This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that black people are a key example to why America is not fulfilling to the country it seems to be. It also includes references to the following modern events: the Black Lives Matter Movement and police brutality.

The BLM movement fought for their rights just like the union and the rebels.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues unity has been primarily lost as of late, in the midst of protests, while in turn people have been working harder than ever to make up for it. It also includes references to the following modern events: George Floyd protests & riots.

This essay is about American core values, equality and peace and in this essay we talk about black lives matter with equality and peace in America with all that is going on with protests and anti protesters

In this essay, I describe how the U.S. is not currently living up to their American values of equality and unity. The leaders of our country is dividing the country for politics rather than unifying. This is making our country more two sided than ever before. To add on, another American value not given to us is equality. Equality is not given to people in the work place, on the streets, and so many other ways. That is why there are protests and riots all around the United States. BLM movement is doing something to change this. These American values will be given to the people of this country.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that America is not living up to its core values. It also includes references to the following modern events involving: COVID-19 and immigration in America.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues how the values of equality and the right to protest are not being lived up to by Americans today. It also includes references to the following modern events: The core values of equality and the right to protest are not being lived up to today. Today, COVID-19 pandemic is spreading and normalizing racial inequality towards Asians. The president is adding on to this situation by constantly using the terms "China Virus" and "Kung FLu" even when many people pointed it out to him that it was considered racist. Additionally, the Black Lives Matter movement helps to support how the law enforcement is violating the basic right to protest. Peaceful protesters gathered to show their support for blm however the police dispersed the crowds by using excessive force.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" 2020 has been rough year for everyone but there are certain things such as cancel culture and censorship on social media platforms that has become a big problem.

My essay is telling you how America is working as a community to help stop/slow the spread of corona virus.

The reason why it's important is because many people are being discriminated against or being killed due to hate or their skin color, religion background, sexuality and etc. Also America needs to improve it's equality a little bit better.

I submitted this because I want to share to people that they need to know their rights before they do something that can get them in trouble

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that equality and freedom were once core values and they are not being lived up to today in America. It also includes references to the following modern events: BLM protests and recent trials.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that the two core values of Equality and Fairness, are not being valued near as much in today's day in society.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that America is living up to it's core value of hard-work which is shown by Americans' beliefs about work, but it is not living up to it's value of equality as it can still be seen in many areas today. It also includes references to the following modern examples: inequality in the workplace and Americans caring more about work than most other countries. This essay looks at when these values were introduced and how well America is currently doing at keeping up with these values.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that America is currently not living up to one of its key values, equality, because of the racial disparity and gender inequality that still happen in today’s society. For example, there is still police brutality against black Americans and the Pink Tax. People now are protesting against these issues and bringing light to inequality in America, especially in support of black Americans.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues America's failure at equality leads to the people using their right of protest and dissent. It also includes references to the following modern events: black lives matter movement, police brutality, gender inequality, and women's marches.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that America is not living up to its core values and people do not get the rights that are promised when living here.It also includes references to the following modern events such as the black lives matter protests.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues America has not lived up to the core value of equality that it promised, yet alleges that it has maintained its promise of freedom. It also includes references to the following modern events: the blm movement and the freedom of protest

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues America is not currently living up to its American values as it is shown through our legal system and African Americans lives.

this is a essay writen for american studies about how modern americans are living up to our values of eficency and protest.

I believe that America is living up to it's current values that rose with the start of this great country. Values of equality and productivity.

This essay argues that America is currently not living up to the core values of equality and diversity. Includes information from presidential debate, women in politics, and Companies that are owned by People of color.

This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that the BLM movement is taking advantage of its core values or equality and protest. It also includes references to the following modern events: BLM and riots

this is an essay that i wrote in high school responding to the prompt "is America currently living up to its values" I argued that we were and used the BLM movement to prove it

This assignment is part of the American Studies classes at California High School in San Ramon, California.

This curriculum was designed for a junior level US History course. Students are asked to identify core American values and to formulate a claim in response to the essential question, "Is America currently living up to its core values?" The curriculum and student essays are being submitted to the JOTPY archive to provide a picture of how teenagers view America as a whole in 2020. They also give insight into the vast array of perspectives teenagers living during the COVID-19 pandemic have based on the diversity of their current life experiences.

2020 has been a constant spiral downward since the beginning of the year and now has reached a new low with the outbreak of the corona virus. It has hindered our ability to get together and finish off the school year forcing us apart to complete it online. A time for celebration ruined as we were nearing the end of the school year and the class of 2020 missing out on there most important event of the school; graduation as it signifys there moving on up in life. The photograph represents the tracking of cases which is just getting higher and higher as it continues to spread causing the closure of public spaces. So far this year has been tragic and we have all lost things and the road to recovery is still a ways ahead so we must continue to move forward.

COVID-19 has definitely altered my daily life. I am having a hard time adjusting to online school. I have never been good at managing my time, but now it is crucial that I learn. Now that I am no longer attending school physically, I watch my siblings everyday. As a result, I have fallen behind in several of my classes, including this one. It upsets me that every teacher assigns about 2-3 things everyday. Despite the fact that I do not learn anything from it, I feel extremely overwhelmed- especially with AVID! AVID still expects us to turn in binder checks every week and do tutorials. To me, it seems inconsiderate to ask for so much since we are still trying to adapt to our normal classes let alone our elective. I would appreciate it if they were to start assigning things little by little instead of ambushing us with so much work because COVID-19 has impacted the roles we play in our family. A lot of us have to watch our younger siblings and take care of our homes, which are both time consuming. I do not seek pity I just want to teachers to be more flexible and understanding. I also hate the fact that AP exams were online this year. I hate that a couple of FRQs determined whether or not I would receive college credit. I feel like I did well in APUSH, but I am not as confident with HUG. I would be lucky if I passed. I do not think a couple of FRQs can accurately reflect a years worth of knowledge. APHUG was one of the best and most interesting classes I have taken at GGHS, but I am afraid my FRQs were not enough to even earn me a 3 because I am not stong in writing. I was hoping that I could prove myself through other parts of the test such as MC, but obviously I could not. I also do not think its fair that some students got easier prompts.

The day of the AP exam is usually a huge celebration, where I decorate the room for a giant pre-party, with every kids' name on the wall, cupcakes, brownies, balloons, confetti - the works. It is always a surprise for them - then we take a picture in our matching t-shirts, they go test, and afterwards (around lunch), they come back and we have a post party. This year, this could not happen. I made each of my 175 students a TikTok, and then we had a zoom after the test. The celebration is usually one of my favorite days of the year, as it is so important to me to celebrate my kids' achievement, regardless of what the score says in July. It feels so empty not having that moment together.

These past months were mentally and physically draining for me. This pandemic has ruined relationships but also founded new relationships with new people. I miss school, I miss being in class, and I miss seeing my friends. Being at home all day and not being able to see my friend has taken a toll on me and has made me feel so lonely like freshman year when I was new to public school. This pandemic has made me realize that school is awesome. The idea of being able to learn through teacher-student interactions and friends has made me miss school even more. Not only school, but, sports. Being a huge NBA fan, my favorite player will always be Lebron James and hearing the head director of the NBA saying that the season will most likely be postponed has hurt me emotionally because I would love to see Lebron raise that trophy and scream "this is for you kobe." It also sucks knowing one of the best parts in life which is high school, is being postponed due to a virus.

This meme helps to describe the demand to reopen the country for their personal needs while disregarding the importance of social distancing.

Being at home all day isn't fun at all. It is for certain that I miss my normal life. Now that this pandemic has almost taken over the US, we have no other option than to stay home and keep ourselves preoccupied. There is one important thing that we must do. We must fix our broken families. It is common for families to have their bad moments and have people in the family not necessarily agree with everyone's actions but that must end now. For any broken family we must take this time to heal the wounds in the family and come together to accept one another's flaws and or differences. As a human I make mistakes and I do argue with my siblings and parents but that needs to change. I am not the only one who may have problems with their families at times. Sometimes we just feel as if we aren't living up to the expectations or standards of our families but as I said, we need to take this time to fix that and heel any problems. We must come together and have respect for one another and have tolerance. I have not taken the time to sit down with my family and simply restore what was before but I will as everyone should and stay positive, only hoping for the better.

The pandemic has not hit my area to hard, I have not experienced much difficulty besides with the food that I eat and the access to the gym. When my family goes to the local store for groceries and supplies it is limited in what I can buy but overall, we manage the necessities. My real hardship comes with access to the gym, I truly miss the gym, there were so many weights and machines, it allowed me to...basically edit my body through time and hard work and I thoroughly enjoyed that feeling of process, that I was reaching my goal. Although due to the COVID-19 situation I cannot go to the local gym and therefore must rely on home workouts with a limited variety of weights, this restriction makes it much harder to keep progress up and get the results I am working towards. This situation of constantly being at home makes me want to sit and laze about but as long as one keeps the mind set on progress, even if slower, they can make it. I encourage others to pursue their goals as much as they can, make the best of a bad situation and start an inner journey, pick up hobbies such as painting, gardening, or reading, I know for sure that this time has allowed me to read and really understand literature more. Pick up upon hobbies that don't pose a threat to others and the time will pass and you will gain much from this as I am doing now. This time is difficult yes, but altogether, pales in comparison to others during this time.

Like everybody else, I have recently spent the majority of my days at home. I can say that I have had my fair share of ups and downs, some that I never even saw coming, but I think that there is a lot that I can take from my time in isolation. Of course, I really miss some things about my normal life such as talking to my friends every day at school and practicing for my school's track and field team, but in the end, I realize that I have to fix my head onto the present and do what I need to do right now until the whole COVID-19 pandemic blows over. I joined my school's track and field jumps team this year, and as season approached, I was stoked to see where my performance would stand. I actually felt as if I had found a hobby that I genuinely enjoyed doing, and even better, it was productive too. Its hard knowing that something so out of my control impacted my life as well as the lives of those around me so much, but at the same time, I have to remember that there are countless other people that have it way worse than I do. I would say that I am upset about not being able to experience track season this year, but I can always look forward to the next, or at least the possibly of there being a "next season". As for some other student athletes, they have it worse. Many seniors did not get to have their final moments in their athletic career, and worse, they won't get the graduation they looked forward to. It is sad when you realize that so many people have been affected by this pandemic, but it is important to look forward in the face of adversity. I admit that I spent way too much time complaining about what I won't get to experience because of the corona virus, but I recently began to see the lesson that this quarantine is trying to teach me, to teach all of us. For anyone awake during these uncertain times, it seems as if the year somehow gets worse and worse every month. As disaster rears its head, we must act appropriately in order to turn each moment of misfortune into a learning experience. I am grateful for what this quarantine has helped me realize, because with all of this time reflecting, I feel like I was given the time to really think about my past and my regrets. It would have been easy for me to say that this pandemic has made me miserable, but I want to bring light to such a dark time by acknowledging the positives I have been obtaining from this quarantine. Although many of us have lost a lot, there is always hope for new opportunities in the future.

For many Americans in the middle of this pandemic, not being able to go outside understandably sucks. Personally, I also wish that I could go back outside and talk with friends after being inside for so long. But, I have a friend to stick with me in the middle of this disaster of a year- called video games. They're a life-saver, and have saved me from many hours of boredom, and even allow me to be with friends in a way I can't in real life.

I feel like 2020 has been the year of major downfalls; every month has had some type of huge incident that has shaken up social media and the world. The pandemic has shown the World what human nature is like in desperate times; Riots that force cities that open up their hair salons and beaches because they believe that going outside is more important than being quarantined and protecting our young children and elderly. Although I miss my friends and I miss going out and I miss normal social interaction, I have not yet stooped down to that level. The quarantine and self teaching tactics that my school has imposed on me has led me to procrastinate more on my works. It did not hit me that AP Tests were rapidly approaching until the week of. It did not hit me that finals are slowly approaching as the year comes to a close. I have many friends that have begun to ignore work, now that my school has implemented the ‘pass/fail’ system. No one likes this system, but no one tries to tell the school otherwise. As for me, I have spent my time reveling in self pity and watching anime. However, in watching the various characters and story lines, I have come to the conclusion that I do not want to be someone that wallows in self pity. The characters in the shows, albeit fictional, represent various aspects of my life that I want to better; from being more social to enhancing my skill set, the possibilities are endless as the quarantine goes on. The photo I submitted has impacted me, as it is both promoting the usages of masks and the characters in that particular show always strive to be better than everyone else. There are also many other shows that have pushed me into becoming better. Despite being sheltered from the outside world, I think I can benefit from the quarantine through improving myself and my self-esteem, so that when people see me next time I am a new and improved version of myself. Many other people have that same mindset, doing various things to make themselves look better when the quarantine is over. From dying their hair to various colours, to shaving all of their hair/cutting bangs, and even working out more often in order to come back to society with an amazing body, everyone can agree that they are trying out new things in order to expand their horizons and to cope with not being able to visit their friends as often.

I have been in online school for over 2 months now, it is strange and a huge adjustment. It has been a huge challenge mentally. To go from seeing people and your teachers to seeing them through tiny squares on a screen, those screens often lagging or glitching to keep you from being able to hear them. Which is causing flaws in our learning since we can not fully hear our teachers or fellow classmates. But worst of all is feeling alone since during these times are teachers are not checking up on us to see if we understand the work or to see if we are all OK. We had AP tests a few weeks ago, these were odd and felt like college board was doing it just so they didn't have to refund every student, it was weird not having the same AP day jitters you would usually get. I feel like students are getting almost more work now that they are home and are getting assignments on the weekends for multiple classes which is causing them to feel like there is school 24/7 and it is mentally draining and feels like we have no time to relax in this stressful and anxious time.

Even in these times that are abnormal we have to all move on together in order to rebuild what has been lost these past few months. Because we were not ready for this outbreak we felt the full wrath of what a disease could do to us. The grief and sadness we feel for the people have died due to the virus is what should motivates us to prevent it in the future but in order to do so we must be able to continue like our normal life but with a few changes like being at home and not going out as much. The reason why I submitted the photo was because of the intense news coverage and traction was needed to track and follow the virus due to the rapid spread of it. It spread like wildfire as everyone was close by due to the dense population of major cities around the world which led us down on the path we are now.

Since the suspension of in- person classes, my grades have suffered tremendously. The learning experience is completely different and all the due dates and quiz times are hard to keep up with. It was so much easier to handle my school work when there was a physical place to go to everyday where all learning would take place. The object i have attached is a video from the social media platform TikTok that describes how the pandemic has affected my education. During quarantine i have been on this app a lot and find comfort in the videos i see about the coronavirus and quarantine, it reminds me that everyone around the world is going through the same thing and we are all united in our experiences.

Right now, things have been tiring. With all the chaos and protests going on, it's really hard to just think about schoolwork. I hope that things will eventually end soon (happily) and I hope that all the protesters get out safely. Because our people is so fed up, the pandemic doesn't even faze us anymore. What happened to George Floyd was despicable and people are done waiting. As for staying at home, the only thing that bothers me is the absence of my teachers. My friends are cool but social media exists for a reason, I'd be lying if I said I missed my friends.

The COVID-19 has affected us all tremendously, including oursleves the students. Some who wanted to strive in their spring sports, live out their last high school year and be able to walk across the stage and say that they finally did it, all the hours of homework, the football games, the dances, the tests, procrasination, drama and time they put was worth it. But on March 13, a friday little did we know that in Garden Grove, our whole community would change tremendously. As the days passed by, we were being transmitted to more online work, more restrictions, more work, and take more precautions. At first, as being a student myself, I was not worried about it at all and was happy at the fact that we were not going to school for two weeks. But two weeks turned into a month, then 2 months, and until the end of the school year. As a Junior in high schoolm that changed my academic life more. I was not able to take the SAT, i was not able to take my AP exam in school, finish junior year. This whole pandemic has shaped now the way we look at life, and let us see the things that we so call hate like school , is something that connects us to peers and gives us a better opportunity at learning the material.

The story I uploaded is my personal and serious experience with the pandemic. I outlined my thoughts and feelings, and every important detail that I felt was a highlight of the COVID-19 experience. What I've submitted is important to me because it captures my story. I have a voice to finally represent what is possibly one of the most pivotal times in not just America, but the world as well.

Okay, this whole coronavirus got me feeling both anxious and relaxed at the same time. I know it’s contradicting, but the reason I feel this way is because an immature part of me wishes this pandemic to reach something higher so it would give it that movie-style feel to it. Sort of in the way the movie “World War Z” depicted that a virus from China had gotten out of control and went to wipe out most of humanity by turning it into fast, zombie like things that only seeked to find an uninfected human to bite, and move on to the next. But then again, I come to my senses and realize that it’s not what I want; I don’t want the destruction of the world as I know it. And even though I know this pandemic won’t go to those great lengths, I just sort of want my “normal” life back, that is, back in school, back with my friends or whatever. On the other hand, I feel relaxed too, as the pressure of the monotonous school routine is not there anymore, I feel free.

During this quarantine, I've picked up new hobbies like working out or making new food. I've focused on myself a lot and done things to keep me sane during this time of uncertainty.

This quarantine experience has been interesting to deal with. Ever since the stay at home order was issued, I haven't been doing much at home. While I still have school and a few other stuff, I can't do much. I was looking forward to swim season to start because, well I love swimming. I was able to go to practice for about a month until the school closed. We were only able to play a few games against ourselves and had one home game. I was pretty bummed that we didn't have an away game, but it's better than getting exposed to the virus. Am I disappointed that the swim season ended? Yes. If I was a senior I would be pretty bummed out about that, but since I'm not, then hopefully maybe next year. Going back to staying at home all I've been doing is doing schoolwork, chores, and some games. Fun right. I would try to go outside, but I'm not sure if I want to. But there was something that I needed to do and that was to study for my AP exams. Since this year's AP exams were going to be online and were an open note, I didn't know how I was supposed to study. About a month before the exam I was questioning how I would study, but with some help with my teachers, I was able to find a way until the day of the exam. I was scared because I felt like I wasn't ready and also scared that my score wouldn't be submitted and I'd have to take it again in June. But to my surprise, I feel like I did fine (not the best, but good enough for me). Honestly, nothing, as changed for me since even before the stay at home order, was issued I was already inside. However, I enjoyed the feeling that I was able to go somewhere and that I wasn't forced to stay home 24/7. I know that things won't go back to normal right away (even with the vaccine) and everyone's lives are going to be effective, but we will all be waiting that all of this will be over.

Kyle Kuzma posted a picture of recent events that said “this virus been around for 400+ years. Still no vaccine”. This talks about how as people have have chosen to ignore the disease that was already among us. We are taught that this nation is supposed to be the example that every other nation must follow. In history we are told that this nation is built on principles and that “ all men are created equal “ and have “ certain unalienable rights ”, but as history teaches us, that was a lie. Time and time again, we have seen riots, protests, violence, uprisings. We have seen people being discriminated against and killed for something they have no control over. How mush more violence do we have to seen in order for there to be change? This isn’t something new. We have seen it before. Slaves revolting against their “ masters ” for rights they should’ve had as human beings. We had a whole war over it. In fact, we don’t even have to go back that far, Martin Luther King Jr., The Black Panther Organization, Malcom X. These are people who have given their lives for the simple equal rights promised when this nation was built. They gave their lives and it still wasn’t enough. 1992, Rodney King was beaten by police officers and it was caught on film and those officers were found not guilty, Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a store owner and the jury didn’t rejected a harder sentence. Riots destroyed LA, people and businesses died. It took that in order for action to be taken. Protesters riot, loot, and assemble to be heard. There is no rules to protest, there is no right way to protest. That is what a protest is. I am ashamed that it is a constant issue in which the US does not learn from their mistakes. Let’s not repeat history again. That is the point of learning about history, for us to see the mistakes made and grow to be a better society. There doesn’t need to be more death, more violence. It’s time to treat people right. It’s time for change.

My story is Covid-19 has affected me a lot both mentally and physically. Before quarantine, I consider myself to be a super productive person until this lockdown, I found myself sleeping at 3 a.m. and shamelessly starting my day at 10 p.m. Due to this sleeping pattern, I’ve lost a lot of weight and even question if I’m anorexic. Having a bad sleeping habit is not enough for me, I began to procrastinate and never had the motivations to do my work. I missed my friends and really wanted to go out again. Overall, this pandemic experience took a great great toll on my daily life (which could’ve be fixed easily if I wasn’t born lazy).

This is the story of the riots and protests following the murder of George Floyd by 4 police officers. This shows that even in a pandemic people are still willing to fight the unjust and racist police system, even preparing to get tear gassed during the protests and filming it all to account for any injustice acts by the police. It especially shows the reality of having such an incompetent, unjust, racist president at this time; he is someone who refers to white protesters protesting the stay at home orders as "very nice people" while referring to black protesters fighting for human rights and equality "THUGS." Not only this but he publicly stated on twitter that the police are allowed to shoot protesters, threatening them basically.

Every year there is a gathering held by an organization named WGI in Dayton Ohio for drumlines across the US to perform one last time. This is also the yearly championships that everyone has looked forward to the most because they may be able to see their friends from distant states. Also with the fact that only people the age of 22 or under are able to participate in these groups makes it even more saddening as they have to give up their last year being able to perform music with their closest friends. Although this age limit has been raised another year for all members of these groups from this year, this still doesn't make up for the fact that many people have already set plans for after they finish as well. Overall all these people have to give up all their hard work trying to audition for groups and long hours of practice. Not being able to have one final moment with their closest peers as sometimes people aren't able to attend high school together and have no other way of seeing them again. This virus has taken so much away from people whether it's the last moments of high school or the last time being able to perform and watch your closest friends perform.

The cartoon indicates that the COVID- 19 pandemic is not just a mortality and public health crisis but also a political, economic and social crisis. The pandemic affects business and the economy that cause political and social conflict on the closure of businesses that affect employment. However, the main point of the cartoon is to promote precaution of the virus and encourage people to stay at home for the sake of their and everyone's safety as an effort to fight against Corona which has proven to be difficult. From what I've seen so far when going out in public, most people doesn't really follow the social distance rule or staying at home even though it is highly recommended countless of times on news. My aunt did not take strict safety precautions such as wearing mask and gloves even if she do not lack any of these supplies or reuse the supplies over and over again because she was afraid of wasting it. She was soon involve in a Corona case where her colleges at her workplace was contaminated so she have to get tested. My whole family and I was shock and scare upon the news because we were afraid that she would be contaminated and spread it onto her family, fortunately, it was negative. I hope that she have understand the situation better and take better precautions for the sake of her family and herself. I understand that these type of protection supplied are limited and expensive at this time, but we should always put our health and life above everything else and make sure that the supplies your using is clean and safe, even if you have to find alternative ways like using a washable mask.