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My capstone was the progression of running a business as a student amid Covid-19. I have the last year and a half worth of footage documented to provide photo evidence of an ongoing skill that progressed with time.

Abstract: My mission for my capstone was to create a historical artifact about, what can be agreed upon as, the most historical 4 years of SLA. I want to create something that future students and possible prospects could use to get insight and understand the core of Science Leadership Academy; while making something we all can look back at. This website is a mix of stories, poetry, narratives, and reflections from the people at SLA.

The mission I created for myself for this Capstone was driven by a question: How can I Encourage the Youth to Invest at an Early Age? Although I am a young investor in cryptocurrency and the stock market, I still wish that I started investing earlier! Developing good money habits and management earlier would most likely have left me with enough money to go to one of my dream colleges. Not only that, but these habits would have saved me a lot of money, and helped me get started on my path to financial freedom way earlier! Now to educate others on the topic of investing, I also had to educate myself. So for the entirety of my senior year, I devoted most of my time to researching any topics related to the stock and cryptocurrency markets as I was still so new to investing. Through my journey, I spread the knowledge I was gaining to people such as my friends, parents, other family, and peers. My capstone had an “Inquiry” to drive this project, had “Research” and “Collaboration” with other young/old investors to complete this project, “Presentation” to fully utilize the potential of this project, and lastly had “Reflection” to learn from this project and learn from educating others.

For my capstone project I chose to make a small parody film about what goes on in the mind of a procrastinator. Throughout the year my capstone goal had been changed around a lot, from me wanting to make a full professional film to me just wanting to make something silly and amusing. I decided to take out a small part of the film that I initially scripted since this scene had included both the stereotypes of your average procrastinator while also contradicting some of them. Most procrastinators are seen as lazy and unproductive, so I decided to show said procrastinator being productive despite it not being what the procrastinator initially wanted to do. Throughout the school year it was very difficult to focus on school due to in-home responsibilities, so there were many times when the need to focus on my home responsibilities overpowered school. My film was mostly an opportunity to toy around with premiere since past years I didn’t get much experience with it.

film: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iltO1knBW2U2Ht55H-T8RCBgfuEd35mk/view?usp=sharing

Bibliography:

Professional Development Procrastination Perks

https://blog.dce.harvard.edu/professional-development/perks-procrastination#:~:text=Procrastination%20gives%20you%20time%20to,think%20about%20them%20in%20depth.

Perks of procrastination

Source: https://www.fastcompany.com/3046120/the-five-hidden-benefits-of-procrastination

Cons of Procrastination

https://claritychi.com/the-pros-cons-of-procrastination/#:~:text=Drawbacks%20of%20Procrastination&text=When%20individuals%20put%20things%20off,and%20tension%20in%20the%20body.

For my Capstone, I wanted to find out what family meant to different people. In order to do that, I sent out an online survey about who people considered to be in their family, and then asked the respondents further questions about their different ideas on family. I then used the answers and put them into a website so that people could view the different responses I got.

For my Capstone I created a short audio and visual podcast series called “The Dead and the Decomposing”, looking into what happens when we die and how the living have decided to cope with it. Each episode had a different topic: “The Process of Death”, “Methods of Burial”, “Effects of Death on the Environment”, and “Mass Death” - including a “Field Trip” episode which is essentially a short vlog of my spring break when my mom and I poked around some old New England cemeteries.

My goal was to combine all of my creative interests such as writing, drawing, and video editing with my academic strengths: giant research papers, while also creating something fun and easily accessible (so the opposite of a giant research paper).

Throughout the course of the year my capstone has fluctuated, morphing into what it is now. My goal was to create a piece of work that takes people out of the stereotypical roles society has placed on them. For my capstone I wrote some of a script and filmed a scene from it. From the scene I wrote earlier in the year to the form it took in the manifestation of it as a video are different in some ways but the idea came through. I hope to continue to create videos and films that allow people to see themselves in all spaces and refine my creative skills in the process.

Two music videos, both demonstrations of original DSi animation alongside music produced by local musicians. In September I asked myself if my capstone could reflect digital editing and storytelling as they were introduced to me through the CTE program, as well as a personal mission to utilize animation in my own films. Could realistic composition be applied to a surreal idea; It was about application and practice. I did no research.

Attached below are both music videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjeXSDraRuY : Jeff Is Nic Sic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jz1qO5cM80 - Novo

For my capstone, I wanted to create a project that displayed a side of myself that is out of the box and shows creativity. while also collaborating with people within the SLA community, from other students to also Alumni who you will see are featured in my project. I was able to create a line of hoodies a mock brand of ideas that I wanted to bring to life. The brand name is “Uncovered”. The meaning behind this is to consider the ideas of which I pushed aside and had finally felt was the right time to express. To express the ideas of who I am where everything started and different ideas of myself portrayed within each design. I was able to show a side of myself people don’t regularly see. I learned how to manage within a timely manner. While in the process of acknowledging the process of how to outsource and use it beneficially, allowed me to create my line without trying to break my pockets. I was able to work on this clothing line by brainstorming with a former SLA student who is a graphic designer. This allowed me to bring my creations to life while allowing them to display their artistic work. With that being said it also began to give me exposure to being able to be in charge of planning out an entire photoshoot. Being able to be a director and display work that may be used in the future.

Bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oJCTFBlWFbBDeHfp_LFbZlv_6gO-b1Y7UXc5jRFSfRg/edit?usp=sharing

During the 2019- 2020 school year many students grappled with the unfamiliar reality of nationwide virtual schooling. The Philadelphia School District has been online since March of 2020 and there have been many cases of students struggling to stay motivated,Many seniors and juniors of less fortunate/funded high. Most 2020 high school graduates lost their privileges to go to prom, take a senior trip, and close out their high school journey strong. Nationally the perseverance of students and teachers was the essential part in making sure online school was a success during the following year . For my capstone I wanted to focus on how students grappled with the new norm of virtual schooling. Furthermore I aimed to open up what it means to maintain your mental health in a pandemic.

Link to Capstone: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iEyZUgT8ss2l4tHDCv7kRrKnPpzB2g/view?usp=sharing

Link to Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q7pk4yJ3OuSSlF-hf0RnnEDD3QP6TwrSeZ_lFKnbdqA/edit?usp=sharing

For my senior capstone, I searched through my passions and eventually came upon the idea to explore the idea of creating a garden for SLA and BFHS’ terrace. A garden would offer the opportunity to enrich both communities in terms of nature and gardening, it offers opportunities for all sorts of students, ranging from engineering students to art enthusiasts. As access to the terrace is restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I have compiled a formal proposal, complete with an extensive annual budget plan and blueprints for a rooftop garden, in hopes to pass it on to a rising senior able to flesh out my idea better than I can.

For my Capstone created a website for animal awareness. The website includes what animals are endangered and how, why we need animals for our own survival, how animals have been affected during the pandemic, and ways to fight against animal cruelty.

For my Capstone, I decided to create a clothing line that represents cancer awareness. I picked this topic because I was already considering creating my own clothing line prior to this project. I chose to make the clothing line represent cancer awareness because cancer has affected a lot of people and it is also one of the most widely known diseases in the world. But there still isn’t a cure to for cancer. With this design for a clothing line this could bring more awareness to cancers that aren’t as known as others. Throughout the school year I sketched multiple pieces that I was considering including in the final project. I also researched about different cancers to find out the colors that corresponds with each and what parts of the body they affect.

Drawings Of Final Designs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15lsArVEm4AGvj9dY7txJh6F7DoIWb6xDDkE2DGWXDoY/edit

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/167Nf0dIqtxxuYmpW98zSYc7gzOYypf1jXZXOG8RjsgQ/edit

For my capstone, I decided to use the engineering experience that I have and perfect face masks. When trying to perfect the face masks that we now wear on a daily basis I looked at ways to bring comfort while maintaining safety. My first design was to use LEDs and place them around the exposed breathing holes of a face mask to bring the normalcy of breathing in fresh air but still providing protection. After finding that the route I was taking was too complex for my means I instead decided to keep it safe and simple. The idea arose to create a sliding circular object that can be manually spun open/close depending on the environment the wearer is in. I have pictures taken from Fusion 360 to show the original design and the shift of my final product and a video showing the creation of the piece to satisfy my Capstone requirements.

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqWipaAcWTg

For my capstone, I wanted to study linguistics and focus on how the structure of language could help your ability to comprehend different languages and dialects. I picked this topic because language is used in almost every aspect of our lives, and it’s very important to the development of culture and communication in the world. Throughout the course of the school year, I accumulated research on the traditional foundations of grammar and studied High Valyrian (a fictional language from Game of Thrones) via Duolingo for a more hands-on approach. For my final product I curated a blog website, diving more into linguistic analysis and how understanding the systems can make learning new languages a bit easier. Below are links to my blog and my annotated bibliography.

website link: https://cjrcapstone.weebly.com/

annotated bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kdvhk8a9VQc0Zqnacf84Qn6A0Qh-hbd6xlBxJaywccE/edit?usp=sharing