Citizenship & Ethics:

Citizenship & Ethics are two essential tools today because not only do you need to be diligent with the work you are doing, but you need to be diligent within your community as well. At New Tech we have to complete community service to show that we are interested in helping our community by volunteering at different places all over the county.

Example: This certificate shows that I completed 24 hours of Community Service throughout my junior year at Tech. Some of the Community Service work I have done includes volunteering at Comcast Cares Day, cleaning up the campus with the Terra Mater Club, and Volunteering once a week at the Humane Society Spay/Neuter Clinic.

Career Preparation:

Career Preparation is necessary to get you prepared for the future. It is all of the elements of what we have learned put together so that we can be prepared and ready for our potential careers.

Example: This letter shows Career Preparation because it demonstrates that I have done a lot of work in and outside of school to receive this nomination. The letter is from the National Young Leaders Conference nominating me as a National Scholar to represent the state of California in Washington D.C.

Collaboration:

Collaboration is a social skill used in today's working world involving two or more people working together. By focusing part of our grades on collaboration we are better prepared to be able to work with others later on. At New Tech most of our work is completed in groups which means we must all depend on one another to make sure all of the work is completed and well-done. This allows us to place responsibility on ourselves to get our work done and trust in our group members to get their work done; teaching us the benefits of Collaboration.

Example: This example is of a few of the comments and the grades I have received on my collaboration evaluation. At the end of each project we are required to fill out evaluations for each of our group members; writing comments and giving them an overall grade. This example shows some of the evaluations that I received throughout my junior and senior year. Collaboration Evaluations can be very beneficial because you receive a lot of feedback and constructive criticism from group members which shows us what we need to keep doing and work harder on.

Critical Thinking:

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate information in effective ways. It helps us demonstrate that we can get work done and have the talent to show that it is accurate. Critical Thinking is an essential skill used in the working world because it is necessary to accomplish many tasks given at certain jobs.

Example: This is the certificate I received for our Great Gatsby Project in my American Studies class. In the project we had to read the novel, The Great Gatsby, and then write our own original 15 minute scene as well as act it out in front of an audience. At the end the group that had the best scene would receive an automatic 100% in Critical Thinking. This certificate that shows my group had the best scene for this project, therefore showing Critical Thinking as I and only one other group member wrote the entire script.

Curricular Literacy:

Curricular Literacy means having knowledge in all areas of study. Curricular Literacy is a very important factor because to have a general knowledge of everything will help individuals to find solutions for certain problems.

Example: This example is of a grade my group and I received on a project we conducted in American Studies. This example relates to Curricular Literacy because our grade was focused on a number of things. In the project we had to make a news paper from the time of the Great Depression. The articles in the news paper were graded on a number of things: Work Ethic, Written Communication, Critical Thinking, English Content, and History Content. My group scored high in all areas and that is why this is a great example for Curricular Literacy.

Technology Literacy:

Technology Literacy is very important in today's world because technology is advancing more and more every day. Most companies in the business world are dependent on technology therefore being literate with technology is very important. By being proficient in Technology moves you ahead of other individuals that might not when working for a job.

Example: This example is of a website that I built for a project in Digital Media. The overall page was made in Flash, but all of the designs I made in Photoshop. This is an excellent example of Technology Literacy because it shows my levels of literacy in both Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash; two programs that not many are knowledgeable in.

Oral Communication:

Oral Communication is a very important aspect in today's working world due to the amount of public speaking many people have to do. Often times you will have to present new ideas to your co-workers, and the only way to do this professionally is by having Oral Communication skills. By being proficient in Oral Communication you are more easily able to sway your audience with presented confidence.

Example: This is an example of the Oral Communication grade I received on a movie pitch I and two other group members gave in our American Studies class. The project was to create a movie series on World War II: Women and Minorities, for HBO. This example shows my Oral Communication skills because it shows the critical thinking and all of the work we had to incorporate into our pitch as well as whether or not our pitch met all of the criteria.

Written Communication:

Written Communication is a very important tool in today's working world because you need to be able to express your ideas and thoughts through writing. Your writing should be effective and organized, and it should clearly state your ideas.

Example: This example is of an article I wrote on the Dust Bowl for a project we did in American Studies. For the project we had to pretend we were journalists from the Great Depression and make a news paper featuring articles written (by ourselves) taking place during the Great Depression. This example shows Written Communication because it includes the grade I received on this particular article of our news paper, which was very high.