Rich Kavalauskas '10 - Being from Chicago , I did not really know what more I could get from spending a week in my hometown. Well, it turns out that I am learning something new  every day. Prosser Career Academy is the school I have focused on these last few days and it has definitely been an eye-opening experience. Two issues I would like to discuss are technology and culture.

After student-teaching for a few weeks at Crawfordsville High School , I cannot help but recognize the huge disparity in technology between the two schools. In comparison to the well equipped Crawfordsville High School , Prosser considers it a lucky day if they have one copy machine fully functional. How does a high school not have a copy machine that works? Computers for student use come rare. Over the last two days I have seen more double-spaced handwritten papers than I have my entire lifetime, which leads me to my point: how does a CPS school like Walter Payton, Whitney Young, etc. have the latest technology, whereas teachers at Prosser are lucky if they can Xerox today’s quiz?

This experience caused me to reflect on my own style of teaching. I depended a whole lot on technology during a two-week session in which I taught sophomore English at CHS but what if I had been at a school like Prosser? Despite Prosser’s lack of technology, I have been able to witness exceptional teaching first hand. I am constantly learning on a daily basis, whether it is how to teach a specific lesson or handle a certain situation, this experience has definitely been beneficial to my future teaching career.

After school today, we had two groups split up and explore Chinatown and the Pilsen neighborhood. I was assigned to Pilsen and was able to experience some of the most amazing murals I have ever seen. It seems like every time you turn a corner, your eyes are bestowed upon some gigantic mural on the side of a building. We also had the opportunity to walk the neighborhood a bit and chat with vendors. Although I just finished Spanish 201, the vendor spoke a bit too fast for my comprehension (Sorry Prof. Gomez). Vendors are a common sight in Pilsen, selling everything from snow cones to tamales. Thanks to Chris Schweigel’s (aka Dragon) sweet 5 mega-pixel camera phone, we were able to get a couple snapshots while in Pilsen.