing Editor
For my topic I have chosen to focus on how domestic Violence effects children, not just short term but also long term. This is a topic I feel needs more attention brought too, and we as a community need to come together for these children.
For this magazine project I have submitted a persuasion effects video, an informative article, flash memoir and two notebook assignments. Video I have created explaining the effects domestic violence can have on children as well as what we can do to help. You can also find an informative article on my page stating several facts and statistics surrounding violence in the home when children are involved. My flash memoir is a short story about a dear childhood friend I had growing up and how the violence of her father had affected her and her younger siblings. For the two notebook assignments I have submitted a word cloud displaying powerful and disturbing words describing domestic violence and an infographic.
This project has taught me a lot about myself not just as a writer but also as a person. I now have a great understanding about the assorted styles and techniques to use to help get my message a crossed to my audience.
Allyson Rolfe
Research Editor
My subject as poverty connects with the reading and effects of domestic violence on children in several ways. If someone is living in poverty, chances are they are more concerned with keeping a roof over their head and may have to move around a lot, which could result in their children missing multiple days of school and not getting a consistent learning method. Domestic violence may happen to those in poverty due to tensions running high and the frustrations of not being able to provide for their family. My main objective for putting the pieces I did in the magazine are to open people's eyes to what people suffering from poverty are going through. There is so much more going on besides living on very little money per day. Seeing people go through something so devastating, often times through no fault of their own, is heart breaking and people are often very quick to judge others.
How would you feel if you knew that someone you deeply cared for was suffering from not only being hungry, but they also couldn't read and they witnessed their parent beating the other up on a nightly basis? What steps would you take to help out that person, or would you just sit by and hope that by ignoring it, the problem will go away?
Russ Fugal
Visual Editor
I started researching how children learn to read because of my daughter’s love for stories. I wasn’t an avid reader, but my daughter wanted me to read to her for hours a day. She is very precocious in a lot of ways, just not when it came to reading, not until we found an unconventional method which did not frustrate her. I started researching my topic, how reading is taught and why learning to read is a struggle, because of my daughter’s love of reading. Though early attempts to help her learn how to read were frustrating, she never experienced the kind of struggle which I now focus on.
It’s interesting how my focus has shifted from precocious readers to struggling readers over the years. The more I write on the subject the more I come to realize that learning to read did not come easy for me. This is an important topic because most of us forget how we struggled with learning to read unless our struggles were really pronounced. It is hard for us to empathize with struggling readers because reading has become so natural for us. However, the effects of that struggle are often long lasting. For example, I love good fiction in the form of audiobooks and streaming video but I struggle with reading fiction even though I am now a good reader and I do read a lot of non-fiction.
The same can be said for the struggles of poverty and domestic violence. While these memories are often longer lasting and enduring through older ages, they are often not confronted head on especially if the situation is resolved or left behind. While memories fade, the effects are far more persistent.
I appreciated being able to focus this semester on writing memoir, profile, and informative and persuasive essays. I have chosen to publish a profile of my little brother who struggled far more when learning to read than I did, and to publish and informative and a persuasive piece. I consider myself and my brother lucky. Had we been raised in different circumstances our academic and life prospects could have been far different. I write about learning to read to help those other children, my kindred readers, share in my fortune.