For my capstone, I chose to do something that was important to me and the community. During my time at Science Leadership Academy, I've experienced first hand our school spirit which was very welcoming. School spirit is important to me because I feel like it very crucial in the “High School experience” but not only that I want to create a safe and friendly environment for everyone to feel welcomed and accepted here. No one should not feel welcome in a community they go to for 4 years. With times like this, we need to express love and compassion. I’ve been in the SLA spirit committee since my freshman year and now during my Senior year, I run it along with a friend of mine. Our goal was to strengthen our school community and so we’ve had several meetings discussing what to do. Our first event of the school year was our Halloween costume contest. Keeping in mind that it had to be school appropriate, we wanted the students to dress how they wanted to dress for the contest. We’ve faced many challenges for this event like stage planning, how to get people to sign up, spread the word, and it definitely helped us with planning future events. Even though we still faced more challenges throughout the school year with our other events. Overall it was amazing to be apart of our community and to give back what was given to my during high school. Bibliography Bergland, Christopher. "Kids and Classrooms: Why Environment Matters." Psychology Today. Psychology Today, 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201601/kids-and-classrooms-why-environment-matters>;. This source talks about why school environment is important since this is where our kids are spending most of their time at during the week. “Whether it's intuitive or cerebral, the thought leaders at these billion dollar corporations know that improving the poetics of space within a work environment optimizes every employee’s potential.” This type of thinking applies to the school environment as well. This link will help me get a better understanding of how the work environment can affect the workers or students in a positive way. School Spirit is a part of the school environment. This source will provide a better understanding of how to create a better environment. Dusenbury, Linda, Dr. "Creating a Safe Classroom Environment." Education World: Creating a Safe Classroom Environment. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/creating-safe-classroom-environment-climate.shtml>; Creating a safe classroom environment includes how does the classroom look to how do the students act in the hallways. “Students need to feel safe in order to learn. They need to feel secure in order to want to participate.” High School is a scary and huge transition from middle school so they already come in with that intuitive thought of “High school is all about social status”. While that is true, that type of high school system is seen more in bigger schools because it's harder to please a bigger group. This source will provide me a better understanding of how to create a better school environment. Kelly, Caroline. "School Spirit: What Does it Really Mean?" The Bradford Online. The Bradford, 08 Dec. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <http://whsbradford.org/school-spirit-what-does-it-really-mean/>; What does school spirit really mean, for some it could be homecoming (Unfortunately here at SLA we have never had the luxury of a homecoming), pep rallies, spirit week and etc. Kelly describes the importance of all these events and the actual meaning of school spirit. “To me, school spirit means representing your school proudly through behavior that paints our school and community in a positive light, Raiders or no Raiders. Take the most recent night game.” This source will provide me moe insight on what school spirit really is and how to get others involved with that vision of school spirit. Lam, Stephanie. "Why School Spirit?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-lam/school-spirit_b_4059626.html>; Is appeal considered as school spirit? Lam talks about how schools take advantage of the freshman and senior class to get them to buy their overpriced apparel from the school store so they can show their “school spirit”. Freshman year you want to buy school apparel so you can show off your accomplishments while senior year you want something to remember your time at school. “Still, school pride need not depend on the institution you attend; it can also be formed through the relationships you have with others. That being said, smaller campuses, such as state colleges, have an advantage because they create an environment where students at least recognize each other, if not socialize together. The tight-knit community would ensure that school spirit thrives, so wearing collegiate clothing would be conventional” This source will enhance m understanding of what school spirit is. Daniel. "Researchers examine the psychology of loyalty using school spirit | Science Codex." Researchers examine the psychology of loyalty using school spirit | Science Codex. N.p., 23 July 2009. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <http://www.sciencecodex.com/reserachers_examine_psychology_of_loyalty_using_school_spirit>; The psychology of School spirit is much deeper than just loyalty to a school, for other it can have a much deeper meaning to it. The researchers separated a group of kids based off of their group alliances and then asked them series of questions that focus on school spirit and loyalty. “the students who were the most devoted to their school, to begin with, were also the most cooperative and helpful when forced to confront the school's failings. That is, those truest to their group redoubled their sense of service and commitment when faced with injustice. These results were immediate and short-term. That is, while some students stayed to help strengthen the group and correct its course, their commitment was unlikely to last for long.” This source will give me a better understanding of the positive effects of school spirit. Sugarman, Lisa. "Why school spirit is so important." Lisa Sugarman. N.p., 10 Mar. 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <https://itiswhatitiscolumn.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/why-school-spirit-is-so-important/>; School spirit does a lot good that what people expect. It unites the school community for the common goal of school spirit, whether it's going to sports games to wearing the gear. Sugarman talks about how school spirit can bring people together and create a happy environment for all. “Spirit days united the greeks and the jocks and the drama kids and the musicians and the art kids because it created harmony. It gave us a common goal. And it even gave us a reason to embrace the teachers we didn’t like because they were usually the ones who revealed a totally different side of themselves when they got to show off their creative, spirited side. It leveled the playing field, is what it did. And gave us all a unique kind of license, just for that one day, to be as loud and obnoxious as possible. And sometimes, it even changed the course of our school experience, often bridging gaps between people who were never friends before they realized they shared this one, priceless bond.” This source will help me enhance my understanding of school spirit. NFHS. "Survey Shows Students With School Spirit Are Top Achievers." NFHS. National Federations of State High School Associations, 5 Feb. 2015. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <https://www.nfhs.org/articles/survey-shows-students-with-school-spirit-are-top-achievers/>; Reports from a High school survey finds that students who identify as coming from a “great school environment” are academically achieving more than students not coming from a great enjoyment school. from "From academic achievement to general happiness, the survey indicated a positive relationship to school spirit. Principals overwhelmingly believe it is important that they personally build school spirit at their school (89%) and that higher levels of school spirit are tied to higher student achievement." Connecting back to one of my first sources, the environment has a big effect on the student so it's important to establish a friendly environment for growth. This source will provide me a better understanding of the statistics of how school spirit can affect a student. Willis, Judy. "The Neuroscience of Joyful Education." Educational Leadership. N.p., 2007. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/4141/the-neuroscience-joyful-education-judy-willis-md.pdf>;. School spirit is broken down into a science by researchers at EL find a better understanding of school environment. "Neuroimaging and neurochemical research support an education model in which stress and anxiety are not pervasive (Chugani, 1998; Pawlak, Magarinos, Melchor, McEwan, & Strickland, 2003). This research suggests that superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are enjoyable and relevant to students' lives, interests, and experiences. Many education theorists (Dulay & Burt, 1977; Krashen, 1982) have proposed that students retain what they learn when the learning is associated with strong positive emotion.” Not a lot of people realize how environments can affect one's thought, so it’s important to create that safer and better environment especially for students. This source will enhance my understanding of environments. Wright, Dana E. "Beyond School Spirit: The Effects of Youth-Led Participatory Action Research in Two Urban High Schools." Academia.edu - Share research. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <http://www.academia.edu/6045686/Beyond_School_Spirit_The_Effects_of_Youth-Led_Participatory_Action_Research_in_Two_Urban_High_Schools>; A report on youth involvement in urban schools and how that can affect participation. Thinking beyond just school spirit but personal growth. When students are put in “positive growth” environment that has school spirit it helps with personal growth. "With respect to the educational sphere, the theoretical and empirical work of Eccles et al provides support for the “developmental mismatch” hypothesis — that is, that some problems in motivation and engagement in school that emerge in adolescence may be attributable to poor person-environment fitfor youth at the transition to secondary school(Eccles et al., 1993). While young people demonstrate growing capacity and desire for autonomy, youth perceive fewer opportunities to exercise autonomy and participate in making decisions and rules in junior high than they did in elementary schools (Midgley & Feldlaufer, 1987). Further, there is evidence that appropriate levels of decision-making and control are particularly salient for motivation and learning during the teenage years (Eccles et al.,1993). The present study draws on this developmental mismatch frame to investigate whether and how an innovative youth development intervention — youth-led participatory research — expands students opportunities to exert more power regarding policies and practices in two urban public high schools." This source enhances my knowledge on the psychological side of school spirit and school environment, which I can use to plan my our next events. Zakrzewski, Vicki. "How to Create a Positive School Climate." Greater Good. N.p., 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. <http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_create_a_positive_school_climate>; In order to make a safe environment for school, everyone must feel safe, respected, and each person contributes to the operations of the school. School spirit has to do with the school environment and how students feel about the school community. "Research suggests that bringing everyone together to create a shared vision of the kind of climate they want increases the likelihood that the vision will actually be carried out. But according to Peter Senge, director of the Society for Organizational Learning that originated at MIT, a shared vision must emerge from our personal visions—otherwise, people won’t be committed to the shared vision." This source will help me get a better understanding of how to create a better environment using school spirit.