For my capstone project I decided to teach an art mini course after school on Wednesdays. Every Wednesday I prepared a lesson plan for the freshman and taught them, not how to draw, but how to appreciate the art they made. I bought basic supplies like markers and paper and we would sit down and free draw on most days. This gave the students an opportunity to express themselves and share that with the rest of the class without being judged.

There were two reasons why I decided to teach a mini course. The first one was because I wanted to learn about teaching and get the experience of what it would be like to teach a class. Secondly I wanted to design an art class that wasn't traditional. Instead of teaching students basic techniques like how to shade a circle, my goal was to teach them how to appreciate the work that they created.

The video below was made to publicize an underrated issue, CSX crude oil trains running through PA. Most people, including myself, are unaware that these oil trains are passing through our state and to most that might not seem like a problem. However, there have been several reports of these trains derailing which leads to dangerous oil spills and could harm a lot of civilians. Pennsylvania is the not the only state where these trains pass through, but the reason it's an issue specifically for citizens of PA is because of the fact that we don't have any laws protecting the trains or the people living near the tracks. The reason I chose to do this topic is because as a citizen of PA I think it is important for not only our health and safety but as a community that we have the resources and capability to immediately take action if a train is at risk of derailing or does derail.

People are using social media to fight for social justice in this particular situation by providing updates as well as information. However according to Michael Bennet in the article “Cohn, Michael Bennett. "The Dakota Access Pipeline Protectors Won't Give up." Newsweek. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.” New reports and social media told two different stories. A popular hashtag they have been using on twitter is #dakotaaccesspipeline. Considering many people use social media it is a very good method of action going into this. But if you mean methods they are using to solve this issue a very good method they are using is their protesting. Although the protesting has been getting a little violent it has still been getting the point across and spreading awareness on this issue. Social media plays a huge part in environmental justice in this issue. I took a look at the twitter hashtag and it looks like social media is bringing for people together for this issue. Social media also got people who are well known also involved. This is getting justice for an environmental issue. A way to improve their strategy is by trying to stay away from the violence part of things. I understand protesting and getting your point across in social media. But when it comes to things like rioting, that just makes it worse.

In this article they were a lot more logical. They broke down the pros and cons to each option they had dealing with this Dakota Access Pipeline. In my opinion I actually agree with this article. It is discussing how we can help/address the issue but it is also being logical about it. American people and the government can help the environment in many ways. You can help the environment is by reducing how much food you waste. This may not sound like much of a big deal but food waste is really bad for the environment. 40% of the food in the United States is wasted, when this food could be filling up 1 billion of the people starving in America, it is instead too busy filling up landfills and eventually turns into to methane. The solution to this issue is quite obvious. Just don’t bite more than you can chew, and try not to waste food.