SAM TATARI
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  • Senior Year
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  Communication                                                           
- Written Communication
Sophomore year, Fall Semester 2022                                              
 #1.6 The student leader organizes, writes, and publishes attention-grabbing messages suitable for the occasion and audience.                                                       
  •   Evidence: I co-run the class Remind for updates throughout the year for the class. When the President becomes busier with other responsibilities, I take over and make sure our class knows about any and all functions coming up.  I've also created posts for the official Instagram account and run two other accounts for clubs I am involved in. This has given me the skill of highlighting important/urgent messages and to concise everything while still making it attention grabbing  and aesthetic. 
  • Sophomore year, Spring Semester 2023
                #1.7 The student leader creates an invitation suitable for the occasion and audience.
                 Evidence: For my  grandmas birthday, I created
e-vites for all the guests and sent them through Whatsapp for easy access. This was helpful so if people had follow up questions they could just ask me from there or contact the name on the card to reach my mom.  
  • Junior year, Fall Semester 2023
​Public Speaking 
               #3.5 The student leader utilizes effective body language and eye contact.
               Evidence: When the mock trial club won county, we traveled to LA and argued the case with other county winning teams. This made us all step up our game in order to stay competing against the quality of these teams. We had to put on our best performances to be able to compete with these top notch schools. This process taught me so much about being able to voice what I need to say and not back down even when people don't want to hear my truth. I learned to stand up for myself and not give in to others. In the process of Mock trial, you practice your case a lot and it allows you to become concise with the points you are trying to make. 
Junior Year, Spring Semester 2024
Evaluation and Feedback 
                #4.6 Periodically, the student leader evaluates the job performance of their leadership peers to provide both personal and organizational growth.
                  Evidence: In leadership, our class uses peer-evaluating forms for people in the class that we may not be the closest with, but still have an understanding of their work ethic. I noticed how beneficial it is for the class to not only self-reflect, but reflect on each other because it makes students externally aware of their own faults, while also understanding what they do good and what others are good at that they can learn from. I am apart of a Public Health advocate group which works more as an open forum place to build and implement  ideas for the benefit of our community and there I suggested the idea of peer evaluation in team-working efforts for more useful approach in our work. To the right is a photo from the advocacy group which pictures me and another student's completed poster on a community night that aimed on educating Tracy about inequalities people face here. 
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  • Civic and Service Learning                          -Community Service                                                              #3.2 The student leader participates in a service activity or project to serve a specific need of others.             Evidence: By the end of freshmen year, I  had accumulated over 130 hours of community service. I think the most grounding experience was when I fostered three kittens. I believe during this time, I  had accumulated 42 hours of community service over three and a half weeks. With the kittens, I  had  to wake up three times in the night to bottle-feed them and a time in between to have them use the restroom. When I received the first two, Katniss and Dexter, Katniss was sick and unfortunately only made it two days with us before we held a burial ceremony in my backyard. Even though there was nothing I can do, I still felt guilty and slowly I realized I have to be ok with things not being in my control. After Katniss passed, was took in Silas, but unfortunately were both developing liver infections due to their parents being street cats and living in the pound for so long. 
  • Semester 2, 2023  
             -Service Learning Strategies
                #2.5 The student leader seeks both school and community feedback to evaluate and reflect upon the impact of the project.
              Evidence: After we finish a class activity I always dm different students in my grade and ask them what they thought about the activity and what they wish they had seen or had been different. Some times I get good responses and sometimes students even let me know what they'd like to see going forward with future events. I also talk to teachers about their take of events and spirit days and I learned that usually they are left in the dark since many don't check their email. I've talked to several teachers and a solution I came up with is to put  up flyers or posters in break rooms and staff lounges across the buildings so all teachers have the chance to see it. These are places all teachers frequently pass so the chances of them seeing the memo are high. If teachers and other staff participate in spirit days, it might boost their morale as well and their participation in Tracy High spirit. 
  • Fall Semester, 2023 
               #1.1 The student leader develops partnerships with various students, school, parent, and community groups. 
Evidence: This year I am MSA president and many of the members last year were seniors, so I have the responsibility of restarting up the club. For this year to make some exciting events for the club members I wanted to host an event with other MSA's so we can connect with more Muslims in our community. To start that off, I have reached out to West and Kimball MSA to plan a potluck or Eid event in collaboration. Hopefully we can build a community of Muslim youth outside of school and extend that to our own communities. They hadn't gotten back to me for a long time, but recently I received a text from the Mountain House instagram account where they said they were interested in doing something together. Hopefully in the new year we can collaborate and plan something successful. 
Junior Year, Spring Semester 2024
Community and Service 
          #3.4 The student leader demonstrates empathy for, and an awareness of social, cultural, and societal norms for diverse locations and populations.
             Evidence: With all that's happening in the world, Muslim Student Association -the club I'm president of- decided to run two charitable events this year. The first event was a bake sale which, was very successful and we were able to donate all our money to families displaced by the genocide in Gaza. The second event which happened in spring semester was during the multicultural fair where we donated desserts to people who signed a ceasefire letter. My club and I had to get very creative on how to do this, but we wanted to utilize the opportunity to do good. For students who filled an online ceasefire form that went directly to our state representative, we gave them their choice of dessert. Successfully, we were able to get fifty participants and ceasefire letters sent. With the platforms I am given, I always want morals and empathy to be the nucleus, and I am very glad we had two opportunities to do that. On the right is a photo of me and several club members who made it to the multicultural fair to help, and the website that we used to send the letters!
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These are examples from different Instagram accounts of posts that I have curated. They all have a purpose that is easily noticeable and are still eye pleasing and not too distracting.  

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This was the panel I sat on for the 2023 school safety summit. Initially I was very nervous to be speaking on a panel in front of a room full of over 100 people, but it was a lot easier than I anticipated and I remained poised the whole time. I believe it was easy due to the fact that I have gotten much more experience in speaking public and it was a big learning experience. 
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This is a picture of the kittens I fostered for three and a half weeks. It was an amazing test in my patience and commitment.
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This is a picture that the mock trial team took before heading to state after we were announced for first place at county. I was overjoyed and excited for our new challenge.
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Working on our last section poster as Sophomores. We like to finish everything in a timely manner so if anything goes wrong we have time to fix it. The activity we made this poster for went pretty smoothly and working together promotes teamwork and a sense of togetherness within our class. 

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This is a picture of the 2023 defense for Mock Trial. Mock trial is a club that I have been apart of for the past two years. The club has taught me patience, self-perseverance, public speaking, and how to work with others outside of a classroom. I have made invaluable memories with the most amazing people. 

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This is the Junior Class at CASL conference 2023. We had a great time exploring how to be more evolved leaders and make the most out our work in class. It is such a privilege and honor to work with them for the next year. 
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This is a dm I sent to Kimball, West, and Mountain House to which I got no response. I wanted to be able to  create a community throughout our area of Muslim youth and was extremely disheartened when I got no response. Nevertheless, I will try again and continue trying to host interactive events.  
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The MSA club had their first successful event of 2023 where we had a movie night and watched Hunger Games Catching Fire. We connected the dystopian theme in the movie with current world events, and the tools used to construe narratives and make people look subhuman. This was a specifically interesting conversation because the Hunger Games is set in future America and is reflective of our own society. Above is a picture of some of the girls in MSA who came and participated in our event. 

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  • Personal and Social Development
         - Group Dynamics  
           #1.2 The student leader appreciates the diversity of others, and the value of representing a diverse student body.
            Evidence: I think the biggest problem in leadership is our class doesn't properly reflect the diversity in our school. This causes a lot of kids to feel unappreciated or under represented in their own safe space. I think to best cultivate the school experience for the entire  student body, accurate representation is a must. For instance, about 46%  of our school is Hispanic and maybe 2% of our student government class have a Hispanic background. To do my part to change that, I have been talking to more students with an ethnically diverse background about joining leadership and why representation is our school matters so much. As a result, I have met many people that are interested, and hopefully over the next couple of years, we can see that change.
             Sophomore year, Spring Semester 2023 
            -Goal Setting, Feedback, and Evaluation 
               #2.1 The student leader sets short-term and long-term personal goals. 
                Evidence: Before the start of every quarter, I come up with a list of my habits I want to keep and improvements I need to make for the next couple of months and I do a reflection at  the end to see how well I  upheld those. I also like to openly discuss things I  want to do better so I have a sense of accountability by the people around me. We did the leaders ranking of how well you do certain traits which was a form of self-reflection and from that test I came up with what I can do better. 
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This picture was taken during homecoming. A lot of students saw leadership very busy and became interested in what we do as a program. This is when I started discussing what issues people thought our school had and what changes they would like to see. If their voice was inside our class with more students to hear, I think that their wish for change can become a reality!
Junior year, Fall Semester 2023
       #1.9 The student leader considers diverse ideas, synthesizes viewpoints, and analyzes claims and evidence on all sides of an issue when considering possible solutions.
When working in a time like homecoming or being apart of a club, it is important to hear out everyones opinions and viewpoints. This hoco, even though I am no longer an officer, one of my friends outside of came up with a float design. It was really good and I shared it with the class to see if we can incorporate some ideas from it because the more creativity we can harbor, the better our float becomes. My goal is to ensure we have the most inclusive and understanding class and hopefully, spread that mentality throughout all the classes. 

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This is my last year as a class officer. Pictured on the right is me and the class president, Jazmine Vargas. We have been VP and Prez since freshmen year and our run if sadly coming to an end. With that being said, I am excited for everything next year holds and what I can do for the school through my new position and what it can do for me in terms of growing and evolving as a leader. The role of VP has taught me how to have a leadership role within leadership itself and I have grown a lot. I think

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​I have always been taught to speak out abasing injustice and for the people who lack a voice. Leadership has taught me HOW to use my voice and be present for people that others ignore. This is a picture of a recent protest for a ceasefire and end to Apartheid that took place in San Francisco. Learning about this specific injustice my whole life, it was energizing to see the unity among the 20,000 people that were present. I realized the importance of my voice, because even if I had been an insignificant whisper, whispers like mine spread, and now the screaming of all our voices together was definitely heard. I will never stop standing for people who are unable to stand for themself. ​

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I attended the San Joaquin School Safety Summit 2023 which was such an insightful experience. I sat on a board with seven other students from across the county and we answered questions concerning the issue of school safety and what adults can do to make school a safer environment. It was interesting seeing the issues present at other schools and the efforts made to avoid them from happening again. I would definitely do this again next year and I felt honored to be apart of a panel of such dedicated and passionate students.  






Junior Year, Spring Semester 2024
           #2.2 The student leadership team sets attainable goals to improve school culture and climate.
                          Evidence: As community and outreach recognition, this year I wanted to do something that especially recognized all the students, all at once. Mr. Chitwood approached me with the idea of each individual students name written on a heart that they get to take home, and I thought it was an amazing idea. I took the same idea to the class, and while it seemed daunting at first after we were able to figure out that each student only needed to write forty names, the stress of it became a lot less. We completed placing all the hearts up in the school's main building and students got to find their name and take it home. I really appreciated this event because it was more of a 'give' than a take and no one went unnoticed. Implementing cost-friendly ideas like this is definitely a must for me because I think that when recognizing our student body, cost should not be a factor in why we do. This incident reminds me of the excerpt in the book we are currently reading in leadership where the author, Richard Parkhouse states, "It's your job to plug people in so they are more likely to make the future of their dreams a reality" (152). I was able to relate Parkhouse's sentiments back with my own experience as the driving factor for me to recognize all the students in unequal manner was that everyone felt seen. When people understand that their presence matters, they are more likely to have the confidence it takes to dream big, because they realize their dreams are worthy. Parkhouse reinstalled this idea of reminding people of their worth, and especially as outreach and recognition, there is much I can do to appreciate all like Parkhouse mentions. 

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  • Government                 
               Sophomore year, Fall Semester 2022
                           -  Elections and appointments 
                   #3.
1 The student leader can articulate the purpose of a representative government and the workings of a democracy.
                    Evidence: Freshmen year after homecoming, school feels extremely slow and I decided to personally dm everyone on my Instagram that goes to Tracy High and just check in to see how they're doing. This took a very long time, but that is where I started building relationships with people that I would go and ask their opinion about certain activities. Even though my intentions were nothing but to check in and see how people are doing, to them, it meant that I care and that is the type of leader I want to continue to be. 
                Sophomore year, Spring Semester 2023
                        - Effective Meetings 
                #4.3 The student leader creates relevant agendas and maintains accurate minutes.
               Evidence: With MSA meetings and events around Ramadan, I helped organize and plan activities for our students with the club president, Hadia. I was Secretary this year so I managed a lot of the meeting minutes and notes and made sure we kept on track with the agendas. This has taught me to stay organized and on track with the meetings and stay  accountable for what we need to get done. 

                 Junior year, Fall Semester 2023
                       -Group Dynamics
                #2.1
Last year the class of 2025 was planning a car show for the community of Tracy and we got a lot of responses and interest. After it had been finalized, the district decided that it may be a risk to us to have an event of that capacity. Even though there were ways we could go around it, we decided that it'd be better if we tried to communicate with the district and work out a way to do it next year.  

Junior Year, Spring Semester, 2024
         Effective Meetings
              #4.4 The student leader utilizes inclusive meeting strategies for brainstorming, prioritizing, and project planning.
In the non-profit, non-partisan team I lead for youth civic engagement, we are looking for ways to get our name more out there. Recently, we have started a brand ambassador program where we work with corporations and people that are popular with gen-z like Dutch Bros and tiktokers. For my department, we have bi-weekly internal meetings that myself and my co-director lead with all the new updates we have to inform them with, standards and expectations, and project managing our goals. In our meetings, we start with an icebreaker as our program is virtual so we recognize there are barriers we have to break so we become comfortable with each other and improve our work environment. For the majority of the meeting everyone is off-mute to encourage input of all voices. We also continually ask if anyone has any questions comments, or concerns that we can address a as group. On the left is my letterhead that I use for outreaching to people. 



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When I went to a mock trial tournament with our high school around November break, we learned the importance of being represented and how even the justice system is crucial in the everyday real society when it comes to sharing your own perspective. 

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Last year I had ran for ASB secretary and lost. While I was devastated, I decided that I was going to have a positive attitude and try to make the most out of the situation. I ran for a position I thought would be a challenge and teach me many things that I wouldn't have learned in a different position. This is a picture from 2023 homecoming which was interesting because it was the first time I wasn't an officer but I enjoyed being able to learn from all the people around me. I love the class and the challenge it poses for me. 

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Before the school year had started, I met with my MSA officers so we could plan how we want the year to go for us. We discussed charity, events, fundraisers, activities and more that we could engage in with the Muslims on campus. While there is a sizable Muslim population, we do not get that much representation on campus and I wanted to provide that. There are a lot of misconceptions and hate for Muslims on campus and the goal is to eliminate that. 

  • Business and Finance
   Sophomore year, Fall Semester 2022
                
  -Fundraising
             #2.
3 The student leader projects income and expenses within a comprehensive pre-fundraiser evaluation. 4. The student leader orders merchandise and coordinates merchandise design and logistics with vendors.
            Evidence: Fundraising in our class is particularly hard because people don't often participate. To get people to get involved, we realized that our events have to be unique and creative. A fundraiser at T4  or Aldo's doesn't get us any more than $30 dollars, so last year when we had our Black Panther movie night and raised $400, we were all extremely shocked. This year, we have already started coming up with more unique ideas that are less traditional.  
                 Sophomore year, Spring Semester 2023
                  -Advertising   
               #4.1 The student leader identifies a target audience for each advertisement.
               Evidence: With our events, we have noticed our class does not like to participate as much, so to make a profit for future events we need to have, we have started targeting the elders in our community/ the parents of our  students with fundraising events. About a month ago, we decided to have a car show for the car community in Tracy and it got support by  other car shows in the area until the district had shut it down. Before that happened though, we got traction from about  seventeen cars and avid car showers were expressing interest in coming to ours. What could've been our biggest event yet was not targeted at students in our grade, rather the community but  it could've been engaged with by all. Our advertisements were more popular on Facebook and WhatsApp car groups and we pushed them more on there than anywhere else.  
                Junior year, Fall Semester 2023

         #5.1 The student Leader demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to recognize customer concerns and act to reach a satisfactory solution. 
For the last two years, we did not get much participation from the class in any class related activities. This year to address that, the class officers and commissioners in the class of 2025 have been boosting the instagram and rallies by making our class want to get involved and win. This has resulted fairly well and we have gotten a lot of dress up and rally participation so early in the year already.   
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Junior Year, Spring Semester 2024
                    #2.1 The student leader cultivates and manages their digital identity and reputation, and demonstrates awareness of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
I have tried my best to make my instagram a representation of who I am and my
values. Like anyone, I post the good parts of my life but I do try to do it in such a way that my essence isn't lost. I use instagram as a tool to stand up for what believe in because I think with the reach it has and the amount of people that it can reach, it would be a waste of a tool to not use. I have always used my instagram and social media as a way to advocate for things I believe in like Black Lives Matter, increasing youth civc engagement, Palestinian Rights, fundraisers for displaced families and so much more. Through social media, I have supported fundraisers for refugees in Palestine, Afghanistan, and Congo, earthquake victims in Syria, and rebuilding efforts after the floods in Pakistan. I know what I put onto social media stays there forever as part of my digital footprint, so I make sure that the image I perpetuate is an accurate representation of my values as a person. My social media is a summation of who I am and what I believe. My instagram portrays me as someone who is family oriented, hard-working, enjoys travel, likes to have fun, and is not scared to speak their mind.

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This was a post I created for the MSA account. Our goal was to collect donations to get people without warm clothes through the winter. It has been successful, and I have gotten many donations. At first I wanted to get it overseas where there are harsher winters. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get it to where we had initially planned, so we had to pivot and will be donating it to a local homeless shelter. 

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Me with my Mock Trial team after day two of trials. We were all exhausted and tired but this experience taught me a lot to do with working together as a team and keeping up our hopes even if something goes wrong. I got the opportunity to bond and make connection with a lot of people that I wouldn't have met otherwise and this whole trip is extremely valuable to me. 

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With homecoming is is VITAL to only make the necessary expenses so our class does not come out at a loss by the end. I spent a lot of time working with the treasurer to figure out what money we had to spend exactly to not be negative and still have an opportunity to do stuff with our class afterwards. That was key in being able to plan ahead and for future activities. 

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  • Technology and Digital Citizenship 
       Sophomore year, Fall Semester 2022
       - Standard 4: Video and Photography
               1. The student leader recognizes the role of video and photography in the promotion of positive school culture.
               Evidence: This year, we have created a class Tik Tok and Facebook to get more people hyped about school. So far on the school Tik Tok, there has been a lot of interaction and hopefully when we start posting on our class, it will get the same involvement. We plan on posting about events, campus culture, and showing off class spirit most of all!
            Junior year, Fall Semester 2023 
                  #3.4 
             Evidence: For the first week of school, we were playing music in the cafeteria and I went out with some other leaders and played the playlist off of my school phone that was appropriate for class. I also helped curate the playlist for the back to school dance last year and we tried to keep it a vibe but also incorporate what students wanted to hear while keeping it clean. Learning to navigate between people's wants and the reality of the situation makes me a better leader because I am forced to improve on myself. 
           Junior Year, Spring Semester 2024
               #1.7 The student leader identifies the various sources of school and student funding, the laws and policies that dictate their allocation, and the structures/channels available for student input and advocacy.
An instance that taught me about school accounting and funds happened around prom. I wanted to get corsages for our bus drivers as they dress up and chaperone the night of prom and it's important to recognize that. I got told that we can ONLY spend school funds on students as it's a district policy. Unfortunately, this discouraged me to do something for them as I didn't see it possible. A solution that I have thought of now for next year is I would like to give the drivers the prom ticket as a memorabilia and possibly collect donations from parents for coffee or something before the dance. I have learned a lot about how school money is spent and it's made me realize that I shouldn't be discouraged if it doesn't immediately work out, I have to be creative and improvise. 

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This is a photo from the CASL conference leadership attended. At this conference, the speakers reiterated the message that if we try hard enough, we have the power to make things happen, we just have to be willing to try. It's inspired me to bring my ideas to fruition even if I face pushback in the beginning. 

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  • Contact
  • Leadership Standards
  • Senior Year