Science Leadership Academy @ Center City

Tianna McNair Capstone

Posted by Tianna McNair in Capstone · Siswick/Kay · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 10:54 am

For my capstone I decided to focus on mental health in the black community. I found that it has been statistically proven that African Americans have more exposure to crime, violence, and poverty. Being in hostile environments all the time activates to fight or flight response and can trigger different mental illnesses. On top of that black people have historically been exposed to hostile things like Jim Crow, slavery, civil rights movement,etc. and trauma affects your biological makeup which can then be passed down to your kids. This information inspired me to get African Americans exposed to this information with the hopes that we can change the how we view the topic and maybe one day end the stigmas around mental health and mental illness. I then held an event for people to come out and talk. I also created an audio piece with a few interviews that I’ve conducted.

Link to audio piece here.

Bibliography

"Black & African American Communities and Mental Health." Mental Health America. Accessed February 02, 2017. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/african-american-mental-health.

Mental Health in America is nonprofit organization that focuses on bringing awareness to and preventing mental health through education, advocacy, and research services. I found a page on the website the specifically addresses mental health in black and African American communities. It talks about how although black people make up a small portion of the population the rate in which people are reported with a mental issues is disproportionated. This is because there are many environmental factors the historically and currently affect this community. And a lot of times black people are misdiagnosed with mental disorders. In my project I used the infographic. I used the infographic because people retain information better with visuals, also because I wanted to show that we are a minority however there is a big percent of people who have a mental illness.

"Got Your ACE Score?" ACEs Too High. July 25, 2015. Accessed February 03, 2017. https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/.

ACE stands for adverse childhood experiences. The ACE test is a series of questions about a bunch of different events and the person answers yes or no. For every yes that a person has they receive a point. This test is used to measure a person person childhood trauma. The reason why this is important to my project is because exposure to a childhood trauma affects a person's physical health on a biological level. If a person who has a score of four a more is at risk for problems with their hormonal and immune system, the brain’s function and development, and the way the their DNA is read and transcribe. I thought that having this in my project would be a more interesting lens to talk about my project through. Most people talk about the social issues that a person may face but no one really talks about the biological effects.

Hairston, Tahirah. "'Being Mary Jane' Gracefully Tackles a Touchy Subject Black People Often Avoid." Fusion. Accessed February 03, 2017. http://fusion.net/story/222956/being-mary-jane-suicide-mental-health/.

This is an article that is giving a recap of an episode from the television series Being Mary Jane. The show is about a woman who is a successful television host on a major network. This show follows the up and downs of her work life along with family and social life. What makes this show interesting is how they address many related issues for black woman in the corporate world. On this one particular episode a character committed suicide after a long and hard struggle with depression. The reason why I wanted to incorporate this into my project is because of the many signs that this character showed and all her attempts to get her loved ones attention and how no one noticed. I am using this episode for a blog post about the many ways that people reach out for help in ways that may not be that obvious. I think that this a source to reference because it’s a pretty current and popular show that could make my audience interested.

"NAMI." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness | African Americans. Accessed February 02, 2017. http://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Diverse-Communities/African-Americans.

National Alliance on Mental Illness has a similar mission as Mental Health in America. I found more information about the prevalence of mental in the black community and it’s causes. The one thing that this source did differently was that they included resources so that people can get help. They bring up an interesting point about how as a patient it is important to make sure that your health care provider has cultural competence. On website I quote some of their stats about misdiagnosis of african american people about of lack of cultural competence.

Siawale Vesslee in discussion with the author Tianna McNair, January 2017

I interviewed Siawale who is an apart of the African diaspora to get a unique point of view on how families who aren’t from America are similar to the ones who are. I found that there were a lot a similarities with the culture and how we both deal with mental health. Some of the interview questions are: How does you, your family and friends talk about mental people with mental illnesses? Has your family ever talked about or taught you self care? What are some common misconceptions that exist within the black community? What do you think needs to be changed about how we view mental health as a collective? And how can we reach out to people living with these conditions without being overbearing? I then used her response in a podcast that shows how mental health is not often talked about in black families.

"Suicide Statistics — AFSP." AFSP. Accessed February 02, 2017. https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/.

This source is the American Foundation for suicide prevention. This source has a lot of statistics about suicide in America and it gets as specific as the rates by gender and race. I used this source to compare the rates I found about black people to other races here. I used some stats on my webpage.

"Suicide Rates among Young Black Boys on the Rise." CNN. Accessed February 02, 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/health/suicide-youth/.

I found this article on CNN that talks about how the suicide rates for black boys are on a rise. It talks about how the rate has been on a constant incline for the past two decades. And how suicide is one of the third leading causes for deaths of young black boys in America. I plan on using this article in my blog as another way to show the prevalence of mental health issues. It talks about how deaths from suicide has always been something that was common and consistent among white males. I found that interesting because it was only recently that suicide deaths have become common in black boys and I wanted to explore why that may be. I assumed that it was because of more direct effects on us like mass incarceration, adverse childhood experiences, police brutality, the school to prison pipeline, and strict gender norms.

Vaughn Matthews in discussion with the author Tianna McNair, January 2017

I interviewed Vaughn with the same interview questions that I asked Siawale. He had a unique response. He talked about how he and his family actually talked about self care. He told me about the many different ways that he and his siblings carry out their self care regimens. This was different from all the other interviews that I recorded.

"Welcome to WISQARS™." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 12, 2017. Accessed February 02, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention holds a lot of reliable statistics about deaths in the united states and their causes. I wanted to use this source to find unbiased statistics to either prove or disprove the CNN article. This link wasn’t really helpful in that sense. However, was able to see how many deaths there were and do calculations using the information from other sources to find the percentage of the amount of those deaths were suicides.

Writer, HealthyPlace.com Staff. "Mental Health Hotline Numbers and Referral Resources." HealthyPlace. Accessed February 03, 2017. http://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/resources/mental-health-hotline-numbers-and-referral-resources/.

Although this source is would not be considered scholarly, this sources was really helpful for creating my website. My modeled my website to be similar to this source. On this website they have a blog, resource tab, forum, about page, etc. I copied some of the resource numbers on my website. I chose the hotline numbers that were geared more towards mental health. For example numbers for victims of child abuse, learning disabilities, sexual assault, and suicide and self harm.

Shane Durkin Capstone

Posted by Shane Durkin in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 10:43 am

What I did for my capstone project this year is it was on Minecraft and how it can be used as an education tool. My final product was a video explaining the ways Minecraft could be used as an education tool. The beginning part of the process for my capstone was first, I had to do lots of research on the topic itself and how some people actually use Minecraft for an education tool. Then, I also had to play a lot of Minecraft to understand, and figure out other ways Minecraft could be used as a learning tool. After that, I had to write the script for my video and pick which methods of how it can used as an education I wanted to talk about in the video, Then, I recorded some Minecraft gameplay in the background showing some Minecraft basics. Lastly, I combined the voice over and game play to make my final product.

VIDEO ENDS AT 2:49

Youtube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K_ZTnfNtyc

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17tYTN3C9rhrcbssrOhW5meVYv1h1jucxh7AsX5aPuCs/edit

Crystal Taylor Capstone

Posted by Crystal Taylor in Capstone · Todd · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 10:25 am

Throughout the 2016-2017 school year I have worked closely with young, middle school girls and not only did they have a major impact on me, but I also left my mark on them. I wanted to focus my Capstone on creating and building relationships within the youth, simply because the world we live in isn't always easy and everyone needs someone at a point in time. With the help of my mentor, who is the site director of the 4-H afterschool program, and numerous hours of lesson planning preparation, one Wednesday a month from January to April I traveled to Delaware to Kirk Middle School and did a handful of fun and engaging activities. We would do things from having "girl talk", to going out to 'Painting with a Twist'.

Each month for the program, there is a certain theme for the month. So, I decided to work the themes into my own lesson plans that I created. The overall product of my capstone project are the relationships that were built during these last few months. It makes me feel good to know that each month, the girls were looking forward to seeing me and having fun. I learned that this "big sister, little sister" idea is honestly beneficial. Having someone to look up to for advice, guidance, and just having someone to talk to is a good feeling, and that is what I wanted for those girls.

A link to the pictures and my bibliography can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vVjB70MS5-05LRr5MT6yowQK4xxMErQ5Vich8It06HQ/edit?usp=sharing

Jared Trusty Capstone

Posted by Jared Trusty in Capstone · Todd · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 10:02 am

The process that i followed was in line with our school's core curriculum, Research, Inquiry, Collaboration, Presentation and reflection. I Inquired on a way to help the school in a way and manner that could be continued even after I have left SLA. After doing a little bit of research into the different problems into the school I found that the school while in poor condition most things could not be worked on or fixed. I then realized the most obvious answer was right in front of me, all of the tables, furniture and chairs in the school are either broken or non accessible.

What I wanted to do was create a way for other students to make furniture to improve their school environment. This Capstone not only has a physical representation of all the work but a guide to help future students. What I hope to accomplish is to complete 2 Benches for the 3rd floor Hallway. (Adjacent to Hull’s Room) I will also complete a table for the ballroom on the 3rd floor. 1 Benches will accompany the table this will fully furnish the 3rd floor area. I will also complete a detailed guide on how to create each of these things on your own so that future students can repair or replace the old furniture.

I believe that this will help students improve their school and understand the work needed to create the different mechanisms that they often destroy, giving purpose and reason to the object. Below is a link to all of my pictures, Bibliography and the process behind how to make every different design.

Pics

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B47e4baNeo1ATjBzN1VpdWVNbEk?usp=sharing

Guide

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IF3kq9qL-kzq6K3GXjn-dJyjoKS2EgIrJTmYmUhVSkc/edit#

Michaela Peterson Capstone

Posted by Michaela Peterson in Capstone · Giknis · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 10:01 am

For my capstone, I created a website for the Hyrtl Skull Exhibit at the Mutter Museum. There are one-hundred-thirty-nine skulls in the collection, and Hyrtl took very detailed notes on all of them, beyond occupation or age or cause of death. He looked at where the skulls were from and the shape of them. This collection was amassed to disprove the theory of phrenology, which is the idea that you can determine a person’s intelligence based on the size and shape of their cranium. This idea was used to support slavery and white supremacy. I first did research on Dr. Hyrtl and then I started to catalogue the data that I was given. This is what took my the longest, as there are one-hundred-thirty-nine skulls and the data was not organized in a way that you could draw conclusions from it. I created a 20 page table with nine columns that summarized all of the data. From there I found statistics like average age, sex ratio, and causes of death. Once that was done, I took all of my data and put it into my website. I also shared this chart with the Mutter, so they have a better idea of what their collection looks like.

My website: http://thehyrtlskullcollection.weebly.com/

My bibliography:

Bank, Andrew. "Of 'Native Skulls' and 'Noble Caucasians': Phrenology in Colonial South Africa." Journal of Southern African Studies 22.3 (1996): 387-403. Web. 3 Feb. 2017. This article talks about one of the most common uses for phrenology. Because phrenology came to rise around the same time as mass colonialism and nationalism did, it became common to justify the colonialism and mistreatment of native peoples and their land using phrenology. It is common to see terms used like “alien race” or “inferior race” when colonizers were talking about the people they colonized. These terms are a result of phrenology saying that Causians are the superior race, and all others are less advanced. This source looks a South Africa specifically, as the results phrenology and colonialism there still have lasting effects on the population.

Dhody, Anna, comp. Hyrtl Skull Exhibit. 1874. Exhibit at the Mutter Museum. The Mutter Museum at the College of Physcians, Phildadelphia. This source is my raw data for the project. These 139 skulls were collected by Dr. Josef Hyrtl throughout the course of his life. In 1874, they were bought by the Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians. On each of the skulls is a short description of the person to whom the skull belonged, which may include a name, occupation, sex, age, religion, place of origin, cause of death, and a description of the skull, among other things. One downside to this source is the fact that I am working with translations, as the original descriptions were written in German. However, they were translated by a professional, and there are not many words that could get confused in translation.

Ilacqua, Joan, comp. Talking Heads. N.d. Exhibit. The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston. This collection is about Phrenology and the history of studying skulls. It discusses four men, Franz Gall, Johann Gaspar Spurzheim, and the Flower brothers, who contributed to the concepts and ideas of phrenology. This source also provides a very good definition for phrenology and why it was so popular. It also expands on what phrenology is involved with now, as it has been separated from the science that it was originally associated with. While Keckeisen addressed the root of phrenology, this source expanded on what was already given. It also explained what happened to phrenology after Gall created and shared his ideas about the shape of the skull and brain and how they relate to different attributes of different people.

Jahoda, Gustav. "Intra-European Racism in NineteenthâCentury Anthropology." History and Anthropology 20.1 (2009): 37-56. Web. This source talks about how phrenology and craniology, a precursor to phrenology, were used by early anthropologists to create different sub-groups within various races, especially causians. This practice was mostly used to prove that northern, WASP (white, anglo-saxon, protestant) Europeans were superior to all other. That would mean a German or Frenchman would be superior to a Greek or Italian, but all of them were superior to the rest of the people from the world. This source gives a lot of context for the information that is on the skulls, especially in concern to why religion was only noted sometimes and where each person was said to have come from.

Jenkins, Bill. "Phrenology, Heredity and Progress in George Combe's Constitution of Man." The British Journal for the History of Science 48.03 (2015): 455-73. Web. This source focuses more on the scientific ideas of phrenology and on one of the most important books on phrenology ever written, George Combe’s Constitution of Man. This book was published in 1828 and maintained its relevance and importance throughout the second half of the century. I was concerned that this source would not provide me enough information about the ideas of phrenology itself, but it explained the ideas of phrenology very well, as well as explaining why this book was so important. This source did focus solely on George Combe’s research, but because of the time period in which he lived, his research would have been very influential on Hyrtl’s own research and what data he collected while he was studying his skull collection.

Keckeisen, Sara K. "The Grinning Wall: History, Exhibition, and Application of the Hyrtl Skull Collection at the Mutter Museum." Thesis. Thesis / Dissertation ETD, 2012. Theses. Senton Hall University. Web. 2 Feb. 2017. This source is an analysis of the Hyrtl Skull Exhibit at the Mutter Museum and the ethics and methods of displaying an exhibit such as this. I was concerned that this source would focus too much on how the exhibit was displayed and whether or not displaying an exhibit like this is ethical, especially because the Museum did not obtain consent from the decedent. However, it provided very good information about the history of studying the skull, phrenology, and why Hyrtl collected the skulls on pages four through thirteen. Overall, the majority of the source was somewhat useful, however the pages noted above gave clearer answers to my questions about the history of phrenology than any of my other sources.

Lewis, Jason E., David Degusta, Marc R. Meyer, Janet M. Monge, Alan E. Mann, and Ralph L. Holloway. "The Mismeasure of Science: Stephen Jay Gould versus Samuel George Morton on Skulls and Bias." PLoS Biology 9.6 (2011): n. pag. Web. 3 Feb. 2017. This source focuses on one of the many obvious scientific problems with Phrenology, which is the fact that much of the data used to uphold this “science” was manipulated, misreported, and selected to fit the researcher's’ preconceived notions about humanity and where they stood in regards to other races. This source looks at Stephen Gould’s work about Samuel George Morton’s work. Gould took Morton’s work as a case study for the manipulation of evidence and data to support your own conclusions in the scientific community. It would have been better to look at Gould’s work first hand, but there was no easy or free way to access that in the time period I had.

Morton, Samuel George. "The Debate Over Slavery." Exploring U.S. History | the Debate over Slavery. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2017. This source is a series of excerpts from Samuel George Morton’s book Crania Americana. Morton lived around the same time as Hyrtl and collected a similar number of skulls. However, Morton collected his skulls to try to prove phrenology, or, as he called it, craniology. Morton’s collection is currently on display at the Penn Museum and is often compared to Hyrtl’s collection. These excerpts described his ranking of the different human races and their intelligence in regards to skull capacity. The one downside to this source is that the excerpts have been edited from the original text. However, Morton’s meaning and intention are still clear.

Wells, Samuel R. How to Read Character: A New Illustrated Hand-book of Phrenology and Physiognomy for Students and Examiners; with a Descriptive Chart. New York: Samuel R. Wells, 1870. Print. This source is a book on phrenology from 1869. It was designed to be a how-to guide for phrenology, including descriptions of the different races, what the average skull for each race looked like and how it measured, and what each of the those measurements “meant” in terms of intelligence, character, and attitude. It also talked about which parts of the brain, and therefore the skull, affect different parts of people’s characters. I was unable to read the entire book, so I am most likely missing some information, but I read all of the sections that addressed the questions I had. They site I was reading the book did not have the highest quality scans, so I did not completely understand everything that was written.

Wiest, Gerald, and Robert W. Baloh. "The Personal and Scientific Feud Between Ernst BrÃ¼cke and Josef Hyrtl." Otology & Neurotology 27.4 (2006): 570-75. Web. 3 Feb. 2017. This sources focuses more on the personal life of Hyrtl and his research and work outside of his skull collection. It focuses mostly on Hyrtl’s personal and scientific feud with one of his contemporaries, which made me sceptical of its usefulness as a source. This source gave me more information about who Hyrtl was and why he was so important then any other source I have found. It speaks in depth about Hyrtl’s work as an anatomist and his work in understanding how the human body works. It also spoke to his personal beliefs about how scientific research should be approached. You can see how that might affect the his views on phrenology and how it was used to justify slavery of Africans and the mistreatment of other races.

Darius Purnell Capstone

Posted by Darius Purnell in Capstone · Herman · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:56 am

Abstract

In this project, I would like to provide students of SLA with several aspects of theater. I would like to gather the students and supply them with workshops throughout the year, weekly- every Wednesday. The workshops would count as an ILP for sophomores and Juniors. It would first start as classes on the history of plays. Eventually we will dissect the different play formats. By this point, we have reached the end of quarter two and will begin to study the stories for plays. The students in the workshop would have different activities where they find the conflict and relationship of characters in different play excerpts. As we progress, the students will then have drills where they construct 2 minute plays with random bits in and pieces of required info they have to put in. By this point we are halfway through quarter 3. The students will then begin to write their own plays and each workshop we will read over two students plays constructively and give feedback. The capstone will reach its end a month before keystones due to the students consisting of sophomores. However, the learning doesn't end here for the students who which to continue their plays, they can choose to have public readings for the plays.

Play Excerpt written by Nicholas Ryan

The Vase

Characters:

-Timmy(younger brother)

-Tommy(older brother)

-Mom

(Scene starts with Timmy and Tommy horseplaying, then Timmy knocks over a very expensive vase that has lived in their family for generations.)

Timmy, Oh shit Tommy what we’re gonna do?!?!?!?!?!

Tommy, I dunno, but I wasn’t the one who broke it, hahaha.

Timmy, Dude! You helped break it though. Ohh this is bad…

Tommy, Uh oh, look outside.

(A car pulls up and Mom gets out and walks in the house.)

Mom, Hi ki- Oh, JESUS CHRISTMAS! WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?!?!

Timmy, Mom! It was an-

Tommy, I broke it, it was an accident

Mom, I expected this from Timmy, but you? I’m disappointed...

Tommy, I really am sorry.

(Mom pulls out a cigarette, lights it and smokes it for a bit.)

Mom, You, (points at Tommy) come here.

(Mom takes her cigarette and puts it on Tommy’s forehead. Tommy screams in pain.)

Timmy, (In his head) Oh god, why did you do that Tommy? You didn’t have to take the bullet for me. What should I do?

Tommy, It’s okay,(wipes away tears) let’s just go to bed.

(Scene Ends)

Scene 2:

(The boys wake up and go downstairs. The mother is sitting in her seat in the kitchen, silently.)

Timmy

Scene 3:

Timmy, I’m sick of her. I’m sick of her always hurting us. We’re like her punching bags, objects for her to take her anger out on.

Tommy, Just forget about it, she’s our mother.

Timmy, Mothers don’t put their cigarettes out on their kids! Mothers don’t constantly abuse their children! She isn’t a mother!

Tommy, Then what do you suggest we do?

Timmy, Run away.

Tommy, Huh? Run away? That’s the stupidest idea I’ve heard. Where would we go?

Timmy, I don’t know but anywhere is better than here. We could scrape up some money and get bus tickets. Then, from there we could figure out what to do.

Tommy, That’s actually not that bad of an idea.

Mom, Tommy! Come here!

Tommy, Oh shit.

Timmy, What does she want now?

(Tommy goes to Mom. Timmy follows behind, hiding.)

Tommy, Yes, mother?

Mom, You didn’t do the dishes.

Tommy, Huh?

Mom, I said, you didn’t do the dishes!

Tommy, I’m sorry! I was-(stutters)

Mom, I don’t care what you were doing! (Stands up and slaps Tommy. Tommy falls down, crying.)

Tommy, (sobs) Oww…

(Timmy rushes in, pushes the mother down. He takes her pocketbook, and pulls Tommy up.)

Timmy, Come on, Tommy! We’re getting out of here!

Mom, GET BACK HERE! AGHHH!

(Timmy and Tommy leave the stage, running away.

Capstone Bibliography

Fortier, Mark. Theory/Theatre: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 1997. Print.

This book gives an in depth introduction to the connections of literary theory to theatre and performance. The author roots from examples such as Shakespeare, Aphra Behn, Chekhov Artaud, Cixous, and Churchill. The author unites theatre to the cultural principles that lay in literature. This book benefits my project by directing me to what makes literature and theatre so unique separate and when put together, what makes them one of the best ways intellectual methods of learning. My capstone was made to use these elements to unite the SLA community through theater by allowing students to express themselves on a stage.

Rohd, Michael. Theatre for Community, Conflict & Dialogue: The Hope Is Vital Training Manual. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998. Print.

Theatre for Community gives a reading that explains one of the most important things a teacher must master; communication. Theatre is used as a way of expression and only by allowing the children to open themselves creatively and emotionally will they ever fully experience the art of theater. The book gives a proper guide to demonstrate the proper way to allow the students to feel comfortable expressing themselves in a deep level with their teacher. I can use this source as a practice to ensure i can gain a trust with the students involved in my capstone and to allow the students to feel that they don't need to hold back when writing about emotional topics.

Kachur, Donald S., Judith A. Stout, and Claudia L. Edwards. Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2013. Print.

Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs provides learning and teaching experiences from actual teachers. The book focuses on the observations made when implementing different activities in lessons. Reading this guide with supply me the means of knowledge of what exactly works best in a classroom and what gets the best outcome when used in a classroom of student who are both completely uninterested and completely interested. I can also gain ideas for lesson plans and activities I myself could use in my classroom when teaching my workshops. The use of walkthroughs will allow me to answer my what if scenarios for when I do something correctly by eliminating the chance of flaw by follow the detailed steps.

DiYanni, Robert, and Pat C. Hoy. Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea, Essay. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. Print.

Occasions for Writing sets me on the write path of understanding how to encourage my students how to grow accustomed to impulses of writing. The book gives exercises to expand the idea of writing in different and new places. I want to get my students in my workshop to spontaneously write for the class. The book speaks on how the different things around us can act as muses for us to write for any style. I want to use this source to teach my students that they could write about the simplest things such as sitting in a cafe writing down dialogue they hear.

Neumann, Bonnie H., and Helen M. McDonnell. Teaching the Short Story: A Guide to Using Stories from around the World. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1996. Print.

The practice of examining short stories will be strengthened from reading this source. After writing our own stories, what follows should be a thorough examination of is in order. This source explains the proper way to discuss stories after reading. It speaks on the topics that should be brought up to fully understand the main themes and what could make the stories better when corrected. In my workshop we began the year with examining works of art, this source could have allowed a longer discussion that could have helped the students full grasp the concept of what makes a great play.

Landay, Eileen, and Kurt Wootton. "The ArtsLiteracy Project - The Handbook." The ArtsLiteracy Project - The Handbook. Education Department at Brown University, 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2017. <http://www.artslit.org/handbook.php>.

The handbook provides a collection of ideas and activities that were developed and learned by teachers and teaching artists. The activities were made to work on the different educational contexts that are used for theater and writing. The handbook evolves around a circle called The Performance Cycle. Each activity is part of the simple process represented by the Performance Cycle. The website also provides links to other books by the team. The book A Reason to Read: Linking Literacy and the Arts that could be found on another section of the website, offers new activities and the the purposes behind them. Both of these texts mentioned and others that I could find on the site could provide for me a new perception of the activities I’ll use in my workshop.

Moses, Alexandra R. "Writing Aloud: Staging Plays for Active Learning." Edutopia. Edutopia, 06 Aug. 2008. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://www.edutopia.org/student-playwrights-project-playwriting>.

This is an article on a recent project where middle school students took part in a year long project that resulted in a performance at the end of the year. This article allows me to see people’s reaction to a project such as the one written due to the similarities of my project. I can use this source as a sneak peek to what my audience will think at the end of the year when my students do their performance. It lets me into their process of getting to the success end of their project. I also get to look at what people tend to react to when watching student led performances.

MindShift. "How Theater Can Offer Students New Perspectives On History." MindShift. MindShift, 23 June 2013. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/06/23/how-theater-can-offer-students-new-perspectives-on-history/>.

The article speaks on how teachers are trying to add a creative aspect to teaching. They try to incorporate things you wouldn't think of when you're studying something in for example a history class. The article can give me advice when it comes to ensuring that the students in my workshop on task and interested. I can look at different subjects that could be written for a play in a new perspective and teach it to the students.

Gresock, Mary, and Lisette Steinwald. "Rainstorms and Symphonies: Performing Arts Bring Abstract Concepts to Life." Edutopia. Edutopia, 05 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://www.edutopia.org/blog/performing-arts-abstract-concepts-lisette-steinwald-mary-gresock>.

Rainstorms and Symphonies speaks on the effect of learning when early elementary teachers integrate music and theater, student learning improves in reading, math, and science as they become better critical thinkers and problem solvers. I can use this for my capstone by helping my students prepare for the worse when it comes to the performance where we could work around any complications. On performance night, a lot of unexpected things could occur and after reading this article I can learn how to prepare my students to problem solve.

Korbey, Holly. "How Performing in Theater Can Help Build Empathy in Students." MindShift. MindShift, 22 Aug. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/08/22/how-performing-in-theater-can-build-empathy-in-students/>.

This source focuses on the study of enhancing empathy in students through theater performances. This fits for my capstone because in my workshop we will be writing pieces that relate back to our struggles in our personal lives. By performing these pieces we can learn to understand each other and build empathy for the people around us because we now know what they been through. WE can provide support for each other especially for those with stage fright. In the beginning of the year we looked at old plays and just like in the article, the students had a connection with what the characters were going through.

Chiara Nemati Capstone

Posted by Chiara Nemati in Capstone · Herman · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:48 am

A capstone seeks not only to inspire others in the community but also to inspire the creator.

Through the course of this year I faced a few obstacles until I reached my final product. I was set on the idea of informing others and I wanted to participate in the teaching process that I have been a recipient of.

I decided to use my skills as an editor and journalist for SLAMedia to begin writing and working with other students to create articles that displayed their opinions on the 2016 election. A capstone that effectively educates and inspires, creates an environment that invites other to join. Throughout the year I was able to get students to write on political topics and express their opinions.

For writers such as myself, the easiest way to understand what was occurring in our nation was to turn to writing. Through the writing process not only does the author understand what is happening, they are also able to understand what must be done. The Trump administration has been full of uncertainty and through this capstone I hope I have aided in giving the writers and readers some clarity.

The pieces found in my magazine also exist on the SLAMedia website this medium provides a different outlook. In chronological order, a reader can see the growth of the community and learn about how the community reacted. I hope that after viewing my capstone each reader comes away with something that inspires them and instills hope in them.

AnnotatedBibliographyCapstoneChiaraNemati (1)

Ella Petersen Capstone

Posted by Ella Petersen in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:32 am

My capstone is a website, a video, and a panel. Ari and I worked together to shed light on the representation of women in the workplace, specifically STEM and business. Ari and I both want to go into underrepresented fields for women: I want to go into business and she wants to be an engineer.

First, we interviewed women at the petrochemical company, Braskem, about their experiences being women engineers. We made a video of the interviews as well as messages that they have for young girls going into an underrepresented career.

Then, we researched what it was like for women in our fields, and we held a panel of women in business and STEM in the drama studio. We had an information session with underclassmen where they could ask women about what it is like, and they were able to hear advice about working in an underrepresented field.

Finally, we made a website where you can see all of this and a piece about how important our fields are to us.

I benefited greatly from this project. I was able to hear really important women speak about what it is like in my career field and I received some advice from them that will stay with me as I enter this new chapter in my life.

ahaven0.wix.com/capstone

Antonio Flores Capstone: The Smartphone's Influence on Photography

Posted by Antonio Flores in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:23 am

For my capstone, I wanted it to focus on something that I like to do. I chose to talk about how smartphones have affected the photography industry. I like photography and enjoy taking pictures. In this capstone, I took picture on my Iphone and with a camera. I compared the quality of the the two and talked about what looked better. I talked about which was more convenient to use and why. Many people don't want to spend extra money on a dedicated camera and because of this, people would rather just buy a smartphone with a good camera. Camera's can be very expensive and require a certain level of knowledge and skill to use. If someone only uses their camera to take selfies or random pictures of where they are, they might not want to spend extra money on the few pictures they take. I talked about this in the capstone, and in the presentation that I am also posting, I included three pictures that I took and compared them. I only added three as to not make it overwhelming for a presentation. On the main document, I included the argument of which form of picture taking is better and which is used more and why. I included specifications for the phone and one of the cameras that I used and compared then. Basically, I wanted to talk about how the evolution of the smartphone has affected how people take pictures and how this has affected dedicated camera companies such as Nikon and Sony.

Main Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m21sMfnQGjYe_qrUpLQSvHn_WU5dWctUrR-mRX5IBVA/edit?usp=sharing

Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XI9dtMuaT722xjs3BCpYyWv0YxiWRznWVkv8P_sUbnQ/edit?usp=sharing

Bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-vIVx31p3ZtKAr_TR4MxC2Ktr8F0Kakcd3T7xgEJqBE/edit?usp=sharing

Nyla Moore Capstone

Posted by Nyla Moore in Capstone · Siswick/Kay · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:10 am

For my capstone, I held a medical panel in the drama studio for students who were interested in pursuing a career in medicine in the future. At my panel, I had a pharmacist and a nurse come and speak. My goal was to try and have at least 3 or more panelists but I found out very quickly that the schedules of medical professionals fill up quickly. Throughout this process, I kept in close contact with my capstone mentor to make sure that everything was going smoothly. At times I felt overwhelmed and stressed out because I wasn’t getting the response I wanted from my peers or the medical professionals I was asking to attend my event. This made me take a step back and be appreciative of the people I did have and be excited over the small victories throughout the process.

My capstone mentor and I created some questions for our panelists to answer and we gave the students time to ask their own questions as well. I knew that I wanted to feed the students who attended so I held a bake sale to raise money for pizza. To document my event, I had my friend take pictures. To prepare for my capstone, I went around to different advisories and asked students to sign up if they were interested. I also put my bake sale in the advisory memo to bring more attention to it. I quickly realized that I needed a team of people around me to help my event run smoothly so I asked a few of my friends to help me with certain things during the process. Overall, this capstone was extremely stressful but I am so proud of the end result.

Bibliography

RAMANI, SUBHA, LARRY GRUPPEN, and ELIZABETH KRAJIC KACHUR. "Twelve Tips for Developing Effective Mentors." N.p., n.d. Web.

https://www.bu.edu/sph/files/2012/01/Ramani_Twelve-tips-for-developing-effective-mentors.pdf

In my capstone, I want the people I use for the panel discussion to interact with the students at SLA who attend the panel and possibly build some connections. I know that a really big issue for me and my time at SLA was finding someone who was in the medical field who would mentor me and help me create more connections to other people in the medical field. During my panel, I would like for the doctors to possibly become mentors with the interested students. This article gave me some insight on how to deal with the mentors and also how they should be conducting themselves.

Murrell, Audrey J., Ph.D. "Five Key Steps for Effective Mentoring Relationships." University of Pittsburgh, Katz School of Business, n.d. Web.

http://nl.walterkaitz.org/FiveStepsInMentoring_Murrell.pdf

This article also talks about mentoring but goes into depth a bit more. It’s honestly up to the mentor and mentee what kind of relationship they will have. It’s important to know if the relationship will be strictly internship/work related or something more personal where the mentee and mentor spend time out of the work environment and get to know each other. To make sure that the students are actually interested in making new connections with the doctors, I should maybe have a signup sheet to keep track of all of the students and the mentors they have. I should also let the mentors know to keep me updated on how they are doing with their mentees.

"Student-Led Clinical Opportunities." N.p., n.d. Web.

https://www.med.upenn.edu/diversityume/studentledclinics.html

This website is the University of Pennsylvania’s student clinic page. The University of Pennsylvania has many different student outreach programs that help high school students like myself who are interested in the medical field. These types of programs are really helpful to students and I believe that there should be more of them. For my capstone, I would like to bring more awareness to the students at SLA that want to pursue a medical career and possibly have universities like the University of Pennsylvania bring programs to SLA. I want my capstone to help students interested in medicine be able to participate in programs like these through their mentors and maybe even try and bring programs like the ones at the University of Pennsylvania to SLA.

Pirihi, Lorraine. "How to Get Organised, Focussed and Stay On Track." How to Get Organised, Focussed and Stay On Track (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

http://www.nrm.wa.gov.au/media/10657/how_to_get_organized.pdf

A really important thing that I want to have in my capstone is a team of people that will help me execute my capstone. I realized that I can not do it all on my own so I would really like to get some help throughout the process. One way that I can make my capstone go smoothly is to stay organized. When I think about all of the things that I need to do in terms of preparation, I become a little overwhelmed. To help me stay on track and keep me organized, I decided to look up tips on how to stay organized. The article I found says that I should use a book and write down everything I need to do in it.

Walker, Mark. "How To Organise a Successful Panel Discussion." Eventbrite UK Blog. N.p., 26 Jan. 2017. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/organise-successful-panel-discussion-ds00/

The main idea for my capstone is to have a panel discussion where the doctors can answer the questions of the students and showcase what they do on a day to day basis as a doctor. This idea sounded really good to me but I had no idea how to hold a panel discussion that could be successful. This article helped by giving me tips to create a successful panel discussion that would benefit everyone at my capstone. I learned that I should first try and break the ice between the panelists and the people in the crowd so that everyone would feel more comfortable and being inclined to ask more questions.

"Guidelines for Conducting a Panel Discussion." N.p., n.d. Web.

http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/crit3/a7.html

To learn more about how to conduct a panel discussion, I decided to look for more information. Something that I see a lot in panel discussions is the person hosting the panel will be in charge of the questions. The host will usually ask the questions to the people participating in the panel and the panelists will answer the questions. Something that I found interesting in this article was that the panelists can take more control of the panel and questions. Instead of me being the moderator, I would like the people in the audience to ask the majority of the questions and the panelists can answer them in any way they would like to.

"Steps to Building an Effective Team." Steps to Building an Effective Team | Human Resources. Berkeley University of California, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

http://hr.berkeley.edu/hr-network/central-guide-managing-hr/managing-hr/interaction/team-building/steps

As a part of preparation for my capstone, I plan on having a team of people that help me run the actual capstone. I realized that I needed a group of dedicated individuals who could help me do things like set up, help me run the bake sale, and just help me out with anything else I need. I really didn’t know how to actually create a team of people, so this article really helped me a lot. I learned that I need to really focus on communication and have specific goals set for the team. Keeping my team in constant communication with me and each other is key to making my capstone run smoothly. Having specific sets of goals will also help me stay on track.

"How To Build A Team--Using Vision, Commitment, Trust." How To Build A Team--Using Vision, Commitment, Trust. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

http://www.learningcenter.net/library/building.shtml

To learn more about team building, I continued to search other links to see if I could gain any more tips. Another really big component of having a successful team is making sure that the people involved are committed to helping you. I have had many experiences in my life where I was trying to plan something and the people I asked to help me ultimately backed out at the last minute, leaving me with fewer people. When choosing my team, I will make sure that everyone is able to help out and should not sign up to help if they have any doubt that they can’t help.

"Five Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills." Essentialsofbusiness.ufexec.ufl.edu. University of Florida Executive Education, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

https://essentialsofbusiness.ufexec.ufl.edu/resources/general/five-tips-to-improve-your-presentation-skills/#.WJSOUhiZN-U

A big part of the capstone process is the presentation. I am not bad at presenting but I think presenting a capstone is a bit more serious than presenting a class project. To improve my presenting skills, I decided to look up little things I could do. The article I read said that I should make sure that my presentations flows and is structured properly. Making my presentation easy to follow will not only help me stay on track but it will also help the audience follow along better. I should also make sure that I know what each slide says ahead of time so that I am not constantly stopping in my presentation to find out what to say.

"Top 10 Qualities of a Successful Fundraiser." Bloomerang. N.p., 16 Nov. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017

https://bloomerang.co/blog/top-10-qualities-of-a-successful-fundraiser/

At my capstone event, I plan on having snacks. Snacks usually attract high schoolers and it makes the environment more inviting and fun. To pay for these snacks, I plan on having a bake sale to fundraise some money. I have never planned a bake sale before so in preparation for that, I decided to look up some tips on how to host a fundraiser. The article I read told me that I should be passionate about what I am doing. People will tend to be more excited and be trusting of what I am selling if I am happy and confident about what I am selling.

Lukas Supovitz-Aznar Capstone.

Posted by Lukas Supovitz-Aznar in Capstone · Reddy · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:04 am

For my capstone I wanted to create a business that I could further build upon as the year went on. The idea started as a blog, but grew slowly into something much different. I was interested in writing articles revolving around productivity, topics such as how to invest, how to get better sleep, how to be happier. I enjoyed doing those things, but eventually I felt like I should pivot to a different idea.

My new idea was to create a business that revolved around the idea that most small business owners are not using social media to its full potential. The service that I am offering is much more than just creating and managing facebook, instagram, and twitter. The service I am providing can actually create customers for small business, and because of the untapped customers that most small businesses are overlooking, It will be worth it for them to continue to pay for my service. I bought a domain for my LLC and named it netvision marketing.org. I am posting articles on how to further establish your social media presence weekly, and I am also in the process of being certified as an expert in social media marketing.

WEBSITE NAME: Netvisionmarketing.com

EXAMPLE OF AN ARTICLE: For most, waking up in the morning is a pain. You wake up drowsy, and waddle to the alarm to hit the snooze for those valuable last 5 minutes of sleep. But what if it did not have to be that way. How can you make sleep more enjoyable and satisfying? Find out by reading this article.

First, if you really want to start getting better sleep you must first prioritize it. If you say you are going to sleep, actually go to sleep. A growing problem for society today is actually putting the phones and computers away when it is time to sleep. It is hard to stay away from the bright screens when the late hours come, especially when your smartphone is also your alarm. What you might not know is that smartphones actually suppress melatonin. If you are unfamiliar with the term melatonin, it is the hormone in your system that regulates sleep and wakefulness. Therefore it might be a good idea to read a book before you go to sleep. I would strongly suggest reading before you go to sleep because not only is reading the key to success, but will also not suppress melatonin and most likely help you fall asleep.

I think we can all agree that there is not that much that trumps great sleep. Feeling refreshed and ready to go in the morning is the best way to start your day. But getting good sleep is not just about those 5 minutes before you go to bed, but the process actually starts at the beginning of the day. The best way to get good sleep is to have a routine throughout the day, and make sure you are providing your body with the right nutrients throughout the day.

Another great way to enhance your sleep is to have clothes designated for sleep aka pajamas. From experience, I can recommend bamboo pajamas, they are seriously the most comfortable pants of all time and my sleep is way better because of it. Having comfortable sleep helps your body recover from tough workouts, so finding what you like is recommended.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bibliography:

Lukas Supovitz-Aznar

Capstone Annotated Bibliography

Friday, February 3rd, 2016

1. "BP Podcast Show 91: Getting Started as a Real Estate Wholesaler with Ben Grise." The BiggerPockets Blog. July 29, 2016. Accessed February 02, 2017. https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/09/getting-started-real-estate-wholesaler/.

Annotation:

This podcast is really helpful for beginners. One of the most important things for a beginner is learning from someone who has more experience than you. That is why attempting to find a mentor could be really helpful. Getting a first real estate deal can be really tough, so this is why in this podcast they introduce you to an investor who just finished making a ton of deals and money. By listening to this you are on your way to really making strides as an entrepreneur and investor. He does this all while all while working a separate full time job, getting married, and having a baby.

2. Dale, Heather. "Hot or Cold? The Benefits of Both Kinds of Showers." POPSUGAR Fitness. December 12, 2016. Accessed February 03, 2017. http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Cold-Showers-vs-Hot-Showers-Health-Benefits-Both-15021710.

Annotation:

This source is a great source for more information on things you can do to make your life more productive. One of those things are showering. Although it is a small facet of your life, it is a very important one. By turning the knob, you can make your body experience different temperatures, which leads to different results. I will use this source to provide facts for the productivity section of my website. I will also pair this with other sources to enhance the information.

3. Duhigg, Charles. Smarter faster better: the secrets of being productive in life and business. New York: Random House, 2016.

Annotation:

This source is one of the most important sources I have evaluated during this whole process. While this has been a long process, I have gotten a ton of good information from this book. I feel like I have learned a ton about myself through reading this book. I will use facts from this book, and evaluate if other sources say the same thing. Obviously this is a book so I have not gotten every single thing from it, but with a deeper analysis. I believe that productivity is a key to being successful, and that is why I am using this source.

4. Kiyosaki, Robert T., and Sharon L. Lechter. Rich dad, poor dad: what the rich teach their kids about money-- that the poor and middle class do not!New York: Warner Business Books, 2000.

Annotation:

This is another really helpful book about learning to invest. This book is really helpful because it covers a large amount of information with a few basic lessons. A theme of this book is philosophy, and how different outlooks on money will determine if you can create wealth or not. An example of this is the way people look at the home which they live in. If you have a poor man's mindset, you will believe this is an asset, which is an investment. A rich man would look at his home as a liability, and while this is a small example, the results usually correlate. Rich dad Poor dad speaks about how you can become rich from your mindset and how you manage wealth.

5. Lynch, Peter, and John Rothchild. Learn to earn: a beginner's guide to the basics of investing and business. New York: Fireside, 1995.

Annotation:

This is a beginners guide to learn how investing works, through three different methods. The methods include the Stock market, Bonds, and also Real estate. The book takes you through different situations, and how building wealth is not a talent, but a lifestyle. It is not contingent on how much you earn, but how well you save and how smart you spend. It is important to learn all of these methods for my new website, and I believe that the information I learned while reading Learn to Earn will be extremely beneficial for the people interested in learning to create wealth.

6. Merrill, Than. The real estate wholesaling bible: the fastest, easiest way to get started in real estate investing. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2014.

Annotation:

This again is a beginners guide to real estate. I am going to use this source like I used a lot of my other sources, but the difference is that they have different tips and methods. Because my website is going to be an accumulation of all these methods, I am going to have to go through a lot of repetition to get all of the contrasting facts. I am motivated to find all of the ways to invest which actually work, but repetition is going to be a factor. I need to keep in mind that I must avoid saying the same thing more than once.

7. Mayberry, Matt. "10 Ways to Become the Most Productive Person Around." Entrepreneur. Accessed February 03, 2017. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232129.

Annotation:

I have learned a great deal from this article. This is just an article that is a secondary source, however it has a lot of accumulated information. Most of my sources have common traits, so I am really learning how to analyze them. One limitation to this source was that it was not that long, but I have other sources about productivity that capture a deeper look into traits of productivity. I selected this source because I want to learn every single peice about productivity, and that is why I continue to dig deep.

8.Shah, Aram, and Alex Virelles. The art of wholesaling properties: how to buy and sell real estate without cash or credit. Bloomington, IN: IUniverse, 2015.

Annotation:

I found this source reliable because it goes into depth about how to wholesale properties without actually really having a lot of money to invest. I think this is an obstacle which all young entrepreneurs encounter at some point in their career, so overcoming this obstacle is tough, and reading this book is a good step in that direction. This will further my capstone by giving great evidence to support my claims, and will show some of the effects of marketing. I also will give this book as a suggestion to anybody who wants to really go in depth in their learning.

9.Websitetesterify. "MVI 0178 2017-1-11 New York Wholesale Event." YouTube. January 12, 2017. Accessed February 01, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPj7wnBvok.

Annotation:

In this source it gives a detailed meeting about how to become a wholesaler of houses. What this entails is learning how to middleman homes so you do not really have to spend money. However, there really is a solid reason to do this because you collect the fee. This fee is up to you to price. You create any fee you want, but it is up to you to find a buyer. The most important part of this process is finding the right market to fish for houses to buy. This is just one of the 7 videos filmed from the meeting

10."Wall Street Survivor." Wall Street Survivor. Accessed February 02, 2017. http://www.wallstreetsurvivor.com/investing-ideas.

Annotation:

This is a great starting source for learning about how Wall street works. Not only am I getting information from this website, but I am also learning from their website setup. I do not think that I want to pay for a website, however I would consider it because of how well this website is set up. Furthermore, I am going to link the game that is on this website so that people who are interested can learn more. I want my website to have information about more forms of investing, but I really do like the setup of this website, and it is a great link.

Ty Ellerbe Capstone

Posted by Teylor Ellerbe in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:03 am

When I first started off with my capstone, I planned to make a documentary about how people joke about suicide and how it affects people who have been through suicide or now someone close to them who has. Also the stigmas and mental illness overall. It became overwhelming for me to complete that task. I changed my entire approach and decide on a website. I know my plan was still to spread awareness to people who are insensitive to the mental health world. A lot of people will use suicide to show a way of being stressed. For example “I got a C on this math test, I’m going to kill myself.” It’s very frustrating for people like myself who knows what's it like to want to die and how serious it is. Suicide is not a joke and I want to convey just how serious it is. I suffer from depression and anxiety so I connect with this on a personal level. I hear a lot of jokes in school and outside and it makes me very uncomfortable and that people take mental health as a joke. I want to change the way people speak of mental health. I interviewed different people of cultural backgrounds and gender. I created different sets of questions for each person I interviewed. I aimed to get people who suffer from mental health problems to speak on their experiences and shed light on it. I also shared my story. I want people to understand the importance of talking about mental health and how it affects people's day to day lives. All of my work is located on a website I created.

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n6ZzCHRHnRCPIomsG81CFBmkuA96TZtIaBe3aocbD3Q/edit?usp=sharing

Capstone: http://callmety.wixsite.com/mental-illness

Kara Heenan's Capstone

Posted by Kara Heenan in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:57 am

For my capstone, I volunteered at the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) located in Old City. The point of the capstone project is to reflect on your interests, and use that to make an impact in the world. I thought of doing this when I reflected on the goals I have in life, which is to become a veterinarian. I thought that this would be an amazing experience to contribute to that goal, to increase my experience with connecting to and taking care of animals while making a good impact and helping a non-kill shelter. In this way, it prepared me for my future. I was helping a good cause and it was also helping me.

The process started when I filled out the volunteer application. I then got approved and attended an orientation, which taught me the responsibilities of each volunteer, and the actions each volunteer has to take. This was the ins and outs of taking care of the cats, which included cleaning their supplies, cleaning the rooms in which they stay in, feeding them and socializing them. I also took care of the dogs, which the actions were the same along with taking them for walks. I volunteered at PAWs every other Wednesday. Volunteering left me feeling satisfied, that I am helping a non-kill shelter and not receiving any money from them in return. I learned a lot more about the animals I took care, coming across different kinds of dogs and cats and learning the disabilities or illnesses that they have, which will definitely prepare me for my future as a vet.

Access my bibliography here.

I walked dogs, they wore "adopt me" vests to attract people on the streets

Liam Hart Capstone

Posted by Liam Hart in Capstone · Todd · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:48 am

I created a student-run internet radio station devoted to showcasing the unique talents and varied tastes of Science Leadership Academy Students. I aired a show each Friday night in May and plan to continue running each Friday night for the remainder of the school year.

I chose this project because I was personally interested in creating a podcast. Unfortunately, there was no support network or platform devoted to audio content for SLA students. SLA prior to this project had Rough Cut for students interested in cinema, The Fourth Floor for those intrigued by visual art or creative writing, and SLA Media for people who wanted to do journalism. I felt that, by creating another platform devoted to podcasts and other audio content, I could widen the variety of opportunities available to students like me.

The most important, and most difficult, thing about creating content is to make something that people like and want to experience. The presentation of that content is crucial to getting people to listen in - and reflecting on what worked and what didn’t is crucial to keeping them coming back.

My capstone can be found at slaradio.tk. I aired new shows every Friday in May at 5 PM.

Afro-Latino Religion Infographic

Posted by Waverly O'Neal in Spanish 2 · Manuel · B Band on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:37 am

Jun-Jie Zou Capstone

Posted by Jun-Jie Zou in Capstone · Todd · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:26 am

For my capstone, I designed a business plan to launch a business of my own. I created a clothing brand that carries the idea of enlightenment through our graphic designs printed on essential apparel. This brand is called Yumen. Yumen means "depressed" in Chinese. I was diagnosed with bipolar depression when I was younger; I was able to build my endurance to minimize the effect of that mental and emotional disease. With that, I wanted to create a movement that represent the growth that many other victims and I.

The Yumen team consist of a business manager, creative director, and social media manager. I take on the role as the business manager for the brand. With that, my process was very well unique compared to the other roles. I had to create the execution plan behind how everything is going to get done. In addition, all transactions, communications, relationship-build, clientele, etc. is under my list of responsibilities.

What I learned was the steps to innovating a business. More importantly, I learned the skills of an entrepreneur. There were many problems and issues that went on during the process of creating this, but I learned that it is important to build a self-driving mentality to motivate yourself to continue working at the business or product.

Yumen Website Link

Vaughn Matthews Capstone

Posted by Vaughn Matthews in Capstone · Giknis · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:05 am

For my Capstone, I did workshops at my old school, A. B. Day Elementary School. I worked with kids in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. In the process of completing my capstone, It included weeks of research, planning, and communication. I did research on the learning styles of each grade group. I also researched what things they were interested in, so I knew what topic I would do for each workshop, and ideas for icebreakers to do before the workshop. With planning, in my calendar, I marked the topics of each workshop in each day, and the class room number that I would visit. I did workshops like high school expectations for 8th graders, and music for 6th graders. Communication was a thing that was a challenge with my capstone. The principal and vice principal of A. B. Day were very busy, and they had trouble replying back to my emails about what days I would go in.

Overall, I had fun doing my capstone. One thing that I learned is how to handle kids that misbehave. One of the 8th grade classes that I visited, was full of kids that were really bad, and I was able to do calm them down and get them to talk. It seem like the deeper I got into the lesson the more kids became involved, especially when I took the time to share new experiences and stories. I believe Here is a link to the slideshow of pictures of the high school expectations workshop with the 8th graders:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1osiob9ChIex9DjEH70YYioLE4kFMEgJyoqDzm-uJc8M/edit#slide=id.p

Bibliography:

PBS. PBS. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is a post from PBS’ website on what 5th grade students learn. I chose this source because I wasn’t sure what I would do my workshops on for the 5th grade students I was going to visit. I found this source useful because it informed me on something I can learn to work with 5th grade students.

2) "10 More Icebreakers for Your Youth Group." Insight. Web. 02 Feb. 2017

This source is an article on icebreakers for youth groups. I chose this source because I needed some icebreakers to use to get each class comfortable before we got into each lesson.

I found this source useful because it gave me ideas for icebreakers. I also chose some to use for my classes.

3) "15 Tips for Talking with Children About School Violence." 15 Tips for Talking with Children About School Violence | Colorín Colorado. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is an article from colorincolroado.org about how to talking. I chose this source because I needed help with ways to lead my workshop on school violence, and this is what I needed. I found this source useful because it helped me with how to take on my workshop with the topic of violence

4) Dartmouth, University Of Massachusetts. " Tips for Educators on Accommodating Different Learning Styles." How to Accommodate Different Learning Styles - UMass Dartmouth. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is an article from the website of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth . I choose this source because I wanted to know diferent learning styles because I knew I would go into classes with with students who have different learnign styles. I found this source useful because it gave me insight to the dirfferent learning styles.

5) "Engaging Classroom Games for All Grades." TeachHUB. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is a post from teachhub.com on classroom games . I choose this source because I needed ideas for activities I could use for each grade.. I found this source useful because gave me ideas on games for every grade, since I would be visiting numerous grades for my workshops.

6) "Fourth Grade Activities." 4th Grade Activities for Kids | Education.com. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

This source is a post from education.com on activities that would be good for 4th graders. I choose this because I needed ideas on what activities I could do with 4th graders for my workshop I would do with them . I found this source useful because it gave my ideas that I plan on using with the 4th grade class I will visit.

7) "How to Run a Workshop." IdeasTap: Creative Inspiration and Support. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is an article from ideastap.com. I choose this source because, like one of my other sources it gave me a little insight on how to run a workshop, since this would be my first time running workshops. I found this source useful because it gave me a simple breakdown of what makes a workshop a workshop.

8) LMHC, Debbie Pincus MS, PhD Dr. Robert Myers, MSW James Lehman, Dr. Joan Simeo Munson, and M.Ed. Sara Bean. "Understanding Child Behavior Problems & Emotions." Empowering Parents. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

This source is an article from empoweringparents.com on understanding child behavior. I chose this source because I thought it would be useful because it may help me with understanding how to deal with the behavior and misbehaviors of children. I found this source useful because it was advice that can really help me when it comes to working with the children while doing my workshops.

9) "Ten Simple Rules for Running Interactive Workshops." Ten Simple Rules for Running Interactive Workshops. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is an article on how to run interactive workshops. I choose this source because I wasn’t so sure on how to run interactive workshops. I found this source useful because it gave me 10 tips and tips that I thought I wouldn’t have used.

10) Editors, Parents.com. "5 Values You Should Teach Your Child by Age Five." Parents. Parents, 11 June 2015. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

This source is an article from parents.com on values that children should know. I choose this article because I needed other ideas for workshops. I found this source useful because it gave me ideas that I plan on using for any grade class later in time.

Tuyet Corson Capstone

Posted by Tuyet Corson in Capstone · Siswick/Kay · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 7:31 am

The topic is international children and the effects of being abandoned or separated from family. I have struggled with being adopted out of the country I was raised in.

Working on the project I want hope to learn what are some similarities kids have when being left by them self and what are the differences in which a kid takes the experience. This project will enable me to have a better view and give me some answer on why kids of separation have different outlooks on the world. By the end of this project I want give people an understanding of why kids that are separated may be put in the same small confined box but have to always find their way out on their own.

The project in which I will do is a video project that is interactive. I want people not just see a movie but understand what it really all about and that's what kids can understand and have to remember in their lifetime. How growth is not all was just physical but it can be a very mental mind game.

Learning goal I have is to have independent research and interviews and get the full Idea. I wanted to study and and learn about this goal because I have only one sided view in where I was going and to understand both sides you have to take an outsider perspective and stay true to what you believe as well.

Adoption and the effects it has on families and the adopted

PATRICELLI, KATHRYN. "Long-Term Issues For The Adopted Child." Long Term Issues for the Adopted Child Comments. Mental Help, 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

This source is giving reason behind the behavior of adopted children and how to handle the adopted in long term basis. Sourced is used to be help in getting the different expectation as a parent. This site is credible and uses multiple sub sources to define the key information presented.

“Extra-Territorial Effect of Adoption.” Harvard Law Review, vol. 22, no. 5, 1909, pp. 372–373. www.jstor.org/stable/1324355.

Laws and how to have a consecrated adoption within the justice system. Sourced used to understand how adoption was considered in the past in considered of the present adoption. Laws that have been placed by Harvard law and sourced by verdicts in the judicial system.

“Effect of Adoption by Husband Alone.” The Virginia Law Register, vol. 14, no. 8, 1908, pp. 649–649. www.jstor.org/stable/1102423.

Single Father and how a child is still part of person will can still mean that you are responsible for child. Source of how family handle children when the main parent is not around. Credible by law and how it was a case in the USA governmental system.

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2013). Impact of adoption on adopted persons. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.

This is talking about adoption and the effects on the kids and why they may have these problems. Use opens up the causes of how adoption affect the adopted.U.S Department of health is a credible source and organization because they would not skim on facts and helping the public.

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2005). Voluntary relinquishment for adoption. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.

What are rights that be can be take away from an adoptive family or a biological family for a period of time then can regain rights. Used in explaining the loopholes in the system or adoption that people have exploited before. U.S Department of health is a credible source and organization because they would not skim on facts and helping the public.

"Worldwide Children's Statistics." SOS Children Villages USA. UNICEF, 10 Apr. 2016. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.

Updated source about the world's orphan system and data in the last couple years. Sources by Unicef and other organizations that are credible. Uses of data to see what are the changes that have been happening around the world when it comes to orphans and adoption.

Keiger, Dale. "The Rise and Demise of the American Orphanage." American Orphanage. Johns Hopkins Magazine, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

Cedrone, Alice, Millie Flores, and P. Kyler. "What Is The Difference Between Foster Care And Adoption?" Family Care For Children & Youth. Marketing 360, 03 Sept. 2015. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

Explains the differences between what adoption is and what fostering and and how the differ and could be the same. This is adoption and foster care network that is not just throwing out random information but give clear definition to what they are speaking to. This can give a parallel to why these two things are closely connect and separated at the same time.

Duplantier, F. R. "The True History Of Orphanages -- Week of June 16, 1996." America's Future. 7800 Bonhomme, Nov.-Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2017. This is the history on how Orphanages came to be from there start to end. Give us more information on why these is not just a world topic but a systematic topic within society and why we have children have nowhere else to go. This is a history website and has and uses other credible sources for their information.

Abdi, Kifah. "Inside America's Underground Market for Adopted Children." Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare. University of Minnesota, 2014. Web. 03 Feb. 2017. This is the background and knowledge of the underground foundation of child trafficking. Getting into how adoption is not always legal and how it is connducted is not always safe. Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare is

Web site:

https://tcorson.wixsite.com/ouradoptedlife

Arsenio Gomez Capstone

Posted by Arsenio Gomez in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 12:00 am

Hello everyone My name is Arsenio Gomez , I am a student that attends Science Leadership Academy. I’m going to be documenting every practice and game of my final season of being an SLA Rocket. I played for the baseball team ever since I was a freshman. I love being a member of this team, every single member of this team is like a brother to me and together we are a family. I love every single one of them as much as they annoy me. As a tradition we start winter condition the day right after winter break is over.This prep us for the season ahead of us.

This year is our year and every one in philly should know this. Since this is our first year in A division after working so hard to get here we need to show our worth. Before moving forward I must give some back ground. Before this year we were in B division and my sophomore year we were in C division same my freshman year. It wasn’t until the class of 2017 started helping the team with amazing defense and offense that lead this team to victories in the past years.

This short film is going to contain some funny and serious clips about what the SLA rockets are truly about. It's going to show our performance good or bad. Not only that but it is going to have some inside thoughts on what the team thinks. By conducting live interviews we will be able to see how this team has grown through the season and how we are on our way to the chip.

Annotated Bibliography :

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rUiF2J5fOIhG8sBpB5LAP2dQXr4mnOQ2Rp9W9nu0LUA/edit

Youtube Video Trailer Of The Documentary:

https://youtu.be/KpY-evBPqiA

Zoe Andersson Capstone

Posted by Zoe Andersson in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 11:42 pm

For my capstone I’ve created a website to host my work made in Digital Video, as well as a space for my own artwork made in and outside of SLA. The site showcases over 2 films I have made throughout my career at SLA and provides both a backstory on the process of each film and a commentary on my thoughts today. Much of the work was spent gathering all of the videos I’ve made, and going back into the details of each production. The organization of each film and finding out the dates, people involved, and the roles of each member of the team ate away at a lot of my time. After gathering the required information, I began constructing my website with the website builder Wix.com. The site is tedious and provides a complicated interface that doesn’t allow for complete customization, but after a few weeks, I began to get a hold of the program and figure out my overall design. Once I had the basic design of my website, I went back and wrote a brief description for each of my movies, discussing what it was like making the film and my opinions on the movie today. I also included a Creator’s Note page to house my many acknowledgements for the people that helped make the website, and my artwork possible. I am really proud of how the design of the website and the writing turned out.

Below is a sample of one of my descriptions for my movies.

Oct 9th- Media Darling (All American High School Film Festival)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFmsDA52cA4&list=PL0mVYXoXCAN2BodQ5Q0MhSsIoTihRoXrk

Media Darling was one of the most difficult, but rewarding films I’ve made. In October of my senior year, our school’s production company, Rough Cut Productions, was invited to the All American High School Film Festival Invitational to compete with over 50 other schools in a three day filmmaking competition in New York City. Only twenty kids from our program (including myself) were able to attend and make a film in three days in New York City. The competition was hosted by AT&T and our films had to be about cyberbullying subsequently. For this project, my group put almost all of our efforts into pre-production so that we could film everything we needed to quickly once we got to New York. The train ride and sleepless nights left us exhausted, and of course, nothing about shooting went according to plan. From location debacles to group arguments, this movie made our group become rivals at times and closest friends at others. By the end, our team persevered and managed to make one of the best looking movies the program has ever produced in a very short amount of time. Media Darling made it into the top 8 and won $1000 for Rough Cut. The invitational was an experience I’ll never forget and I’m so happy to have shared it with my production team.

Actors: Cacy Thomas, Declan Zisser, Nat Hilton

Director: Mark Kriegh

Assistant Director: Kate Kopf

Director of Photography: Felix Shafroth Doty

Producers: Felix Shafroth Doty, Zoe Andersson, Lyle Seitz

Writers: Cacy Thomas, Declan Zisser, Mark Kriegh, Nat Hilton, Lyle Seitz, Zoe Andersson

Sound Designer: Juliana Concepcion

Costuming, Makeup, Set Design: Wes Midgett

The link to my final website can be found here: https://zandersson.wixsite.com/website

The link to my bibliography can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XsAKHfXDrxnMs6pIR1CuPS3rkAyeOHpf19HpMoJeaCQ

Tomas Arango - Capstone

Posted by Tomas Arango in Capstone · Reddy · Wed on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 10:55 pm

For my capstone, I decided to stick to what I truly love, running. As captain of the Cross Country team my senior year of High School, I loved being a leader and watching everyone grow throughout the season. I wanted to leave something behind since Cross Country was one of my favorite parts of my time at SLA. Talking with my coaches, I decide to start a fundraiser for the team, first by opening a GoFundMe page and posting weekly updates on Facebook. Within a week I raised over $150. We also worked together as a team to have bake sales which helped with raising more money. My end goal was $1,000 but in the end I only raised a total of $500.

My overall goal was to create an ongoing fundraiser that would last for seasons to come. Since I’ve been on the team, there hasn’t been any types of bakes sales or anything to create more funds for the team. Working with Coach Giknis and Captain Krystal Cabrera , a schedule for fundraisers will be created for the Fall 2017 season. Money will used for new uniforms as well as any necessities the team decides on.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me and to everyone who donated money to support my capstone. It’s been a great learning experience working on this capstone, and I hope that this is the start of a much larger Cross Country team for my school.

Website Link: http://slacrosscountry.weebly.com

Bibliography

Gasca , Peter. "7 Essential Tips for an Effective Fundraising Strategy." Entrepreneur . Entrepreneur Media , 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 1 Feb. 2017. <https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244966>.

Fundraising can be difficult, especially when you have a deadline and goal. The Entrepreneur provides tips and info on how to do it effectively. A website where many entrepreneurs or simple people seeking help with every day businesses can go for help. Entrepreneurs from all around the world come together to build this website for the general crowd. This website can help me get organized, with tips on how to build a team and assign tasks to everyone who is helping me.

"Mag 7 Race Series-Race Directors Planning Worksheet." Mag 7 Race Series . The Magnificent Seven Road Race Series , n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2017. <http://www.mag7raceseries.com/Directors/PLANNINGworksheet.pdf>.

Planning a 5k can be very difficult but this spreadsheet provides detailed info on everything that might occur during a 5k. From simple things like water to number of runners, to terrain and other things. Mag 7 Race Series runs out of Indiana where runners can sign up for local races and compete state wide. They also have resources for coaches. I can use this to plan out and think of more specific things with the race so all runner are safe, comfortable and happy.

Eiler, Melissa. “Set Goals, Get Permission, Plan the Logistics.” Active. Active Network, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.active.com/running/articles/set-goals-get-permission-plan-the-logistics>

Planning and setting goals to meet is essential to planning a 5k or pretty much anything. Active.com provides resources for all types of atheletes. With it’s own app, it’s a great website to help you stay active. After completing my calendar, I now see how much planning I have to do in order to make this race possible. This will help me get organized.

Eiler, Melissa. “Choose Your Event, Location, Date.” Active. Active Network, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Choose-Your-Event-Location-Date.htm>

Location is very important to me because I don’t want to interfere with other people and their daily exercise routines. But I also want a public space that is open to the public. This website provides tips to planning ahead and making sure that local communities and organizations know what you are planning and when it’s happening. Active.com provides resources for all types of atheletes, to help them stay active and more informed.

Eiler, Melissa. “Build a Budget, Find Sponsors, Promote Your Race” Active. Active Network, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Build-a-Budget-Find-Sponsors-Promote-Your-Race.htm>

Money plays a big part since the whole purpose is to fundraise for my cross country and track team. I also plan to get sponsors from local stores and maybe school runed organizations. Active.com provides resources to how to reach out to those people and help build promotion for your event. Active.com provides resources for all types of atheletes, to help them stay active and more informed.

Sanchez, Claudio. “Philadelphia Schools: Another Year, Another Budget Crisis.” NPR. WHYY National Public Radio. 4 Nov. 2014 Web. 2 Feb. 2017

<http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/11/04/360146623/philadelphia-schools-another-year-another-budget-crisis>

Budget cuts have been a big issues over the last year in our school district. They’ve impacted almost every single public school in the city and every subject. I want to make people aware of the damages caused and NPR’s interview provides insight on how it’s actually affecting people in schools. NPR has millions of interviews and has been around for many years.

Graham, Kristen. “Budget cuts hit district athletes.” Philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network. 11 Sep. 2011 Web. 2 Feb. 2017

<http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/Budget-cuts-hit-middle-school-sports.html>

Budget cuts affected a lot of extra curricular activities like music and also sports. This article spoke about how a lot of teams not longer have money for all the equipment they may need. Going back to my project this is what I want to focus on because I think it’s important for students to have a good sports program. Philly.com works in conjunction with the Inquirer to provide daily news about the city and also the surrounding area.

Koenig, Mark. “ 7 Tips on Asking for Donations-It’s Intimidating, We Get It.” Nonprofit Hub. Nonprofit Hub. Web. 2 Feb. 2017

<http://nonprofithub.org/fundraising/7-tips-on-asking-for-donations-its-intimidating-we-get-it/>

Starting to fundraise and asking people for money can be hard. Bake sales will be my way of getting money since it’s very popular at SLA. Nonprofit hub gives tips on how get involved in the community and fundraise effectively to reach your goal. Designed by owners of nonprofit organizations , this website provides deep insight and information.

Graham, Kristen. “Phila. District spends less per pupil than most other cities” Philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network. 16 Jan. 2015 Web. 2 Feb. 2017

<http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20150116_Phila__district_spends_less_per_pupil_than_most_other_cities.html>

It’s interesting to compare other school districts with ours because you are able to see how much less we receive in fundings. This article digs deeper into every student and how much is really given to each and every single one. It’s current and so it’s information I can really analyze and use for my final presentation.

“Bake Sales Step by Step” PTO Today. School Family Media. N.p Web. 2 Feb. 2017

<https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/664-bake-sales-step-by-step>

Bake sale will be how I make my money, and making the right food can make a big difference in the amount of money I make. This website, created for parents gives details about how much bake sales actually make and how to increase profit as much as possible.

"Sports Fundraising Ideas - The Best Sports Fundraisers Available." 15 Proven Sports Fundraising Ideas - Learn How to Raise the Most Money. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2017. <https://www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com/programs/sports-fundraising-ideas/>.

Fundraising for sports teams can be really helpful for the success of the team. Having the proper equipment can help a lot. This website provides info on all the things that could go wrong and everything that you should watch out for when fundraising for a sports team. This website focuses on essential fundraising for different types of events, and is edited by several non-profit and business owners.

Guess What? Palm Oil is Still an Issue

Posted by Ruby Ginsburg in English 1 · Giknis · A Band on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 9:47 pm

Hi, I’m Ruby. In my previous blog post, I introduced a research project about palm oil that I am doing. Palm oil is found in many common food and non-food items. It is usually produced in a way that harms the environment. In producing palm oil, palm trees found in Indonesia and Malaysia that provide habitats for animals are cut down, leaving the animals to become endangered. This is a major problem and most people don’t know that this is even happening right now. My blog post also introduced something called sustainable palm oil; a version of palm oil that is produced so as not to damage the environment. My goal is to promote and popularize the use of sustainable palm oil within my Philadelphia community and everywhere else possible.

Since I completed my previous post, I have learned so much more. I have done more research about the impacts that palm oil production has on people and on the world. In particular, I have learned more from The Union of Concerned Scientists about how palm oil contributes to climate change. When the forests in Indonesia and Malaysia are cut down for palm oil, there is a lot of carbon that is released. The Union of Concerned Scientists writes, “That's equivalent to the emissions from driving an average car from New York to San Francisco and back 76 times.” This information provides yet another reason why palm oil production needs to stop. Even though animals dying may not affect everyone, climate change definitely will.

I have also added to my knowledge of sustainable palm oil, which has continued to appear as an excellent alternative to regular palm oil. According to GreenPalm, there are eight steps that must be followed in order to make palm oil certified as sustainable. These steps address laws and regulations, economic and financial viability, growers and millers, biodiversity, individuals and communities involved and affected, new plants, and improvement. If followed, these steps will create a more healthy and vibrant product and environment.

Now, in addition to all of this, I have also gathered new information through a survey that I conducted specifically for this project. I surveyed 50 people--most of whom are high school students within Philadelphia--about their knowledge of palm oil, their contribution to the problem itself, and their interest in sustainable palm oil. One question asked participants to check off items that contain palm oil that are found regularly in their homes.

This above graph shows the results from a survey question. The products listed are (top to bottom): Nutella, Oreos, Jif and/or Skippy peanut butter, Cetaphil, margarine, white chocolate, Girl Scout cookies, and "none of the above".

The answers I received were very interesting and informative. Only 4 of the 50 people (8%) stated that their homes do not contain a single one of the items listed. This means that 92% of those surveyed usually have at least one item containing palm oil in their home. This just shows how common palm oil is. Furthermore, participants were asked, “On a scale of 1-6, how much does the use of palm oil bother you?” In response, 70% of the people gave an answer of three or less. This means that those 70% were somewhat to very indifferent. I did not expect an answer like this, especially right after explaining that palm oil is a big issue. Even after all of my research, however, I still wonder how I can raise awareness about palm oil.

And that brings me to my plan moving forward. The final portion of my project is called the Agent of Change, during which I will do something to make an impact on the issue that I have researched. My overall goal is to raise awareness so that people in Philadelphia can help change their palm oil consumption habits.

The above is graph showing the results of one of my survey questions. The question asks if participants would be willing to pay extra money to support sustainable palm oil.

My secondary goal is to convince as many people as possible to try buying products with sustainable palm oil, rather than regular products. To accomplish these goals, I plan to create a presentation that will summarize my research thus far. I will then present this to one or two groups of students. I will also provide these groups with a taste of food containing sustainable palm oil, with the hopes that they might fall in love with the product.

Finally, make sure you stay tuned for my third blog post! And if you’re interested in further exploring the issue of palm oil production, visit my Annotated Bibliography to learn more!

Rifah Islam Capstone

Posted by Rifah Islam in Capstone · Giknis · Wed on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 8:49 pm

The idea for the Being Fair project started right at home for me. Growing up watching Bengali television channels, I would always see commercials for skin lightening products. I never truly understood the big reason for these products and brushed off its massive impact. However, after doing research on how advertisements shape our lives and help spoon feed us ideas about the world earlier this year, I realized how much skin lightening commercials have affected my life. Subconsciously, they did impact my ideas about beauty and its connection to skin color. I wanted to learn more about the products, how they work scientifically, how it impacts skin around the world and why skin lightening is a multi billion dollar business today. However, I didn’t want to just state facts. Anyone can look up the negative effects of skin lightening creams.I wanted to share stories. After talking with fellow friends and students from SLA, I realized I was not alone. Many of them have also experienced ups and downs when it comes to loving their skin color. I wanted a platform and safe space where these stories were told and their voices were amplified. My website focuses on personal interviews and roundtable discussions accompanied by classic “Humans of New York” style portraits of the interviewee to go along with their words. This is a project about people’s relationship with their skin color and how they have or are coming to terms with loving it.

Website: https://rislam0.wixsite.com/beingfairproject

Bibliography

Shadeism. Directed by Nayani Thiyagarajah. Documentary. Refugee Productions, 2015.

This documentary identifies the issues that skin lightening brings upon communities, showing that the ideas of beauty and consequences of the ideal severely impact the relationship that one may have with their skin. This is a documentary that uses the voices of those who participated, all women of color who have realized how much their dark skin affect their daily lives. The stories drive the film, which is exactly the route that I want to direct my capstone. Through this documentary, I was able to see how a director and writer weaved in different stories, backgrounds and experiences to create a cohesive and compelling argument that makes the audience walk away with passion to change the issue.

“The Unfair and Lovely Campaign Is Embracing Darker Skin Tones.” Self, 14 March 2016, http://www.self.com/story/the-unfair-and-lovely-campaign-is-embracing-darker-skin-tones

This is a campaign, called Unfair and Lovely. They are working to actively change the narrative of what it means to be a darker skinned South Asian and also promoting self love. It is run by a community of darker skinned South Asians. They use their instagram account to share photos and stories of women who have suffered through oppression, hatred from others or just self confidence issues. This is an inspiration to me because they are South Asian women themselves, who have experiences similar situations to me. I want to use this resource in order to learn how to not just look at the negatives about this issue, but to see how other women are using this to grow as people and help others learn and evolve. In my project, I want to show how people are working to change the mindsets and how they stay positive.

Norwood, Kimberly Jade. Color matters : skin tone bias and the myth of a post-racial America. Routledge, 2014.

This book goes in depth, with some of the latest research on the issues of colorism and the discrimination that follows it. It talks about why this discrimination occurs, why lighter skin is preferred over darker skin and what implications this has for society and how far we still have to go. There is history, psychology and personal narratives weaved into this book. In my project, I wish to incorporate the issues of colorism that exist in America too, so it’s not just written off as another country or another community’s issue. It exists here, is very prevalent and will continue to affect us for years unless we take a stand. I want to use this resource to learn more about where it exists in our society and why it’s so well hidden. Then, in my project I want to expose the taboos of this topic and maybe even incorporate how media plays a role in our beliefs.

Women of Worth. She Leads. 2015-16. http://womenofworth.in/

Women of Worth is an organization based in India which through different workshops, conferences and seminars throughout schools and colleges in the country, tries to promote media literacy, redefine beauty, leadership development and more. One campaign, “Dark is Beautiful” specifically targets the issues of colorism and how to combat that in everyday life. On their website they have a blog that anyone can contribute to, with their own stories along with their events at different schools. They are partnered with She Leads, an organization that promotes confidence and leadership among women. This is an inspiration for my project because as a South Asian, even I want to know how they have been combating stereotypes and what different techniques they have been using to actively change the narrative, especially in a country so obsessed with light skin. I will use this source to give me ideas of how to reach out to different women about their stories and how to make sure their voices are heard.

Saint Louis, Catherine. “Creams Offering Lighter Skin May Bring Risks.” The New York Times, 15 Jan. 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/health/16skin.html

This article in The New York Times addresses the health risks that come with using skin lightening creams. Most users don’t know about the ingredients that are in them or what kind of damage they can cause. The idea that their skin can even be lightened overpowers any harm it can do. By the time they see the negative affects on their skin, it is often too late to turn back. Through my project, I don’t just want to state the issues that skin lightening can cause to one’s self esteem. I also want to prove through hard facts that these products are not healthy and will not even help one achieve what they are promised. Facts can be an extremely persuasive force, which is why I am so interested in adding it to my project.

Gabler, Roe Sam. “Dangers of skin whitening creams.” Chicago Tribune, 2010-15, http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-skin-creams-safety-storygallery.html

This group of articles and studies show the different type of ingredients in the most popular skin whitening creams throughout the world and how they affect our skin. Specifically, they have a study that focused on the mercury levels in these creams. There is also an article on a bill in the U.S that calls for tighter restrictions on the ingredients that can be put in cosmetics. Again, I want to incorporate this information in different blog posts and weave it into the narratives. I also want to ask people if they know about the ingredients and what they can do to their skin and see how they feel about that. I mainly just want to have a big blog post that analyzes all the ingredients and prove with facts why it’s not healthy for our skin.

Dhillon, Komal Kaur. Brown Skin, White Dreams: Pigmentocracy in India. Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2015.

This source is a dissertation about the pigmentocracy that exists in India. Pigmentocracy is the preference to lighter skin in a society, which leads to privilege for one group and discrimination for another. In this paper, the author shows research of how this began during colonization and how it still exists in modern day India. With the help of this paper, I want to figure out the root of this issue and where it actually started. I also want to see why after so many years of independence, pigmentocracy still exists today and what that means for Indians and others around the world. I want to use the research in this paper to back up my narrative. This will be included in my personal blog post.

Ghose, Tia. Indians and Europeans Share 'Light-Skin' Mutation. Live Science, http://www.livescience.com/41040-skin-color-genes-identified-india.html

This article talks about how Indians and Europeans share a mutation that can cause light skin. They also found that this gene is more prevalent in North India, rather than South. The study also branches out to 54 other ethnic groups in the subcontinent and finds that some groups like people from Tibet do not show this gene at all. I want to incorporate this information along with more factual information in a blog post. I think it will be interesting to incorporate this into the interviews that I do to see how many people know about this/how much genetics influence skin color.

Jones, Trina. “The Significance of Skin Color in Asian and Asian-American Communities: Initial Reflections”. UC Irvine Law Review, 2013. http://www.law.uci.edu/lawreview/vol3/no4/Jones.pdf

In this paper, the author explores the pedestal that skin color is put on in Asian and Asian American communities and how that affects the relationship that people who are a part of those communities have with their skin. This paper also talks heavily about the role media plays in continuing to hold this message of fairer skin being “more beautiful” high and strong. It also focuses on how women are more likely to be held to these standards than men, especially when it comes to marriage and expectations of elders. I want to use how different Asian communities deal with this issue and how it exists today in a blog post about this issue exists in different communities. I will also weave it into different narratives that people share with me.

Hunter, Margaret. “The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status and Inequality”. Mills College, 2007. https://www.mills.edu/academics/faculty/soc/mhunter/The%20Persistent%20Problem%20of%20Colorism.pdf

In this paper, the author focuses on the different struggles and dynamics that exist in the United States in terms of skin color. It touches on a wide range of communities, such as African American, Hispanic and Asian. It does a detailed analysis of the history, why it still exists today and how it continues to shape the way we view our world. It also talks about the economic and political advantages that come with being light skinned. In my project, I want to incorporate this with any interviews I get of people who have been raised in the U.S and have immigrant parents, so I can compare their experiences and see if there are any similarities in their experiences.

Stop The Violence

Posted by Benjamin Rivera in English 1 · Giknis · A Band on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 8:11 pm

Hello my name is Benjamin Rivera and I’m Doing a Project for my English class called You & The World which involves me studying a problem in the world and gaining evidence with pictures and sources from the internet like videos and articles about youth violence. My project choice was youth violence in Philadelphia which basically involves me and all the high school students in Philadelphia as we are all affected and actually the cause of this problem in the city of Philadelphia. I want people who live outside of the city to see, review, and join the movement to stop youth violence everywhere. I spent some time doing research about youth violence and I found two sources from the internet and one source as an interview.

My first blog post dealt with the same topic but I had just gotten into the project. Now I have gained a lot more knowledge from my continued research. I learned that this problem wasn’t just in North Philadelphia where I live. Youth violence is a big problem happening around the United States caused by mostly high school students. Some fights can be caused by child mobs which police look at as flash mobs which is a mob that forms quickly without planning and is not a peaceful protest. The numbers could be hundreds and hundreds of students outside fighting after school. Sometimes the innocent get involved and are badly hurt. In one event a 15 year old girl was shot near Einstein hospital when a shooting broke out at Olney Transportation Center.

I spent some time looking for somebody to interview for my project. I found a Police Officer who was generous enough to make the interview possible. We had a conversation on the phone and I asked questions that involved gender equality, home environment, and school environment and if they played a key role in youth violence and caused attitudes and actions of high school students to change in a bad way. He answered yes and the youth violence he witnesses is getting worse and worse everyday. I also included a topic that approached after school dismissal and the safety of our community. He answered and implied that Philadelphia as a whole isn’t safe after school hours because the students are causing problems and people are getting hurt. The interview gave me the knowledge that the police witness youth violence and it can be so bad that even they cannot control the situation. As I shared in my first slate first, mobs can be up to 100+ kids and can easily get out of hand.

A big event that happened in January of 2016 gave me the perfect story to follow up on my interview. An 8th grader was caught trespassing at a high school in las vegas and it ended tragically. When a police officer came to arrest the middle school student, his sister got involved.Then a crowd swarmed around the officer’s swat car and a student threw a rock at the officer's head. He then took out his pepper spray and the students scattered with burning eyes and throats. This officer is right for this because he was alone and he was just doing his job and the students needed to stop and mind their business. This is police isn’t brutality this is students starting a flash mob and started violence with a police officer because they have the numbers to get away with it.

I found another event that involved a crowd of young teenagers watching two girls fighting out on the streets of NYC and this is just sad how a group of people just surrounded and watched these two girls fight. Throwing each other on the floor, grabbing each other’s hair while people just stood there watching the blows. The girls were teenagers fighting with pajamas in the middle of the street. One brave adult stepped in and stopped the fight. That women is an example of how everyone should act. To believe there should be peace and love in our youth community. Why do we have to fight? Why can’t we just be friends or walk away from a problem?

Since blog post one I learned that students and teenagers in general are careless when it comes to other people. They react and act ignorantly without thinking of the consequences of their actions. We need more heroes in the world. n my next blog post I will inform you of the heroes and people who take charge when they see youth violence in their community, and how they responded to the situation. If you want to find other sources you can check out my annotated bibliography and do some more research.

Support the cause

Posted by Ivan Lopez in English 1 · Giknis · A Band on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 7:52 pm

In my last post I talked mainly about facts and some percentages of Autism affect. I would like to dive more into this subject by expanding the facts. Thanks to my survey on Autism and the response I gained helped me with my project and I thank them. So I would like to talk about the responses first and talk about my new made research after I talk about my survey.

The responses to my Autism survey have really given me a great look at how people care and think about Autism. The vast majority know one or two or three and some even know 20 to 30 people with Autism or more. Many thought that the National rate of Autism was 1 in 39 but it’s actually 1 in 67, but, many also chose 1 in 82 or 1 in 99. They also picked 16% of people with Autism in the world but it’s actually 1% of people have Autism in the world. The 16% had the most people pick it. The true or false question is where many get divided. 38.3% thought it was true and 61.7% thought it was false. The real answer is ‘’false’’ because you have to ask the insurance companies to pay for it and 50% won’t pay for it. The scale chart was very pleasing to look at to see 21.3% of people feel strongly towards Autism and 34% are close to that 21.3% of people. But 40.4% of people feel neutral towards Autism and that's alright. But, what caught me off guard was the 4.3% of people who felt that Autism wasn’t that big of a deal. The yes, no, maybe question is by far one of my favorite ones. What surprised me was that 10.6% of people said ‘’maybe’’ to the idea of Autism getting more support and the ones that said yes were about 89.4. Through this survey, I have learned that many people know about Autism and help support.

People who have Autism don’t look any different from anyone else. They just act, talk, learn, and think differently from others. Some people with Autism have different measurements to how much help they will need which goes from gifted to severely challenged. Some signs someone has Autism is by avoiding eye contact, having trouble understanding other people’s feelings or talking about their own feelings, repeating actions over and over again and having unusual reactions to the way things smell, taste, look, feel, or sound. These facts were found on CDC which is a disease learning website.

There is no cure for Autism as of right now. But there are many therapy sessions you can go to and try to raise them different to decrease the chance of serious symptoms. There's something called ‘’early intervention‘’ which is when you give your child therapies. It involves many different types of therapies including occupational and physical. Therapist will come to the house to give the child a safe environment and because they are young and still don’t trust unfamiliar faces. Info from PA DHS and Child Mind Institute.

This post has given me hope that many will help beat Autism hate and hate towards disabled in all. My survey responses really helped me push forward to write more about Autism and not be afraid to say I’m Autistic. Truth be told I was in ‘’early intervention’’ and it help me develop into the person I am. I meet very good therapist that help me learn and not let me have outbursts like other people who have Autism or people with disabilities.