For my capstone, I created a website. Well I did a little more than that. I started out with volunteering at my old elementary school once a week for three hours. Since January, I have been there every Wednesday, helping with homework and facilitating activities. Along with teaching kids, I branched out a little. I wanted my project to be about my neighborhood as a whole. I decided to conduct interviews with people that are very influential in my community and well educated in mutual aid. I asked them questions about the non profits and organizations they work with, and how they have helped to build a strong neighborhood. Then, I brought it all together on a website. The website contains quotes from my interviews along with my own writing about my neighborhood, elementary school, and mutual aid. Without mutual aid, healthy communities cannot exist, because they require systems in place to provide help if something goes wrong. Communities that are capable of self sustaining are more equipped to thrive.

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y2FI40fU7Y6Cf6vrT20R57E9ziknftTvIjzl3893iLc/edit?usp=sharing

I started by thinking of an idea that related to my hobbies/interests. I knew I wanted to do something that related to gardening as an idea for my capstone. I kept narrowing my thoughts down and eventually thought of the name for my capstone, SLA’s Sky Garden. I went from wanting to have a garden on SLA’s rooftop to having a greenhouse where anyone could grow plants to gift them to whoever they wanted. I started planting seeds so they could sprout and get people’s attention so they would be asking around about the plants. As the plants matured more people started asking me about them, I told them they were welcome to plant anything they’d like. I received full funding from Braskem so I could proceed with my project the way I wanted. I bought a greenhouse that fit the rooftop the best and asked my friends if they could help me assemble it. After it was assembled I moved in my extra supplies and plants. I was aware that I wouldn’t be able to continue maintaining the greenhouse next year so I approached a junior student who told me they wanted their capstone to be kind of like mine, relating to plants. I offered them the opportunity to base their capstone on mine and they agreed. My final addition to this project is a sign explaining the rules and steps people can take to successfully grow plants.

For my capstone project, I examined the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacted the class of 2023 at Science Leadership Academy as well as teenagers across the country in regards to their mental health and overall high school experience. I explored a lot of online sources for a portion of my research. These provided an abundance of data and percentages that would draw attention to the pandemic’s detrimental effects on students’ mental health. In order to increase the relevance and reliability of the project, I restricted some of my analyses to the Philadelphia region. For other sources I searched for firsthand accounts from genuine teenagers. I made sure to include a lot of diversity within my research. It was crucial to consider factors such as a student’s income, ethnicity, language, or disability. The other half of my research came from interviews I conducted with my class of 2023 peers. In order to receive useful information about their mental health and experiences during the pandemic, I had to structure my questions carefully. I made sure to even question minor concerns such as routine changes and shifts in friendship dynamics. After completing the study, I utilized the knowledge I had obtained to develop a podcast on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health and overall high-school experience of SLA’s class of 2023 and other teenagers in America. Through this capstone project, I was able to learn about how other students responded to the pandemic and compare their experiences with my own.

Capstone Podcast: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1gmxu5z5IfKsHXc24-kKuAr5_Dt3TvLC5

For my capstone, I decided to do a “photo shoot” of my friends wearing pieces of clothing and jewelry that showed the evolution and impact of African American culture on the world today. This was a self-discovery for me because I do not know much about African American culture myself and I feel as though this is something I should know especially since deciding to go to an HBCU for college. I had to do a lot of research on things that came from African American culture not just from today but from years back also and see how it had/has an impact on the world and its influences throughout history. I learned a lot about the original meanings behind some clothing and how the black community decided to change the meaning by embracing them. I believe a lot of people are ignorant of the impact African American culture has given the world and it’s not their own fault. So for this project, I had to find my “ models” aka my friends and find jewelry and clothes that black women from the late 90s and early 2000s use to wear and then talk about what those pieces represented back then and how some women turned the bad dehumanizing meanings behind certain pieces of jewelry into the uplifting, encouraging and powerful symbols that they are today. The biggest surprise and most interesting thing that I learned throughout all of this was about the meaning behind hoop earrings and how much that meaning has changed today. Now you see everyone rocking big gold and silver hoops but not everyone knows that back then it would be a disgrace to walk outside with them on.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JoeN2mtZN98cCJf2iQn1vp2GhDKq9NZxQzC93_mb6L4/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone project I decided to create what I’ve titled the “SLA thrift”. Essentially it is a way for students to collect and donate clothing as needed. It is a clothing rack placed in a convenient area for SLA students to access. And includes a variety of styles and sizes with the goal of making it inclusive to all. Philadelphia is home to many things, but one of those things includes one of the highest poverty rates out of all major school districts. My goal behind my capstone is to make sure that no student feels less than based off of the inability to obtain something as simple as clothing. Essentially, you never know who needs help and the SLA thrift serves as a simple and discreet way to provide that to anyone in our community in need. To get more information out I sent out an advisory memo informing people of the location and how it works, as well as an opportunity for students to get rid of unwanted clothing. Finally, I dedicate this lengthy process to all of the people that provided me with the necessary resources. Those people include the family, friends and community who donated clothing. My mother who constantly kept me on track to thoroughly complete my capstone. My advisor/mentor who aided me with no hesitation anytime I needed help or felt stuck. And finally the many staff of Benjamin Franklin High School who provided me with the materials to display the donated items. All in all my capstone would be nothing without the people above.

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IHVnbKOilxNWGImFD8jJ0jdN2J_-gAhVn_vhDt2gRas/edit?usp=sharing

https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/thewritersfantasy/home?authuser=0

I have made a website with literature from myself and my fellow students. My goal for my capstone is that I wanted people to have a space where they can enjoy reading and/or writing, but importantly, appreciate their work. Many people do not enjoy reading or writing either because of school or other reasons, but sometimes they can produce the most beautiful work when they do, so I wanted them to be able to show their work on this website. I have collaborated with some CTE friends to help me build the website and with fellow students to get the website started. The goal was to share some works that I and others can be proud of and to provide some inspiration for those who will come across this website. I am proud that there were those who were willing to share a story that they appreciate no matter the size of it. Each writer has their own unique writing style which leaves my website with a kind of uniqueness that can’t be copied. I learned the different types of writing styles everyone has and how people tend to express themselves through their out-of-school writing, but I also learned the more challenging things like technology and organizing a website. The process of making a website and having it mirror my vision was its own obstacle. Overall, I appreciate the collaboration I have done to have this capstone completed. Without any, this website and stories would have never been shared.