Our Mission


     Nothing will improve without knowing the presence of something better. For example, your city cannot improve without knowing any way to improve or how it compares to other cities of the same population. Therefore, the goal of our research project is aimed at showing how well our cities are doing. We, the students of Mr. Haskvitz’s eighth grade social studies class, have conducted extensive and thorough research regarding the vital statistics of cities across the nation and our home state, California.
     At the end of March, we will grade our city, Walnut, with a “report card” comparing it to the rest of the cities that we have researched. The subjects of major focus in this research would be economic characteristics and public safety. As mentioned earlier, our intentions are to help cities by showing them how well they compare in our sample of cities with a population of 30,000 people, starting with our own. Our class has completed this report because we want to improve our community and make it better. Our findings were entered into a competition called Cyber Fair, an organization that encourages students to be involved in their city. This will improve our city, Walnut, and all the other cities across the nation.
     This research was done by getting the data from certain websites and asking city officials in emails, letters, and phone calls. This data was put into two spreadsheets: one that sorted cities in California and another that organized cities across the nation. Some categories were taken out because some students could not find the data. We, the students of Mr. Haskvitz, selected the top ten cities with the most statistics to be compared to Walnut. Our classmates then graded our city based on the data that we have collected. This “report card” can help others know how their city compares.


Aim


    Therefore, the goal of our research project is two-fold. First, it provides an overview of the resources that can be acquired to find needed decision making data. This takes the form of our extensive links page which enables students and others to gain quick access to interactive sites that provide a variety of information in the areas of finances, kid friendliness, and public safety. Secondly, we have provided samples of a comparison we did with our community, Walnut, in a ten of the 27 areas we studied. These graphs show how well our city is doing and form the basis for a presentation we are going to make to our community leaders along with our recommendations for future improvements. Appendix A has the categories we graphed.


Methods


    Any school can duplicate our efforts by utilizing our links, using emails to community officials, writing letters, and seeking the assistance of university personnel in those communities that have a college. This data should be compiled into two spreadsheets: one that sorted cities in the same state and another for similar populated locations across the nation. We selected the top ten cities with the most statistics to be compared to Walnut, our own city. We graded our city based on the statistics that we have collected which clearly illustrated where our city stands. This "report card" is a useful tool for anyone who wants to determine how well their community compares to others
 

Notice:

*It should be noted that our study was not designed to prove one community is better than another. This is not a rating site. Instead, this information can be used to work with public officials and show them areas that may need attention or improvement. Furthermore, students can provide the elected officials with the names of the communities that are doing well so they could contact them and ask questions about where the funding was acquired and other information. Finally, students can use the problem solving information, such as crime rate and hazardous materials, to select the best community for them to attend college or reside in later in life.