Since I came in the middle of the senior year I did not have enough time to make my project as extravagant like other, but I did something I enjoy. For my capstone, I designed a pair of sneakers, for the process I had to purchase the shoe. There are other materials you need but I had already had them at home from other shoes for an example, the masking tape, the paint, and also an airbrush machine. After I got the design I wanted to put on the shoe, I start masking of the shoe which means putting tape on the areas I don't want the paint to get on. Next, I start to spray on the shoe, after I put the first coating on it I let it dry then put on another so there won’t be places on the shoe without paint. When I put enough layers on the shoe and let it dry I pull the tape to see if there are spots that got paint where there wasn’t suppose to be. If there is I get a cotton ball and put acetone on it and you apply it to the spot that was messed up. Finally, when I am finished I apply a layer of concealer on the shoe which prevents the paint from getting scratched off. When I finished my project I learned that this allows my to relieve stress and do something productive that helps express myself.

An efficient peer to peer mentor ship program is something that is very challenging to organize. Unfortunately I learned this the hard way, over the course of the nine months which I had to organize my very own peer to peer mentor ship program. Sadly the mentor ship program which I have organised with only two members who were actually fully able to participate isn’t what I expected it to become. All the beneficial principles still apply to the outcome of an efficient peer to peer mentor ship program, members both mentees and mentors of program still develop communication and self advocacy skills. However the approach we take to starting the program can ultimately determine its consistency and success. In other words the program I organised tended to have a majority of senior upperclassman participating as mentors, which was ideal at the time because these students had the most high school experience. However high school seniors at Science Leadership Academy At Beeber tend to have a full plate with applying to colleges, working on their capstone projects, and just keeping up with the usual load of school work they have. So I found that not many mentors had the time to meet weekly with their mentees. Another issue was that the way I started the program; it could have been much better in terms of the process in choosing mentors and mentees to participate. Originally mentors would have to go through mentor training to have a mentee but including this within the program is almost another program interior on its own. That being said organizing both these things at the same time made it more difficult to make sure both aspects were running efficiently. Lastly when I was organizing this program I had two mentors, but I still couldn’t organize all these things by myself in time to start the program early on in the year. Starting the program early on in the year is probably another major aspect of an efficient mentor ship program, this way mentors and mentees can get to know each other throughout the year not half way through it. The reason I was unable to start the program like this is because I had to first organize everything on my own, if I were to start over I would work on this during the summer leading up to the school year.

For my project as my final capstone, I have decided to use what I love and share it with my peers. I have decided to teach volleyball to my peers. Since I am very familiar with the sport and what it is you need to do to play it, I thought this would be perfect to teach to people who might not know how to play. Although only a few people were interested they still learned a lot. This process wasn’t very hard being as though I knew what is was I wanted to teach. Before I decided on coaching a volleyball class. I picked a completely different project but I wasn’t very contempt with it so at the last minute I changed it. I have played volleyball since sixth grade. I played/started all four years in high school. I was appointed captain in twelfth grade. Since I was captain I have learned that I am a strong leader so it wasn’t going to be hard to teach an inexperienced group of people the beautiful game of volleyball. After the practice, I have asked my classmates if they have a better understanding of how to play and they all said yes. This was my main goal. I thought it was going to be tricky for them to learn, but they actually picked it up pretty fast. Being as though I only had a day to teach them they performed well and to the best of their ability. The main thing I have learned through this short journey is anybody can learn a skill if the teacher teaches it thoroughly and correctly. Also, I learned that you must be patient and not yell if they do not get it because it does take time.