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I focused on drawing this type of art since I thought its interesting to draw and because I'm really good at it. I drew 3 different designs which are below

Written Assignment:

For my final Independent Reading Project I read 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. This was a very and suspenseful novel. There were many things that intrigued me and hooked me onto this book. It tells the story of a girl by the name of Hannah Baker who killed herself. Clay Jensen, one of Hannah’s acquaintances, was the one who was listening to the tapes throughout the novel.

One thing that I loved about this book was the detail in each character. Even though all you heard Hannah from was her tapes and thoughts, you could cleary guess what was going through her head. She was a depressed and stressed girl that had “reasons” for everything. I liked how Jay showed her emotions and feelings and it was also very relatable to the mind of a young teenage girl. Even though all teenage girls can’t say they killed themselves, there are things that make them want to. The reasons Hannah had were all great examples of that. (Whether it was related to relationships, friends, or family.)   

This book was really interesting to read and I didn’t want to stop. Although I couldn’t relate completely, most of Hannahs reasons were things that have happened to me before. It made me feel like I’m not the only one struggling with the kinds of problems she had. Even if I didn’t have suicidal thoughts because of my problems, I was probably pretty close. This book just reminded me of how my life used to be. It felt good to read because it was a reminder that I overcame my emotions and didn’t resort to what Hannah did. Overall, this book was actually better than I expected it to be and I would recommend it to many people.

Creative Assignment (Playlist):

Stranger by Jhene Aiko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y21lLimmy8Y
This song is about the artist having a connection with someone she hasn't met or someone she doesn't know too much about, but they have the same type of feelings. It also tells the story of someone not knowing what they have done or who has done something. In the book, Hannah has all these feelings for people that don't even know what they did. 

Save Me by Nicki Minaj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYNPuckZX7k
This song tells the story of a girl who is lost and needs someone to help save her. She needs someone there to help before she loses her mind and does something crazy. In the book, Hannah actually went crazy and committed suicide. 

Sad Songs by Melanie Fiona: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYmepzHrFg
Melanie Fiona sings her heart out about how she has no one to share or hear her feelings with. She sings about all the sad memories she has with people that brought her depression. In the book, Hannah is telling these people that broke her down what they did on the tapes.

Lost by Frank Ocean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_XQaIcIAfg
This song is about a young teen that lost himself and didn't know where his mind was. He let other people control him and didn't know how he could fix it. In the book, Hannah has all these reasons (13 to be exact) why she did what she did to herself. The reasons were all about what people did to her, such as Tyler, who was "creeping" in on her while she was getting dressed. Things such as this built up anger inside her that made her lose herself. 

Ordinary People by John Legend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh07c_P4hc
John sings about how everyone is very different, but more alike than you know. This song sends a message that people should be treated equally and should never feel like they a beneath someone. In the book, this is obviously the main reason why Hannah plugged the plug on herself. 

Catch Me by Nicki Minaj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuBDKSqIDSw
This song by Nicki talks says so much. She delivers lines about how people used to tear her down and make her feel invisible. My favorite line would have to be, "It's funny how you could always make me feel small, I have given my all. Catch me, catch me, I think I am going to fall...." That one line, I think, basically describes the whole book. People always made Hannah feel like she was small and unimportant. 

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a fantastic book by Ned Vizzini. It’s about this boy who finds his life so depressing or so he thinks; that is until he checks himself into a mental hospital and is admitted into the adult psychiatric ward. Once Craig gets a little tour of the hospital he finds that he does not belong. There are people with all types of problems there such as schizophrenics and psychopaths. Craig also has some personal problems. He has a really big crush on a girl named Nia. However Nia is his best friend’s girlfriend. His life seems like it sucks but he has things he also enjoys. He loves peeing. When he goes over to his friend’s house he’ll go into the bathroom and turn the lights off and pee. 

Craig has things that make him happy too. He loves drawing art. He likes to draw road maps. When he was four he lived in an apartment in Manhattan. The pipes were exposed and became very hot in the afternoon. Anyway his dad would take him out to breakfast and ordered him pancakes. The streets were sideways and the avenues were up and down. That’s how his dad would cut his pancakes and that’s how Craig learned where he lived. They’d name the streets and made their way to their address. This was a very happy time in Craig’s life. Now Craig is in the hospital and he’s enjoying the stay.

As his stay in the hospital continues he realizes that he has other things that make him happy. He finds that art such as music and drawing makes him happy. He also meets a girl named Noel. She turns his whole world upside down. She makes him feel happy and he likes her. She likes him too but they’re are kind of shy. Noel is in the hospital for cutting herself multiple times in multiple places. They learn from each other that life may get difficult but at the end it’s not worth killing yourself over. Things get pretty rough in the hospital because Nia comes and visits. While Nia is there she flirts with him and tells him that she and her boyfriend just broke up. Some things happen in the bedroom and he disgusts her so she runs out. He say something that Noel over hears and makes her mad. They soon forgive each other and fall in love. Craig gets out of the hospital and reduces the stress building up on his shoulders. 

I would recommend this book to someone else because I really enjoyed it. It’s pretty funny and it makes you stop and think. I think about my life and it could be so much worse. I’m thankful for the life I live and I’m glad I read this book.

Maps

They help you get to and from

Navigation

It’s like a map but a voice

Make a right turn in a quarter mile

Make a left a the next corner

Craig;

A boy who took the wrong turn

Right for happiness

Left for depression

Craig’s life wasn’t so good so he took a left

As he made that left he saw a beautiful young lady

Nia

It was like love at first sight but he then saw a boy holding her hand

Aaron

They went right because they were happy

Craig continued down the left road

and came across a hospital

He went in but this time he made a right

In the hospital he discovered some interesting things

Art like music and drawing

Oh yeah and Noel

As he stay went on 

he realized right was the way to go

He fell and love with Noel

and she fell for him

it was beautiful young love

And that’s basically the end !

For my creative piece, I made PECS cards. PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. PECS cards are used as a form of communication for people with autism and special needs. The person just simply holds up a card that explains what he/she is feeling. For instance, if that person is sleepy, he/she would hold up a PEC card with a picture of a bed. In Unlocked, one of the main characters, Holden Harris, used PECS cards to communicate. When he wanted to watch a movie, he showed his mother a card with a picture of a television on it. When he wanted raisins, he held up a card with a pictures of raisins on it. I made several PECS cards that Holden used in the book, such as ones that said, “I love music, I see, I hear, Movie, I pray, and Dance.” 

My PECS cards below:

​1. Negative space is when basically all of the colors are the opposite of what they should be.
2. 
3. IT helps artists see things from a different perspective.
4.I think Negative spaces helps enhance drawings that are not very elaborate.

Inquiry: I had to find information on my element for 2 reasons.  I needed to know what has calcium in it and its background.
Research: I had to look online for some facts about calcium.  I also had textbooks in Bio-Chem to help me.
Collaboration: I asked a few friends what they thought of my sketches.  I also gave feed back on others' sketches.
Presentation:  First I made sure to post my work on SLATE.  That way my peers and others can see my work.
Reflection: I reflected on my by posting my work on SLATE and doing this assignment.

Ryan Harris

 

Capstone Process Paper

 

For my capstone, I decided to work closely with 7^th and 8^th graders at Independence Charter School to help them create better National History Day Projects. Originally this was not my idea. My first idea was to create a class/club centered on what the children wanted to learn. I thought that this idea was perfect since it fitted perfect with what I wanted to be when I was older: a teacher. Here I could put myself into a position much like a teacher, while also engages the kids I worked with because they would learning about things they enjoyed like: sports, videos games, books, etc. After discussing the original idea with my mentor, we realized how cumbersome of a project that would be. With a project like that, I’d completely dependent on what the students wanted to learn. If they weren’t putting in any effort, I’d be out of a capstone. I would also be dedicating too much time to creating projects/lesson plans for the class every week. After discussing alternatives, we decided that I would help on existing process going on at the school: National History Day. This was definitely a better idea for me because I still got to be in a teacher-like position while having a better focus on my capstone. During the process of about 3-4 months, I learned how my capstone relates to the five core values.

With inquiry the students and myself had two major questions above our heads: “How do our NHD topics relate to the current theme of 2013?” and “If not, how can change our ideas so that they fit into this year’s topic?” Before getting into any serious work with any of the students I’d ask the kids to explain their theme and overall project in a couple sentences. This way the students can see for themselves whether they have a good idea on their hands instead of just me telling them. For research, I would try to help the students by introducing resources that can possibly collect better sources for the kids. Being that they are 7^th and 8^th graders, they collect almost that looks like a credible source. That’s where collaboration comes in. I’d be there to help distinguish between what’s “good” source and what’s a “bad” source. How something from a random website on the Internet is definitely less effective source that a source from something like an accredited newspaper. In addition to that, I also helped by showing the differences between primary and secondary sources. For many of them, it’s their first introduction into dealing with primary and secondary sources. Using my four years at SLA, I tried to demonstrate more effective ways of presentation a final product. I tried to show the students I worked with the idea of CARP (Contrast-Alignment- Repetition-Proximity), something we always try to implement in our final products at SLA.

The process of my capstone first began when I pay visit to some the students while they were in school. As introduced myself as an alumni of Independence Charter School and that I was once in their position with NHD projects. I told them about my experiences with the National History Day competition and even how my years at SLA have made much more proficient in creating projects. I tried not to come off as too demanding and that I was resource that they had the choice of using. When my mentor compiled as list of groups that wanted to work with me, it then transformed to weekly sessions where I would work with the groups. Although I was very optimistic about the process, I began to notice major issues even after the first meeting. I was just one person in a room full of kids that wanted my help. I quickly realized that I had to divide my attention between six different groups in only a relative short amount of time. Thankfully, my mentor was there to help me out. After one our meetings we decided that I would only work groups who were really invested in the process, but even that had problems. Every week I’d be meeting with a new group so there would be a constant dialogue between the students and myself. Even when I could meet with a group on a consistent basis, these groups already knew what they were doing. I couldn’t really add anything to the overall project. Also a lot of the time, I felt that input wasn’t even being taken into account. I would suggest something to a group and they either completely ignored it or just do it without even considering how it might affect their project.

I’m certainly proud of the fact that I stay with something like this. I was always ready to work with the groups even when it hindered my normal senior workload (benchmarks, projects). I also got to experience what a lot of teachers deal with on a daily basis. Most teachers, especially ones that teach grade school work with kids that are scatterbrained and don’t necessarily pay attention all the time. It’s certainly a difficult thing to deal with that I have to take into consideration when I become a teacher. If I could do this capstone all over again, I’d certainly recruit other people to also work with me so I wouldn’t be dividing my attention amongst so many different groups. I believe that SLA is better place for letting me attend because this is where I got to use all the things I learned in middle school and actually apply them to tangible and worthwhile things. I also believed it’s a better place because I became more invested in global issues and SLA has motivated me to become a much more globally minded citizen. 

My choice for my capstone was very selective. After going through many fantastic ideas I knew that I had one passion that I wanted to pursue. My final choice was to produce and develop my art skills. Before entering Science Leadership Academy as a freshman I knew that I wanted to involve myself in the Art extra curricular class. In this class I wanted to become advance with my artistic abilities and find my ability to explore the world in the view point of a growing artist. I believe that there is no better place to learn art than in an art class room. I had the opportunity to learn not only about the world and its cultures, but themselves and their own communities. Art introduces ideas about how other artist and people live, worked and though, whiles nurturing an appreciation of their own way of life.  

I chose this project mainly because of my extraordinary love for art and how developing it became over time. My sketching and artistic abilities have immensely improved over the years and art having become such a standing point in my life that producing an art portfolio to show only felt right. In order to begin my work, I kept a close sketchbook near by.  As an artist I wanted to show my processed work and how I developed ideas by also showing how my work has matured. I also created a website to show case my finished work online as well as other information that I used such as a variety of youtube videos and resource pertaining to beginners to advanced art lessons/videos.

My capstone addresses the “presentation” core value because within my portfolio it documents visually my process of how well I developed over a course of time.  This project also involved the other core values that made my final project into a finished visual product. Though presentation best fits the representation of my project it also involved a lot of research. In order to do the research portion I needed to conduct some questions. What are some important aspects to improve as an artist? What other techniques and drawings can I challenge myself to? I needed to come up with a portfolio that embodies my ideas, research, innovations, skills, and work process. I also had to dig deep into the research to demonstrate good technical skills by making sure that I have the basics down such as anatomy, color, lighting, etc. A creative art piece without proper proportions is not going to impress and well slow down the process of improving. I collaborated with my peers and other outside sources as well as feed back on artist blogs. This feed back helped me when any questions I had on certain topics that related to art techniques and advice. For the reflection part of my capstone I was able to go to the free library of Philadelphia and get a couple books based on the fine arts and art techniques. I made sure I used all my research from the book and incorporated it into my final portfolio. 

In order to complete my final product I needed to start sketching what I learned from the research and begin my process in my sketchbook. As I began to start using all my open time into sketching I found it becoming fairly easy as I was familiar with beginners art techniques. The process started to become more and more interesting to me because I found myself coming across videos using online resources that helped me learn newer techniques and that is what gave my sketches a realistic feel.  To begin my process I first did some preliminary research on basic art techniques and art history. I then made a timeline to plan out the days I would be working in my sketchbook and updating my website, and also meetings with my capstone mentor Ms. Dunn. The videos that I research refreshed my memory on techniques that could help towards improving skills. 

One obstacle that I faced was coordinating with my set timeline and getting the right amount of time in for finishing up certain sketches. If I wasn’t done one of my sketches, it would become frustrating because I would not able to start another sketch until I was completely done the one I was originally working with. This problem keep some of the days of track and held me back from doing more sketching in little time. Obstacles as such gives a heads up for future awareness that time management can play a role in your art life. 

The thing that I’m most proud about my capstone is that I am about to represent myself as a learning artist. After finishing up anything that took you awhile to a complete, you have the greatest feeling of accomplishment. Looking back into the process of this capstone there were a lot of trials and errors due to the fact that this wasn’t my original plan and I started the portfolio idea later into the months because of my other idea not going through as planned. I feel proud of myself that I stuck through and choose something that not only helped me grow as an artist but also as a person, by finding myself through my art work. 

In the beginning of senior year I was still very unsure of what I wanted to do for my senior capstone. I had considered a mural or something of that nature because of my passion of art, however, I was torn between art and science. I felt that it would be beneficial to explore something pertaining to science, since that is what I would be studying in college, but I was having a hard time finalizing an idea. Luckily, Stephanie Dunda, a teacher that has helped me to indulge in my interest in the sciences in the past, came to me and offered to connect me to an organization called Palms Solutions that was looking for a volunteer to introduce a science program to their after school program TIMBA. 

I took the opportunity and met with both the founder of TIMBA, Jean Marie, and his wife Dr.Mecky. Jean Marie explained that in addition to being a volunteer tutor for his program that I would possibly have several other responsibilities. These responsibilities would include starting a blog on the TIMBA website where other volunteers would be able to talk about their experiences at TIMBA and introducing the kids to some science based experiments while incorporating the math that was being reviewed in the tutoring sessions. I gladly accepted the offer and began my internship with enthusiasm. 

I was paired with another tutor/teacher and we worked together tutoring the children in our small classroom. I worked closely with the children, getting to know them personally and learning their math levels. I began designing a project that could work with what I had learned about them and tat could work around the time frame that I was given. I researched and surveyed the kids about what they wanted to do. Ultimately, I decided to help the kids perform the very classic volcano experiment, with a little twist. I was going to use fractions, the math the children had been working on, to exemplify how math is important in a real life and fun way. The goal was to use different fractions of baking soda and vinegar and see which pairing of fractions gave the best fizz. However, through some conflicting opinions the experiment that was performed in the end was a petri dish experiment. This experiment was meant to also show the kids the importance of fractions, by allowing them to count the colonies of bacteria, as well as teach them a few things about antibiotics, bacteria, and scientists. Once again, do to timing complications this experiment was not performed fully or as throughly as I would have liked. 

Overall, the experience taught me a few things about working with different people and working in different environment. I learned a lot about time management, when third parties are involved, and working with children. 

Meetings 

Jean Marie 

10/11/12

10/18/12

10/25/12

11/1/12

11/8/12

11/15/12

11/29/12

12/6/12

12/13/12

12/20/12

1/3/13

1/10/13

1/17/13

1/24/13

1/31/13

1/7/13

1/14/13

1/21/13

1/28/13

2/7/13

2/14/13

2/21/13

2/28/13

3/4/13

3/11/13

3/18/13

3/25/13

4/2/13

Dunda 

10/3/12

10/17/12

10/31/12

11/14/12

11/28/12

12/12/12

1/9/13

1/23/13

2/6/13

2/20/13

3/6/13

3/20/13

4/24/13

5/22/13

​ The element print required inquiry to learn about the element. Without researching the element, you would not have known what to illustrate in the stamp.
Research has to do with inquiry. It is the physical act of researching the element, to find what you can depict it with.
Collaboration was the clean up procedure. The only real collaboration was when everyone had to clean the work areas.
Presentation was the production of the prints. They are created for people to see, and present themselves without the need of words.
This is a reflection. You look back on what you did in the project, and how you learned from it.

inquiry: For inquiry I had to ask questions along the lines of what is neon found in? How can I portray neon in a unique way? What are some facts about neon that could be important to my design?

research: For research I basically found out what type of element neon was and the different objects it was used it. For my print it shows cryogenic refrigeration; which neon is used in.

collaboration: Collaborating for this project involved asking fellow peers their opinions on my design and getting advice on how to carve the linoleum. I collaborated with peers on matting my prints; the best way to get it perfectly even and centered.

presentation: Presenting my final project involved posting a picture and reflection on SLATE. It makes my design available to anyone who wishes to see it and shows what I have created during my final quarter of art.


reflection: I have reflected quite a bit on this project because during the project I had to focus on negative space a lot and at times messed up so I had to redo certain parts until I got it right. Negative space really enhances this print and makes it stand out. My piece was more focused on the negative space rather than the intricate detail because I felt that it gave the piece a more interesting look.  

​Link To Second Site:
http://cbaez6.wix.com/erthanghasuhhist

Link To First Site (It's starts all the way from the beginning):
http://prisonserthanghasuhhist.tumblr.com/

(I couldn't log into my tumblr.. I lost the paper that had all my pass word and information in it. So I just said, I put everything I had on a second website.)


Project Statement:

The globalization of Prison Systems. As a world, we are raised to understand that crime is punishment and punishment is the reasonable action for crime. If someone commits a crime, such as anything which is against the law or unmoral to the community, one sent to trial in which sentenced to whichever happy ending is chosen. We were all raised to understand, don’t do wrong. Bad happens to those who do wrong. Have we always lived in the idea that we go to jail and serve time? Has the Jail system always existed? Not at all.  Everything has a history, especially the dawn of imprisonment and punishment. This system as grown rapidly into what we call Jail and labour. Socially this system scares us, Culturally it affects everyone around the world differently, Economically it is very expensive, Politically there’s a debate about a new prison change, Military play roles as enforces for Jail, and is very important to understand how the creation on the Prison System, is and has affected our world Globally to be enforce the laws that it has. Every country has a Prison system, and every country handles the crime of immoral human behavior very different. But yet it’s so similar, that Globally we may need to remember our own morals in how to treat a human being in truly being productive in the sakes of other lives!

Bibli:

- Halsall, Paul. "William Harrison (1534-1593): Description Of Elizabethan England, 1577." Internet History Sourcebooks. Http://www.fordham.edu/, Aug. 1998. Web. May 2013.

- Foucault, Michael. "Introduction: The Panopticon." Introduction: The Panopticon. Http://cartome.org/, 16 June 2001. Web. May 2013.

- "PRISONS BILL." (Hansard, 24 March 1898). N.p., Mar. 1898. Web. May 2013.

- "Prevention of Crime Act 1908." Prevention of Crime Act 1908. Http://www.legislation.gov.uk/, 21 Dec. 1908. Web. May 2013.

- UK Parliment. "Criminal Justice Act 1948." Criminal Justice Act 1948. Http://www.legislation.gov.uk/, 30 July 1948. Web. May 2013.

Peck, Jim. "The Future of Prisons [Western Prisons Studio Session]." The Future of Prisons [Western Prisons Studio Session]. Http://focuswest.org/, n.d. Web. May 2013. <http://focuswest.org/prisons/trans_future.cfm>.

Secondary:

- Alchin, Linda. "Roman Executions at the Colosseum." Roman Executions at the Colosseum. Http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/, n.d. Web. May 2013.

- Historyonthenet. "Crime and Punishment." Medieval Life - Crime and Punishment. Historyonthenet, n.d. Web. May 2013.

-  Harrison, William, Description of Elizabethan England (originally published 1577-78, republished for the New Shakespeare Society 1877-1878); Rowse,A.L., The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Life of the Society (1971). [http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/punishment.htm]

- "Build International Space Prison." China Announces Plans To Build International Space Prison | The Onion - America's Finest News Source. | The Onion - America's Finest News Source, 09 Apr. 2013. Web. May 2013. <http://www.theonion.com/articles/china-announces-plans-to-build-international-space,31993/>.

Bergman, Paul. "Sentencing Alternatives: Prison, Probation, Fines, and Community Service." Nolo. Nolo.com, n.d. Web. May 2013. <http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/sentencing-alternatives-prison-probation-fines-30294.html>.

Social

- Medieval Torture. Dir. John Troute. Youtube, 2001.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMP72Q-TW_w>

- Torture of the Medieval Ages. Dir. TiongProductions. YouTube, 12 Jan. 2010. Web. May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYpFNiEiWck>.

- Machines of Malice: The Crank Wheel. Dir. KidProdigys. YouTube, 19 Dec. 2009. Web. May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp6-2Ap04C0>.

- Machines of Malice The Human Press. Dir. KidProdigys·. YouTube, 19 Dec. 2009. Web. May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PdvGkblMpo>.

- orway Prison System Luxurious? Dir. TheYoungTurks. YouTube. N.p., 27 July 2011. Web. May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyiodSMNv4E>.

Here are my art pieces for quarter 4.  Please enjoy! 

I knew exactly what the topic of my capstone would be by the time that I entered high school. I have had an interest in animals ever since my first pet dog named Rex. However, it did not stop with him. I was fascinated in animals of all sorts. I remember that my family would buy my books about animals. In particular, I would enjoy reading about reptiles. My interest in reptiles came about when I went on a kindergarten class trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, a place that would eventually become the headquarters of my capstone project.

After entering the Reptile and Amphibian House that first time, I noticed that it contained a variety of animals that were like nothing that I had ever seen before. All of its inhabitants were scaly. Some were legless, and others had shells. I had always seen pictures of reptiles, but finally being able to see how unique that they were in person gave me a lifelong curiosity. After leaving the zoo that first time, I was eager to go back and observe things that I was not able to notice the first time, given my young age. As such, when high school gave me the chance to volunteer at the zoo, I eagerly accepted it. This happened when I chose the zoo for my tenth grade Individualized Learning Plan (ILP). Being able to finally wear the zoo uniform to the zoo took my already present excitement about my internship over the top, as the animals would now look to me not as a visitor, but as a keeper.

After I had finished my internship, I felt emptiness in my body. I knew that for my life to once again be complete, I had to find a way that I could incorporate the zoo into my life. I quickly realized that the perfect idea was to have my capstone project have something to do with the zoo. Although I wanted to use it to learn more about what the zoo does behind the scenes, I knew that I could make a more productive use of my time with the zoo. Instead of being selfish, I thought that it would be a good idea to work with the zoo to make the already amazing experience that each zoo visitor has even better. While I was thinking about how to achieve this, I remembered what I did when I volunteered at the zoo in the tenth grade. Then, the idea came to me to improve the zoo’s already valuable education program in any way that I could. This one thought helped to shape how I was going to do my project.

I knew that although the zoo did educate its zoo visitors about the animals in its care, it did not really get the chance to take notes about how each zoo visitor responded to the information that was being presented to them. I knew at that point that it was my obligation to take observations on the engagement level of each zoo visitor that I came into contact with in locations throughout the zoo. This led my project to a halt, as I had to decide what my definition of engaged should be. However, after collaborating with the zoo, we decided that the best way to accurately judge the engagement level of a zoo visitor was by counting the number of questions that they asked. If they asked more than two questions, I would assume that they were engaged. If not, then I would assume vice-versa. To go with this, I would also record the expression on zoo visitors’ faces, the amount of time that they spent with a zoo presenter, and some of the questions that they asked. Taking the data was the activity that took the most of my time to do, as the zoo required for me to volunteer for at least eighty hours.

After I had taken data for months, I compiled it all together to come to a conclusion. I had originally planned to educate zoo visitors myself, but I ran out of time. However, I was pleased with the findings that I was able to gain. I concluded that the best way to present information to zoo visitors was by way of a visual presentation, as more questions were being asked under these conditions. I shared this information with the zoo in hopes that it would help them in any way possible.

Looking back, I am happy to have had the chance to work with my favorite place twice in my life to do something that I enjoy doing. Although doing a capstone may have seemed like work to some of my peers, for me it brought sheer enjoyment. This experience is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, proudly bringing it up when I feel the need to do so. It is my hope that next year’s seniors will have an experience as wonderful as mine.

As my capstone I decided to make my own choreography concept video. A choreography concept video may sound more complex than it actually is. Basically it has a storyline that is complemented by dancing. The dancing should tell the story. Dancing has been one of my hobbies since before I can remember. I always liked to dance but never in front of people. The only people that knew that dancing was one of my hobbies were my closest family. Coming to SLA I was exposed to an openly creative and unique environment, providing the perfect opportunities to show what you’ve got in a sense. It took me until this year to take advantage of that by means of this project. I wanted to do something that interested me and also show a side of me that not people knew. I knew from the get-go that it wasn’t going to be some kind of paper or science experiment because I’ve been there, done that. My project was more personal to me in helping me become more comfortable with myself and kind of putting my talent to the test.

As for the the core values there are five of them. I think collaboration and presentation are most obviously applicable to my capstone. My final product was to be a video that told a story. In order to do that many things in terms of how to present the story to the audience had to be deciphered. While doing my research on videos similar to what i was trying to do, I found that most of them didn’t have a lot of talking. But because of the storyline I chose, the audience would better understand with talking and voice overs. I didn’t realize how major collaboration was going to be in this project until I got into it. I had three guy dancers and two girl dancers. I also had someone filming for me and extras here and there. As far as inquiry goes I questioned what would make a good video based on what I wanted to include. I looked at tons of dancing videos on youtube. I found that the ones I enjoyed the most had a story and I also found that I like some specific choreographers. Studying what I liked help me create something that I thought my audience would enjoy. When it comes to reflection this is that aspect of my capstone.

The first thing I did for this project was come up with some story lines. I eventually chose one and then wrote a full script. The script wasn’t that hard considering I was used to creative writing as part of my english class first/second quarter. It was in between those two quarters that I had to do a bibliography. I had watched a lot of different choreography videos by a lot of different choreographers, but then i realized my sources couldn’t all be youtube videos. I then started studying two of my favorite young choreographers and a famous one. When I finished the story line and research I had actually choreography three separate dances. This took me longer than expected so I started to film the speaking parts before I finished the choreography. I had six other people that I needed for my capstone.  It was hard trying to get them all in one spot every time I need them. I sent out tons of emails about when I wanted to use them but everyone had a different schedule so it got frustrating trying to accommodate everyone. To overcome this obstacle I often worked with the girls and guys separately. However when I needed to film with everyone together I made sure I would let them know at least three day in advance.  I guess all the people that I asked for help are the resources that I taped into. Two weeks before capstone was due, I spent both of my lunches editing. I definitely took advantage of the equipment Mr. Herman had. Without it my project wouldn’t be nearly as good.

I feel like my capstone showed how I blossomed asa person since going to SLA. I’ve become more comfortable with myself, although not entirely. Despite the stress and even tears I was able to get it done. I learned a lot about myself by doing this project. I was able to put myself to the test. There was no doubt that I could dance but I wasn’t sure if I could choreograph. There were definitely times when I was ready to quit because I could come up with a move that went nicely with the beat I had chosen. I’m also proud of the fact that I had people who care enough about me to deal with me and help me out. If I could do this capstone all over again I wouldn’t want to do anything differently. It was hard at times but everything can’t be easy. I enjoyed doing this with my friends.

Being at the end of my senior made me realize that I didn’t really leave my mark in SLA until this year. Before this year I wasn’t to big on expressing my opinion, I’m still not really big on it but there has been much progress. I’ve brought some calm moments to SLA and some loud ones too.I don’t know for sure if I’ve made SLA a better place but I know that I haven’t done the opposite. I’m not going to say that SLA would be nothing without me. The truth is, I would be nothing if I didn’t get the chance to experience SLA. 

            For my capstone I wrote a business paper that outlines how to create a program that conducts research and activities in the subject it was built around. As for why I chose the project, I chose this project because for the past 4 years I have founded and built a program that focuses on doing research in the Astronomy field along with improving Astronomy education and STEM education in general. While I was creating and building the program from scratch, I had no guideline in how to build a program while creating my program, so for my capstone, my program advisors and I came to the agreement that I should write a guide to creating a program so that people aren’t building a program without guidance.

            My capstone addresses the core values in two different ways. The first way is was my process of building Project S.P.A.C.E (Scholastic Program for Astrophotography and Celestial Events) since during that process I went through Inquiry, Research, Collaboration, Presentation and Reflection numerous times to refine the program and bring to where it is today. The second way was the actual paper writing because while I wrote the paper I had to ask myself questions in the shoes of an outsider to identify what I actually did at the start of my process for Inquiry. For Research, I recalled my memories of actually creating the program and looked through documents I had written at the start of the program for resources we used. Collaboration was my capstone mentors helping me recall memories and identify steps I took that I missed. Presentation is the 25-page paper I put together at the end explaining how to create a program and Reflection was the constant refining I did with my peers to make the paper great.

            My process for the capstone was complex due to trying to recall precisely every step I took to create my program. The steps I took to complete the paper were Recall steps, Approach mentors about whether the steps recalled were accurate or there were some before it and then repeat this process until I had an outline for the steps so that all I had to do was to fill in information for each step. While I was recalling, my mentor Derrick Pitts had to point out some steps I missed because those steps seemed natural for me but he pointed out that they might not come naturally to others as they did to me. To overcome this, I went to Derrick when I completed the outline and went over what each step in the outline represented and meant which allowed him to point out steps I skipped over.

            A lot of the resources I used to complete my capstone were human resources like Derrick Pitts and my original founding members of the program. Although they made up most of my resources, they did not make up all of them. I also used the same resources I used when we first started to help me remember some of the tools I used to start researching in Astronomy. I also used notes and random writings on my computers to piece together memories completely.

            What I’m most proud of in this capstone is what others stand to gain from this paper. I’m most proud of that because I remember why I created my program: to improve education in Astronomy and STEM. This paper allows others to create programs similar to mine whether they have the same goals or not, it doesn’t matter because the programs are created to improve an aspect of a life. Whether that aspect is education, environment or a concept, I’m happy to know that my paper can help to improve things faster due to those innovators having a guideline to make creating a program easier for them than creating it from scratch. I learned a lot from my process because I reflected on everything the last 4 years related to my program. It’s helped me to see where I could do better and what I need to work on moving forward. One of those things to work on is notifying the program members far ahead of time since I’m still not doing well with that.

            If I could do this capstone over again the only thing I would change is getting more people to help me recollect the steps I took since although I got it done and wrote the paper, there are still pieces that come to me every once in a while that I wonder if I should of put into the paper. SLA is a better place because I was a student there because I created a student-led program at SLA that is soon going to become a national program. I remember hearing one of my superiors at The Franklin Institute telling me in a meeting this, “There are two things that came out of SLA that are no place else: Educon, the educational conference held and run by the school, and your program, Project S.P.A.C.E, the only student-led program to be created by a student for students that does research into a subject like Astronomy with minimal adult direction.” One of the biggest ways that I’ve made SLA a better place since I was a student there is that through running and building my program, I’ve created awesome new connections and opportunities for students at SLA whether its still being able to go to Wednesdays at the Franklin as freshmen or giving students more ILPs to do at TFI. Personally, I think I have done what Lehmann once told me which was, “You’ve ‘maximized’ your experience at SLA”. I truly believe I have since I don’t think I could answer how I could of made better use of the time I had at SLA.