Mikayla Brailsford Public Feed

Quarter 4 Anatomy Benchmark: Teenage Pregnancy.

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Anatomy and Physiology · Aziz · D on
For my final benchmark for the course Biology Human Body, my benchmark was a Public Service Announcement regarding Teen Pregnancy.

The reason why I chose the topic teen pregnancy was because it was the topic we were given to talk about, in addition to the fact that Teen Pregnancy is a public health issue. There are too many teenagers out here that aren't taking the necessary measures to prevent themselves from becoming parents. They have to put their dreams and aspirations on hold because they have to care for a child.

When I reflect upon how I contributed to the project, I contributed quite a lot. I had wrote the majority of the script, and had even starred in the video, as the pregnant girl. The role I played in the group was the organizer and being the person who contacted the different organizations, as I kept all of our information in order, as well as contacting the people we were supposed to email.

I think that overall we did extremely well on the project. Our video came out nice, and we had good interview questions and answers, as well as the fact that our group had a wonderful dynamic. We laughed together, but when it came time to get work done, we got it done. I think that if we could do this project differently, I think we could have started the interview process a lot earlier, as we didn't secure an agency to interview until the last minute, as previous agencies just kept hanging up on us, or sending us to voicemail.

The most meaningful part in creating this PSA for me was the learning aspect of it. From conducting interviews, and doing research I learned that the importance of pregnancy prevention programs are more crucial then they've ever been, and that they should not be defunded by the new administration because then the rates will shoot through the roof, which is ridiculous.

The factors which relate to teen pregnancy are economics, politics, in addition to society. The role that I believe that society plays a role in teen pregnancy because if the environment the teenager is growing up in is surrounded by pregnant teens, then they'll feel compelled to do the same thing, and they have no proper guidance as to why this isn't the way they should go. Politics and economics plays a major role in teenage pregnancy because politicians in the Trump administration are working to defund Planned Parenthood, or reduce funding for other pregnancy prevention places, instead of seeing all of the good that these places offer.

Mikayla Brailsford, Senior Capstone

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Capstone on
​“The Criminal Justice System, and How It Oppresses Black People” is the title of my Senior Capstone. My Senior Capstone is a presentation which walks the viewer through the history of the system, and how we have arrived at the place we are at, at this point in history. The Criminal Justice System is just like any other man-made system, there are flaws as no man can produce something that is perfect. The Criminal Justice System wasn’t created overnight, it was founded in Colonial America, and was created for the time period. As time progressed, the system changed to fit the needs of the time, and throughout my project, you will see how it progressed to fit the times, in addition to how it was created into a system to keep people of color oppressed. 
The Criminal Justice System, and How It Oppresses People of Color.
SeniorCapstoneBibliography.

Earth Day!

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Anatomy and Physiology · Aziz · D on

Mikayla Brailsford

Tasnim Aziz

Biology Human Body

20 April 2017


Part I.

  1. Take notes about the history of Earth Day. Provide a summary of the history of Earth Day.

    1. The inaugural Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd, 1970 which marks the birth of the modern environmental movement. In the 1970s, we were blessed with the last Beatles album, we mourned the death of Jimi Hendrix, and we saw students who were staunch opposers of the Vietnam War. During this time V8 Sedans were being pumped with gas by Americans who had little to no care in the world about what was going on. Air pollution was the smell of prosperity. Nobody cared about the environment, it was just a spelling word, more than it was a major issue. Those who did care about the environment were granted a way to use their voice in a more powerful way. They were given Earth Day. This put Environmental Issues on the frontline, and people were going to have no choice but to listen. In 1969, there was a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California and then-United States Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin proposed for us to have a day to focus on the environment. The idea came from seeing the anti-war movement, and figured that there should at least be a handful of people who care about this issue. If they rally these troops, environmental issues would be pushed onto the frontline. On the inaugural Earth Day, over 20 million Americans were in streets, parks, and auditoriums for peaceful demonstrations for healthy, sustainable environments in massive rallies. There were colleges and universities that organized protests against the deterioration of the environment, and there were groups of people who realized they had similar values.

  2. What organization runs the Earth Day event and why? (i.e. what is the purpose of Earth Day?) What is their role?

    1. The organization which runs the Earth Day event is the Earth Day Network. The Earth Day Network runs the Earth Day event because they want to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. The Earth Day Network’s role in Earth Day is to recruit partners in nearly 195 countries to build environmental democracy, and to get people to participate in Earth Day activities each year. The Earth Day Network works to broaden the definition of “environment”, so that the definition includes issues that affect our health and our communities, to diversify, which means to provide opportunities for civil engagement at local, state, national, and global levels around the world, and to mobilize which means to create programs with partners inside and outside of the environmental movement to take on new challenges.

  3. What stakeholders are involved in Earth Day?

    1. The stakeholders that are involved in Earth Day are Toyota, NASA, UPS,  Southwest, and Connect 4 Climate.

  4. Is Earth Day a public health concern? Why or why not?

    1. Yes, Earth Day is a public health concern, as there are groups of people who gather to discuss their issues in a peaceful way, in hopes of their voices being heard, and something being done about said issues.

  5. How can Earth Day be used to further meet public health needs?

    1. Earth Day can be used to further meet public health needs by continuing to use their voices to fight for what’s right.


Part II.

LINK: https://www.smore.com/mrnbc


Tower Gardens Photo Journal.

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Environmental Science · Aziz · D on
In Environmental Science, as students/explorers, we were encouraged to find our own answers as to why things are the way that they are, and think critically about the conclusions we draw from research.

The course began with us discussing Earth Systems, and Resources. We wanted to not only identify ways that we as humans alter our environment, but try to be more aware of the ecological footprint we leave on this Earth. We talked about how we can make the Earth more sustainable, which still doesn't have a clear and concise answer. We continued the discussion with the topic of environmental justice, and what it means to be environmentally just.

To end the semester, we ended the class by doing a lab which related back to how we can alter the environment by certain factors, and how we can make the Earth more sustainable. The lab consisted of planting our own seeds, taking care of them, and monitoring them on a daily basis, to see if there were certain factors that prevented them from growing as quickly, or factors that enabled them to grow quickly.

The way that we were going to do our garden was in the style of a "Tower Garden". Now, I can be one hundred percent honest and say that before this class, I had never even heard of the term "Tower Garden"; nor seen one or knew how it worked. I can admit that I was ignorant to the world of gardening, but it was only because it never interested me. Tower Gardens, according to their official website are defined as "vertical aeroponic growing systems which allow the gardener to grow up to 20 vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers indoors or outdoors." The topic of being able to grow plants, still didn't interest me, but since it was for a grade, I had to do it. 

My group, which consisted of Samir Smith, Mark Palmer, Savion Cummings, and myself decided that we would plant sweet basil, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and gourmet lettuce. I didn't want to get my hands too dirty, I decided that I would be the organizer of the group, and keep track of the observations, and organize all of the documents.

As you look at the photos from our photo journal, you will see that our plants didn't grow as much as we wanted them to, but it could just be because we either watered them too much, or we didn't water them enough. It also could have been because we planted our seeds at a later date, so we were behind (because of the class schedule). Based on these observations, I do believe that if everyone planted their seeds on the same day, we would all have similar results, or if we all followed the same routine of watering our plants. However, one additional observation that I made was that we could have damaged our soil, or our seeds prior to planting, so that could have had a major impact on the growth.

As I reflect on this project, one thing that I think I could improve upon was keeping track of the temperature inside of the building during the time we were in class, as well as the temperature outside, and took a ruler to measure the growth of the plants. I do think that this was a fun project to do, and I do believe that tower gardens are a more sustainable way of living because the plants aren't altered in anyway, they're one hundred percent organic, and full of pesticides.

I hope that you enjoy the photo journal below, and hope that you get some type of motivation to go start your own!
https://docs.google.com/a/slabeeber.org/document/d/1-3D7VFucAgl0xfjVCaxTlyFqmQksXzG6ipjLSyhQM9c/edit?usp=sharing

Water Pollution.

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Environmental Science · Aziz · D on
  1. ​In Environmental Science, we've talked a lot about Environmental Justice, and what it means to be environmentally just. The definition of environmental justice according to Wikipedia is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. In order for my project to relate back to this topic, I researched different issues that I thought would inspire me to educate the world on, similar to what I did with the Dakota Access Pipeline. I decided that I would discuss an issue with something that I use everyday, which was water. My group and I focused on the Delaware River as it runs through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The issue of water pollution pertained to me because there are people who do activities in this water such as rowing, and the water which contains toxins, and bacteria can splash on them, and then they often will just get in their car with the wet clothes from rowing, and contaminate their car with bacteria, and they're unaware of it.
  2. The members of my group were Keya Ghosh, Samir Smith, and Jenna Cox. The role that I played in the group was the organizer. I helped to keep all of the documents organized, and made sure they were completed in a timely manner, and there were little to no errors. I also made sure that no group member had a bigger part than someone else and that we had enough time to edit the video.
  3. In regards to what we did well, I believe that I did well with organization, and proofreading. I could have done my recordings earlier in time though, because I could only hope that I spoke well enough, and loud enough for the video. I also think that I could have set a dress code so that we all would have been in the video instead of doing a voiceover.
  4. The most meaningful part of the creating the PSA is that I was able to collaborate with a new group of people who have different abilities, as well as learn more about a topic that I would have glossed over in the news. I hope that the right people come in contact with the video my group members and I created, and learn a lot about it. I was also able to incorporate prior knowledge of water issues into the PSA which made it even the more meaningful for me. 

Standing with Standing Rock.

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Environmental Science · Aziz · D on

  1. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a proposed underground oil pipeline, which spans for over 1,134 miles. The Dakota Access Pipeline is controversial because people don’t believe it’s necessary and it can harm the environment. Native Americans have opposed the pipeline, including but not limited to the Meskwaki and Sioux nations. The Dakota Access Pipeline has plans to go through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a Hunkpapa, Lakota and Yanktonai Dakota Native American Reservation. Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a sacred/religious ground for these Native Americans, and if the pipeline is built, it would destroy sites, and items of spiritual significance.

    1. Social Media has people fighting for social justice by creating Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat pages to educate people about the Dakota Access Pipeline, changing their names on Twitter to reflect their stance on the DAPL by changing their names to #NoDAPL, sharing videos to educate their followers, and friends; as well as sharing a petition.

    2. Some of the hashtags people have been using in regards to the Dakota Access Pipeline are #NoDAPL, #NorthDakota, #DAPL, #DakotaAccessPipeline, #StandingRock, #StandWithStandingRock, #HonorTheTreaties, #STOPDAPL, #SacredWater, and #RezpectOurWater.

    3. I believe that Social Media is an effective form of fighting for Social Justice, because the social media sites people are using have huge amounts of users. Twitter has over 320 million users, while Instagram has over 500 million, Facebook has over 1.59 billion, and Snapchat has over 100 million users. These are the biggest social media sites that people can be found using every day. President-Elect Donald Trump is a frequent Twitter user, and so if #NoDAPL, or #DAPL is trending, he could see it along with the petitions, and could intervene in the situation.

    4. Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, according to Wikipedia. When you think of the role that social media plays in environmental justice, let’s take it a step back and think about the role social media plays in social justice. We can look at the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Black Lives Matter is a movement which campaigns in opposition to the innocent killings of African-Americans by police officers. The Black Lives Matter began as a simple hashtag: #BlackLivesMatter and has since grew to something so much bigger. It has lead to chapters being set up, and non-African-Americans joining in on the campaign for better treatment of colored people. Social Media plays an important part in the fight for Environmental Justice because there a certain people who get all of their news from Social Media, and they’re reading the hashtags, and seeing people who are in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline, will inspire them to educate themselves on the issue, as well as join the fight, and spread their knowledge onto other people.

PART II.

  1. The article “Norway’s Largest Bank Sells Assets in Dakota Access Pipeline Company”, is an article that talks about how DNB is in favor of the North Dakota Access Pipeline Company. The DNB has sold over $3.8 billion in assets to help finance the project. When I read that DNB had sold over $3.8 billion to fund the DAPL, I was disappointed because this money could have gone to bigger and better things, but it only goes to prove that people are only interested in getting a bigger payout, which seems like DNB will get that, if the DAPL is built.

    1. After reading that a huge foreign company just invested in the DAPL, I want the Americans to know that we need to fight harder, and we need to continue to spread the word about the DAPL, and what it will do to the religious grounds in North and South Dakota. If we continue to educate people on the negative effects of the DAPL by using social media, and protesting, we will see powerful companies such as Fortune 500 companies, and organizations such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. stand up and donate money, time to protest, etc.


CITATIONS.



"Dakota Access Pipeline." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.


"Standing Rock Indian Reservation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.


"News about #NoDAPL on Twitter." News about #NoDAPL. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.



"Environmental Justice." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Un Viaje a El Salvador

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
Viajar Presentation (1)
Objective
The objective of this project was to plan a 5, 7 and 9 day trip for a couple to go and visit one of the Spanish speaking countries and see the sights. We were assigned partners and my partners were Patience, Haajirah, Alyssa, Radiatou and myself. We picked El Salvador, San Salvador.

Reflection
I felt that this was a good project, we completed the writing part in a reasonable amount of time, and we waited until the day of to record the video. The final product was good, our brochure was just small. I feel as though the grade we received on this project was a great grade and as a group, we worked well together. We had our fun laughs, but when it was time to get down to business, we handled the business. We got the work done.

Final Thoughts
I feel if I could re-do this project, I would only change the size of the brochure so when the next batch of Spanish II students come in, our brochure is one of the best examples they've ever seen, because it shows our hard work. Other than that, it was a fun project, and just like all of the projects in this class, they're very time consuming, and you really need to be comfortable in the material that you're putting down. 

Español II: La Poesía Española.

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
La Poesía Española (2)
Objective
The objective of this project was to not only learn more about Spanish poetry, but to also create our own poetry and feel confident in writing our own poetry. We had to pick a Spanish poet, and write a brief biography on that person in Spanish, and then we had to find a poem that they wrote in Spanish and give our own interpretation of it. Then, using the theme of that poet's poem, we had to create our own.

Reflection
I feel that this was one of my favorite projects, especially because I didn't have to depend on anyone else to do their part. I'm not the best poet, but I wrote from what I've experienced before. I wrote about growing into a mature, young woman and learning how to take responsibility for my actions. I talked about shedding, the old me, who was an immature mess, and then I talked about how it was sad, but then it took a positive turn, because now I feel better. 

Final Thoughts
I thought this project was fun, but just like all of the other projects in Spanish II, they are very time consuming. You need very good time management, but it's always about having fun, and making sure all your Spanish is conjugated correctly, you're using the correct tense, the right form of the verb "to be", and the word matches gender, quantity, and location. 

Español Dos: Las Noticias Benchmark

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
​Objective
The objective of the project was to create a Spanish news cast, which consisted of the following elements. A segment on el clima (weather), la moda (fashion), la salud (health), breaking news, an introduction, a farewell, and transitions. We had to include all of the Spanish 2 segments such as la ropa (clothing),el cuerpo (body), los verbos (presente y pretério) [present and past tense verbs], los sentimientos (feelings/sentiments), el clima (weather), los pronombres (pronouns), conversación básica (basic conversation), adjectivos (adjectives), ser y estar, and preposiciónes (prepositions). 

Reflection On The Project/Group Members
I feel, that this was one of my favorite Spanish 2 projects, because we were able to pick our own partners, so I picked a mix of my friends, and people who I know are hard-working. My project partners were Alicia Nelson, Slay Hadi, Cyrus Foster, and Dess Chimurenga. We all picked our own segments that we wanted to do. The roles are as followed.
Alicia N.:Fashion
Cyrus F.: Anchor
Dess C. Weather
Mikayla B.: Health
Slay H.: Breaking News

I enjoyed working with this group, because we had fun while doing it. It wasn't all work and no play. We had playful and silly arguments, and we cracked a lot of jokes. The one thing, that we shouldn't have done was wait until the last minute to complete the video. We should have finished the dialogue earlier and then have recorded, but not everybody was always at school. We had a partner who finished their dialogue early, but then fell ill and wasn't at school for the majority of the project period. Señorita. Moran, informed us that we didn't have to include the segment, but everything else had to be "bomb". 
To solve the problem of not having a weather video, Alicia and I then decided to create a chart with the 5 day forecast and insert it, into the video so, we could have it, and it would give our video the feel of a real news segment. The city that we covered was Mexico City. The hardest part for me, was finding a health segment, but then I found the Zika disease and I covered that. I didn't enjoy translating everything into Spanish. We wanted to give our video, a kick back feel to it, but at the same time, maintaining a dressy, well polished feel to it. I suggested we add side conversations, which I included in my dialogue.

Final Thoughts
This project, was very time consuming. The one thing, I do suggest to all future Spanish 2 students, is to have excellent time management skills. Don't wait until the last minute to finish dialogue and expect Señorita. Moran to check over it, because the majority of your dialogue will be wrong, and you'll be screwed. But, this project was one of my favorites. 
SpanishBenchmarkLasNoticias

Children's Book

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
For Spanish 2, we were instructed to create a children's book, about a child who was either going to the doctors, went to school and became ill, or a child who woke up sick. I don't have any pictures, or a link to post for this project, because it wasn't completed. If this project would have been completed, I believe that it would have been done well. My partner Vernika and I's topic was going to be about a little girl who went to school, and felt ill. I believe that I would have enjoyed doing it. 

Conversational PowerPoint

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
​For Spanish 2 in quarter 2, we were instructed to work with a partner that Señorita. Moran assigned to us, and create a conversational powerpoint/google slide show covering the 7 topics she gave us. The 7 topics being, Condition v. Characteristics, Location v. Origin, Identification, Time and Date, Time and Date of an Event, Possession and Material, and Opinion. My partner that was assigned to me was Chris. This was my favorite Spanish project to date, because I had fun while doing it. Creating the slides was fun, but recording was stressful because we were trying to find some where to record while not disturbing the report card conferences that were going on. I believe the grade that we received, reflected our honest effort on this project.

[ Link to our project ]

College Interview Project

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
For Spanish 2 in the first quarter, we were instructed to create a mock trial for a college that we would like to do. For my project, my partner Caylin and I did the college that I want to go to, Spelman. I enjoyed doing this project, because I learned new things about my college in researching for the project. If I could do this project differently, I wouldn't have rushed recording the video, because I stumbled over some words, and I didn't speak up as loudly. But, overall I enjoyed this project. 

Dia de los Muertos

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in SPANISH 2 - Moran - C on
For a Spanish 2 project, we were asked to remember the death of a loved one, and then create a sugar skull in their likeness and to then perform a eulogy. However, doing the sugar skull aspect of the project was against my religion. Instead, for my project, I did the eulogy aspect of it. I gave the history of who my Great Grandmother was, and I enjoyed doing it. In reflection, I wish that I wouldn't have waited until the night before to record, because I ran into some difficulties with the site I used. 

[ Link to my project ]

Mikayla Brailsford and Imani Washington (Stop Bullying)

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in TECH (INTRO TO DESIGN MULTIMEDIA) - Hertz - C1 on
​1) Describe your project.
Our project was to create an anti-bullying app. 

2) What did you learn while completing this project?

We learned that this project will require patience. Lots of it. 

3) What was the hardest part about completing this project?

When our stuff was deleted. 

4) What was the most fun/exciting part?

The most fun part was finding the pictures and the statistics.

5) If you were to do this project over again, what would you do differently?

We would have added more pictures and made it more interesting. 


https://robust-loaf-499.webmak.es/app

Mikayla's Blog

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in TECH (INTRO TO DESIGN MULTIMEDIA) - Hertz - C1 on
For my project, I went back and edited my second quarter blog. I added music to play in the background, I added more blog posts, and more photos. 

  1. Describe your project
    For my project, I went back and worked on my second quarter project and added some more details to it. I added music to play in the background while you’re on the site, I added more blog posts and I added a feature where you can subscribe to updates on the blog.

  2. What knowledge did you already have about the project before you started?
    I knew my way around Webs.

  3. What new skill did you want to learn coming into the project?
    How to make it an RSS feed, how to add trackbacks, which enables the user to be notified of a new post being added, embedding videos, have music playing in the background

  4. Did you accomplish the goal of learning this new skill?
    Yes, I did, I couldn’t make it an RSS feed, , or figure out how to add trackbacks.

  5. How do you know you accomplished the goal? If you didn’t accomplish your goal, why do you think that is?
    I accomplished the goal because I showed my project to other people along with the proposal and they said that it looks like I accomplished the goal.

  6. What other skill(s) did you learn along the way?
    None.

  7. What are you most proud of in this project?
    I’m most proud of the outcome.


  8. What would you do differently if you had to do the project over again?

I think that I would have used a different website that has more templates and options.

http://allaboutmemikayla.webs.com/

Quarter 2 Project Statement

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in TECH (INTRO TO DESIGN MULTIMEDIA) - Hertz - C1 on
What was the purpose behind my project? The purpose was for people to find out who I am as a person. Besides the basics that I tell people in school who think they know me, nobody really knows except 2 of my closest best friends. I had hoped to learn how to become a better writer. I did learn how to become a better writer too. I learned how to describe myself in ways that I wasn't sure I knew how to. I feel that my project was successful. I definitely will keep up with writing on my blog because this was actually really fun.  

Link to project - http://allaboutmemikayla.webs.com/

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