My Capstone project was all about digging into how students here at school and in our city get around on bikes. I was super into the idea of doing something related to biking because it’s just something I’m really passionate about. I wanted to either work directly with bikes or teach others about them. But, here’s all the options I found were paid, and our school doesn’t let students get paid for their Capstone projects.

I Worked with the Bicycle Coalition to create some surveys and analyze data. The inquiry question I wanted to answer was why some students bike and why others don’t. I figured it would be a cool way to see how students get to school and what they think about biking.

Working with Nicole from the Bicycle Coalition was awesome. She helped me make sense of all the data and keep on track. We found some interesting stuff, like safety concerns about biking to school. I even came up with some ideas to make things better.

Honestly, the beginning was a struggle. I had to switch up my project halfway through the year because of payment rules. Originally, I wanted to help younger teens learn about bikes, but that fell through.

Looking back, I wish I’d planned things out better from the start and maybe reached out to more schools for data. But overall, I’m proud of what I accomplished. And I think I made a positive impact by caring about this stuff and trying to make things better for everyone.

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qEs3E2dVvdxGPuzY0jYhzJjc8gpwsQxMhh3m1gfCD_Q/edit?usp=sharing

Link To Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/145pU9-fHAHEbfnsftIk7Da0BpZEfqZ8mBiUNSta6Hcg/edit#slide=id.p

Link to responses: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i1ukqwQ8nPgzLxOBxsRZvIU3Yt6MDg5Gf8wVJPQ9Oho/edit?usp=sharing

My capstone project is a combination of my love for nature and engineering. I knew I wanted to do something, not only to help out the environment but also inspire people to do the same. I settled on creating nesting shelves for birds like robins. I researched the needs of different bird species and their various nesting needs before deciding to target robins. I purchased a plank of pine from Home Depot and, with the guidance of Mr. Kamal, cut and fashioned it into my nesting shelf. Along the way in my free time, I created an educational pamphlet to inform people on the importance of native birds and their importance in their ecosystems.

For the past few months, I’ve been using the SLA Engineering Shop to create and distribute necessities valuable for animal refugees in Philadelphia. The city reigns to give more opportunities for pet owners, but I wanted to use this project to motivate others about animals as a symbol of love and hope. Last year, I lost my dog, unfortunately, and it’s been eating away at me to realize in our last moments together, I couldn’t provide her greater happiness. Pets deserve whatever in their heart is loving, and for that, I wanted to remark on my work using the SLA Engineering Shop to finalize my gifts that invite emotional input. Throughout this project, I began donating necessities like Dog Food, Cat Food, Wipes, and Bedding to Animal Refugee Shelters in Center City and South Philadelphia. While going along with those requests — I began creating my shop designs like 3D Dog Collars, Canister Holders, and a Cat Toy Box! For testing my models, my friends helped me experiment with my items with their pets.

As I finished my last contributions, I am proud of how much I shipped off by hand to the shelters. Not only was I able to help provide for city animals, but I got to meet new people who volunteered at these refuges. I wouldn’t have been able to get far without their acceptance of my donations. I’m glad they were the first to see it, as I am for lifting their spirits by helping these animals!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Evc-AeIgvVABXOM5RGF-yXQDY1g-Yji?usp=drive_link

Link to my research paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UvJzpZVXcmHOo2spzwKfZbein4YG5FfM/view?usp=drive_link

Link to the website I coded (site doesn’t work well on a phone, please access on a computer): https://capstone-nine-mu.vercel.app/

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UCPA3__f5rflnCieB2efGecUzY5PGxRscATbTmYvCD8/edit?usp=sharing

For my Capstone I wrote a research paper about client-centered public defense. Client-centered public defense is when public defenders - lawyers who represent defendants who cannot afford a private attorney - view their obligation to their client as more than just resolving the client’s legal case. Client-centered defense involves forming a relationship with the client and addressing their needs and desires beyond the criminal case. To complete this paper, I spent the majority of the school-year doing research. I read five books and a number of articles related to this topic. I chose this project in part because I wanted to get more practice writing research papers before college. I ended up learning a lot both about researching and writing a paper as well as the American criminal justice system. My paper discusses some of the ways that the criminal justice system is failing defendants, but also how client-centered representation might address some of these problems.

After finishing my paper, I decided that I wanted to share what I had learned both about writing a paper and the criminal justice system while doing a little more learning. I eventually decided to code a website from scratch to share this information and get experience coding. Before this I had only created basic coding projects, so for the base of my website, I followed along with a tutorial. Once I had a functional website I changed and expanded some of the code to create a unique site that shares what I learned.

For My Capstone I created a live edge side table. These tables are special because they are generally made of one continuous slab of wood and sometimes the edge of the table is the actual edge of the tree. I knew I wanted to make something with my hands and because I am part of the SLA CTE engineering program I have access to the engineering shop. The Process for making a table like this started with creating engineering drawings to flush out your vision for the piece. Next I found a beautiful black walnut slab in a local lumber yard. I quickly got to work cleaning up the wood, removing dead wood, bark, and milling it so it was flat. Large slabs of wood almost always have cracks and holes which I’m choosing to fill with a black epoxy resin. The next step is to cut the slab down to the desired table size. In my case I wanted to leave one of the edges untouched to save the natural feel of the piece. Next is a slow grueling process of sanding the table in preparation for applying a finish. The finish I’m choosing to put on my piece is a Rubio monocoat, it provides protection while also looking incredible. The last step is to attach the legs, this can be done using threaded inserts, I chose to order black steel legs which will compliment the black epoxy running through the piece.

Through this capstone I learned an incredible amount about woodworking and some of the woodworking processes required to make a live edge epoxy table. It also opened a room for personal growth, learning about how I personally react and tackle big projects.

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.