Ruby Kirk Capstone

I created three songs revolving around the theme of time. The first song, titled “We’ve Still Got Time” is about being in the last year of high school, and how it feels like time is moving quickly. It’s about the emotions that come with knowing that all things come to an end. The melancholy feelings of change come through in the lyrics and chord progressions. It is more traditional because I recorded guitar (electric and acoustic), drums, and vocals. The second two songs are tied together in an EP titled “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” They are completely made up of found sounds from my life that I recorded on a handheld microphone. I took these sounds, like trucks, car honks, city soundscapes, and manipulated them to sound musical. Each recording captures a moment in time, each sound is different from the next, unable to be replicated exactly the same way. These instrumental songs utilize everyday songs to bring the listener into new worlds of sound.

Final Product - Ruby Kirk
Annotated Bibliography (Capstone) - Ruby Kirk

Sebina Leventon Capstone

Career day was an afternoon of career exploration for SLA freshmen that exposed them to a variety of paths they could take in the future. In the beginning of the year, I polled the students on their career interests, and I found out that about 50% of 9th graders are interested in a career in STEM. This informed my decision to have a special focus on STEM careers for my project. Next, I reached out to professionals asking them to speak at the event, and coordinated logistics with SLA staff. I got permissions to use 6 classrooms, and talked with Mr. Lehmann and the 9th grade advisors to have them chaperone their advisories in each room. As I confirmed the availability of volunteer speakers and began to make a schedule, I realized I couldn’t run career day by myself, so I gathered some student volunteers to be ushers. Additionally, I had a couple students taking videos and pictures that I later uploaded to the career day website. With everyone’s help, career day was a huge success. All the volunteers and advisors reported that it was a positive experience, and the students mentioned lots of new things they’d learned in their reflections. My biggest takeaways from career day were to always be prepared, have backup plans, and expect the unexpected. Getting to see my project come to life was really rewarding, and I hope someone is inspired to iterate on career day in the future.

Digital representation: career day website https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/careerdaycapstone23-24/home

Sebina Leventon - Capstone Annotated Bibliography (1)

Luka Harb Capstone

For my capstone, I created a new database to be used by SLA students to help them with questions about colleges and majors they may be interested in. Through my database, they will be able to search for SLA alumni that match their interests and who have agreed to be contacted to answer questions. I used surveys and lots of outreach, and because of this, I was able to compile a list of alumni who are on standby for when an SLA student has a question for them about the college process or specific colleges. The result is a new resource for the college office that will be updated every year. After completing this capstone I learned that the SLA community is willing to help when called upon to help with the stressful college application process. I have also now gathered interesting information about what our SLA alumni do after graduation.

Alumni College Application Network Survey
Alumni Network Survey (Responses) - Form Responses 1
Luka Harb - Capstone Annotated Bibliography-2

Elijah Lopez Capstone

For my Capstone, I decided that I wanted to make a photo mosaic. It took me a bit to figure out what I wanted to do but I decided that I wanted to make the mosaic a photo of myself made up of my friends. I used a website to upload all of my photos that I stored in a google drive folder. Once I uploaded all of my photos, I messed around with the mosaic to add more photos, change the colorization, and get it ready to print. I got It printed and framed. I hung it up on the fifth floor where all of my friends hang out. I felt like I learned how time consuming creating something like this is and that I need to manage my time better. It was overall a fun experience and I am proud of how it came out.

MyMosaic
MyMosaic
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LrdCOOo-OeLwU0l04-bz976_8iQo955h9RUKr2x4fzw/edit?usp=sharing

Anouk Ghosh-Poulshock Capstone

For my senior capstone project, I painted a mural on the SLA rooftop terrace. I collaborated with various members of the community including students, teachers, Braskem, and Mural Arts. Over this year, I have worked to make something that I would be proud to be a part of, an aspect of that was going on a personal journey. Creating this art was an experience with the community as well as an experience with myself and my artistic talent. I started by creating various sketches of the mural, by hand and also digitally. In my art design, I chose to feature many endangered marine animals, such as the blue whale, green sea turtle, hammerhead shark, and coral. I did not only want to make art that was inspirational, but also important. Once I had my plan for my art, I started to research materials. I collaborated with various artists who advised me on my art and helped me find supplies. I did extensive research on the proper materials for the wall. Once I got my materials, I got my design approved and started painting. As I painted, students were encouraged to help paint. Since the art was for the community, it made sense for the community to be able to come out and work on it. My biggest challenge throughout this process was creating the artwork itself, but I am proud of the work I have done.

Link to Annotated Bibliography

Rooftop Reef
Rooftop Reef

Felice Wongui Capstone

For my capstone project, I wanted to highlight one of the SLA core values that I have grown in throughout my years at SLA; collaboration. My capstone inquiry question is how can students take advantage of CTE programs as a way to collaborate and create something to help those in the community? I decided to explore this question through a documentary exploring accessibility in CTE programs. I documented the journey of collaborating with Amjed and Mashrur, and how we created a harness that will have an extended third arm and leather patch working to make it easier for Mashrur to film in his DigVid class. Collaboration is truly the heart of my documentary. This was inspired by the environment in the engineering room whenever I would work on the vest with Amjed. I not only was collaborating with him, but also everyone else in the room who was working on their own individual capstones. It was the first time I thrived in a space where collaboration flourished and genuinely had a good time. To me, this documentary is a reflection of this project that we have been working on for almost two years. It’s a way to look back and reflect on our experiences collaborating with other students who are in CTE programs and how impactful these programs at SLA really are.

Documentary: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1waSXgYgRgbupgQLbWxnztWLDKqjBuVrS?usp=sharing

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wv-9wQNVgNdiygW2AA2WMwFTOaN29mZ6_nSq0okFex8/edit?usp=sharing

Jazz Silva Sanchez Capstone

The AuthaGraph Map in my opinion is very innovative and different to your convention Gerardus Mercator map. The reason this map was made, was to provide a new pint of view. It was perfect for what I was trying to achieve. I wanted people to know that the world is not as separated as it seems to be. My initial inquiry was “How can I make sure everyone coming into SLA feels represented when it comes to art?”. My initial thought process was to actively represent that we are all different and can’t be categories into one group. But I feel that stems from my middle school mindset. SLA has changed my perspective on a lot of this. SLA constantly challenges my inner bias and thought process. My fellow classmates also acknowledged that we aren’t the same. After I made that realization there was a new goal to my capstone. This goal made my inquiry change. My inquiry had shifted into how can future SLA students acknowledge the difference without categorizing themselves. I’m asking how can we start proactively show students that we all have differences but not letting that stop us from interacting with each other. What better way to show a physical example of the world. This project also has a quirk. It’s purposely left unfinished.

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Josie Barsky - Rocketfest Capstone

Rocketfest is a film festival that is open to all high school students in the Philadelphia School District, it allows them to showcase their work, build a portfolio, and network. It was a day-long event that took place May 1st, 2024 and was open to all district school students as well as the public. This was a highly collaborative effort, with each of us breaking into leadership roles and organizing our portion of the festival. In particular, I became our social media, marketing, and merchandise chair. I began with the question, “How can marketing expand and increase the film community among high schoolers in Philadelphia?” I spent hours researching marketing strategies and how to improve my use of social media to target an ideal audience. Then every week or two we had group meetings to discuss our work and the next steps. May 1, 2024, Rocketfest took place at the Philadelphia Free Library on 19th and Vine, we were able to display films and photographs from schools all over the city and sell hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise that will be put towards the festival next year. Reflecting on this project, we have been able to look at our statistics and strategies to determine steps for those to take next year. We wanted this project to be a fresh start in a line of many Rocketfest Capstones as students began to show more and more interest in this festival.

Rocketfest Film Reel: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rf8JLeTsjd_eppE4TxbVGo44DwTQGo_r/view?usp=sharing Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aL4X4-6-qNNaIXJH41tQPgKOaDpVUqIsZOQH1QpxiWg/edit?usp=sharing

Rocketfest Volunteers 2024
Rocketfest Volunteers 2024

Oliver Askin-Terry Capstone

The wrestling experience is practicing insanely hard every day, and competing for your spot on the wrestling team every week. I began to think about what specific part of wrestling taught me the most, and I came to realize that it was learning how to lose. For me, losing has always been hard, and it’s hard for most people I think. Getting good at losing is a life skill that’s not talked about a lot. The skill of losing, getting up, and training harder than you did before is something that wrestling teaches you immediately. I felt like learning this had a really great impact on me, and wanted to capture that. I decided to choose three of my teammates, who all seemed to have very different personalities.

Documentary: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c1EzWwgWW6m_iaOgkLVSoNUzH0_9mebi/view?usp=sharing

Maya Phan Capstone

My capstone is about how to properly stretch as an injured athlete. I first got introduced to this by getting injured as a high school softball player who had to go to Physical therapy for elbow tendonitis. This really inspired me to create this booklet because before going to physical therapy I didn’t really know how to do these stretches at home without the trainer. So coming up with this will help the SLA community if they get injured by knowing what to do when stretching and how to stretch. I was able to interview Physical Therapists. Going and shadowing them helped with the creation of this booklet that I began making. I also was able to read books and collaborate with the physical therapists so they could look over this booklet and help me with any questions on what stretches to include and what not to include and how long to make it. By the end of this I was able to pull everything together and made sure it is digital so everyone can access this at home or at school before and after games. I just wanted to make an impact on the SLA sports community and help get players to continue to play after getting injured because they probably want to play!

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Screenshot 2024-05-22 at 12.01.58 PM
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qSIQcWnbscoTIBbuYDMPYX_peIppWISeE7KAN-BFNHM/edit?usp=sharing

Maya Smelser Capstone

My capstone is an original stained glass window that I designed and created in collaboration with Josie Silver. We worked with The Stained Glass Project, which was also both of our internships last year. The window will be installed in the main entrance of the school building, as a way to welcome everyone entering the community and to make the school a more beautiful place. The space theme is inspired by our school’s mascot, the Rockets. The process of making a stained glass window is very fixed and specific, and also takes a lot of time. In completing this project, I was able to expand on and further develop skills I already had. This was the biggest art project I’ve ever taken on, but I couldn’t be prouder of the finished product. I’m so excited to share it with my peers and the future of the SLA.

stainedglass
stainedglass

Anna Diemer- Rocket Recap Capstone

Anyone, coaches, players, or managers, will know how difficult and confusing navigating Arbiter Live and Maxpreps is, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. There is often so much information on so many different schools that pops up when you only want to see yours. Additionally, there is not a lot of information on anything besides scores and final results. I wanted the SLA community to know what happened at games they couldn’t watch in person. Due to our location, almost every single sport plays home games up to half an hour by car away and not easily accessible by SEPTA. Most students can’t go to watch games even if they wanted to. From all of these shortcomings, my capstone project emerged. As a response to all of these issues I founded a weekly sports newsletter. I named it the “Rocket Recap” and I released an edition every Monday recapping the previous week of sports news. The Recap would include summaries of games, scores, individuals’ stats, player interviews, teacher trivia, and so much more.

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Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11TX0MzMomAC8OjIE4tBlFyd_1mupLY8OjILvUzymZgM/edit?usp=sharing

Sadie Parker Capstone

For our Capstone project, my partner Wiktoria and I created and taught a six-week mini-course about digital video at Science Leadership Academy (SLA) Middle School. We introduced the students to the basics of filmmaking, guiding them through scripting, storyboarding, and filming, culminating in producing four short films. Our goal was to provide middle schoolers with a creative outlet and help them learn more about themselves through filmmaking. This project matched very well with SLA’s core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection.

The process involved extensive research on digital video techniques and effective teaching methods, developing a detailed curriculum, and coordinating with staff at both schools. We spent considerable time commuting, teaching, and reflecting on each session to improve our lessons. Despite initial challenges in engaging the students and communication issues with the middle school principal, we adapted and persevered.

I am most proud of the connections I made with the students, witnessing their growth and enthusiasm for filmmaking. This Capstone matters because it introduced students to new skills and boosted their confidence. This experience taught me to expect and adapt to unforeseen challenges and the importance of allowing people to grow beyond first impressions.

ANNOTATED BIBIOGRAPHY:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tKBcOvol9HUX0q8EnRwa6A4QQdmjFSw5_ZLpOiHwydE/edit?usp=sharing

My students at work during a class period
My students at work during a class period

Jackson Powell Capstone

For my Capstone project I designed and painted a mural on the formerly ugly wall on my block. When I heard of this project, I almost immediately knew what I would be doing. I’ve always liked art, but mostly small things like drawing and small paintings. I knew going into this that a mural would be tough work, and I wasn’t wrong. Getting the materials for this was also tough, because of the way I chose to go about it. I decided that I would not be buying paint for this, so all the paint used here was either trashpicked or something I already had. After the design was done, I started sketching out my work on the prepped wall. Then I painted it. Painting took the longest out of everything, and was definitely the hardest. But I did finish, and I am happy with the product. This mural includes a welcome to my neighborhood, “Francisville”, a map of the place, and some architecture you will see when you visit. I went in on what would be good for my community on this project, and I think I succeeded. Having completed this project, I know all the mistakes I made along the way, and have learned so much. For example, don’t mix oil based paint with acrylic paint because it will turn into sludge. But more importantly, doing something kind for your community is very important, and something everyone should try and do, no matter the size of the action.

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IMG_1433 (1)

Seen above is the completed mural that I designed and painted with all recycled (or trash picked) paint.

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Valeria Escobar Capstone

My Capstone project is a full-size quilt that I made from scratch with the help of my grandmother through WhatsApp phone calls. Quilting is known for being a family tradition that is passed down from one generation to the next. I used 7 different fabrics to create the pattern of my quilt and I did not use any modern-day tools that are shown on Youtube tutorials. I chose to make a quilt for my Capstone because sewing has been a valued skill for the women in my family, and I wanted to be part of this. I was also gifted a sewing machine that I had not really used to create anything and it was a bit sad seeing it be unused which gave me the motivation to take on a time-consuming project like quilting. This Capstone served as a personal project to help cultivate my relationship with my family, especially my grandmother, whom I’ve grown distant to since we live far away from each other. I’m happy to have finished something that took so much time and that physically hurt during the process of making it.

My bibliography: tps://docs.google.com/document/d/14bMY5TswGbNb1gUvqWbE2pOOaTcxrY03q9Wd3dZLNWc/edit?usp=sharinght

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Michelle Ie Capstone

Have you ever had that reminiscent feeling because of a certain smell, sound, or anything that can trigger that emotion? Well, for my capstone, I wanted to base it on that feeling called Nostalgia. Before I started bringing those memories back to individuals, I had to research the benefits and drawbacks of Nostalgia. I learned that when indulging in too much of Nostalgia, it can be tough to appreciate what you have currently. However, Nostalgia could also help with an individual’s self-esteem and promote a more positive mood. You just have to find that balance between how much you can indulge.

Capstone: https://mie248.wixsite.com/project-saudade

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/144j3wSqIILklUf8wOqek8eo1PFNSZTR0RTJLDeYQc84/edit?usp=sharing

Oowarae Alexander Capstone

ABSTRACT:

For my Capstone I made a documentary. I wanted to know how someone would go about pursuing the arts after highschool excluding the college track. It’s a question that I have personally thought about for my own future and even though I’m not going down that path in the end, I still wanted to understand this experience.

Despite the many forms of media I could have done to explore this question,I chose a documentary to challenge myself for not fully participating in our documentary DigVid unit last year. I wanted to make a documentary of my own…but it didn’t go as planned.

I got in touch with a person taking a gap year and pursuing work in the media through Ms. Ustaris. Since January I have followed Gabby, the person I based my documentary around and collected footage of them at events as well as interviews with them. I would shoot mostly on weekends and Wednesdays and Thursdays. Deviation from the original storyline was inevitable after my initial meeting with them since I had issues with a large amount of my footage being lost.

Although the quality of the documentary was not what I’d envisioned, I am proud of the skills I picked up for shooting outside of SLA. Having shadowed someone involved in the media world in Philly showed me a different side of media creation and outlets for creators not in a DigVid course which I think made up 90% of my media reaction perspective.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PoQZ-0Zf7y5D_PM7TFvLmkIoZzDgx9cvySUnIszSqiY/edit?usp=sharing
CAPSTONE DOCUMENTARY:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yL8bu-51Iro1WyfUL4zAb93EomibbYqW?usp=sharing

Ike Kelman Capstone

Music is a form of expression where people can share stories and personify their culture without interference. Representing one’s soul and what makes them, them; at least that’s how I see it. With over 1566 hours of listening last year, it’s clear that music is a big part of my life. For my capstone, I wanted to emulate my music while also showcasing the CTE engineering skills that I’ve fine-tuned over my years at SLA. I ran through a couple of ways to showcase my ideas, and the way that seemed most challenging and hands-on was building an instrument. The next step was constructing a question that demonstrated the importance of this project: how does music bring people together?

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13yMFAN0i-xjVBYF9NVBs51GoD47xMALAe3SxDsx4PKM/edit?usp=sharing

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Joaquin Weeks Capstone

For this capstone, I worked on creating a stop motion animation short film. For the process I created an outline detailing the different scenes and interactions I wanted to have with each character. I wanted to create a super hero film because I always was interested in that and in stop motion. For the film I decided on using Spider-man, as he exemplifies what a true hero is and inspires me. After the outline I wrote a script in actual screenwriting format, and had it peer reviewed by several individuals. After that, I enlisted the help of my classmates to voice several different characters in my movie. Then I created all the sets and filmed each scene. The whole process took me about two months or so and was extremely difficult. But I feel as though I learned how to truly explore all my creative interests and how to be dedicated to the work I put out. Link for video down below:

https://www.wevideo.com/view/3411286345
Annotated BIibliography Tings

Dinah Soloway Capstone

Brainstorming what type of year-long project I wanted to complete was how I started my process. Part of my process was recognizing the current interests and skills I possess was the beginning of a tough process. Not only did I gain an understanding of what people I want surrounding me, but also recognized my interest in foreign languages, especially Korean. While preparing for the minicourse I had to search online for information and inspiration. I looked up, “What makes a good teacher?” and “Example lesson plans for teaching foreign languages.” During Adventuring into Korean freshman students will be introduced to Hangul, the Korean writing system. I began to create a slideshow that included all of the lesson plans for eight weeks. Eight weeks is a lot! Each week, I used two hours to teach students. I always came with a lesson plan that was ready for the students each week. Freshman completed activities using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. To create an interactive way of learning a foreign language. Which might seem intimidating to the young students. Together students will be able to successfully match individual Korean letters to their phonetic sound, understand proper syllable format, and recognize frequently used words/phrases.

Adventuring into Hanguel_Kor
Capstone Annotated Bibliography

LEILA CHACKER CAPSTONE

For my capstone, I wanted to mix my love for animals, specifically cats, with my love for the arts. I originally decided to do a fundraising type project that would be raising awareness and helping the stray cat situation in Philadelphia. However, knew that I wanted to do something that made a bigger impact when it came to disability. I have bilateral hearing loss due to a genetic disorder and a tumor in my ear when I was a baby. Before highschool, I felt very normal. I went to a small private school that met my needs for my hearing loss. The classes were small and the teachers understood and adapted to my disability. When I came to high school though, things were not as easy. Despite sending in necessary paperwork, my accommodations were not always met, or straight denied. I did not get an IEP for hearing loss until I was in my last month of junior year, three years into high school. Knowing these things, I knew I wanted to do something related to accessibility for my capstone. I took a one-eighty from my original project and came up with the idea of an education conference type event to help spread awareness about DHH learning. I worked on this idea for a while, but I was still having a really hard time creating a project I was proud of. I eventually realized it was because I lost the creative aspect of my capstone which was a huge driving factor behind being able to create a capstone I loved. Finally, Leila’s Library came to fruition. My final capstone is a website called Leila’s Library. Leila’s Library is a model of what an accessible library for kids could look like. It focuses on making content easily available and accessible. The library’s accessibility is not just for DHH kids, but for all kids. It offers literature for young readers in different formats, as well other resources for young children.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HjV-qKj2PCB5prl7fqORa_XWmlnKw5QjDGVlzJ4Fz60/view

https://sites.google.com/view/leilaslibrary/home

Duke Henderson Capstone

My capstone project is a 7 track album fitting into the crust punk genre. Half of the songs on my album are covers, while the other half are original instrumental tracks that I wrote myself. Along with writing my own original songs, I designed and made my album cover. I chose to make a short album for many reasons. My main reason for taking on this project is because while I have played guitar for over 9 years I have never recorded and released my own music. When I was faced with this project and the ability to do whatever I wanted, it seemed like a perfect motivation for me to finally start to record my album. Throughout my capstone I have worked with three different people to reach my end goal. First is my mentor, Foster. He played the drums for most of my songs, as well as teaching me how to use Studio one. Studio one is an audio editing software that was vital in completing my project. I also worked with my girlfriend Charlotte. Similar to Foster she played bass for many of my songs. Lastly I worked with another friend of mine, Val. When Foster was not available to record Val stepped up and helped by drumming for three of my songs. The process of making my capstone has been difficult at times but I am more than happy with the result and I hope others are too.

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Miles Shenk Capstone

“Bonded” is an 8 track ambient and experimental instrumental album meant to ask the question “What does it mean to make something that is truly of yourself? What does it look like?” This album was made for many reasons. From reflecting on the themes of true expression during the time of contemporary uniformity, captivating the different parts of myself and how I’ve grown and changed, and being a milestone in my music making career. This album will be the first cohesive project recorded and presented to my peers, it will also be my first album recorded on a physical medium (cassette). Recorded over the majority of the school year, This wasn’t a one-man show. With the help of my classmate Valeria Escobar on drums and my mentor Mr. Clapper to keep me on track, this album wouldn’t be in the place it is now.

Annotated bibliography

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SBzPRx9bfdhGHAF28H6uLgBau90iCe_CVPouokFCl7k/edit?usp=sharing

Tybria Bowser Capstone

For my capstone, I made a teaching module to help guide students through peer mediation. Peer mediation is a process in which two disputants, people having conflict, and two mediators, unbiased students, navigate a conversation to help come up with a solution that both disputants are satisfied with. In order to make this happen, I researched peer mediation heavily in a variety of ways. I used online resources, found in my annotated bibliography. I also decided to contact people who work in the field to inform my project and you can see the influence of the resources they gave me in my project. Lastly, I used the knowledge my peers had around me since I knew someone who had participated in a peer mediation program in the past. Using my resources was a big part of the project. In the end I am able to present free a training module, presentation, and training video for future use. Reflecting on this process gave me a huge insight into problem-solving and how to teach people who have never had experience with this type of program. Of course, some tweaks can be made, but when the module was tested for a scenario, the training module did an excellent job informing the people involved.

Peer Mediation Teaching Module (1)
Capstone Annotated Bibliography [Tybria Bowser] (3)