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When we first introduced the project to the principal at Wagner Middle School she was more than happy to let us have the mentor program their and to help us. We choose Wagner Middle School because Amirah’s mom works there. A permission slip was sent home to the girls who were going to attend the program, so that their parents know and are okay with what we were going to be talking about with their daughters and taking pictures for evidence. We had girls in sixth to eighth grade. When the girls first walked in they had food, snacks and drinks waiting for them.

I wanted to do a mentor program because I know that I am a good role model for young girls and can teach them the importance of having morals.

Bibliography:

http://chronus.com/how-to-start-a-mentoring-program

"How to Start a High-Impact Mentoring Program | Chronus." Chronus RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

This is a website that helps people start their mentorship program. It gives them a sense of how to start the program and what they are starting it for. Guidance was needed to start the mentor group so that young girls know the ways of life. We had to make a permission slip for the girls, so that their parents were okay with what we were going to be talking about and if they’re okay with their child being photographed for our project.

http://www.cdc.gov/std/hiv/stdfact-std-hiv.htm

"STDs and HIV – CDC Fact Sheet." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Oct. 2015. Web. 18 May 2016.

This site gets to the nitty gritty of how serious sexaully trasmitted diseases. It talks about how some stds can turn into HIV. And that’s something you can die from. We had to teach the girls how serious catching sexually transmitted diseases is. It informs about the treatment if something do happen. This information is to not scare the young girls, but to show them how consequences work if they are not practicing safe sex.

http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/understanding-stds-basics

"STD Facts, Causes, Types, Transmission, and More." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

This site is informing visitors about sexually transmitted diseases. They inform people about the most common sexually transmitted disease. It show what you can do to not contract an std by wearing condoms and practicing abstinence. It shows people how to contract and sexually transmitted disease. It example the breakthrough of sexually transmitted diseases.

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

"Planned Parenthood | Official Site." Planned Parenthood | Official Site. Web. 18 May 2016.

This website was used to teach girls on how to handle what they need to handle. By handle I mean if they were to contract and STD. Or to become pregnant. Of course they would have to tell their parents, but this is a place that they should know to go to if they need anything if they don’t want their parents to know.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/grilled-chicken-sliders.html

"Grilled Chicken Sliders : Ree Drummond : Food Network." Grilled Chicken Sliders Recipe : Ree Drummond : Food Network. Web. 18 May 2016.

The young sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Chicken sliders was apart of our lesson plan. The guidelines was giving to inform on how to make the chicken sliders. All of ingredients had to be required and needed to produce what was needed to produce. The girls will accomplish at least learning how to make a food, if there is nothing else to eat. It is a great way to learn something new and it’s fun. The have to learn the ways of being an adult. Their parents is not going to be there for them all the time to make food. It’s also something to can surprise their mom and dad with on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-beef-tacos/426c261d-b2eb-4e22-9cba-0066f3335591

"Easy Beef Tacos." BettyCrocker.com. Web. 18 May 2016.

Beef tacos was needed because not everybody need or eat pork. Tacos and quesadillas were made to teach the girls on how to cook. Making tacos were a fun and is a fun way to cook. It also give them a new taste. Since most of the girls are African American females it gave them something new to try. Tacos are considered an Latina, cultural type of food. It introduces them to new things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHwi_l4sg3o

Mreae. "How to Grill Salmon Perfectly." YouTube. YouTube, 2008. Web. 19 May 2016.

One of the ingredients for the tacos or something that were included in the tacos were salmon. Since salmon is an uncooked food and can be very bad if eaten uncooked can be a terrible thing. The girls were shown how to cook a raw fish. It doesn’t have to be burnt but it can be well done. They have the choice of following something that is very helpful for them and give them options of different sauces to put on the salmo. It gives the tacos a certain flavor that they might like. They would be proud of theirself for cooking something so good.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/parenting/raising-girls/body-image-identity/raising-a-powerful-girl/

PBS. PBS. Web. 19 May 2016.

One of the lesson plans that was for the young girls was to talk about parents. As young girls, you and your parent can tend to clash and “bump heads” a lot. Young girls feel like they know it all and that their mom is being mean for telling them what to do. When in all the mom is trying to help them. They don’t understand that. This conversation was to teach them not everything has to be an argument. They need to know that they can have great relationships with their self and their parents.

http://nypost.com/2016/02/21/how-social-media-is-destroying-the-lives-of-teen-girls/

Dawson, Mackenzie. "How Social Media Is Destroying the Lives of Teen Girls."New York Post. 2016. Web. 19 May 2016.

Social Media is a very opinionated place. Not everybody follow the rule “if you don’t have nothing nice to say don’t say it at all”. People are cruel now and days and everyone has a social media account no matter if it’s instagram, twitter, snapchat, kik and periscope. It allows you to put yourself out there but people need to learn the what side of their self to make public. Anybody can go look at your stuff and know who you are or what type of person you are just by your captions and the pictures you put up. Everything needs to be PG-13 because there are older woman out here not setting the right example.

http://www.youngwomenscollegeprep.org/

"Home - Young Womens College Prep." Home - Young Womens College Prep. Web. 19 May 2016.

The mentor group is at Wagner Middle School, although Wagner Middle School is a good school, it can always improve. Students can always benefit from their school becoming better. The girls need to know that getting degrees is very important and needed in life to have a comfortable living. It’s good to see what other schools talk about or do when it comes to their school. We can do the same thing they do and probably do it better.

For my capstone project I worked with a foster care organization trying to figure out what the needs of the children in the system were. By setting up a gofundme page and receiving many generous donations, I was able to purchase many of the items we came up with together. All together I was able to purchase twenty bags and fill each with a water bottle, a blanket, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a notebook and pens/pencils, as well as an unique item for each child. With the money I had left from the donations I was able to give school supplies for the kids who are traveling around a lot. Throughout the capstone process, a few little lives were made a little easier.

The idea for my capstone derived from my pure and honest passion for storytelling. Having no prior experience in the writing world, I wanted to get my feet wet and gain some experience in a field not many trek. Along with wanting to storytell, I wanted to tell a different type of story. In a market where black characters aren’t common, or non-white characters are practically non-existent, I wanted to plant a seed in it. I wanted to show people that black characters can flourish in genres besides urban fiction. In the very beginning, the process of brainstorming and finding a solid narrative was initially the most pressing quest. The first thing I knew I needed to do was just write it. Everything after that was definitely a learning experience. I learned that a complete, solid, and physical book cannot be completely in a mere 6 months. I also learned that I wanted to take my writing in a different direction, since one of my main goals of this project was to attract an audience, something I had no idea how to in the beginning. In a nick of time, I created a wattpad profile where millions of people could possibly take a peek at my work. Aside from the things I learned in the process, overall, I walked away from this project with a solid understanding of the type of material I want the world to see. I want to influence and inspire people with my words, and this is just the beginning of it all.

Bibliography

1. Bureman, Liz. "The 7 Basic Plots: Tragedy - The Write Practice." The Write Practice RSS. The Write Practice, 04 June 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://thewritepractice.com/basic-tragedy/>. I was looking for something to help me with the tragedy part of my novella and this was exactly what I was looking for. It is a website that has basically deconstructed what exactly makes a tragedy a tragedy. It tells about how a tragic story will have a main character that has a serious and intense thirst for something (be it money, power, beauty, youth, anything) and once they achieve that object, life seemingly gets to get better until the walls cave in all around them. There are many classic tragic stories such as Hamlet and Macbeth, and of course, Romeo and Juliet. The website also introduces an option of writing a prompt for the one of the "Dream stages" it describes. I also realized that not all tragic protagonists are anti-heroes. They can be a good person throughout the story and suffer a terrible fate just like bad.

2. "Character Virtues and Vices." W R I T E W O R L D. Tumblr.com, 2014. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://writeworld.org/charactervandv>. In the process of character creating, I knew I wanted to create well-rounded, three dimensional people that would be seen as real. I focused on the vice and virtues this time. Since no one is completely good or bad, I learned how to evenly give life to my characters through these. Overall, one of the main characters in my book are mostly quiet and to themselves. However, this character wouldn't be completely the same throughout the story. I'd want other traits to come out so readers can decide if they want to root for them or not. So in this website, I found those vices and virtues that I could use freely. I picked five of each and then added detail to each; how they made my character act, how they affected their life, and how these vices and virtues would possibly change them by the end of the book.

3. "How to Create a Character Profile." Writers Write. The Lazy Scholar, 1998. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jun98/how-to-create-a-character-profile-6986>. I used this website in order to organize and flesh out my characters individually. It's very long, very text heavy, and it really made me think about how I have free will to make the characters any way I want. I actually spent several days filling this out for each character, as it really makes me think about what I am writing and if the character I've thought of really needs to be in the story or not. But after using this this so much, I was able to mold it into something that I would actually use. I didn't want to take up a ton of time trying to fill out each line so I erased some of the questions and only kept the ones I felt needed to be answered. It saved time, helped me vision my characters better and ultimately made it way easier to mold them to the my story.

4. Grace. "Examples of Themes. Choosing a Creative Writing Theme."Practicecreativewriting. N.p., 2014. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.practicalcreativewriting.com/what-is-a-theme/examples-of-themes/>. This website is focused on explaining the theme within a story (narrative/ novel). At first, I thought that stories only had one theme, but after reading through this website and thinking of the other pieces of literature I've read, I've realized that stories can have more than one theme. The function of the website how choosing a theme should be personal to you. That I should care about it so that when I write, I won't get bored or feel like I'm forcing something. The site also gives a list of different themes and some short descriptions of it. I think this is very useful to me since I find that in my writing, theme might not be so prevalent or easy to find. This site will really come in handing when forming my story. I think I should start with this first. It is simple and easy to use.

5. "Macbeth Summary." Absolute Shakespeare. AbsoluteShakespeare, 2005. Web. 2016. <http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/summaries/macbeth/macbeth_summary.htm>. I wanted to look more in different tragedies. Therefore, I revisited Macbeth, another tragedy by Shakespeare. As I read the summary, I saw that Macbeth died at the result of his own selfish actions. He killed many, feigned for power, and ultimately died a death some would say was "just his medicine". I also read further into the site and learned about the different themes and symbols throughout. Even though I already knew most of the things mentioned, I payed attention to how each theme was transpired throughout the story. I think this website is useful in trying to see how different stories with essentially the same themes parallel one another. Even though Macbeth was a majority violent and bloody play, the way each part of the plot connects is what motivates me. I want to do the same as well. After looking through Macbeth, I went on a search for Hamlet.

6. "Romeo and Juliet Summary." Absolute Shakespeare. Absoluteshakespeare, 2005. Web. 2016. <http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/romeo_and_juliet/summary/romeo_and_juliet_summary.htm>. I stopped by this website in order to get a look at the most classic tragical romance, Romeo and Juliet. I was specifically looking to explore the different themes within the story. I wanted to find out what made it so popular, despite the ridiculousness of both of the main characters. What drove them to ignore their family members despite constant pleas? I was also able to look at the different symbols that are consistent throughout the story, such as poison. What I realized from this explanation was that even the smallest details can change a rather simple story. I also was able to see what exactly the story of Romeo and Juliet was. A narrative of ridiculousness and misinterpretations. Even though the movies dramatize the story, the reality of the situation is that the Montagues and Capulets are fighting over a silly feud that could have been resolved ages ago.

7. "Stephen J Cannell Lecture Part IV: What Is Three Act Structure? -- *Writers Write*." Stephen J Cannell Lecture Part IV: What Is Three Act Structure? -- *Writers Write*. Writers Write Inc, 2015. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.writerswrite.com/screenwriting/lecture4.htm>. This website became especially useful when looking to create structure within my story. It is called the Three Act Structure. Every story and movie is made up of the "Three Act Structure", as there is a beginning, middle and end. Each aspect of the structure tells a different part the story so that everything will make sense. You'd never introduce the main characters in the middle, but in the beginning, which is what the first act is about. In the first act, main characters and conflict are introduced. The middle is where everything gets crazy and the characters are put to the test to see the conflict until the end. The third act is the solution to the conflict and where everything wraps up. This site was especially useful to me because my story definitely needed more structure. I also liked that the article gave actual examples on what to do.

8. Victor, William. "What Is Plot - How to Build a Story from Beginning to End." Creative Writing Now. William Victor, S.L, 2009. Web. 2015. <http://www.creative-writing-now.com/what-is-plot.html>. This website is pretty similar to the others I've read about plot. However, it is written differently and isn't as simple. It's sort of messy but after reading through, it becomes easier to decipher. The website also gives information the different types of conflicts with a plot. Such as man vs man, man vs nature, man vs self, man vs other. I also learned that all stories would be boring if there was no conflict. People like to read about drama, its interesting. If everyone had a happily ever after, then books wouldn't be popular and literature itself would be lame. That is also a reason that Shakespeares stories are so referenced and beloved. They aren't typical romance stories where everyone lives greatly in the end, it usually ends in blood, leaving the reader in confusion and despair because events occurred that they did not prepare for nor expected in the end.

9. "The Writer's Toolbox - Ask The Writer - Gotham Writers Workshop." The Writer's Toolbox -Ask The Writer. Gotham Writer's Workshop, 2016. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/what-is-a-novella-how-is-it-different-than-a-short-story>. Here, I learned the difference between a novella and a novel. A novella is not as expanded in conflict as a novel, and is therefore, shorter. But not as condensed as a short story. It is around 15,000 words but no more than 100,000, which would be crossing over in novel territory. I decided from this that I wanted to write a novella. It's going to be short, to the point, but rich with content that will have the reader asking for me, hopefully. I also want my story to be a novella because it gives room to possibly have a series and keep it moving. I'll be able to have cliff hangers and torture the reader, which motivates me to keep going. But one thing that the article reminds me is to just keep writing and try my best. Hopefully everything will come together in the end peace fully.

10. "Writing A Novel." The Writing Bureau. WL Yorkshire, 2009. Web. 2016. <http://www.writersbureau.com/writing/planning-a-novel.htm>. This website gives a very simple step by step intro into planning a novel. Even though there aren't a ton of details, it was very useful to me. I think starting from one simple and then adding details later is what will really help when writing my novella. It helped me really ask myself questions about what my story was missing and what it had. I like how it isn't as complicated as most of the websites I've went to when looking for information or plot planning. I've already started writing, but this website will definitely come in handy when editing and making revisions. I figure that if I can answer any of these questions in a complete sentence, then my book will be good and easy to read. Even though this website/ article was designed for novel planning, I can still use it to write my novella. Just I will have to take some stuff out.

​All throughout my high school experience, I have seen the same ole sport uniforms from each team. Each team used the same exact logo and the same colors. I wanted to change it up a bit for a more updated look for the school because we also have come a long way from when we first opened up.

For my senior capstone, I decided to come up with new designs for the sports teams in the school for seasonal uniforms and or fundraising purposes.I was first introduced to this by my coach, Mark Johnson, during our 2016 track and field season. He had explained to me how this would work for everyone because of how easy and simple it was. It’s called Ares Sportswear and it was a really beneficial and useful tool for my capstone.

1. "Welcome, Students." National Honor Society. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2016. <https://www.nhs.us/students>.

This is the National Honor Society website. I used this source for a lot of different reasons. I wanted to truly understand the mission/goals of NHS. There is a lot of information on this site about how to start a chapter, renewing a chapter, getting scholarship information, a link to the NHS apparel website and more. I learned about the 4 aspects of NHS: leadership, character, service, and scholarship. Reviewing this website, I now understand that it is essential to continue building leaders for this generation and servicing our communities, which are the two aspects I plan to highlight in my chapter.

    2. "Teaching Youth to Identify Essential Qualities of a Leader." FASTEN. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2016. <http://www.urbanministry.org/wiki/teaching-youth-identify-essential-qualities-leader>.

This website was a good example for how to have the leadership development. In the NHS chapter, we need a foundation in such a way that we can build off. This website concluded that the major aspects and qualities are: courage, risk taking, confidence, self discipline, honesty, and perseverance. These I agree are qualities and skills that it takes to be a successful leader. A main aspect of NHS is leadership and I was concerned with having the proper tools necessary to have a leadership course. I think the most important are confidence, self discipline, and risk taking. Without those, you probably won’t be a successful leader.

     3. "National Honor Society (N.H.S)." Central High School. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.centralhigh.net/pages/CentralHigh/7197040085141361346/Main_Nav/6675467167782716626/Clubs_1/National_Honor_Society__N_H_S_>.

This is Central High School’s National Honor Society website. The reason I used this as a source for research because this is the first time I’m being directly exposed to NHS. This website serves as an inspiration for my website. I will add much more to mine but they have links to sign up for tutoring, an introduction article, etc. This website actually didn’t much information, but it served as an example of a website because I’m making on.

     4. "Mayor Jim Kenney's Office of Civic Engagement & Volunteer Service."Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://volunteer.phila.gov/#s>.

This website serves as a volunteer match database for Philadelphia. I have used this source in the past and will continue to do so as I am looking for different volunteer opportunities. This site, in my opinion, does a wonderful job in organizing the opportunities because they are broken down into different categories. It also gives the location. NHS could use this source because depending on the time of the year, the holidays, etc, we can plan accordingly to somewhat fit a thematic scheme.

      5. El, Savannah. "What Is NHS Like?" Telephone interview. Sept. 2015.

Savannah El is a close friend of mine who is a member of NHS at Girard Academic Music Program. I spoke with her to get an understanding of what NHS is. I also looked for different ideas that her chapter have done because this is something I’m doing for the first time.

      6. Jonas, Pearl. "What Is NHS?" In Person interview. June 2015.

Ms. Jonas, who is also my capstone mentor, was a NHS member in high school. The purpose of this interview was to establish her as my mentor. I also spoke with her about how we can implement NHS (a traditional club) in SLA (a modern-non traditional school). We worked over the summer to get ready for the school year. The interview was informal, however we outlined a lot for the year.

      7. SLA Juniors/Seniors. "NHS at SLA." Online interview. Oct. 2015.

I conducted a survey for SLA juniors and seniors. I got the word out to SLA about NHS by putting information on the advisory memo. The survey was for people to sign up. The information that I gathered from the survey was that most people are interested in leadership development/networking and service. The majority of people had volunteer experience and were interested in continuing it. That is how I got the idea to emphasize on leadership and service.

      8. Perle, Elizabeth. "Is National Honor Society Membership Worth It?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/is-national-honor-society_n_3267251.html>.

This article was published on the Huffington Post by Elizabeth Perle. It is about whether or not a NHS membership is worth it or not. The article was very thoughtful is talking about what the membership actually means. The author explored the idea that it doesn’t matter if you are a member, it matters how active you are. At the end of the day, people aren’t interested in just hearing that you were a member, they are interested in hearing what you did as a member. That is something that I want to keep in mind as I am bringing this to SLA. I want to make sure that we are all active members and we keep a good name for NHS at SLA.

       9. Boyington, Brianna. "7 Essential Life Skills for High Schoolers to Build Before College." US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2014/11/05/7-essential-life-skills-for-high-schoolers-to-build-before-college>.

I used this source to get ideas for things we can talk about/explore deeply about during times when we aren’t planning for an event. I want NHS to be about leadership development just as much as service and I want for us (the members) to learn together how to become better versions of ourselves. The seven essential life skills for high schoolers to build before college according to this site are: managing money, planning, staying safe and healthy, studying, apartment hunting, getting around, and cooking. I can try my best with my mentor to see which of these skills we can talk about.

      10. National Honor Society, Handbook 17th Edition. Reston, VA: n.p., 1974. Print.

This is the National Honor Society handbook. This handbook outlines everything regarding the chapter from procedures, mission, background, etc. This handbook helps the group outline the induction ceremony, how the members are selected, the duties of the chapter officers, the advisor, and the council, graduation ceremonial things, etc.

Since I was a child I was always good at math. Once I got to high school my math classes got a little bit harder and throughout them I never really had anyone there to help me when I struggled throughout the years besides my teachers. While I did manage to pass each one I still to this day wish I had someone helping me outside of class. Now that I SAT an Algebra 1 class I feel like they deserve the benefits I wasn’t given during my freshman days. Like they do I had an SAT in my math classes but my SAT’s were there for me during class and to make sure I did my work outside of it but they didn’t put too much effort into making sure I understood it. That’s why for my capstone I focused on creating a peer tutoring program so that children don’t have to depend on their SAT’s. In the program the students are paired up with other students who understand the concept they might need to improve in. These children have spent weeks with each other bonding and helping each other with math. To not only see these kids work together but to be able to provide them with an outside source for me was truly amazing. The progress that these student make is also pretty amazing. They went from a group of kids who could care less about math and just wanted to pass to a group of math lovers. I’m more than proud to be able to say that I helped these children develop long lasting friends and a love for math to go with it.

Robinson, Debbie R., Janet Ward Schofield, and Katrina L. Steers-Wentzell. “Peer and Cross-age Tutoring in Math: Outcomes and Their Design Implications”. Educational Psychology Review 17.4 (2005): 327–362. Web… http://www.jstor.org/stable/23363970

Children in the same grade/ age will be teaching each other and should understand how to communicate with their peers. The tutors will be teaching their friends and being about to talk to them is key. This site is sort of a reference for me to let me know what I should be telling those kids to do when teaching their friends.

Mengping Tsuei. “Mathematics Synchronous Peer Tutoring System for Students with Learning Disabilities”. Journal of Educational Technology & Society 17.1 (2014): 115–127. Web… http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.17.1.115

Some students will have a very hard time understanding the concepts we will be trying to teach them. Even if 100% of the students that come in don’t have a disability this site will still be helpful. Math is one of the absolute hardest subject to retain memory about. Math for even people without disabilities is very difficult.

Martino, Louis R.. “Peer Tutoring Classes for Young Adolescents: A Cost-effective Strategy”.Middle School Journal 25.4 (1994): 55–58. Web…  http://www.jstor.org/stable/23023232  

I used this site to help me understand what exactly I might have to deal with when attempting to tutor freshman. This site talks mostly about middle schoolers but since freshman are only one grade above that I figured it is the same concept overall.

Brady, Nancy C.. “The Teaching Game: A Reciprocal Peer Tutoring Program for Preschool Children”. Education and Treatment of Children 20.2 (1997): 123–149. Web… http://www.jstor.org/stable/42899485

This site was sort of off topic because it wasn’t about children understanding math or even children in high/ middle school. This site helped me understand how to break own peer tutoring for younger kids. It talks about kids in preschool and how they tutored each other. I found this very outstanding and think it will useful when explaining to the tutors and people being tutored about why what they’re doing is so great.

"Research Spotlight on Peer Tutoring." Rss. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nea.org/tools/35542.htm>.

I used this site to sort of break down for myself what exactly is peer tutoring and how it can be used. This site is helpful when it comes to finding out the benefits that come with peer tutoring. I received the basic information about peer tutoring through this site.

"Peer Tutoring Questionaire." Interview. 04 Feb. 2016: n. pag. Print. https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/forms/d/1pgqPwo344ci-gqT7EkcantR0wzpgUeghKJcUEGdZWbg/viewform?usp=send_form

To gather all of the tutors and people who want to receive tutoring Daniel and I created a form for freshman to fill out. This form will allow us to know which children need/ want tutoring and which children believe they are able to tutor their classmates.

"Teaching Math." Interview by Ms. Chrisiss. 04 Feb. 2016: n. pag. Print.

Ms. Chrisiss teaches with me in Mrs. Giorgio’s algebra 1 class. Lately she has been teaching on her own and I was curious to know why she does it. She was able to express to me that she always loved math but it wasn’t always clear to her that she wanted to teach it to children. She went into college as a engineer major then she changed her mind. I want to use what she told m to teach the tutors.

"Tutoring Assessment." Interview by Cameron Hinton. 29 Jan. 2016: n. pag. Print.

This is my dear friend Cameron Hinton. He is a senior in high school, he has had experience receiving tutoring. I want to use his response to better understand how this will be affecting these freshmen when they go to higher and higher math levels.

"Tutoring Assessment." Interview by Arsenio Gomez. 30 Jan. 2016: n. pag. Print.

Arsenio Gomez is a junior as my school. He is a kid I have worked close with in the past and I feel like his response provide an insight into how to not only get tutoring but to also be the  one giving it. He tells me how he sometimes tutors his younger family members in things they might not understand.

"TEACH - Q&A Webinar with the Teachers from the Film!" Documentary Film TEACH by Davis Guggenheim: Q&A W/ the Teachers. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.teacherstestprep.com/TEACH-documentary-film>.

This is a great site about how teachers sort of ban together online and to work with students who need help. I know this seems like it doesn’t fit in but it’s really helpful when it comes to understanding how different teachers work on solving problems.

For my capstone, I wanted to give back to SLA community with what I believe it gave most to me which is my ability to do math. I am well aware that some of the freshman are not at the level of math they should be at because of an underfunded school district. With this in mind, me and three other seniors decided to come together and start a math lab after school. The math lab was open on Tuesdays from 3-4 and was for freshman in Algebra 1. In the math lab, we helped students prepare for retakes, paired them with other students in order to be peer tutored, and taught them concepts they may have missed when absent from school.

The individual part of my capstone had me surveying people for their opinions of math at SLA. Teachers always want feedback and what better way to keep it concise and short than by providing them with clear data and statistics. This gives students a way of voicing their opinion while remaining completely anonymous to teachers. I want the math teachers here to know how good of a job they are doing and letting them know the concerns I find with my data. This will also serve as another means of proving how successful SLA’s math department is to other schools in the district and potentially even make a model for other schools to follow. I seek to find trends within grades levels, math levels, and race.

Bidwell, Allie. "STEM Workforce No More Diverse Than 14 Years Ago." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2015/02/24/stem-workforce-no-more-diverse-than-14-years-ago>.

This article will serve me to talk about what the impact is on students who do not succeed in math. Typically minorities are the ones who are are underrepresented in the STEM workforce which is exactly what this article highlights. I want to drive home that this is a big issue that impacts how far students will get in life. The article explains how diversity in the workforce has remained unchanged since 14 years prior to when this was written in 2015. It helps me glue together all the points and shows purpose in my study which points out misconceptions about STEM.

Bryant, Cindy. "Growth Mindset and the Common Core Math Standards."Edutopia. N.p., 03 Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/growth-mindset-common-core-math-cindy-bryant>.

This website is crucial in helping me establish one of the core aspects of what my capstone is trying to help change about some students. Some students have a fixed mindset which limits their growth and while a growth mindset helps students embrace failure and use it as a learning tool. Me and others in charge of the after school math labs will try to enforce a growth mindset into the students and I will record the numerical results of training. A questionnaire involving questions about people’s mindsets before and after SLA and math lab will help me illustrate my point.

College Board. "SAT Reform and College-Bound African Americans." The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 4 (2013): 1-3. College Board. 2013. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

The College Board has some useful data on SAT percentiles that I would want to include in my research paper to show my capstone’s purpose and need. SLA is obviously a school whose largest race is African American and they are particularly known for not doing so well on these tests. I plan to take data from here to show correlation between races against each other and the progression of percentiles in certain races over time. This will help illustrate the point that there is need for a place like math lab and some sort of a change in curriculum.

El Deeb, Ahmed. "What to Do with “small” Data?" Medium. N.p., 06 Oct. 2015. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <https://medium.com/rants-on-machine-learning/what-to-do-with-small-data-d253254d1a89#.wd4kz7k1f>.

One problem I know I might face and something I plan to address is that I might only collect a small set of data. This create numerous problems in terms of not only being hard to analyze and draw conclusions from, but it also affects the success of the capstone. The article is very insightful as to tell me what problems I might encounter with a small data set and what to do in case I receive one. Since this is one the largest, if not the largest hurdle for my capstone I need to make sure I use this source to make sure I am prepared when I encounter this problem.

Freeman, David. "Here's Proof That Beautiful Math Equations Affect The Brain Just Like Great Art." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/17/beautiful-math-equations-brain-great-art_n_4789667.html>.

This article illustrates the beauty of math and why it is so important. Something that I need to address in my paper is why anyone should care about math and more people if I conveyed the point that math can be viewed as something elegant like art or music I can get the reader to relate more to why it matters even if they do not like math. While one of math’s main purposes is finding its applicability in the real world to describe the relation between systems, it is also a place where some enjoy finding patterns in completely theoretical systems.

Johnson, Andrew P. "Methods of Analyzing Data." A Short Guide to Action Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2012. 71-82. Print.

This is a chapter from a book that talks about the methods of analyzing data. Since the core of my capstone is to represent the applicability of math in the real world to describe systems and interactions, this source will show that I did research on how to properly confront the data I collect and also how I can make conjectures from what I have. It also helps me talk about the different kinds of analysis that I will do in order to make conclusion on what I have collected.The key detailed steps is how I intend to organize my paper so that it seems more organize and sharp as to discern different steps from each other.

Rosenshine, Barak. "Recent Research on Teaching Behaviors and Student Achievement." Recent Research on Teaching Behaviors and Student Achievement. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.formapex.com/les-principes-de-base/1067-recent-research-on-teaching-behaviors-and-student-achievement?616d13afc6835dd26137b409becc9f87=bb4ce84748d5a7ce8f9f97b65257e63b>.

This website contains key information to a study similar to my capstone. It talks about how different methods of teaching math affect students. The study goes on to show the results through actual data. It is structured more like a scientific experiment, but nevertheless it still holds as an example for the kind of analysis I should have. It is divided into specific sections which is something I plan to do in my paper as well in order to separate the different conclusions made from different results of data. The study also explains any irregularities in the data which would me tie loose ends in my conclusions.

Peng, Roger. "What Is the Best Way to Analyze Data? | Simply Statistics."Simply Statistics. N.p., 27 June 2015. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://simplystatistics.org/2013/06/27/what-is-the-best-way-to-analyze-data/>.

This website gives me an idea of different ways I can model data. This is important for to show how even though I was part of the math lab I also want to tie this into my passion for math and talk about how I want to pursue applied math. Properly doing this is crucial for me to show that math has applicability in different areas and it can help make things which would otherwise be subjective become objective. It also helps show how much work and effort doing data analysis can be.

Peters, Chritopher, Danny Schreiber, Matthew Guay, and Stephanie Baedell. "How to Design and Analyze a Survey." - The Ultimate Guide to Forms and Surveys. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <https://zapier.com/learn/ultimate-guide-to-forms-and-surveys/design-analyze-survey/>.

This website introduced me to different ways of asking questions in a survey and analyzing data to get desired and accurate result. There are certain steps I have to go through such as writing knowledge I would like to gain as well as my hypothesis about what I expect the data to show. As far as analyzing and presenting my data go there are certain ways I can discern trends through data and change the kind of graph I use to illustrate a point.

Welsh, Patrick. "Column: Why Our Kids Hate Math." Usatoday.com. N.p., 9 July 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-07-09/math-education-remedial-algebra/56118128/1>.

This source provides a very important insight as to why children are failing and do not like math. This will be important for me to show how we address these problems and how removing them changed the students and their success in math. I want to talk about how the root of this problem occurs before students come to SLA. These statistics while also showing how much we helped improve math lab are also meant to show how much the curriculum failed them. I plan to collect data from students about how they felt about math in their middle school.

For my capstone I made a website about SLA’s spring break service trip to the Dominican Republic. I started by writing blog posts documenting each day of service we had; I wrote about what we did, what I saw, the people we met, and how it made me think about the contrast of my life compared to theirs. I collected photos from other people who went on the trip, and along with the photos that are throughout the website, I created a photo gallery that shows more of what we observed in the different communities.

Something really important to me was to include a page on the Dominican immigration crisis, and a page dedicated to preparing future students going on these trips. For the page on the migration crisis I wrote a short paragraph detailing what happened in the Dominican government, and how it affected the descendants of undocumented Haitian immigrants.  For the page dedicated to preparing future students I included three sections: Fundraising, Packing, and What to Expect. I wanted to help students get a better idea of how to fundraise for these types of programs, how to pack, and what to expect. Because they’re all things that I really needed more information on.

I hope that this can be a continuous project, and that students who go on trips like these in the future will add their own trip onto the website. I think that would be a really cool legacy for service trips at SLA, as well as a resource for kids who can’t go on these trips. One of the main reasons I wanted to do this website was so that people could see what I experienced through my own words.

Abstract

Over the past months I have been collecting people's stories. I have collected stories on the tattoos that people have places on their bodies, how they got the tattoo, why they got the tattoo, etc. I have interviewed people I have known my whole life, friends, teachers, and even strangers. After each interview I would edit what I had recorded into a concise podcast and share it with the public on my Soundcloud account. The Soundcloud account is really the place where my Capstone lives.

The process for my project was fairly simple, and despite its repetitive nature, it never felt monotonous or boring. After setting up a Soundcloud account for myself I was able to interview, edit, and put out a new instalment on a regular basis - almost weekly. In the end, I was able to do a total of ten interviews as well as an intro and outro of the project.

Doing this project has taught me so much. Not only have I been able to ask people the questions I have wanted to for a long time about the art on their body, but I have also gotten to form my own opinions about tattoos for myself based on what I have learned from others. Even more importantly, I have found joy in getting closer to people I know, or don’t know by asking them about themselves and their stories. I am grateful that the last few months were even more gratifying than I initially thought they would be. 

Click here to see my Soundcloud.

Annotated Bibliography

Dundon, Barbara. "I'm Tellin' Ya!" I’m Tellin Ya. Barbara Dundon, 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.

This is the website of my mentor, Barbara Dundon. I worked with her in my ILP last year. She introduced me to the art of audio production and storytelling. I wanted to make sure that she was recognized as someone I learned a lot from. Because of this I am citing her website, and the business she runs producing stories for other people. Having a person to learn from as part of the process that got me to where I am right now is very important to me. I work best when I am learning from a person, because they have lived what they are telling me. it is a different kind of research than reading an article or watching a video, and I find that it sticks with me better.

"Free Music Archive." Free Music Archive. N.p., 2009. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.

This is a online library of legal free audio downloads. I use it to get most of the music from my podcast. Since music is important in setting the emotion of a podcast, I spend time finding just the right track to use when I need it in my podcasts. I know that I can safely use the tracks I find on this website.

Glass, Ira, and Torey Malatia. "This American Life." Audio blog post. National Public Radio, 1995. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

I have been listening to This American Life from a very young age. It is part of what inspired me to originally look into doing a podcast as an ILP and as a capstone. When you are learning about something, it helps to have examples to look at in detail. This American Life was one of those examples for me. I would sit and listen to an episode, and then look for the things done in the editing, or in the way that the narrator spoke, or a thousand other things, that made the story so compelling to me. I dissected this podcast for inspiration, and to make my own podcast better.

Graves, Nagee. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2015.

I did my very first interview with Nagee. We talked about the two tattoos that he has, what they mean to him, and his plans for future tattoos. For a first interview, talking to someone who I knew, but not very well was the perfect thing for me to do. We both felt comfortable talking to one another, but had a lot to learn about each other - mainly I learned about him, but that’s the point of my project.

Lady Lamb. Rooftop. Rec. 19 Feb. 2013. 2013. MP3.

This is a song I used for the introduction to my podcast that I put on my soundcloud. Music is very important component to any audio based production. I decided to use a song that I already knew well, and that I thought set the tone for my introduction, and for what I wanted people’s first impressions to be.

Macolino, Sarah. Personal interview. 19 Jan. 2019.

I think this is the best interview I did. I say this because the tattoos had very meaningful stories behind them. It was easy for me to ask questions and listen intently, because the content really made an affect on me personally. I look forward to editing what I have, I want to do the stories justice! The only thing else I can really say is, thank you to Sarah for being so open and honest with me about things that are not easy to talk about. I really appreciate it.

Middleswarth, Jackie. Personal interview. 9 Dec. 2015.

Interviewing Jackie was more challenging than my first interview. That has nothing to do with her, and everything to do with me. I don’t think that I asked the “right” questions like I did with Nagee. He is a more outgoing person in general, so he was more willing to open up. But Jackie is less of a talker, so I had to work harder to get open answers. This was a good learning experience for me, to learn how to make people comfortable and open when they talk to me.

Paolini, Beth. Personal interview. 11 Feb. 2016.

I have known beth for all of my life. She is partly responsible for this project because I’ve wanted to ask her about her tattoos for all of my life too. Finally getting to interview her was really amazing and insightful. I am so glad she agreed to help me out, although not at all surprised.

Raul. Personal interview. 19 Jan. 2016.

I did not actually know that I was going to interview Raul when I did. (That’s why I don’t even know his last name.) But he was open and easy to talk to. We talked about his family, his mother and niece, and how amazing tattoos can be when they are well done. The importance of going to a professional to get a tattoo, because it really is an art. I appreciate a stranger opening up to me like this.

Spiegel, Alix, and Lulu Miller. "Invisabelia." Audio blog post. National Public Radio, 2015. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

Invisabelia is another podcast  that I listen to to get inspiration for my own podcast. The topics that the program covers are pretty different from mine, so I mainly listened to look for examples of how the editing was done to make an impact on the audience, or rove home a point. Other than that, this is just a podcast that I like, and think is good, so it serves as inspiration for me.

"StoryCorps." Audio blog post. National Public Radio, 2015. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.

StoryCorps is a podcast that gives everyone a chance to tell their own stories. Because it only works if people tell their own stories, it is an inspiration for what I am doing. People telling their own experiences, in a way that will last, is a big part of the identity of my capstone. But the people’s stories have to be coherent and make sense. That is what I look at here when it comes to editing.I look for how the podcast is edited to best tell the story. In essence, my podcast is not about tattoos, it is about stories, so that is why StoryCorps is a podcast that I have studies as part of my research.