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For my Senior Capstone, I created CrescentEd, an AI-powered entrepreneurship learning platform designed to help Philly youth and underserved students move from a business idea to a realistic launch plan. CrescentEd guides users through an intake form, generates five personalized modules, tracks progress, provides an AI tutor inside the learning experience, and creates practical PDFs such as daily task plans and marketing checklists. The project came from my experience building Lumina (my software design agency), where I learned how scattered, expensive, and overwhelming entrepreneurship education can be. My process included organizing years of business notes into a knowledge base, researching entrepreneurship education and learning design, working with my mentor Brad Aronson, and building AdaptMind, a separate productivity app that helped me learn the technical skills needed to complete CrescentEd. Through this capstone, I learned how to break a large software project into realistic checkpoints, how to give AI enough direction to be useful, and how important discipline and humility are when turning an idea into something real. CrescentEd matters because beginner entrepreneurs do not just need more information. They need structure, guidance, and a starting point that makes launching feel possible instead of discouraging.

Final Product: https://cyber-plan-assist.lovable.app/

For my capstone, I was a part of the RocketFest team. RocketFest is a legacy capstone that was passed down to me, Dylan Paul, and Desmond Maggione. Doing a group capstone, the first thing we had to do was figure out what our roles were. Desmond ended up in charge of marketing. Dylan was in charge of communications. And I was in charge of budgeting. Being in charge of budgeting meant I had to figure out the main ways to get funding and how we should spend the money we got. Originally, we were going to use the majority of the funding on a venue, but since we only got partial funding from Braskem, we had to quickly pivot. We ended up not spending money on the venue and hosting it in our school’s auditorium. Since we still had money to spend, it was broken down into multiple parts. We spent some of the money on trophies with the SLA logo on them for the winners of our festival. We also spent money on printing programs for the show. The last thing we spent our money on was printing our photo and graphic design submissions to display during the festival. I learned so much from this process, and I am so incredibly proud of all the hard work that was put into making RocketFest what it is. I am excited to see what next year’s RocketFest turns out to be and am hoping for it to be even more successful!

For my Senior Capstone, I designed and built custom furniture for the Science Leadership Academy roof deck terrace. The centerpiece is a double chaise, a large, social lounge seat, paired with two benches that can be rearranged to fit any group size.

My capstone was split into three major phases: planning, fabrication, and assembly. At the beginning of this year I wanted to create an outdoor space, at SLA or not. I talked to an urban designer and realized all of the different constraints I would have to go through to make this possible and realized this would not be feasible for a one year project. These factors brought me to the idea of livening up an outdoor space that we already had: the roofdeck. With a clear goal, I moved to design. This started with little models and grew to making detailed cut lists for every piece. I had to figure out how to buy the least amount of wood and get all of the pieces that I needed. Then I worked on predrilling, rounding edges and sanding all of the cut wood. The final phase was assembly; bringing all of these materials to school and putting the final product together.

I learned a lot about woodworking; how to plan out a design and be safe while building. I also learned about collaboration and time management, how to keep myself on a deadline and work with my mentor to get the final product that I have in mind.

For my Senior Capstone, I designed and built custom furniture for the Science Leadership Academy roof deck terrace. The centerpiece is a double chaise, a large, social lounge seat, paired with two benches that can be rearranged to fit any group size.

My capstone was split into three major phases: planning, fabrication, and assembly. At the beginning of this year I wanted to create an outdoor space, at SLA or not. I talked to an urban designer and realized all of the different constraints I would have to go through to make this possible and realized this would not be feasible for a one year project. These factors brought me to the idea of livening up an outdoor space that we already had: the roofdeck. With a clear goal, I moved to design. This started with little models and grew to making detailed cut lists for every piece. I had to figure out how to buy the least amount of wood and get all of the pieces that I needed. Then I worked on predrilling, rounding edges and sanding all of the cut wood. The final phase was assembly; bringing all of these materials to school and putting the final product together.

I learned a lot about woodworking; how to plan out a design and be safe while building. I also learned about collaboration and time management, how to keep myself on a deadline and work with my mentor to get the final product that I have in mind.

Abstract

The problem being addressed in this Capstone project is that over 250,000 people die each year because they forget to adhere to their medication schedule. The most likely individuals to forget to take their medication are also the ones who need to take their medication the most, such as elderly people. In this project, I researched current automatic pill dispensers, analyzed their core features, and replicated them in DoseMate at a fraction of the cost using 3D printing and an Arduino. Over the course of the school year, I have 3D modeled many dispenser frames and dispensing mechanisms. Through testing and iterations, I’ve achieved a design that is cost-effective, sturdy, and accurate. Medication is both beneficial and harmful; there is no room for overdosing or underdosing. The final design of DoseMate can accurately dispense the correct dosage and alert the user when it has dispensed an incorrect dosage. The final deliverables are the 3D printable files, circuit schematics, and code for DoseMate, so that anyone can make their own DoseMate for a fraction of the cost of a current automatic pill dispenser.

Final Products: DoseMate

My capstone project was the creation of a small, compact drone from scratch and documenting my process to supplement TGR Learning Lab’s drone-making class. My process ranged from ordering printed circuit boards (PCBs), designing a 3D drone frame in Autodesk Fusion 360, flashing open-source firmware, and creating a demo for my mentor—who will be teaching this course.

There were many hiccups throughout the process—especially with soldering the microcontroller and flashing firmware—though I learned a lot about engineering design along the way. I found myself following the engineering design process, specifically through creating rapid prototypes of the frame and improving, with an iteration shown below. Currently, I am still working on flashing firmware onto my drone, as the physical part of my project is mostly complete.

Digital Video students at SLA work tirelessly to produce documentaries, narrative films, and experimental projects, yet once those films are turned in and presented, they largely disappear. They get buried in the cloud, forgotten, and never seen again. Digflix was created to change that.

Digflix is a student-built website designed to archive and celebrate the work of Dig Vid students by giving their films a permanent, accessible home. The site was built with a bright, intentional design to reflect the creativity of the students it showcases. Each film is accompanied by a written reflection from the filmmaker covering their creative process, the tools they used, what they are proud of, and what they want viewers to take away.

The project began with a Google Form sent to current and former Dig Vid students, collecting both their films and their reflections. From there, films were uploaded to YouTube as unlisted videos and embedded on the site, with reflections shaped into cohesive paragraphs. Building the site from scratch with no prior web development experience required significant independent research and problem solving at every stage.

Digflix matters because it fills a gap that is easy to overlook but hard to ignore once you see it. It extends the life of student work, provides future filmmakers with a reference for what is possible, and turns a pattern of loss into a lasting celebration of creativity and growth.

My capstone is RocketFest, a student-run Film and Photo Festival for public high school students of the Philadelphia School District. It’s taken a ton of work to get RocketFest to the point where it is now. Starting with brainstorming, from notes apps to google docs we spent hours thinking of ideas and thinking of how to achieve them. Then came outreach, emailing venues, schools, individual artists, potential volunteers, and professionals. We even got a booth at a CTE event. Between Braskem and other funding resources we spent a lot of time perfecting and practicing our pitches to try to get as much funding as possible to make RocketFest 2026 special. This meant creating slideshow presentations, and writing speeches. A film festival can’t happen without getting the word out there, so I spent a lot of time making graphics and posters. Our work was rounded out with logistical tasks; creating the submission form, organizing volunteers, planning day-of logistics, spending our funding money, and nailing down a venue. RocketFest has been a great learning process for me, and I plan on keeping a lot of the lessons I learned this year in mind during my coming years. The biggest lesson being that you can never be too ahead. At the start of the year we were so ahead of the curve, but as the year went on we began to slowly fall more and more down because of the “we’re ahead” mentality. So going forward I know not to get too cocky.

My capstone is RocketFest, a student-run Film and Photo Festival for public high school students of the Philadelphia School District. It’s taken a ton of work to get RocketFest to the point where it is now. Starting with brainstorming, from notes apps to google docs we spent hours thinking of ideas and thinking of how to achieve them. Then came outreach, emailing venues, schools, individual artists, potential volunteers, and professionals. We even got a booth at a CTE event. Between Braskem and other funding resources we spent a lot of time perfecting and practicing our pitches to try to get as much funding as possible to make RocketFest 2026 special. This meant creating slideshow presentations, and writing speeches. A film festival can’t happen without getting the word out there, so I spent a lot of time making graphics and posters. Our work was rounded out with logistical tasks; creating the submission form, organizing volunteers, planning day-of logistics, spending our funding money, and nailing down a venue. RocketFest has been a great learning process for me, and I plan on keeping a lot of the lessons I learned this year in mind during my coming years. The biggest lesson being that you can never be too ahead. At the start of the year we were so ahead of the curve, but as the year went on we began to slowly fall more and more down because of the “we’re ahead” mentality. So going forward I know not to get too cocky.

A lot of students choose not to pursue STEM careers due to the math involved with it. Intimidated by calculus and higher-level maths, many students do not choose to pursue these careers. This mini course was designed to bridge the gap between classroom math and industry math. I designed this mini course so that students could step into the roles of various careers, such as engineers, scientists, or architects.

My mini course ran from February 11th to April 8th, and over the course of these 8 weeks, students learned to do math and act in the roles of engineers, game analysts, forensic scientists, architects, among others. I researched and reflected on ways that I can make this mini-course more interactive and less hard to understand. Some activities included: Elephant toothpaste, paper airplanes, building towers, calculating game statistics, and more! Overall, these activities helped to bridge the gap between the math classes that they take right now and seeing the math truly in action. The kids also played a large role in deciding what careers they wanted to engage in. At the end of each session, I would ask what they would want to learn next week, and I would try to incorporate it somehow into next week’s lesson.

Overall, this process taught me that in the classroom collaboration is one of the most important skills to make it a place where people enjoy learning. I hope to continue expanding STEM education in the future.

For my capstone project, I created a race called the sla road to Glory 5k, which is an event that I did because I really love running, and I was inspired by the other 5ks that I have been a part of called the SLA Anyway 5k. I wanted to put my own spin on the 5k, so I changed the name and called it the SLA Road to Glory 5k. The way that I went about it I got funding from Braskem, which is a company that helps SLA students with the process. I then, as time went on, got a permit, shirts, and medals, and then put on the event. It was such a fun process to be the race director for this event; it really showed how to put on the core values of our school, which are inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. It was a very long process with changing of locations due to permit issues and everything, but this experience of putting this on to showcase sla to a wider audience was really nice, and this race is something that I will always hold as making SLA a better place. I hope you all enjoy what I have done for my project.

Attached below is the race manual that I had to make for this race and photos.

For my Capstone Project, I collaborated with my partner, Ada, to transform the 4th-floor study room at SLA through a large-scale mural and an educational website. What began as a simple desire to leave a visual mark on our school evolved into a deep dive into Philadelphia’s environmental issues. Our project features a mural of the Philadelphia skyline integrated with the complete ecosystem of our local watershed, highlighting the fish and aquatic life that depend on clean city water. To ensure our project met the expectations for a duo-capstone, I also developed a website that provides data, history, and calls to action regarding watershed issues in our region. I chose this project because art has always been a primary way of communicating ideas, but I wanted my final act as sla to be more than just aesthetically pleasing. I wanted to create something permanent that improved the daily environment for my peers.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rq0bVzSVZKN7gHQU4KIPJ0Gh6Xo6T7J6P7ypi0e4OkQ/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HibWDnhOK_vEG6X8hXsxNr4vPQnrmuE2SAl0gOBaNMo/edit?usp=sharing

For my senior capstone, I explored how digital platforms can reshape community engagement and accessibility within religious institutions by designing a website concept for my local mosque. The project focused on addressing communication issues caused by disoriented platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook, where important information was often missed or inaccessible to certain members of the community. Through surveys, interviews, research, and technical development, I designed a mobile-first website featuring dynamic prayer times, bilingual English and Bangla support, event calendars, and accessibility-focused navigation for older users and non-technical community members. Throughout the process, I researched responsive web design, accessibility standards, API integration, and user experience design while working closely with mosque leadership, community members, and my mentor. Although the mosque ultimately chose to move in a different direction for officially launching the website, the project still became a meaningful learning experience that strengthened my technical abilities, problem-solving skills, and understanding of community-centered design. More importantly, this capstone taught me that successful technology is not only about functionality, but about designing systems that respect culture, improve accessibility, and strengthen human connection.

Link to Website: https://novaimpact.github.io/baitulmukkaram/

Link to Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14q04aTi1bmJSOD73XGpmrbNY0Hsimz2qR5oxwYfVgNM/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone project I wanted to make something for the school that would last a long period of time after I left. I felt like I should make something others can use that will also brighten the aesthetic of the school. I decided I would make a bench with planters on the side so I could add some greenery to the roof and make it a better working environment. After doing some research and collaborating with my mentor I settled on a plan and started creating a blueprint of what I would build using a video on youtube as the guide. I was able to use the carpentry skills I had learned in my pre-apprenticeship program last summer to create a final product that I was proud of. We also researched what plant would be the best for longevity with minimal maintenance to put in the box on the roof and we decided to plant ferns. To make the bench I was able to practice my skills with a table saw, chop saw, precinct drill bit, screwdriver and tape measure. Seeing through the process felt good going from blueprint to bench took a lot of work but was very rewarding.

For my capstone, I designed and produced custom volleyball team gear for the SLA boys’ and girls’ teams. My inquiry question was, “how can student-led fundraising and custom apparel design strengthen school community and team spirit for the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams?”. I had received team gear in my first two years of being a volleyball player during high school. The merch was organized and produced by upperclassmen and when I came to that age, I was inspired to do the same for my own teams to make teammates feel special and connected the same way I did. During my junior and senior year I decided to research companies, create original designs, organize team orders, and fundraise to cover costs. I worked with two different companies, one being a local Philadelphia print shop, to create sweatpants and hoodies. In order to raise money, I organized multiple three-day bake sales which consisted of designing promotional posters to hang around the school and baking and selling food items. I tracked finances and other data through Google Forms and Google Sheets and during this process I communicated with teammates, school staff, and printing companies to manage sizes, quantities, and delivery logistics. I advanced my skills in graphic design, budgeting, fundraising, time management, and professional communication. I am very proud of my final product and its impact on the school community. It took a lot of patience, organization, and collaboration to turn my ideas into successful physical products.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u9OoM9jG_EYVahk0Dx9j13CS_QHaf9rjNy8o_G-_r04/edit?tab=t.0

For my capstone, I hosted a Health and Wellness fair for the freshman class. This fair had six different interactive stations that covered different aspects of health and wellness. Students were able to listen to information presented by senior volunteers, create emergency kits, decorate journals, learn about their heart rate and send a kind note to the incoming freshman class. The ultimate goal of my fair was to create a welcoming and supportive space where students felt comfortable asking questions, talking to their peers and learn healthy habits. In all, my fair was for students to feel seen and apart of a larger community while getting their questions answered.

For my Senior Capstone, I created The Nurse’s Truth, a YouTube channel featuring interviews with four nursing specialists; a nurse practitioner, neuro ICU nurse, a CRNA, and a nurse midwife. These interviews are to help students explore nursing as a profession and more importantly the different things you can do as a nurse. The project grew from my own journey of discovering that nurses, not doctors, provide the hands-on patient care that I always wanted to give. After my own curiosity, I wanted to make sure that these insights were available to others too. All interviews were conducted over Zoom, which solved the logistical challenge of one subject joining from Costa Rica. Filming spanned three weeks, coordinated around busy nursing schedules. Post-Production took roughly 20 hours, including editing, graphics, music, and designing the channel branding in Photoshop. I independently managed every aspect of this project; the proposal, outreach, scheduling, filming, and publishing. This project has become a significant milestone in my personal growth. My hope is that The Nurse’s Truth serves SLA students considering nursing, and inspires CTE peers to connect their programs with their passions.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://youtube.com/@thenursestruth?si=JbRBjCIe3pUt9Hj6

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FsQNvOce1tF6cBUkJZTn7yDgP-JNs2Hlr3j0aY5Hfnk/edit?usp=drivesdk

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune condition that impacts the lives of billions of children everyday. I learned that all current devices are adult technology adapted for children, not designed child-first and that is what I most importantly needed to figure out how to change in my capstone idea without making it unrealistic for a child.

The “Duet”, which is to solve the “dual-device” problem where children currently have to wear one patch for a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) and have to take needles in order to take their insulin and multiple pricks to check their glucose level. It’s a device that “thinks” for itself, using a sensor to read blood sugar and an internal pump to deliver insulin automatically without extra tubes.

The Duet doesn’t just manage blood sugar; it manages a child’s quality of life. It’s small, it’s silent, and most importantly, it’s invisible. It allows kids to just be kids.

The “Duet” is inspired by the current lifestyle of my little brother Kyan, diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the early age of five years old, questioning his childhood, asking my mother when will he be “normal” again and remembering the lifestyle he once lived that isn’t his lifestyle anymore. Living with a condition that others don’t have to experience, knowing my device doesn’t remove the permanent aspect of this condition, the Duet makes the lifestyle manageable and better to navigate, especially for children and that was my goal, to improve the lifestyle with the Duet for children.

Link to my final Product: https://canva.link/g1kjyiyo1b9fvg1

For my capstone I decided to create a uniform inventory for our SLA’s sports department. I decided to do this because of a trip to Drexel University’s sports management department with my mentor in junior year. I loved seeing all the behind the scenes and what goes into making a strong, organized, and efficient team. I started drafting ideas with my mentor after the trip to be prepared for the next school year. When I finally started my capstone I did a lot of research on how I could make this the best possible project I could with main goals focusing on organization, structure, and consistency for coaches, athletes, and all sports admin. I spent a lot of my time reaching out to coaches and figuring out when and where I could pick up the uniforms, and something I learned from this was the importance of being able to advocate for myself. Even when it felt like I was nagging, I knew this project was my responsibility so waiting around on other people wasn’t an option. To get this project done I needed to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people I didn’t talk to on a regular basis or continuing to reach out every week until I got what I asked for.

Stage Crew is a project in partnership with Philadelphia Young Playwrights (PYP), GGL Creative, and me. I designed an activity kit themed around an original cast of animal characters who are all players behind a theatre production. The kit debuted on April 18th, 2026, and it included a leaflet full of activities that folds out into a poster on the back, a wooden puzzle with each of the ten cast members, and a custom bag to hold everything.

This project blends art and engineering, two passions of mine that are deemed total opposites. I wanted to challenge that stereotype and to encourage young people to explore the arts. After all, we are all artists in our own ways. For example, designing the leaflet and drawing the poster proved that I can be a visual artist. However, the wooden puzzle proved that I needed a vivid imagination in addition to technical skills like Fusion 360 and laser printing to turn 2D into 3D.

All proceeds earned from this project went to PYP to support future young playwrights. I am always looking to give back to my community, and I have been writing with this program since the sixth grade. SLA works with PYP’s teaching artists, so the kids at SLA will benefit, too. At the very least, I had a blast working with my mentors, prototyping, producing, and promoting Stage Crew, and I hope to expand in the future!

Please use this link to view the items in detail: Click here!

Link to Biblography: Click here for the bibliography!

Sewology by Milan is the website that I decided to create for my capstone project. I chose to do it because I wanted to challenge myself, while also strengthening my craft. Spending 80 hours on a capstone project throughout the school year is something that is really demanding, and I wanted it to be something that I enjoyed doing. My interest in sewing started when I was assigned a passion project in Advanced Art last year with Ms. Angeles. At my previous school, I never got the opportunity to take art, so I was really excited when it was on my class roster. My passion project sort of followed the structure of a capstone project, with similar elements like documentation, trying a new skill, and doing a presentation. My passion project helped me with the beginning foundations of sewing, and also introduced me to being more independent when trying to start my own hobbies. I was previously in the sewing club, and I enjoyed it, but I never learned anything that stuck with me. With research, I quickly learned the differences in certain stitches, starter tools, and techniques that can help me become a better seamstress.

For my Capstone project, I created a short documentary exploring the impact of fashion, specifically focusing on fast fashion, thrift stores in Philadelphia, and the role of reselling. Throughout the process, I researched the history of thrift stores and the environmental effects of clothing waste, while also filming my own experiences thrifting, sewing, and reselling clothes on Depop. I visited multiple thrift stores, recorded footage, and included interviews to show different perspectives on secondhand shopping. My final product is a mini documentary that combines voiceover, videos, and real life examples to explain how clothing consumption affects the environment and how thrifting can be a more sustainable option. Through this project, I learned how to plan, film, and edit a documentary, as well as how to communicate a message clearly through both videos and voiceover. I also gained a better understanding of how everyday choices, like buying clothes, can have a larger impact than people realize

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13-r9mzPnSMYWH1vJOl_wcDijoUefhkzs/view?usp=drivesdk

For my Capstone project for the 2025-2026 senior year, I decided to create a veterinary based class for freshman mini-courses for those who were interested in learning more about what to expect in the veterinary field and some of the daily jobs that those in the field of veterinary have to do every day. I decided to base my project off this field because it is the field I will be studying next year in college and I wanted to not only take the time to teach freshman about the different parts of the medicine field since we don’t have any classes in our schools based off of that, but also so I can prepare myself for the different types of techniques and knowledge that I will be studying everyday for the next three years of vet nursing school. Some examples of lesson plans I had made for this class include roleplaying what healthy visit check-ins are for pets and their owners, learning how to wrap surgery tools a certain way so they don’t become contained, how to do CPR on a dog, and even having conversations with my mentor (a veterinarian) and getting her to come in with her pet dog so she could teach my students about different tools used during visits and how to properly handle a dog! I have learned so much throughout this process of my project with my students and I just hope they had as much fun as me!

Here is where I did a lot of my planning for my lesson plans, working on and off this document for the last 6 months to make sure I had exact plans for each weeks and adding more ideas if I wanted to add something into the lesson plans!

Here is a picture of my student using one of the tools Dr. K brought in to check the eyes of the dog, learning what to see in a dog’s eye to make sure their vision is still working the way it should be!

Finally, here is the result of my surgery asking my students to reflect on their time in my mini-course and giving me some feedback. As we can see here, of course I could have done better but overall very good results from my students!!

For my capstone project, I explored the question: “How can public art communicate social and environmental issues within our communities?” I collaborated with Onna Richburg to create a mural of the Philadelphia skyline above a vibrant river representing the Schuylkill. The mural includes QR codes linking to a website Onna designed, which explains environmental challenges facing Philadelphia’s water systems, the watershed, and the Lenape people’s historical relationship with water—highlighting how that respect has been lost over time. We chose this project because of our connection to art and our experience growing up in a polluted city. We wanted to contrast that reality with a vision of clean, thriving water. My role was painting the mural, while Onna developed the website. We faced several challenges, including redefining our project to meet requirements and overcoming a lack of funding after missing a grant opportunity. After struggling to find supplies, we connected with a local mural activist who donated recycled paint, allowing us to continue while supporting sustainability. I spent over two months painting, revising, and refining the mural based on peer feedback. This project reflects SLA’s core values by encouraging inquiry, collaboration, and real-world impact. It invites viewers to reflect on environmental issues and take action. I’m proud of our resilience and growth, and I hope this mural inspires others to use creativity to raise awareness and make a difference in their communities.

(linked below: capstone slideshow with picture of mural, annotated bibliography linked on last slide) https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Pis1IB8islhGC6yALDbf5GGiCpwWsSMPV_9hOj-lo5g/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

For my capstone project, I made a website to raise awareness about fast fashion and its harmful effects on our environment and society. I wanted to show that people can make an impactful change in their habits by choosing to repurpose old items rather than just throw them away. For this project I reused old clothing and fabric from my family that was just going to get thrown away and end up in a landfill. I documented the process for each item on my website and I hope the tutorials can encourage other people to start sewing. My website hopefully will encourage some people to stop contributing to fast fashion companies and to value the items they have now more. With this capstone I learned that there is a person behind every clothing item. Everything is handmade by someone, and it takes a lot of commitment and time to make clothing. I gained a greater appreciation for the people being exploited by the fast fashion industry. I also learned a lot about the terrible impacts the clothing industry has on our planet. This capstone taught me that there is power in repurposing things that are old and giving them a new life, and I hope that other people can learn more about what they can do better to help the fast fashion epidemic from my project.

Kaitlyn’s Kloset Website