I started my Capstone in Junior year in Ms. Jonas’ class.  We had to make our own non-profit organization, and with the help of friends and Ms. Jonas, I decided to make it my Capstone.  My goal was to bring awareness and help the women and transmen who can’t afford feminine products. What inspired this was a video I watched last year about women on the street and how they struggle when it comes to there period.  Using different fundraisers and outreaches I was able to accomplish this goal and I am excited to go even further with this outside of Science Leadership Academy. Probably one of my favorite things we did was going to “Overington Home” for the first time.  This is a home for women who are living on the streets and who are recovering addicts. When I visited them for the first time we brought clothes and feminine products. Our hope in the visit was not just to give them something but to connect with them on a personal level.  Meeting the women was amazing and hearing how having their period and living on the streets was difficult, became the backbone of this project. If I had to say there was one outcome to my capstone, it would be my mindset and how much it has grown towards the women on the street.  I learned to really hear the women and others who are in the streets. Also I learned a lot more information about the women. I did many events throughout the year that have all grown my heart for the women and transmen on the streets. Another outcome of the project was that it brought awareness to the issue of homelessness and the need for feminine products and the conversations that came from the events were amazing.  I look forward to what this seed of a project will produce in the future.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Grigg, Viv. Companion to the Poor: Christ in the Urban Slums. Urban Leadership Foundation, 2013.

This book is about a man who went to Asia and established a church to the poor.  He tried to find ways that would treat the people’s spiritual needs separate from there poverty.  This is a true story about his time there and challenges his story is still continuing. He uses the bible as a reference on how to be with the poor.  He explains this through the text. Christianity is a big part of my life and why I live the way I do. This book is really helpful for me to hear the Christian perspective.  Also, this gives me insight on how to treat the homeless separately from there poverty-how to treat them like anyone else.

2.“Homeless People Poetry.” Purple Moon Group, LLC,

www.friendtothehomeless.org/homeless-poetry.html.

I wanted to go a different route with this link.  I wanted to see the artist point of view on homelessness.  This website is full of different art done by homeless people what I think is very beautiful and very powerful.  Showing how different art forms can really shape a situation and make you look at poverty differently. I read a few poems and was able to see the different feelings these women and men had.  The different words from these poems are really encouraging me to write my own piece for my project. On this website, they also have videos of the homeless men and women, singing videos, art pieces, and stories.  What a great way to bring awareness.

3.“How Do Homeless Women Cope With Their Periods? | NSFWomen.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABch4VYOJZ0&feature=youtu.be.

This is a video that really made me want to start this project.  I came across it last year when I was searching the internet. This video drawled my attention and gave me insight into something that I didn’t realize before.  I didn’t realize the struggle women have to get through on the streets during their periods. This video shows the struggles women have to go through day by day on the streets.  Showing the struggles of getting good hygiene, some women would use a cup to clean their lady parts. Also, they talk about examples of what they use instead of period products. Anywhere from paper towels to socks.

4. Okamoto, Nadya. “The Menstrual Movement | Nadya Okamoto | TEDxPortland.” YouTube, 21 May 2016, youtu.be/ncg2bw9s30M.

This is a TED talk by Nadya Okamoto.  She gives her background story of when she started her period and how her mom celebrated her by becoming women.  She talks about how growing up when she was poor how she struggled to get products. Growing up she kept a journal of all the different things women used for their periods including paper bags.  This really intrigued her and she was amused about the way people talked about there period. How women would whisper it like they were ashamed. So she decided to make an organization that would talk to students about your body and normalizes the word “period”.

5.“Period Poverty Can Imprison Women – and Humiliate Women Prisoners.” New Statesman, www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2018/01/period-poverty-can-imprison-women-and-humiliate-women-prisoners.

This source is an article on tampon tax.  It talks about different parts of the world that have tampon taxing.  It talks about if the government is truly keeping women safe. This is a sign that there is a problem the way the government has a control over women.  It isn’t fair to the women that condoms are freely given out but there is no way for women to get their basic needs. This article talks a lot about Scotland and the way they treat women.  This article is important because it shows that women having these problems in everywhere. It is a worldly issue that needs to be confronted.

6. Period, The Homeless. “The Homeless Period.” The Homeless Period, thehomelessperiod.com/.

This is a website that talks about an organization called “The Homeless Period”.  What this organization is about is one day having free products in homeless shelters.  They bring an up point that I use a lot in my reach for awareness around the topic. The point is that the shelters give out free condoms and are actually given the money to buy these every year.  But there is no money put forth into getting free products for women. One thing I thought was cool was that they have a video on their website that is words written on cardboard. This is a good vision because a lot of the time the homeless writes on cardboard to bring awareness that they need help.  They have a hashtag called #thehomelessperiod this makes me think about how I started a hashtag #equalflow.

7. Snyder, Howard A. Radical Renewal: The Problem of Wineskins Today. Touch Publications, 1996.

This book is about the poor and also the church and how they connect.  The chapter I read for this annotated bib was The Gospel of the Poor today.  This talked about how people in the church need to stop shutting out the poor and act as though they are less than.  It talks about how people in the church do a lot of analyzing of the poor but they don’t bring them in. This chapter continues to talk about Jesus and his actions.  I think this is important for me to read for my project because I can see the proper ways to act around the poor. The church sometimes acts bigger and better than the homeless and this is where a lot of problems come in.

8.scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1747&context=gsurc.

This is an art piece done by women interested in the different protests and pink tax.  Pink tax is going on all over there are certain products that have the color pink and they are products meant for women.  These pink products are taxed showing how certain things are just taxed for women and not men. There were many protests that came out of this including women gathering in front of the Houses of Parliament without any products on.  Their bloody underwear showed that these products were necessary. I thought this was really powerful to show that this is needed. Also, the author of this writing posted her artwork what was a mask she made out of tampons and she wore it in the shower and she let it get heavy and expand and this showed the weight the women had to go through.

9.Scaramella , Nicole. It’s a Part of Life. Period.

This is a document that talks about why menstruation is looked down upon.  It talks about the history of how women in the bible were told they were dirty for 7 days while in their period.  This was shocking to me because I never noticed this in this chapter. Although this is in the old testament a lot of stuff is contradicted in the new testament.  Then this document goes through the positives and negatives coming out of the word period. There is much weight on this topic and this is written well throughout this paper.  Especially with the new female taxing where they are going to tax feminine products.

10. TEDxTalks. “Period Poverty: Breaking The Silence | Amika George | TEDxCoventGardenWomen.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Dec. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRuKvLMkpA.

In this TED Amika George talks about girls in other countries having to skip school for a week every month because of their periods.  She started a potion to bring free products to schools so the girls can be in school. Period poverty is a hidden problem that needs to get awareness so that these girls can go to school.  She talks about how we need to stop the silents around the topic of periods. Women are taught to keep girls there periods products from the beginning. This is even built into out commercials, for instance, naming a female produce brand “whisper” to show it needs to be silently dealt with.  The first steps to fixing period poverty are to realize it's not just a women's problem.

Summary: I wanted to write a play about solitary confinement and what it does to the brain.  I chose to have 6 people play the prisoners.  Throughout the play there is movement and songs that show what's going on in there heads.  There is group monologues and regular monologues throughout the whole play.  This is a move abstract piece not at much props as there is movement.  There should definitely be character development in the actors movement throughout the play.

Character List

Jeramy, A teenage boy, 17 years old who is African American and is new to prison.  In Juvenile Justice Service Center. Lives in Philadelphia.

Samantha, Teen mom still pregnant 17 years old.  White women has been in prison for a month. In Juvenile Justice Service Center.

Tomas, 25 year old man African American.  Has a wife and kid. In Polunsky.

Wendy, Black women who has been been in solitary confinement twice this is her second time she’s 30.  In Idaho Correctional Center.

Tobias, White man who is an addict.  He is 25.  In Idaho Correctional Center.

Trisha, African American women who is in Polunsky.  She is 28.

Police Officers, there are 6 of them they may be playing also prisons throughout show

Scene 1

(There is a set with 3 cubes big enough to stand in.  This is where the people will be mostly performing in.  The set is more center stage and takes up most of the stage just some room down stage for dancing. The scene will start with a projection of “This is the story of 6 prisoners in 3 different prisons across the USA; 2 adult prisons and one juvy” When the projection goes up a light is shone on 6 prisoners facing upstage so their backs are to the audience.  Their hands are up.  There is a line of police officers that come on  stage of them so they are looking at the audience and they put handcuffs the prisoners.  Once the handcuffs are on the police do a step movement and freeze and look at the audience.  The song “Prison Song by System of a Down” starts to play and a big dance breaks out this involves a lot of step movements and the prisoners and police are dancing at each other with anger.  Once song is over they end with prisoners on their knees head down and officers above them kicking them down. )

OFFICER #1

To “The Box”

(Everyone stands and in 2 rows split and the 3 prisoners that are on top take the latter up and when they are all in the doors shut all at once - and they all look out at the audience at once with worry in her eyes and lights out)

Scene 2

(Everyone in boxes faced out in actors neutral)

ALL

Trapped

TRISHA

Just a part of the 2,220,300

TOMAS

Locked into the US jail system

SAMANTHA

Increasing the numbers

JERAMY

20% of the prisoners in the world

TOBIAS

But the US is only 5% of the world

SAMANTHA

In the..

SAMANTHA AND JEREMY

Juvenile Justice Service Center

TRISHA AND THOMAS

Polunsky

TOBIAS AND WENDY

Idaho Correctional Center

WENDY

Just another with our hands up

(everyone puts hands up)

and eyes to the ground

(everyone looks down make sure both of these movements are in senque)

JERAMY

Just another teenager

SAMANTHA

Irresponsable

TOMAS

Black

WENDY

Failure

TOBIAS

Addict

TRISHA

Criminal

ALL

Criminal

SAMANTHA

Locked in these (beat) boxes.  When I got in this jail I thought how much worse could it get..

TOBIAS

Then they caught my cocain I hid in the bathroom

JERAMY

I got caught sneaking around and then having a mental break down..I snapped at the officer.

TRISHA

(air quotes)

talking back to the officer

TOMAS

Getting a little to upset when they wouldn’t let me talk to my wife and kids

WENDY

So now we are stuck

SAMANTHA

And apparently it can get worse

(Song “Locked Up” by Akon starts to play this contains in movements that are in sync with each other not all movements have to be in total sync though.  There is a bed in the room so movements on bed too.” )

Scene 3

(There is jail bars that are down stage everyone.  There is the 6 prisoners hanging, laying, leaning or doing something else against the jail bars.  There is a going to be projections maybe a video that shows information about prison.  As this plays actors are frozen.  After video actors come to life and there is background noise to make it seem more like prison. There is a light that focuses on Samantha as she walks towards Trish.  Than only a light on them)

SAMANTHA

(there is a sound of throw up runs on to stage with a panic)

Trish! Trish!

(say in panic)

TRISH*

(standing up from leaning against bars not paying attention)

Samantha! Calm down what is the matter?

SAMANTHA

(whispers)

Trish I think I’m pregnant.

TRISH

What how!  Samantha have you been with a gard..

SAMANTHA

Shit Trish.. I wouldn’t let myself be touched by one of those bastards.  It was before to prison.  It can’t possibly get worse than this.

(falling to ground holding on to prison bars)

*This is played by one of the police guards they need to look more like a teen because in this scene they are playing Trish’s friend in Juvey.

Scene 4

(Lights go out on Trisha and Samantha and are on Jeremy staring out the jail cells in stillness and silence.  A guard walks up him.)

GUARD

Why are you just standing here shouldn’t you be in your room

JEREMY

Yes.. um .. I just ..

GUARD

Get your ass back in your room!  What did I tell you about wondering!  Lights out!!  

JEREMY

I was just going for a walk!

GUARD

Go to your room now !

JEREMY  

I can’t.

GUARD

(reaches in the cell and grabs Jeremy up close to him you can see how this could bring pain to Jeremy)

When I say to do something you do it NOW!!!

(say in a baby voice)

Do you need me to call your mommy

(Throwing Jeremy back and he falls to the ground)

JEREMY

(Yelling)

Leave her out of it!

GUARD

What did you just say?

JEREMY

SHUT UP! I don’t belong here!

           GUARD

You’re right. You don’t belong here.  Send him to the box!

Scene 5

(The prisoners are in the boxes and are laying around our trying to make themselves busy)

JEREMY

Today is day 3 of solitary confinement.  I think back on the 17 years that I have had and wonder how I’ve gotten here. My mind is twisted with the past all the mistakes I’ve had and how I am the reason why I am in the box.  Going into Juvy unknowing what I may face. I had my whole life planned in front of me. I wanted to go into the business world.  The rest of the people around my hood in Kensington didn’t have the same goals as me. My mom has raised me to be a world changer and someone who is willing to go out and get their money.  So that's what I did.  My mom was having trouble paying for the house bill being a single mom.  I did have a job at Walmart but it just wasn’t enough.  So my friend suggested I trapped.  I figured what would it hurt?  Many of my friends did it and I would only do it for a month or two-- just till I had enough to help my mom out.  Then I could go back to the way things were.  But then one day I was selling on the corner of Allegany and a guy came up to me-- someone I have never sold to before. He wanted to buy some cocaine...

(A guy comes in and takes drugs from his hand and immediately he twists Jeremy's wrists into cuffs.)

That is why I am in jail now because I was trying to help my mom out.  Now I’m already locked in “the box”... just for trying to help my mom.

Scene 6

(in the boxes scene starts with a big knock on the door and them shaken back to reality real quick then food is shoved under their door.)

OFFICER

Dinner time!

(Everyone slides the plate up to themselves and picks up the dried chicken that doesn't really look like chicken)

ALL

YUCK!

(Some refuse to eat and then began going back to their business while others pick at their food and try to eat it)

WENDY

(picking at the chicken and observing in detail)

1..2..3..4..4..4 plus 30 plus 1..2..3..4..4..4.. This is my second time in the shoe. So I’ve learned a few things to make your self not go completely insane. Routine is the key.

(getting up acting out routine all the prisoners do the same.  The schedule is all scattered at first and then by the end they are doing the moves in sync. This part they all should move almost like they have a weight on there back and are forced to do routine not to do crazy. Also they should be ending each other's sentences to show that they all do the routines)

First is the waking up.

SAMANTHA

Followed by staring at the ceiling and counting to 100 5 times.  It’s good to keep things in the consistency of 5 rounds.

JEREMY

Sometimes 3.  Then it's my wake up workout routine.  It’s good to stay in shape and to keep the blood flowing.  If I just stared at the ceiling all day I may go insane. So I do 5 sets of ten of push ups, crunches

THOMAS

Squats, and I lift the books I do have.  Then it’s time to wash up.. Well as best as I can I go to my sink wash the face in circular motions.  Brush my teeth very well.  My parents, growing up, always told me to sing through..

TOBIAS

Happy birthday twice for my teeth to be perfectly healthy. Then time to read the books that are provided right now I have been reading my books and trying to memorize the pages.  Maybe when I’m out of here I’ll surprise

TRISHA

People with my great knowledge from these books.  Then it’s time for the writing… wait I forgot something.. DAMN IT.. DAMN IT.. DAMN IT!!!

(All of them begin to  freak out.  This freaking out is a dance though with a rhythm.l)

SAMANTHA

I forgot to include the meals...

Scene 7

(when they are calming themselves “mad world” by gary jules begins playing instrumental there is a knock on the door and the door opens for for recess they all turn towards back away from the door and they put their hands behind their backs and they are handcuffed and carried out.  As the come down stage they are all going to sing mad world.  When they are all in the courtyard they are uncuffed this shows how they react to each other. This dance needs to be slow and somber.  There can be body weight dancing with each other. This is when you react to each other when you touch each other and you put your body weight on others almost like trust falls but dancing.  When they touch on another you can see they feel very uncomfortable afterwards. They feel this way because many prisoners that are in the shoe in their time outside don’t know how to react to other people because of being isolated to long.)

Scene 8

(Everyone is continuously walking and reacting to each other in a sacred manner in front of the boxes)

TRISHA

Imagine being locked in a 6 by 8 foot room

THOMAS

Days on end

SAMANTHA

Not knowing when the sun goes up or sun goes down

JEREMY

Painting a picture in my mind of the outside world.. making up the times of the day.

ALL

Locked up

WENDY

Forget human touch

(goes over to Tobias and has an intimate connection.  Looking deep into each other's eyes then suddenly gazing off)

TOBIAS

It’s all forgotten

THOMAS

Trying to learn again

(moving up to someone and moving  away)

But I know I am going to just leave them in a hour what's the point

SAMANTHA

(sitting in the corner)

I feel as though my memory of how to act around others is locked outside these bars

ALL

Shit..

Scene 9

(guards all come out in a line and calls to them all)

ALL OFFICERS

HOURS UP!

ALL

Trapped again

(they all grab a prisoner and a screen that you can only see shadows from when light is shone on it is rolled onto to center stage and one at a time they are pushed behind the screen and you can see them getting stripped and searched the officers are screaming “bind over” and “clean” then they gather their stuff and go to there cell.  There is an instrumental through all this.  When they are all in there rooms laying on there bed or sitting the door is shut and all at once they turn to their wall and write a tally mark and say day 8. Lights out.)

Scene 10

(This part is going to be people scattered throughout the stage and there is going to be a words over the speaker talking about being locked up in solitary and there is going to be screaming.  The actors are going to be looking at the audience as there is a projection of the american flag on them. The national anthem is going to play out and then it's going to remix to a song that has to do with the system being wack.  When this song comes on there is going to be an upbeat dance with stomping and the police are going to come in and dance to.  By the end of the dance the bars are going to be brought back on the stage and there going to be pressed against or on the floor by the officers.  Then lights are shut out and curtains are closed.)

This essay for me meant a lot being able to talk about something that I am very passionate about.  I’m happy I was able to really dig deep not just on catcalling but also non-violence.  This whole process of writing I can say was really good for me because as I wrote, my beliefs grew.  I think it is very important when you really feel what you are writing and get into it and I feel that’s what I did.  The goal of my paper was to show why women are silent when they are being cat called.  That the act of silents was oppressed on women by men.  I think I did really good on this essay it’s my favorite one out of all my advanced essays.

A woman walks down the street with her head down avoiding the eyes of men around her.  Looking at the ground like she is trying to memorize each step she takes.  Her hands are in her pockets making her body as small as possible.  She would do anything to not be noticed by the men around her.  This won’t help though, no matter what she does she will be noticed with her long hair and inviting eyes.  Her friends tell her, “Why don’t you just make yourself look ugly?”  She’s tried that, not putting makeup on and wearing sweats, trying to do what it takes to be a blur to the men around her.  Why should she have to underdress to not get attention by men.  It doesn’t work anyways, they will always holler no matter what you look like, “Yo baby girl with the book bag!” “Yo ma’ can I get your number?!” “You want a ride sweety!”  Women are trained to be silent in these moments.  In the source, Here is What Street Harassment is in Eight Counties, it says, “The general public is pretty lax about it and girls are often advised to ‘just ignore it’”  In the midst of street harassment is silence the best non-violent response?  

In this world we live in, women have always been looked down on - from not being able to vote to not earning equal pay.  It is hard to escape such oppression with all the past lingering events women went through.  Not all men realize when they catcall, they are saying the unspoken history of sexism.  Men try to grab the woman's attention and most of them won't take no for an answer. This shows how men think they are a higher power to women.  As soon as a woman walks outside of her house, men start to view the woman through a gender lens, that is,  being looked at as a sex object or just someone that a man feels the need to take control of.  

Through all these years of oppression women were trained to keep their  mouths shut.  I am an advocate for the non-violent community, but do we truly  think this is the best way to fight with non-violence or is the “silent response” something created by men?  Your brain learns from the world around you and the people who raised you.  Being in a world where women are told to look a certain way and act a certain way, can shape women into beings who don’t have a voice.  Why should we just accept this?  Why do we go with the way history wants women to respond, by looking forward and putting our headphones in.  Women need to fight against this oppression!  As a women in this men ruled world, I can say that I have experienced this restriction to my words.  For instance,  when I am walking down the street and get cat-called and even followed sometimes, I still find myself tying my eyes to the ground and moving forward.  As someone who is all for women’s rights why do I do this? I find this question going through my head over and over again.  I find that I am scared -I’m scared of the response from the man.  Again, I restrict my words because I am afraid of the MAN’S response!  In the TED talk “Fighting With Nonviolence” Scilla Elworthy tackles the right way to handle things with non-violence and one of them is confronting your fear.“Sit down with the fear like a child you're the adult you're in charge.  You ask the fear what it wants.”So as women we need to confront our fear of men, look fear in the eye, and say “I am the adult and what do you need.”  We have to do what is best for ourselves we can’t sink into our fear forever because then are tongues will always be tied.  Confront the fear and  and push it out by standing up for yourself.  I’m not saying you got to yell at the guy but know when the right moment is to speak up for yourself.  

Knowing the history of women and where women are at today, we can still see the rooted sexism in our world.  So I would say that silence is not the right non-violent response, instead it is the responce of years of oppression.  This quote from Martin Luther King Jr.  says that we have to know how to fight the hate. "Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” I believe this with my whole heart.  Don’t let the oppression of years from men affect your pure women power.  Becoming immune to the men around you that are catcalling isn’t the right response, stand up and make a change.  Not for just yourself but for all the women out there.

Biography-

​"What Does "Nonviolence" Really Mean?" ​PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

Elworthy, Scilla. "Fighting with Nonviolence." ​Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with Nonviolence | TED Talk | ​ TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

Rossalyn Warren, Marie Kirschen, Lane Sainty, Jina Moore, Rachel Wilkerson Miller, Hannah Giorgis, Nirali Shah, Bibiñe Barud. "Here's What Street Harassment Is Like In Eight Countries Around The World." ​ BuzzFeed. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

Introduction: Theater uncovers your many “selves.”  Playing different characters makes a stronger person and grows their compassion for other “selves.”  I tell of my time in theater and how it has grown me and my “selves.”  I got the idea for this project from the video we watched in class.  Then when I “free wrote” about my life in theater, I just kept writing and got this piece.  Then of course I edited to get this final product.  This is a different structured essay then many of my other papers. I felt like it was necessary to talk about the meaning of selves more throughout the essay. Instead of doing the story in the beginning of the essay I did it in the middle.  I decided I should just try something new and see how it goes.

Intro: In this writing piece I concentrated on the time I found out I had dyslexia and how is was an eye-opener for me.  I also talk about how without my dyslexia, I would not be the same person.  My literacy is through my creativity.  I may not be strong in my reading and writing but I am strong in my theater and artistic activities.  My goal in writing this piece was to make people understand the different levels of literacy.  Something I like about writing this piece was I went into more detail than my last advanced essay, about what my main point was.  Something I can still work on is my grammer.  I think I did better than the last time, but that has always been a struggle.

There’s Identity in My Literacy

I was sitting in a testing room in a giant house.  Unfamiliar surroundings made me overthink all the obstacles that could happen as I sat in a chair for 7 hours in a room with glass walls.  Being asked question after question and being told to read and write this or that.  Mind slowly being winded up as the questions got harder to answer and my eyes started to stumble over the words.  I was a 7th grader with a twisted tongue while reading.  I was first told by the student council at my school that I might actually have dyslexia.  For most of my time in that school they said that dyslexia is not even a thing. Being a kid not having any knowledge of why it took me two times longer to do homework was definitely pressing.

After years of my parents fighting for the student council to realize I might actually have dyslexia, I finally ended up in a testing room.  I sat there in silence twisting my mind over the concept that I am going to finally figure out what is going on with me. I got to find out who I am and why I struggled so much.  With every question the person testing me asked, I felt like I was discoverying my identity. The only time my mind got a break was during a small lunch hour that my dad and I took.  The same time hoping I can get back to testing just so I can have that piece of my identity defined. After the break I went right back to work.

Finally after hours of testing it was finally time for results. I waited on the other side of the glass door as my dad went to meet with the instructor. I sat there thinking, finally, I get to find out what’s going on and I will be able to see a little clearer.  It felt like I was just getting my first pair of glasses.  Once I put on the lens, the blur goes away even though you know you still can’t see.  After waiting over 30 minutes, they both came out, my dad sat next to me and the lady who tested me sat across the table. The lady told me there was one good news and one bad news.  I ask her to tell me the bad news first just to get it out the way.  She told me I had dyslexia.  Even though this was supposed to be bad news, I felt a sigh of relief.  I no longer have to search for what’s going on.  I can also tell my dad was relieved too, that we no longer had to wonder and fight.  She then went on to tell me the good news... I did not have a very high diagnose and that I can get help.  She gave us options and we decided to go with a tutor that came to my school twice a week and taught me.  I would say that this moment in my literacy was a big changing point.

Literacy in my life has taken the place of my identity.  I always searched for the answer to why I am the the way I am through my literacy.  Without my dyslexia I would not be the same person.  Even though I struggle in my reading and writing, I still am very strong in my creative side.  I am able to act, sing and do art because of my lack of expertise in reading and writing.  I would say a struggle that schools have is not knowing how to let kid’s true talents and literacy shine through.  For instance my literacy is through my creativity, schools are just so into subjects such as reading and writing.  The story, I Just Want to be Average, mentioned how it is a  problem that teachers don’t know how to engage the imagination side of a child: “But mostly the teachers had no idea of how to engage the imaginations of us lads who were scuttling along at the bottom of the pond.” pg 164  This should not be a problem, the teacher should look at the strengths of the kid and let them show their true literacy.  If the teachers do this, the student will grow as a bright individual and show their true colors.  This will also help the kid not be ashamed if they are not the best at the main subjects at school like math or reading because the teachers will be bring light to there true literacy and helping them grow in that.

I think that my dyslexia shows that I am a strong person, who no matter what, I am able to tackle the tough times and get through struggles in my life.  Literacy to others is something that is meant for school but there are so many different levels of literacy.  There is literacy in the way people talk to one another, there is literacy in the way people act, write, and learn.  We need to realize these levels of literacy before we shut someone down for not knowing the “basics” in school.  Growing up being told by my teachers that my learning disability isn’t even a thing, was hard for me.  I can tell you that my confidence level in myself was not that strong when they kept denying me.  Once I was able to figure out what was going on with my reading and writing was the day I became more confident.  That is the day I was able to look at myself in the mirror and say, “I know what I struggle with. I know where I have flaws. With this knowledge of my identity I will become more than what others expect.”

Project Description La Casa

Por: Kobe and Alexa

¿Que entrevistaste?:

Alexa Lahr

entrevista:

• city or suburbs

City

• How many bedrooms would you want?

quatro

• What is your favorite color?

light blue and negro

• How many bathrooms would you want?

5 one for each room and one down stairs

• If you could dedicate a room to one thing, what would it be for?

movie theater

• Do you like television?

sí

• Do you like books?

sí

• How big do you want your bed to be?

King

• How many cars do you want?

blue truck, challenger

• Do you want a nice basement?

Yah club like

• Do you want an office?

sí

Alexa Lahr es catorce años. Ella quiere a vive en un urbano localidad. En su casa ella podría cuatro dormitorios, cinco baños, y un dos coche garaje. En la garaje ella quiere dos coches: un azul 2015 Chevy Colorado y un negro 2015 Dodge Challenger. Un baño querer en cada dormitorio en la casa, incluyendo el sótano. Ella gusta viendo televisión y leer libros. Ella haría quería gusta dos dormitorios dedicato por una casa teatro y una oficina.

Casa:

vista exterior:

http://www.boundingoveroursteps.com/wp-content/uploads/blogger/_vGQ7U_4nL7Q/TDEgF4P8FQI/AAAAAAAACA0/UL47bbnNbmY/s1600/IMG_0808.JPG

cine en casa:

http://www.itsjustwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/home3.jpg

su habitación:

http://chicagobodega.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Modern-Master-Bedroom-Design-Ideas-With-Plants-And-Rug-Master-Bedroom-Decorating-Ideas.jpg

su cuarto de baño:

http://abhomedesigns.com/blue-bathroom-ideas/blue-bathroom-ideas-28-with-awesome-design-on-bathroom-design-ideas/

¡Esta casa es perfecta ella Alexa Lahr!  Ella amará la casa teatro es cómodos sofás y sillas es y hermosa TV de pantalla plana y un guapo vista de la ciudad de ella habitación.  Con una cama king size y para un día tranquilo en la cama una pantalla plana cena.  Para ella baño nosotros pintar es ella favorita el color azul es a guapa bañera.  Esto es sólo algunas de sus habitaciones de esta casa hermosa grande.

In my last two blog posts I talk a lot about what dyslexia is and how I was affected by it.  You can click here to look at the first blog post.  You can click here to see the second blog post.  Since my last blog post I was able to actually do my agent of change.  For my Agent of Change I presented to advisories and did a presentation where I tried to destroy all the stereotypes there where on dyslexia.  You can click here to see me present to my advisory (Mr. Ames advisory.) In the the presentation I started off by asking everyone what they thought dyslexia is.  I asked this question to see what stereotypes would come out right away. And I got seeing things backwards and floating off pages.  So then I showed a video to explain dyslexia and then went into the stereotypes.  I think I really got across what dyslexia is and I feel after my project they had better knowledge on dyslexia.  Also after the presentation people presented to me some good questions such as “What is mild dyslexia actually?” To answer, I told them about my dyslexia and how I struggle with reading and writing because I have mild dyslexia.    

Some new resource I looked at to get more information on dyslexia and to add to my presentation was websites that had different pictures that represented dyslexia.  I used this to add more to my presentation.  This is one picture I found: push here to bring you to where I found the picture.

In my last blog post I talk a lot about why I am doing my topic on dyslexia stereotypes.  Here is my last blog post.  I was asked a couple of questions from my last blog post that I am able to answer now that I did my original research.  One of the questions asked by Ms. Giknis was “What resources are available for dyslexic students in school?” Well it depends on the school that you go to.  But for instance SLA has Mr. Ames and Ms. Menasion who are special education workers.  They help with children who either have special needs or reading and writing disabilities.  For people who have a learning disability they have to go to a class called study skills where the teacher helps the students with their homework and any work.  At my old school we had a special tutor for dyslexics.  She worked with a company called wilson.  You can read more about the wilson program here.  What I am still wondering about dyslexia is, why does SLA not have a tutor for dyslexics?

For my original research I interviewed Mr. Ames one of the special education teachers about what he knows about dyslexia from working with dyslexics.  Mr. Ames has been working with dyslexics for 15 years.  Here is the transcript for the interview.   

This helped me understand more about how the stereotypes can affect someone with dyslexia by the stories he told me about students with dyslexia.  A story he told me is one student was really smart and learned things great orally.  But when it came to letters and words he couldn’t identify them.  He used to not be able to identify the letters in his own name. This is because he didn’t know the rules of spelling and reading.  That’s the thing with dyslexia, people think that all it is, is that you see words backward and letters float off the page, but the main thing with dyslexia is that the rules just don't come easy for reading and spelling.  We just have a harder time memorizing the rules.  Another story Mr. Ames told me was there was an amazing students.  This student had straight A’s and got accepted to college.  This is what happens when you don’t give up on yourself even though you have dyslexia.  Some of my personal opinions of how students are treated with dyslexia, is that they are given very low expectations by peers and even teachers and this can cause a student to do very bad in school and give up.  Giving up can cause them to have anxiety attacks or just give up on life.  But the reason why peers and teachers give dyslexics lower standards is because they don’t understand dyslexia.  And that is what my agent of change is going to do.  Its going to inform students and teachers about dyslexia.  And I will teach them the positive outcomes of dyslexia.  Here is some positive outcomes.  So keep tone for my agent of change project and blog post!

Annotated Bibliography

My project is on the subject of stereotypes about dyslexia.  The reason why these stereotypes exist is because people don’t understand what dyslexia is. The point of this project is to defeat those stereotypes and make people understand what dyslexia really is. I picked this topic because I have the beautiful disability of dyslexia.  We found out about it in 6th grade.  But my family knew I had it since around 3rd grade.  But when we told the school that we thought I had dyslexia they didn’t believe us.  And get this, they said that dyslexia isn’t a real disability.

Some of the stereotypes there is, includes dyslexics seeing EVERYTHING backwards; or that we are stupid, and can’t read or write.  But with my research and past experience with dyslexia I see that it isn’t like this.  It may be harder for someone with dyslexia to read and write but they can do it, they just need extra help.  And someone with dyslexia isn’t stupid… I mean Albert Einstein had dyslexia!  There are many famous dyslexics .

Some of the ways I researched this was by looking at different articles and watching youtube videos.  Also, I know many people who have dyslexia so I know lots from them.  And I have dyslexia so I am pretty experienced in this subject.  A reason people also need to know more about dyslexia because 1 out of 5 people have dyslexia.  It is a very common disability but not many people understand what it is.  And a you may even have dyslexia but you wouldn’t know because teachers don’t pay attention to it enough.  There are different types of dyslexia. Phonological Deficit is one type it is when you have trouble decoding and assembling words.  Speed/Naming Deficit this is when you are a slow reader and you have trouble with sight words.  A sight word is a word that is easy and doesn’t need sounding out.  Comprehension Deficit is when you have poor understanding of the text.  Here is a graph that shows what a dyslexic usually has….

http://www.dyslexia-reading-well.com/types-of-dyslexia.html

This shows that a dyslexic has all of the disability.  But some dyslexias are more difficult than others.  For instance I have a mild case of dyslexia.  I used to have really bad dyslexia but when I got older it got better because I got a tutor.  Dyslexia is when you don’t process the spelling and reading rules as easy as normal minds.  But don’t use this as an excuse to stop your learning, is the greatest lesson that I’ve learned.  Because hard work is what you need and you just try your best and you will overcome this struggle.

In this point in my research I am wondering different peoples stories and if they were bullied or treated differently because of their dyslexia.  I am hoping to find this out by interviews and researching people who have dyslexia and their struggles.  Maybe even find a couple famous peoples stories that have dyslexia and their struggles.  I really just want to open peoples minds to what dyslexia is.

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/14gfRuS-uo9kv4_qElc7SiYWODF9laquR9k0_s31wXDE/edit?usp=sharing

Ensayo

Somos Alexa, Eleanor, y J’Lynn. Eleanor y Alexa no nada (no tienen) falso nombres. J’Lynn falso nombre es Pineapple. Somos viva en Filadelfia. Eleanor tiene 14 años. Alexa tiene es 14 años también. J’Lynn tiene 15 años. Somos estudiantes de Science Leadership Academy. Está en Filadelfia. Está cerca de Franklin Institute. SLA es muy divertido y fantástica. Somos trabajamos duro. SLA es tranquilo y extraño también. Hay 5 pisos y casi 500 estudiantes. No tenemos un cuatro piso. Tenemos muchos deportes y grupos. Ofrecemos Ultimate Frisbee, basketball, fútbol, robotics, 4th Floor Magazine y música. Alexa participo en música. Alexa le encanta cantar. J’Lynn no puedo cantar, pero ella le gusta. Eleanor le gusta dibujar, y surfear la red. Ella participó en CIC, y arte club.

Tenemos clases de historia, matemáticas, inglés, español, y bioquímica. Nuestro clases favoritos es inglés, teatro, y español. Los clases es divertidas. En la clase de inglés, necesitamos libros, unos lápices, y nuestra computadoras. Para tener éxito necesitamos tomamos apuntes, y participamos activamente. Nosotros leemos, y platicamos sobre libros. En la clase de teatro, para tener éxito, necesitamos trabajamos duro. Es no materiales que necesitas. Nosotros actuamos. En la clase  de español, hablamos español, cantamos, y tomamos pruebas. Para tener éxito, necesitamos hacemos todo la tarea.

Señorita Manuel enseña Español.  Español es más o menos difícil pero es divertida al mismo tiempo. Tenemos trabajador duro.  Ella es energético. Señorita Giknis enseña inglés.  Inglés es mucho indiferente.  Señorita Giknis hace mucho divertida, interesante, y muy cómica.  Señor Kay enseña teatro y Inglés.  Es difícil es sacar buenas notas en Señor Kay Inglés classa.  El es mucho cómico.

SLA es mucho interesante, algo extraño, y tremendamente divertida. Nos encanta ir a el The Franklin Institute. Es chévere y especial. Es casi siempre entretenido, pero es aburrido a veces. Lo que más nos gusta de SLA es platicamos, y pasamos un rato con amigos.

Alexa

Intro:

-las personas en mi vid

Yo:

Yo tengo el pelo café.

Tengo quince años.

Me encanta cantar y comer.

Es americana.

él:

¡Te presento a mi amigo Laith!

Tiene el pelo café y viva en Filidelphia.

Es loco pero cómico también. Es por eso que la quiero.

Ellas:

¡Te presento a mi amiga Tia Roberts!

Ells tiene los ojos morena.

También ella es baja y divertida.

Ella es linda.

Nototros:

La Clarissa y yo son guapa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAkDZ8WeaCo

Doce encantamos cantar y cómica.

Clarissa tengo trece años.

Es mi mejor amiga más como hermana.

La quiero mucho.

Fin:

¡Gracias!