Eoin Kelly
5-15-18
Capstone
As a musician, I was constantly told to step outside of my comfort zone. Whether it’s attempting a new genre, singing a different song, or getting up in front of a bigger crowd. The obvious choice for my capstone would be some sort of performance of my own creations, but this is not what I wanted to do. To completely step outside of my comfort zone, I decided to leave music almost completely out of the equation.
For my capstone, I decided to create a carnival for the school to enjoy. The reason why I chose this was because of two reasons. I was not familiar with how to put this together, and it felt like it would be a good challenge for me. Also it was to let everyone have a fun and stress-free end of the year. It was a good way to say goodbye to the place that taught me much of what I needed to know in my teenage years.
I started this project in September, when we were trying to fundraise for other students projects. I spent almost every day planning, researching, and building everything I needed for the carnival. I am now in my final steps for putting on the final show. This is for the class of 2018.
Time Code | Subject | AUDIO |
00:00 | Interview with my Grandpa, Dr. Michael Kelly | EK: So, what was it like in school when you first started before the Civil Rights Movement? MK: What was it like in school? EK : Yeah. MK: I think...when I was in public school, when I was young, I lived in a very white community. So my parents were liberal, So we, you know, we were comfortable with racial relationships. But the community as a whole is not, it just never came up...people...my classmates were never confronted with black people, or any ethnic people. And it was just, uh, sort of a non issue. uh, and uh that continued through high school...and then when I went away to college, of course, I went to NorthWestern and things were different. But I was raised away. I was comfortable. So, in my contact, there was no Civil Rights Movement. There was no issue of racial..problems because we didn’t have any real mix. So it certainly was a different world...after the sixties. |
01:16 | EK: So, after the Civil Rights Movement, did you like how schools were more diverse? MK: Yeah. I always appreciated diversity, again, because of my parents. Uh, and uh, I think once I became more conscious of the problem, I must admit, as a public student...it just wasn’t conscious of the problem. You read about things in the south. This is an interesting incident. I think my first real awareness was during one of our summer rigs in high school. A friend of mine and I decided to go down to New Orleans. We were working in the summer, we had a couple of weeks off. And we took the bus down from Chicago to New Orleans, which was a pretty long trip. But the bus comes down from Chicago through Illinois and it crosses into Kentucky. Carol, Illinois into Paducah Kentucky. And when we arrived in the Paducah Kentucky, bus station, the driver came and rearranged the passengers, so that the black people moved to the back where they were “supposed to be.” And we had a break, and there was black drinking fountains and I think that was my first real awareness that things were different elsewhere. It was very uncomfortable for me. And I felt pretty good about the Civil Rights Movement happening and correcting some of those problems. | |
02:54 | EK: Was your school segregated that you taught, and if so, did schools attended by the opposite race interact with yours and how did the students react? MK: Over where I taught? Over at Glassboro? EK: Yeah. MK: Yes. it certainly was not segregated. We didn’t have a high percentage of black students, but I’m not sure I have a percentage, uh, I would say, anyway 5%. And a few asians. Other minorities. A few hispanics. And it was completely comfortable in my awareness...uh...as far as interacting and the kids interacting with each other. Now I’m sure there were isolated incidents that I’ve never heard of, but in terms of my general feelings about how students behaved, and...it was a comfortable situation. I do remember Glassborough becoming very active in the Civil Rights protests. I remember there were places where they would take down the American flag and stomp on it, you know, reaction. there were a lot of kids that maybe took advantage and made more out of protesting than they really believed...Glassborough was, I think, very active in favoring and promoting Civil Rights Movement, and I never felt that racial inequality would factor it on our campus. | |
04:35 | EK: Were there any books or speeches that changed your opinion about race and segregation? MK: Well, I don’t, I don’t know that my opinions on race ever really needed to be changed outside of what I said before, becoming more aware of the problem. Uh, I guess Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech is a key time in everybody’s background and relation of the Civil Rights Movement and realizing the power of a person like that and I think that the power of words, since I was a speech major and I have been always interested in the spoken word and use of language, I stood in awe of that speech by King and other civil rights leaders. That certainly strengthened my feelings about the need for civil rights action, and the need for promoting equality that didn’t exist everywhere. I can’t say my opinions changed, my awareness probably changed.5: | |
5:45 | EK: Do you think schools today should be more diverse, for example, Philadelphia public schools? MK: Do you mean in the sense of racial mix? EK: Yeah MK: I am not all that familiar how it is now, Eoin. Uh, I certainly believe in uh, racial mix, and it certainly seems with Russell Byers, I guess there were relatively few white students there, but I think racial mixing and equality is very important, and wherever it doesn’t exist, I guess there are movements to bus students from neighborhoods to schools that need more balance, I’m not quite aware of all of that. But I think it’s important that racial mixing occur, continue, and be improved if there are places in the school system where it is lacking. | |
6:41 | EK: And, what do you think we can do to make them more diverse? MK: To make the schools more diverse? EK: Yeah. MK: Well that’s a tough one. Uh… certainly um, and again, I am speaking out of basic ignorance of the school system as a whole, like I know your guy’s schools because we’ve been very acquainted with them and it doesn’t seem to be a problem in there. But, staffing certainly, the equality of staffing is important, racial equality and mix, um, making sure that if problems emerge, they aren’t put under the rug. If there are some kind of racial issues in a school, they have got to be dealt with directly and openly and uh, with meetings of students and assemblies and whatever is necessary to be sure that things don’t get out of hand. It’s hard for me to say anymore, because I just don’t know what is needed and how much of a problem still exists in the Philadelphia schools but certainly where there are problems, where kids feel cheated, because they are in a minority situation. Uh, they have got to be dealt with, they have got to be confronted by admins and not passed by. |
ABSTRACT
In this interview, my grandpa, Dr. Michael Kelly, talks about what school was like before and after the Civil Rights Movement. Towards the end, he talks about how we can help schools today. Since he was a teacher, his experiences were different than the students. He liked how schools were more diverse, and never had a problem with it.
RESEARCH
In 1945, it was decided that kids of different races should be able to attend schools. The first school to allow this was Little Rock High School. Most people did not agree with this, and stopped going to school for a while. After a while, the people started to realize that the people of different races were not going to leave, and they started going back to the schools.
SOURCES
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/civil_rights_education.htm
http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/desegregation.html
http://www.civilrights.org/education/brown/
Eoin- Hello, how are you?
Max- I’m good.
Eoin- What is your name?
Max- Um, Max Harris.
Eoin- Max Harris, ok. I’m just going to ask you a few questions about your life here.
Max- Alright
Eoin- So, What is your earliest memory?
Max- Um wow, I’m not sure if I have an earliest memory. Like, I definitely have
memories of going to preschool and crying, uh, it was like, this woman who ran a preschool in her house, and it was called, “Sue’s house.”
Eoin- Ok
Max- Um, me and this one kid would go fishing in a pond in the backyard, well, we just stuck sticks in the water, haha, you know, “Fishing, fishing!” But yeah, I have some,... I have a lot of early memories but I don’t know which one would be the earliest.
Eoin- So, what was the most exciting thing you’ve done in your life?
Max- Oh gosh um, what do you mean by exciting? Like dangerous, exciting like, “Yay!”
Eoin- Like, dangerous, important or...
Max- Ok yeah, um, I mean, I, I don’t know, now that I think about it. Most of the things I’ve done are pretty, I guess, average. I have had some memorable experiences, but I wouldn’t say that any of them stuck out in an incredibly exciting way. I have had some dangerous encounters.
Eoin- Ok, what was the happiest moment of your life, and why?
Max- Um, wow. I don’t know, uhhh. I have had a lot of fun moments. I would say that those are happy, but I have not really had the happiest moment because I feel like, at 14, you probably should not have the happiest moment. I feel like that should be something like, your child being born. But, I have had happy moments with my friends, just doing stupid things.
Eoin- Hello!
Eamon- Hello.
Eoin- How are you?
Eamon- Good, how are you?
Eoin- I’m great! What is your name?
Eamon- My name is Eamon Kelly.
Eoin- Eamon Kelly, ok, I am going to ask you a few questions here. What is your earliest memory?
Eamon- Ok, so this is pretty shocking, My earliest memory, I actually remember being in the hospital the day I was born and my uncle making silly faces at me. Thats basically the first thing I remember.
Eoin- You have a really good memory apparently. Quick! What did you wear last week on this day?
Eamon- Blue shirt.
Eoin- Blue shirt. Nice. Ok, next question, what was the funniest moment of your life?
Eamon- Well there are so many, so I’m just going to list one. The funniest moment, would have to be, when we scared one of my friends. It was really funny, we got like eight people to help me out on this. We scared her, and she fell to the ground all shocked and stuff, and then we laughed so hard, all eight of us fell down.
Eoin- Nice. Ok. What was the happiest moment of your life, and why?
Eamon- The happiest moment of my life would have to be going to my Junior Prom, because I got to spend so much time with my friends, my date, and it was just a really good time. Dancing with everybody and some great music.
Eoin- Like the Harlem Shake?
Eamon- No, like the Carlton Dance.
For my Electrical Arts Project, I am creating a Super Mario Statue with lights surrounding it. I was introduced to Super Mario at the age of 8, and since then, I was playing Super Mario games every day. When ever I played a game, I would get sucked in, and I wouldn’t be able to stop. The base of my project is actually a Nintendo DS holder, which happens to be Mario. I used to collect Super Mario Plush, and plastic toys to set up in my room, and the DS holder was one of my favorites. Mario has been a big part of my life growing up, and even though I don’t play as much anymore , he will always be important to me.
Taped to Mario's back, there is a 9volt battery, and a switch. There are festive lights around Mario's neck and hands. I carfully cut a section of lights from a big strand of lights. Since there was bare wire, I had to cover it up with electric tape.
