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.

What do you enjoy doing? This question is what the principal, teachers, and students asked me when I was told about the senior capstone project. At the time I had no clue, I was nervous because I came to this new school that was in a different state and I enrolled in the middle of senior year. Also, this was my first time being at a school that had a senior exit project, so this even made me feel more nervous. Then I really started thinking and I remembered that I love sneakers. I came up with doing a custom on a pair of sneakers. My love sneakers began in the fifth grade when my best friend and I had on the same shoe, but different colors. We started arguing about which one was the nicest. Our rivalry continued into middle school where we competed on who shoe was the nicest and who had the most. I believe we loved the shoe so much because it allowed us to express yourself and show who we truly are. That is why I chose this as my capstone because I will be able to truly express myself, which is SLA’s core values. SLA has five core values, they are an inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. My capstone fits the core values because I had to review and analyze the project I chose, then I had collaborated with my friends to get a couple of their opinions about the design. Now I have finished my powerpoint all I have to do is present it then reflect on it. To do a custom on a pair of shoes there are a couple of steps you need to do. The first thing you need to do is get the pair of shoes you are going to design on. I like to do shoes that are all white or black because those are the easiest to paint on and also the design shows up better. If the shoe you chose is worn, you will need to clean it and then put a little bit of acetone on a cotton ball and wipe the shoe with it. This will remove all the dirt that was on the shoe so the paint would stay on better and ultimately look better. Next, you’ll have to come up with the design and the colors you’ll want to paint with. The paint has to be specifically for sneakers or you will ruin your whole shoe. The paint I use is Angelus, which is the best paint for sneakers. Also, you will need masking tape to cover up parts of the shoe you don’t want to paint or paint to get on. After you have done all of this you are ready to paint your shoes. You can use just a paint brush, but I have an airbrush machine that sprays on the paint. Also, it helps keep the paint even all around the shoes and it is faster. When you have finished painting you have to let the paint dry after the paint has dried you can put multiple layers of paint on it to prevent to paint from peeling or scratching off. Lastly, when you have finish painting and the shoe has dried, all you have to do is spray a layer on the concealer on it. This keeps the paint from messing up when you wear them. For an example if you step in a puddle or if someone accidentally steps on your shoes. I had face a couple of obstacles while trying to do my project. Since I had just moved to Philadelphia I didn’t have all of my tools I need to do my shoe. I had to wait for when I was able to go back to North Carolina to get the rest of my materials. I had many resources I used during this process like the paint, tape, and the other materials to do the shoe. Also had many friends and family members help me throughout the process by giving me ideas and also supporting me. The thing I am most proud of about my capstone is actually getting it done. I work pretty hard on doing shoes for my capstone so to be able to say I am done feels really good. Also, I'm happy with the way my shoes looked when I was finished. I learned that hard work does payoff at the end and also that I need to become more organized. If I could do the capstone over again I would change my approach completely. I have a small Instagram/Facebook business where I resale shoes. I would collect sneakers that I would give away to people that are in need of them. I feel like this would leave a bigger impact on people and represent SLA better. I feel SLA is a better place because I was a student here because I built bonds with people and teachers making SLA a place people are happy to go to.

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.