Deja Winfield Capstone
Abstract
For my capstone, I researched what made a community and what made a community moves forward. SLA has always been a school that believed in community-based learning. In the past four years we have built a community in which we have learned to rely on. Throughout this capstone I have spoken to students on how they felt about the move to Benjamin Franklin. I have thought much to the burden of what is going to become SLA @ BF. I created a community wall, using a piece of drywall we gave the opportunity of anyone and everyone who considered themselves part of the SLA community. I learned and wanted to explore the impact that artwork and community meant to students, because we all need something to lean back on. Art work is a big part of the world of SLA, it posted on walls and on the ceilings, you can not walk more than five feet without seeing a piece of artwork, and that is something I would liked to see continued as a tradition to the new school . And I wanted them to have something that they as a community could carry with them in the next years at the new school.
Annotated Bibliography
Interview: Vivian Pham- community wall Folks Arts Culture Treasures.
We did this as middle schoolers. It was a stable of making me feel included at Folks Arts Culture
Treasures. School was difficult when transferring to an environment I had never dealt with before.
Attending a school was everyone was a different race than me, and spoke differently than me. When we
were doing all of this it made the school feel more welcoming. I would like to see how it affect her as a
student who had attended prior
Interview:
Ethan L.- What art means to him? How does artwork define him?
Artwork is such a big part of Ethan’s life. If he is seen drawing he can be seen making himself happy with
another form of his artwork. Art has been his world at sla being a part of the music club and part and art
for years. His interview will show the impact of art for students.
Sla freshman/s/jr.- feeling on the move as a unbias student
“
Arts Integration In School: 10 Reasons Why It's Important.” Seneca Academy,
www.senecaacademy.org/10-reasons-why-integrating-art-is-important-in-school/.
Art is a big part of so many lives. Art is the foundations for some peoples happiness, art is an
expression of who we are and a way to share it that more personal than spoken word. Our
artwork is a piece of us that we are leaving to interpretation. It is an expression of anger, guilt,
sacrifice, happiness, stability, or many more emotions. Art is fluid. Many students within Science
Leadership Academy rely on their artwork as their form of sanity and safety. Losing expression
already maybe hard for the students, but to carry a small staple of Science Leadership Academy
with these small tiles, will make a big impact.
BahaiTeachings.org. “Community Building with Socially-Engaged Art.” YouTube, YouTube, 9
Aug. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVUFbvRt7tA.
The strengthening a community due to community art. People have so many differences, talents
are unique and no one is the same. The world of art is multidimensional. Everyone has a form of
an artist in them so allowing people of different skills, build a piece together, can allow people
push boundaries with one another and it allows them to get to know each other without words
having to be exchanged. The exchange of personality and creation can push people together and
get communities to be homes. A way to make communities feel welcoming and safe.
“Charting a New Course: A Charter School Experiment in Massachusetts.” U.S. News & World
Report, U.S. News & World Report, 22 Jan. 2019,
www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2019-01-22/charting-a-new-course-a-charter-sc
hool-experiment-in-massachusetts.
This is talking about how charter schools are allowing more people into it. and how this
expansion on the school effect the students. Does it hurt the students to add so many random
faces? And the reaction students have to new students. The first few weeks become weeks of
scooping out the new students to find which cliques they will fall in. some students to feel
ostracised. They must find their place very early between the new crowd.
Hsieh, Valerie. “10 Things No One Tells You About Being The New Kid.” The Huffington Post,
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 Sept. 2014,
www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-hsieh/10-things-i-have-learned-_b_5527931.html.
Personal thoughts on being a new student in the middle of your high school life. High school is
already really difficult for most students who struggle with assignments, friendships and finding
out what they would like to do with their futures. Students are already dealing with the struggles
of daily life. This is someones personal story on what they didn’t expect. Science Leadership
Academy has tried to prepare everyone for what they expect, but for each student, there’s going
to be unexpected.
Redding, Samuel. “What Is a School Community, Anyway?” History Studies International
Journal of History, vol. 10, no. 7, 1991, pp. 241 264., doi:10.9737/hist.2018.658.
This is an older journal that shows the importance of growth in a community. Linear growth
while expected can take to be a very long process, and linear functions can have a linear-plateau.
Sometimes an exponential growth, as well as a growth mindset, is needed. Anything that can
bring them closer quicker may be the best thing for the students. Being in an uncomfortable
situation for both sets of these students could cause for a arise of problems.
Talks, TEDx, and Jonathan Wynn-Strachan. “Art Saved My Life | Jonathan
Wynn-Strachan | TEDxFIU.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Nov. 2015,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMQ_FCY-OgE.
Many students are going through daily struggles in their lives. Many will struggle with
depression anxiety. As well as many will experience homelessness, grief, abuse, and a change in
environment can make the aftermath of these situations worse. In this Ted talk, we get to see the
story of Jonathan Wynn. A man who experienced homelessness in high school. He alongside his
mother struggle financially. They couldn’t get ends to meet. He struggled to keep the fursona of
happiness. His mother said he should try and find to way to help someone else. He could barely
get his feet off the floor at 17. He found a love of music during all of his stays in his mother’s
car. He brought his voice into school and brought his artform into a safe he didn't always feel
safe in. He refound his happiness with school when he brought his art form in and shared it with
his schoolmates.
“Tile Wall Project.” Create. Discover. Play. with the Wheaton Park District!, National
Association of Parks Foundation,
wheatonparkdistrict.com/facilities/community-center/tile-wall-project/.
The Wheaton area had had a recent influx of new mover into the area. This community became
split into two separate communities. It became a world of cliques between the new and old
members of the community. People stayed within their grouping avoiding the opposite. The
newer members didn’t feel included in the community as a whole. They have a part of their own
clique. Fearfully this could be the situation with the current move to Benjamin Frankin High
School. The Wheaton Parks and Recreations Department made the decision to bring
togetherness. They created a community tile wall that allowed everyone to share a personal part
of themselves. Science Leadership Academy is known for its artwork. It may make the tradition
easier for students of both schools if they know they share something within the building.
“What Is a Community School?” Coalition for Community Schools - Because Every Child
Deserves Every Chance,
www.communityschools.org/aboutschools/what_is_a_community_school.aspx.
This website shows why children need a community to strive in schools. This article while on
alternative schooling, where members of the community help each other move forward in the
people they become. With a form of collaboration from every member of the society does make
the community feel safer and more welcoming. The students in this alternative school while a bit
younger than the students of Science Leadership Academy and Benjamin Franklin, they were not
so much younger that the information within the website would become null and void, the
website spoke on middle schools (students age 11-14). If we can make these transitions easier for
students than we have to make it as easy as we can.
