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OCD OCD OCD OCD

Posted by Avery Measley in English 1 - Giknis - X on Monday, June 8, 2015 at 11:16 pm

This is my third blog post on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. My first blog introduced OCD. It was very vague and was missing information. It also included my quiz on OCD. My second blog gave a brief explanation of what I had done and was planning. It wasn’t very thought out, but had my basic starting plans. It talked a bit about my results.

There are many organizations with a goal of higher OCD awareness. an OCD Awareness Week was even created! Many people have had fundraisers,I and other sponsored events. If your search the internet you can find many websites that focus or at least mention OCD. I like how these people take time to create and promote an entire event to help others. My own goal was simple, help spread awareness for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As mentioned in earlier blog posts, I made a video about OCD.(couldn’t put it here) It describes the basics of OCD and the different subcategories. I also show some of my test results. This video is rather simple though.


Members of a Scottish OCD Support Group cheer OCD-UK fundraisers in Glasgow in 2013.







OCD awareness event


So far, the only change i have made is raising awareness for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in my home and in a small area of my neighborhood.  With this project, I was very nervous at first because i’m not one for public speaking. I also couldn’t find a topic. I really don’t think I learned much from others, but I did determine what kind of OCD I have! I learned a lot more about this topic and wish I could have done more. I definitely could have done better with this project. I could have tried to work with an organization, raised money, or had a presentation. My efforts could have been better, and I was a bit behind on schedule.
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Second Rule Of Safety ...... Be Safe!

Posted by Jessica Guarino in English 1 - Giknis - X on Monday, June 8, 2015 at 10:39 pm

In my first blog post, I talked about how teens are the causes of their own and other’s accidental deaths and how teens are not only distracted by their cellphones, but other people. I also talked about how hazardous teen drivers can be while on their cellphones and that teens need to be more aware about their safety while driving. The one big question that I had ending that blog post was WHY? The why question was for why do people keep on getting distracted and possibly not only putting their lives in danger, but others lives.

In my second blog post, I talked about how crashes are more common among the young drivers than any other age group and in 2009 3,242 teens from the ages of 15-19 lost their lives in crashes where the driver was distracted. I also talked about counting 500 cars, 126 of those drivers were on their phones and 26 of those drivers were actually texting while driving. The one big question that I had ending that blog post was HOW? The how question was for how are we going to stop this and spread awareness. That is the question that I am going to answer in this blog post and how I decided to find out for myself.

mypledge_v.theirpledge.JPG

This was my pledge(on left) vs. what AllState already had in place(on right)

For my agent of change, I decided to convince a company, like AllState, to make a pledge that new drivers would sign as a friendly reminder not to text and drive. I then decided to ask an expert about their point of view on this topic and how safety is key. I went to an AllState office near me and talked to Ms. Rebecca Clemento about this topic and I had some questions:

What are the biggest dangers of teen driving?

What do you already have in place for managing cell phone use with new drivers? Does AllState have any incentives?

Are there any specific policies in place for teen drivers or new drivers?

Have the laws changed for texting and driving as the technology has changed?

What would be the effectiveness of the idea that I am proposing?

Do you think the laws will need to change for safety in the future? If so, how?


For the most part, I think that my agent of change went pretty well and was inspirational not only to me but to the people that I talked to about this. As I was doing this project, the thing that I enjoyed most was finding out all of this cool information that I never knew existed until I started this project. From this project, I learned that this topic was more widespread than I thought, but not as often talked about.

photo 2 (4).JPG


A recurring question that I had in both of my blog posts was: Why do teens, and even adults, go out in the world of driving and continue to be distracted? This question has still yet to be answered, but with more research this question will be answered someday.


Annotated Bibliography

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The Finale

Posted by Claire Byrnes in English 1 - Giknis - X on Monday, June 8, 2015 at 10:22 pm

During my research I discovered three different organizations throughout this whole project- Project 440, LiveConnections and Astral Artists. Before this project, I had heard of LiveConnections because our class went to World Cafe Live and saw a few Bridge Sessions (a wonderful experience!). I was delighted that there were these successful organizations improving the classical music community, especially in Philadelphia! I am very interested in reaching out to them and learning more about what they do and how I could become involved.

For my Original Research, I was very proud of my interview, especially since I had a failed survey. I would've wanted to of had another interview with possibly a student musician in one of my orchestras. Or an adult connected to of one of the organizations I found.

And finally, for my Agent of Change, I wanted Zach to have his presentation shown to my class but in the end, the logistics did not work out. So I reached out to Project 440, LiveConnections and a few of my instrumental teachers, looking for a presentation that could be shown to my class. After lots of correspondence, both organizations had to decline. Instead, I did a presentation to my advisory which, even though rushed, worked out in the end. Unfortunately, this part was very challenging for me. I had to completely turn around from expecting a presentation from an outside organization, to planning one myself and figuring out when and to whom I would present it to. I would have wanted to take this to the next level by asking more people to draw their reactions to pop and classical music, not just my classmates or my advisory. I could’ve asked teachers or even musicians. I think it would’ve been interesting to see other reactions to pop vs. classical and more artwork! Also, I wish I researched musical therapy more because I found it extremely fascinating and was disappointed I only touched on it a bit in my last blog post.

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The Music Showdown

Posted by Claire Byrnes in English 1 - Giknis - X on Monday, June 8, 2015 at 9:59 pm

My first blog post was about the benefits of classical music. I found a few organizations such as Project 440. They are one of the many organizations that empower students to turn their passion for playing music into a passion for giving back to their community. My second blog post discusses LiveConnections and their three different types of programs- Bridge Sessions, ClassicAlive and LiveStudio. They “... inspire learning and build communities through collaborative music-making.” Another organization is Astral Artists, who want “To discover the most promising classical musicians residing in the United States, assist their early professional career development, and present their world-class artistry to the community through concerts and engagement programs.”

I emailed Project 440, LiveConnections and a few of my instrumental teachers, looking for a presentation that could be shown to my class. After lots of correspondence, both organizations had to decline. It turned out the Mr. Conyers, of Project 440, was on a European Tour with The Philadelphia Orchestra (their calendar can be seen here). For LiveConnections, there just was not enough time for them to put something together.

So I did a presentation to my advisory! You can see the slideshow here. A video clip of my presentation can be seen here. Unfortunately, my phone did not have enough storage so only half of it can be seen in the video.

I had them listen to two pieces, one pop music and the other classical. The first was “Roar” by Katy Perry and the second, the Allegro of “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (A Little Night Music) composed by Mozart. These are two pretty different pieces! As they listened, I asked them to draw and/or write their reactions/thoughts/feelings. After listening to each song, a few shared their experiences and art. I was pleasantly surprised that a few of my classmates started snapping while listening to Mozart because I was all prepared for groaning and complaining.

The main purpose of this presentation was to open my advisory’s minds to new musical experiences. I told them, “If you enjoyed the classical music I played today, maybe try some more!” A few of my classmates said they felt relaxed listening to the classical piece. My advice to them was to listen to classical when you’re tense. And to those who felt that pop energized them- listen to pop music when you are tired.

According to Healthline, “Scientists at the University of Missouri have found that people can boost their mood simply by listening to upbeat music.” “Music therapy has been used for centuries as a way to restore energy, improve mood, and even help the body heal more naturally.” and is ‘the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals.’ ” according to the American Music Therapy Association.

Here is a picture of my classmate’s drawing:

IMG_3176.JPG

They said, “The classical music made me happy so that's why I drew so many happy faces. And for Roar it made me feel more agitated and aggressive. That's why there's ‘Grrr...’.”



And another classmate said, “I don't really like pop music, so when I first heard it I knew that I was not for a happy ride. I drew more jagged because the beat was all the over the place. However when listening to the classical piece I felt more in peace. I drew smoother waves and wrote the words relaxed and serene. Overall, I would say the classical piece is much better for focusing and using as background music. Compared to the edginess of the pop, you get hung on the words.”


Here’s their art:

IMG_3177.JPG


Overall, I am proud of my Agent Of Change. I worked hard to connect with outside resources and even though in the end it didn’t work out, I stayed strong and created something on my own. I really enjoyed this emotional artwork, as I will call it. To take this to the next level, I wish I had more time to ask other people, not just my classmates or my advisory. I could’ve asked teachers or even musicians. I would’ve wanted to see others’ reactions to pop vs. classical and see their creativity shine.


Annotated Bibliography
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Sponsors for Immigrants

Posted by Sarith Chuon in English 1 - Giknis - X on Monday, June 8, 2015 at 7:11 pm

Blog Post #3:

Blog 2

Blog 1

Hey, nice to see you guys again!

Originally, for my Agent of Change, I was going to do a fundraiser for the organization that I was hoping to work with, but there had been many technical difficulties. I had many ideas like teaching at a school and teach things about immigration. But through many hardships, I have decided to make a website here.

This is the front-page of my website.

I wanted to point this towards Cambodians, as you can see, there is Cambodian dialect under the English phrases. I tried my best translating it from English to Cambodian without using a translator and often going to my parents and other relatives for help, as they are immigrants from Cambodia. I was in a hurry so I to use the website, Weebly, which helped me a lot when it came down to my last resort.

On the website I talk about how in the past being a sponsor was a very dangerous thing. This is during the war when people looking for sponsors would get taken and killed. Today there are people that want to be sponsors in an effort to help others in bad countries. I made the website to show the good side of sponsors because when people hear migration they think of illegal immigrants. But sponsors just help start the process so that the immigrants can come to a country legally. I talk about this in the about section of my website.

Screenshot 2015-06-08 at 7.07.17 PM.png


I also talk about the history and talk more about sponsors in the front page of my website.

Screenshot 2015-06-08 at 7.08.33 PM.png
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Reflection

Posted by Sarith Chuon in English 1 - Giknis - X on Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 10:54 am

The you and the world project was difficult for me because the topic I picked wasn’t a topic that the great majority felt as strongly about it as I did. My topic was immigration and even though it is a big problem it’s not something that students around my age think about. If I was going to do it differently I would pick a much more popular topic. By having a popular project the project will be easier for me. The research part of the project was easy the part that was hard was the agent of change part. Since people didn’t feel as strongly as I did about the topic people didn’t really care about my agent of change. I feel like if we could work in groups the project would of been easier and fun. I also feel like I could of made my topic more specific by focusing on immigrant children because that is a topic people would be more interested in because of the kids. In conclusion my agent of change project didn’t go as good as I wanted it to because I didn’t pick a good topic. Now that I’ve finished the project if I was going to do it again I would know what to do.


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The End

Posted by Opoku Kwateng in English 1 - Giknis - X on Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 10:31 am

The you and the world project was a very fun project. I enjoyed doing it because it made me feel like I was making a difference. The only problem that I had with it was that the time frame for such a big project was small so a lot of things had to be rushed. Overall I feel like one of my biggest successes was the bake sale because I was able to raise over $200. The thing that I feel like I could’ve done better is trying do my interview in person, because I attempted to do my interview over the phone but the autism society wasn’t picking up.  

My original research went very well. I was able to get a large amount of info from the website of the Autism Society, I was also able to get flyers from them. If I were to do it differently I would order autism awareness shirts and sell those to raise money instead. The reason why I would prefer to sell shirts is that I feel like they would last longer and would be better than the flyers since people most likely threw away the flyers.

I had a much better outcome than I thought I would. I thought the bake sale was going to be very unsuccessful because on the day that we had the bake sale the school store was having discounts, and some seniors were selling sandwiches. This caused me to feel like I would raise little to know money at the bake sale. But I was proved wrong when I was able to raise a decent $245.
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The Time Has Come...dun dun dun

Posted by Tigidankay Saccoh in English 1 - Giknis - X on Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 7:25 pm


 Through this project, I have been inspired to be active in my beliefs, rather than passive. I now see that it is very important to not only express your passion through words, but also by being proactive.  For my research, I found extensive information about the impact mental illnesses has on society(i.e suicides, bullying), I wish I would have found more information about more ways the mental illness is broken and unrepaired.This would have definitely enhanced my first blog post because it would show my readers that the problems I described in my blog post actually exist. For my original research, I stumbled upon some disappointments such as getting no response from a lot of organizations and people whom I reached out to. This was discouraging ; however, it was not enough to stop my determination. Initially, I wanted to interview Eleanor Longdin because I had watched her Ted Talk, "The Voices In My Head", where she explained her struggles with mental illness and the reactions of others around her. I figured she would have a lot to say on my topic( America's broken mental health care system). I google searched her, hoping she would have a website, by which she could be contacted, but I was not that lucky. I soon realized, after research, that I would only be able to reach her through social media, which appeared to be a long shot, due to the many farce 'personal' accounts titled 'Eleanor Longdin' on twitter. I decided to abandon my pursuit of Longdin and instead use sources more local. I called about five psychology professors at Penn, but got no response, which is expected looking back in hindsight.  After those attempts failed, I used one of the closest sources available: The teachers and students at SLA. I first created a survey that gauged the knowledge of my freshmen peers about the broken system. I decided to do this because I wanted to reach out to the youth because we are future leaders. Moreover, I interviewed Jevon Price and Ms.Menasion, my advisor, about their opinions on the dull mental health care discussion and how the discussions are resuscitated by tragedy(Newtown).  I decided to interview Ms.Menasion, not only because she is very supportive, but also because she is a special education teacher. Her responses were insightful and very helpful. Ultimately, I felt equipped with my 50 survey responses and two interviews, although that is not originally what I wished my original research to compile of. If I could change anything, I would have used sources closest to me(family, friends, teachers, etc.). My Agent of Change was trifold, including two collaborations.  I was not originally planning to collaborate, however, when I was aked by Opoku to help out with hi bake sale raising money for Autism Awareness, I knew I had accept because it was my very own autistic brother who inspired my topic for this project. Together, we donated $245 to an Autism Awareness Research office in New Jersey. I felt like we made an impact because we contributed to research, which will find new treatments and therapies. Also, we created awareness within our school by distributing autism informative brochures to those who bought our baked goods. Next, I decided to give a presentation at TFI to educate my peers and bring awareness to the gaps in our nation's mental health care system. I found this to be very successful, despite video uploading errors, because my audience looked genuinely interested in what I had to say and I received a lot of compliments afterwards. At last, I combined forced with Jae Regino and Jhazzelle Majarucon and created a social anxiety awareness website. I am really happy with the way it turned out. It is both aesthetically pleasing and educational. Jhazzelle, through her own research,  even discovered the already existing tongue twister challenge, which brought awareness to the complexities of the lives of the socially anxious.  I really enjoyed my three-part Agent of Change awareness-bringing activities and do would not change them if I had another chance.


Overall, in my opinion, this benchmark project was hard work, but time most certainly well spent.
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Orange Is The New... Black? // Dennis Blog Post #3

Posted by Menduyarka Dennis in English 1 - Giknis - X on Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 5:53 pm

In my Blog Post #1 and Blog Post #2, I gave a tiny overview on Leukemia and what I did to learn more about it. Blog Post #1 was why I decided to do some research on the topic and my ties with it. Blog Post #2 was where I went to develop more information on the topic and explain even more facts to those who are concerned. And now I have reached my third Blog Post, and boy was it depressing.


Originally for my Agent Of Change, I was going to apply to the Ronald McDonald House of Charities to try my best and volunteer at a Family Room at The Children's Hospital to entertain and provide hope to different leukemia and cancer patients. Unfortunately for me, even when they promised a reply from their office in three days via email, I have yet to receive one. With my hope slowly deteriorating, I fled to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's website to submit another application for a one-time volunteering option. This time, the response time was a day at least. I believed that I had found my Agent Of Change yet again! Instead, I was emailed back almost instantly, stating that options was "No Longer Valid for Volunteering Options". I hope scattered, I believed my chances were slim for getting an uplifting grade on this project. I had only one option left, and I needed as much help as I could get. So I emailed my fellow classmates in Orange Stream and asked them to wear an orange specific shirt or accessory to show support for this cause.


And I was surprised by how much cooperation I had received!


Paul-Ann Whyte, Avery Measely, and Chuckie Copeland, all supporting Leukemia by wearing orange

I will definitely give special recognition when the post is drawing to a close. I asked different people in Orange Stream to show how much they cared for Leukemia by wearing orange to support the cause. Some were my closest friends, some people were even those who I have never met. Even some upperclassmen supported me and my Agent of Change.

Of course it's not enough people to end a horrible type of cancer like Leukemia. I mean, wearing shirts won't save anymore. But the reason for shirts is that they're just a STEP in the huge flight of stairs. This is awareness. The next step will be getting more people aware of Leukemia, and the next one will be attacking it head on. Sure that's a big leap, but the flight isn't done with just attacking. There's funding, supporting, and way more research.


Zoë Chernowski and Claire Byrnes, both rocking orange while in Art class.

After explaining to these people the situation my friend was in before being diagnosed, and how it compared to her personality AFTER being diagnosed, my friends were very sympathetic to me, and understood how hard it must have been to go through such an experience. My participants didn't want anything like this to continue in the world, and I am so very grateful for those who participated.


This was a last resort for me, and I feel like if it wasn't, I would've had WAY more participants. After a failed attempts at numerous businesses and charities, I feel as though this was a little second rate. But hey! It worked for me, and I raised a little awareness for those who didn't know much about it. If I knew that I was going to be rejected by multiple charities, I would've went with this obviously. Next time, I should try my best to go for something as simple, yet welcoming as this option for my Agent of Change. For now, I will continue to tell people the story of my beloved friend and hopefully get them on the side of fighting against Leukemia.

Thank you to the following people for your participation:
  • Paul-Ann Whyte
  • Chuckie Copeland
  • Zoë Chernowski
  • Claire Byrnes
  • Jamal Hampton
  • CJ Irwin-Diehl
  • Jhazzelle Majarucon
  • Kawthar Hasan
  • Jessica Guarino
Here's where you can find in my bibliography 
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It's not over until MS is cured...

Posted by Siani Wilson in English 1 - Giknis - X on Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 9:04 am

This project was the most interesting of them all, You and the World project actually changed my views on a lot of different things and it was because of the different project that everyone did. Some glows that I had were the presentation that I did in class, I thought that doing this project was the biggest glow because this project was so personal I feel like I'm helping my Mom in so many ways possible that I didn't think I could do. Some Grows that I have would be to continue this project outside of class because it become something that I enjoy doing. I enjoyed doing the Original Research, but lets start at the beginning of the project, I’m not talking about the Research part of the project I’m talking about the proposal. Coming up with a topic to actually research was a little difficult but the way I actually got my topic was from my Mom, she thought that doing this would raise awareness to the topic and get people thinking about it and though the entire project that was what I went by. Now the Research part of the project I was easy but I wish I could find more infomation on my Mom Ms so that I could share with all of you. It’s a lot still to be discovered and I will continue you update you guys if anything changes.

My Original Research was interviewing a doctor, which was scary. I thought that I wasn’t asking the right questions and getting enough information, but then I thought well it's good enough to actually write about. Things that I would do differently is maybe not have a bunch of kids there in the background making a lot of noise. I enjoyed doing the Original Research I thought that part of the project was most interesting part.

For my Agent of change, Me and My Family took part in the MS walk in late April to Early May. The walk raises money for research and new medicine, things like that maybe even finding a cure. I also did a presentation to the class, I was going to do it for advisory but plans got changed. I thought that it went well I just wish the entire class was there to see it. I hope to have a bigger impact and I’m thinking about doing something similar for capstones my senior year at SLA.

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