Kerry+H.

Phase I: Who Am I? What's My Place?

> I am identified by my devotion to my family, friends and career. I believe in being the best wife, mother, friends and teacher possible. I have six children (yes six) of varying ages and personalities. They range from age 8 (twin boys) to 19 who is a recently married military wife. I have many close friends several of which I have known since childhood. I have the privilege of teaching in what I believe is one of the top high schools in North Carolina. I take pride in being a loving and devoted wife, a role model to my children, a loyal friend and a top flight teacher. I feel that I have developed a nurturing nature from my years as a mother and it often spills over into everything I do. I have worked on group projects and believe that my identity comes through. I am easy to work with and readily accept my role either as a leader or as a worker bee. My large and often crazy household demands that I be organized. This trait is necessary when working in a group setting. >
 * ** What really makes up your identity? **
 * ** What really makes up your sense of place? ** Home. There is a saying that you either work to live for live to work. While I take pride in teaching my greatest joys are found at home. My home is often a source of chaos but if also the place where I feel the most comfortable. My home is where I see my children develop and grow and is a place where my fondest memories have developed.
 * ** What roles do your identity and sense of place play when you work with others in a group project? **My identity can be summed up by one word-devotion. Whenever I work with a group I devote my time and energy to helping complete the task or project. Whatever my role may be within the group I give it my best effort.
 * **W **** hat are the qualities that you bring to the GLIP conversation that will help you make a contribution to your global group? **
 * ** What is one local problem (where you live) that you believe needs to be addressed? Suggest some steps could you take to try to solve it? ** Sadly I believe, without a doubt the scariest and biggest problem in my local community is the ever growing drug problem among teenagers in our schools. While drug use is not a new thing the prevalence among what I perceive to be kids from “good families” is growing rapidly. As parents we used to think that drug use was mainly confined to kids from poorer neighborhoods. That is simply not the case anymore. In order to fight this problem we need to quickly increase the education among parents and educators. Parents need to remove the blinders from their eyes, take control of their children and get involved in their lives. Children have been left to make their own decisions and to raise themselves while parents bury themselves in work and other life pursuits. Drugs don’t have a place in our society and certainly not in our schools.
 * ** Finally, some problems have been around for a long time. What qualities do you think a person must have to step up and try to solve them? ** Passion is a trait needed to help solve problems. A passionate person sees the need to solve a problem and won’t stop until they succeed. Leadership is another quality needed when problems arise. Some people are born to lead and some can be trained to lead. Without leadership no problem can be solved.

Phase II: Sense of Place

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My pictures are of my church (Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC) and my church's youth choir. My church represents more than just a place for Sunday worship, It represents an important part of my life. Snyder Memorial is a product of a vision created more than 60 years ago. Dr. and Mrs. Joel Synder felt a calling to build a "church on the hill". The "hill" is short for Haymount Hill which is a historic section of our city. Truth be told the church was built on a swampy area in town. Over the years this church has undergone tremendous growth and is a central point in our community. I have been a member of Synder for my whole life. My husband and I met at church and together we have raised, and our still raising our children here. I have to say that nearly all of my dearest friends are also members of Snyder. There are other churches in town that were created as offshoots of Snyder. THe second picture which is Snyder's youth choir has become a significant part of our city. This group of young people annually averages well over 100 in number. They typically do qute a bit of community service in addition to performing in annual Christmas muscial performance which touches the lives of countless thousands of people in our community and beyond. The music that they sing is always beautiful and memoriable. Four of my children have had the privilage of being members of this tremendous group.

Use these questions to help you determine which picture shows someone else why your “place” is so special to you.
 * Does a scenic picture represent the beauty you believe that your town has?
 * Does a picture of a group of people represent and show a warmth and friendliness that your town has?
 * Does a statue or building convey the feeling of history that makes your place important and unique?
 * Is there a cultural event that represents the values of your home location?

What are your initial thoughts about how your image addresses the questions above? Later, you will be working with the members of your group to create a travel package that includes visits to each group member's home location (see Phase II)

Phase III: Identify Local Issue:

What is your local issue? A hot-button issues in my community has centered around racial profiling in police searches in vehicles. There are groups within my community who feel that our police force have only conducted a majority of searches of drivers who are minorities. There was a short investigation of local police records and it was determined that they are following guidelines.

What can you do to address the issue?

I belivee as a citizen in my community I can help this issue by obeying traffice laws and living within the confines of the law even though I am not a minority I believe that all of our citizens should be treated equally and fairly. My local police department does a good job keeping our community safe and as long as they are performing their duties as they should I will support them.

What is the global impact of your local issue? Even though our society has progressed racisim still exists. There are pockets within our community and in our world which prevent racisim from dying out. As a world wide community we need to support those who enforce laws and keep us safe regardless of our race.

Add these thoughts to your Group's Discussion Forum on Local Issues