Capstone — Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber

Ethan Berlenbach Game Design Capstone

Posted by Ethan Berlenbach in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 4:17 pm

Game Design Mini-Course

For my capstone project I decided to lead a Mini-Course at our school teaching 9th graders about game design. The reason I wanted to do this project is because I aspire to become a teacher. The class was held every Wednesday not only this year but also last year when I was leading the class as part of the ILP program. Every week I worked with my partner Austin, who was helping me run the class as part of his capstone. The goal of the class was to get th 8-16 freshmen depending on which session it was, to learn the basics of game design and be able to transform those skills into a miniature game We wrote and revised lesson plans in order to teach the class and had to make adjustments as time went on. We had to do often enough because there were many challenges with supplies and technological issues we faced. Overall, I learned a lot about what it means to be a teacher and the challenges teachers face.

Link to the lesson plans:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MEE-Upix56gwOSpXPh9FYoNsmzla-AAjhaB8RrcjJQk/pub

Link to Annotated Bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qhMTwTRreOlAiqLKVcZiRmA-urnOBgmdFBDF4u7y3Ic/edit?usp=sharing

Brodie Bauman Capstone

Posted by Broderick Bauman in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 3:52 pm

For my capstone, I assisted in designing sensors for Tiny WPA and Public Workshop, the organizations I have been working with for the past three years. The sensors would gather use data on the finished projects from Tiny WPA and Public Workshop. The data we get from the sensors would show us how people use the things we build so that we can improve the design later, and we can also use the data to show that the projects are actually being used and that the money the funders have given us isn't being wasted. During the project I learned the basic concepts of coding and electronics, the principals of data gathering and analysis, and sensor design and manufacturing techniques. I would meet with either Mr. Pilla or another guy Gabe who are both engineers and they would act as teachers, showing us how to do the things we needed to do and pushing us in the right direction to help move the project along. The product of this project is a basic sensor kit which will allow us to gather data on pretty much any project we build in the future, with an instruction book so that other people can replicate the sensors and the installation in the future.

Hector Tapia and Clay Lumintang Capstone

Posted by Hector Tapia in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 3:41 pm

Our names are Hector Tapia and Ekkleysia Lumintang. We are seniors at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber High School. For our last year in high school we are assigned a project called a capstone. A project that can be about anything, and possibly influence the world in some way. We have realized that there has been many signs of poverty and people without homes all around Philadelphia. This made us ask a a question "what can we do as student with a voice, to help give and contribute to this community." So we decided to take advantage of this project and use it to help show awareness of the the people struggling everyday, living on the streets hungry, and in need of help.

Arroberts922. "Homelessness in Philadelphia." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Jan. 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0_PcHS5_gs>.

This source provides information about the perspective of different residents of philadelphia regarding the homelessness that is going on in their city. We selected this source because it provides some ideas on how the style of the documentary can be made. It also helps me with trying to figure out what types of questions we should be researching, and even figure out where the direction of my project will lead to. One limitation to this source is the fact that it does not reflect the vision we have for this project, and seems like any other typical documentary when you just interview random people. It is not necessarily as successful at catching attention as we would like for our documentary to be.

"Facts on Homelessness." Project HOME. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <https://projecthome.org/about/facts-homelessness>.

This source provides information about the statistics of the amount of homelessness in Philadelphia. This is very helpful due to the fact that I am trying to spread awareness of the amount of homelessness in Philadelphia, and how everyone has different reasons for why they are in the position they are in. It isn’t just single homeless people, but in some cases there are families that are stuck having to live in their car, or sleeping on the train, or even at the train station. This website covers a lot of information including the circumstances that the majority of the homeless are in. One limitation of this source is that it is only estimates of the amount of homeless. So the number could have risen, or fallen during the time this information has been released.

Blt189. "Down and out (Homeless in Philly)." YouTube. YouTube, 18 Aug. 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op2Bq6cNU5g>.

This source provides a bit of information during the introduction in regards to facts on homelessness in Philadelphia. Except this video was made in 2011, and I am not sure if this is an accurate source. The main thing that I am able to get out of this source is being able to get a look on the director’s idea, and how he came across on trying to make this type of documentary. There are some things I liked about what he did, and there are some things I did not like. When making the documentary I will be sure to copy the things that I do, and avoid making the same mistakes he committed when editing/shooting the video.

4. Lattanzio, Morgan Zalot Vince. "Fighting for a Place to Call Home: The Silent Epidemic of Youth Homelessness." NBC 10 Philadelphia. NBC 10 Philadelphia, 07 Feb. 2017. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Fighting-for-a-Home-The-Silent-Epidemic-of-Youth-Homelessness-332250942.html>.

This source provides information specifically on the youth that struggle with being homeless in the streets of Philadelphia. The article not only provides statistics on what the homeless youth would typically do if they had no where to stay, but 5 different interviews on the lives of 5 homeless young people. I found this source useful because it is definitely the source that has come closest to being able to accomplish what I have in my mind/my vision for the documentary.

5. | , Jared Brey. "Philly to Focus Outreach to Homeless on Center City "Hotspots"." Philadelphia Magazine. N.p., 18 May 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2016/05/16/philadelphia-homeless-center-city/>.

This source provides information about what the city of Philadelphia has tried to do in regards to the amount of homelessness. It brings up how the Jim Kenney administration had a plan to help get the homeless off the streets. Except the thing that is wrong with this article is that it was written on May 16, 2016. In about 3 months it would be a year since the article was made. Reading this article it made me feel like instead of fixing the homeless problem it has just been swept under the carpet. Instead of finding homes, and shelters, the homeless are just straight up being pushed out of our city.

6. "Homeless Advocacy Project - Free legal help for homeless individuals and families." Homeless Advocacy Project - Free legal help for homeless individuals and families. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.homelessadvocacyproject.org/>.

This source provides information about an organization that helps out the homeless. I don’t want to just present the problem in the documentary, but be able to provide somewhat of a solution. If I am able to get at least one person’s sympathy, and get at least one person wondering on how they could help the cause, I have achieved my goal. It is for that one person that I would include this source. The only problem though is that this source does not focus in Philly, because it is a pretty big organization that covers more than just Philadelphia.

7."7 things you should know about homelessness in Philly." Generocity Philly. N.p., 13 June 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://generocity.org/philly/2016/05/24/homelessness-facts-poverty-youth-government/>.

This source provides information about 7 facts on the homelessness in Philadelphia. It mentions topics that I didn’t even think to look at. Such as how in the LGBTQ community there is a major problem in regards to the youth that are left homeless. This is definitely a topic I would like to touch upon because of how popular the Gay rights movement has been. So to intertwine the 2 topics would be a nice way to look at homelessness from a whole new perspective.

8. "HomelessShelterDirectory." Philadelphia Homeless Shelters and Services - philadelphia PA Homeless Shelters - philadelphia Pennsylvania Homeless Shelters. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/cgi-bin/id/city.cgi?city=philadelphia&state=PA>.

This source provides information on the amount of shelters that there are in Philadelphia, as well as their location. The reason I would like to search for information like this is because I don’t want to just interview the homeless, but be able to provide at least a little help by providing them with information on what they can do to help themselves. Hopefully this would influence others to do the same, and simply help out the homeless by providing simple information.

9. https://www.nlchp.org/documents/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet

This source provides information about the laws regarding homelessness, and poverty in the nation. As I read through the source it seems very professional, and reliable. It provides details on homelessness going way back. Finding this source makes me want to branch out more towards spreading information that is national, and not just talk about the city of Philadelphia, because although it is a situation in Philadelphia it does affect the rest of the nation as well.

10. "Philadelphia unveils new, proactive outreach program for homeless." PhillyVoice. N.p., 16 May 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.phillyvoice.com/philadelphia-unveils-new-outreach-program-homeless/>.

This article explains that there is apparently a new outreach program created by the city of Philadelphia. It talks about the story of a man they helped, and although he claimed to be homeless it had turned out he could return home whenever he pleased. This is another point I would like to bring out. Most of the time it is the fault of the person themself that they are in that position. Except that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve help. A limitation to this source is that it is from last year on May 16. It is unknown of any other cases in which they were able to help anyone out from this year. So I can not necessarily say this is a successful Philadelphia program.

Gabriel Boykin Capstone

Posted by Gabriel Boykin in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 2:07 pm

For my capstone I created a little podcast talkshow with a fellow peer of mine, Lucia. Although only 5 episodes, we tried our best to cover a variety of different topics. In my head I wanted to make almost 30 different “episodes” but clearly that’s not the case since we only made 5. Something I learned from this process is that people come from many different backgrounds. We all have different stories and many perspectives in our day to day life. No two people are the same and no matter whether they have the same race, religion, or sexual orientation, we all see the world different. I also learned that time management is very important. I was not able to manage my time well enough to get the amount of episodes out there that I wanted but I would actually lie to continue this sometime in the future.

Yaseen Thomas Capstone

Posted by Yaseen Thomas in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 1:49 pm

Teaching Charley to reach for the barbell focusing on pulling and kicking techniques

Kieley, and Ezra working on flutter kick with flotation devises.

Kieley, working on her reaching skills (Week one she wouldn't even get in the water)

The Serpents Swim Team have been apart of my life since I have been about five years old. The West Philadelphia YMCA located on 52nd and Chestnut streets has been a part of my life, and a root to every branch I was able to acquire in my existence. My responsibility is to keep the cycle going and teach these young children the skills I acquired during my 13 years of commitment to this team.

Over eight weeks I held half hour classes on Monday’s and Wednesday's from 4-8 strictly dealing with devoting children to gain confidence in the water and build swimming skills. Over the eight weeks I have seen direct improvement in my swimmers. I teach ages from 4 to about 8 from the basics of swimming to the point where I am eventually moving them onto the swim team.

Towards the end of the session, around 95% of the students move on and are able to feel confident enough to be in the water. One thing I learned is it is very interesting dealing with little kids.The main thing I realized is no matter what you can make a difference in someone's life. It amuses me the type of good feedback I receive from their parents, and all I can do is thank my strong mentor system that taught me everything I know so I can relay it to the next child. Maybe some day they will be doing the same thing. Who knows.

Senior Capstone

Posted by Kevin Williams in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 12:35 pm

Kevin Williams Final Capstone Submission Mr.Zeller May 12 2017 “Kev Da Barber” (Barber name) https://www.wevideo.com/view/92221302 How does someone's haircut relate to their identity? In an article from Today’s News some Hair Experts says your hair tells a lot about who you are. The article stated that Straight hair is more conservative and Curly hair was more casual. Everyone’s hair style means different things. A person may be wearing a certain hair style for one reason, and I’m wearing my hair style like the way it is for my own reasons. Everyone hairs tells a story about who you are and where you come from. Everyone hair is able to do different things as some other hair textures may not allow you to do. You have may have spikey, curly, puffy, nappy, straight, short, long hair, etc but it’s all about having your own style and wearing what makes you the most comfortable. Everyone should know the style they like their hair to be. A lot of people decide to wear their hair to fit in with the trends that's out right now. That never was the case for me. I always was the kid that wanted to be different. I remember being the only kid in elementary school to have a fade with a part on the side. My hair cuts defined who I was growing up, I was the kid that wanted to be different. Everyone’s should sense a more confident self when you get your haircut or hair done. Different Hair textures allow for you to wear different hairstyles because they don't always go good with each other. It would be extremely difficult for a person with spiky straight hair to try to get a fly wavy hair pattern. All hair is different and you have decide how to wear your hair that best fits YOU! Bibliography Serico, Chris. "What does your hair say about you? The message your style is sending." TODAY.com. TODAY, 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 May 2017.

On The Inside

Posted by Autumn Green in Capstone on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:49 am

For our Senior Capstone my partner(Aaliyah Cooper) and I (Autumn Green) wanted to write a book. This book wasn’t an ordinary book, about being in love, or a fantasy life. This book was about the struggles of a teenager in her middle through high school. Somebody who looks just like everyone else, but has a different story to tell. Through this long process of creating a book Aaliyah the writer who can up with the topics on the stories she want to tell and me well I was the co-writer and editor. When writing this book we needed to do a lot of collaborating which wasn’t so hard because we have been do it the past four years. Writing this book made us better writers and we learned how to tell a good story. When writing this book, we took our time in making sure what we wrote was worth reading and in our case worth telling.

https://docs.google.com/a/slabeeber.org/document/d/1LzPEGtiaTAvQuD12w6gGm4AL1CiryjNjJu_JufT7Ogo/edit?usp=sharing

Eliza Meketon's Capstone

Posted by Eliza Meketon in Capstone on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 10:52 am

Abstract

For my capstone project, I really wanted to create something that would have a lasting impact on the SLA@Beeber community, even after I have left it. So after a lot of intense trial and error, I decided that my final capstone project would be a mentorship program between the SLA@Beeber High School and SLA Middle School. This entailed several high school students ranging from freshmen all the way to seniors going every wednesday to the middle school which like our school is very new and currently only has one class of fifth graders. I not only created and organized this program throughout the year, but I also mentored one of the middle school students. This program started up in February and took place every wednesday. The mentors and mentees were able to create and sustain a supportive and trusting relationship with one another This helped the mentors later in the program when working on improving the mentees social and academic skills, which were in need of repair given their lack of experience with the SLA Model and its core values. The mentors were also asked to fill out a journal entry and questionnaire about what they did each session.The end product was a video compilation that includes interviews from the mentees and mentors, as well as pictures taken throughout the program. I have also created a guide book for anyone who would like to take this program over next year.

(This program also acted as mini course and internship.)

Core Values Utilized In My Senior

Capstone Project:

Inquiry:

-Does peer mediation cut back on student on student confrontation?

-How do students respond to student mentors rather than adult ones?

-Do students feel uncomfortable relaying their problems with authority figures?

-How much does student voice matter school authorities?

Research:

-Mediation and mentorship skills

-Ways to create a successful team and legacy program

Collaboration:

-Work with JT to see if our programs can cross paths at any point

-Work with Ms. Lawson to solve problems

-Teachers at SLA Middle School (Ms. Ironside)

-Get outside leaders of college or after school mentorship programs to teach our student mentors

Presentation:

-A physical and electronic instruction manual/guide book for how to successfully run the student mentorship/peer mediation program to represent my reflection for what worked and what didn’t work throughout the project.

-A reflective essay on my experiences throughout the year as well as a collection of organized notes taken every mentorship session to chart my progress throughout the year.

UPDATE

-Over the course of this capstone, I had come to realize that the best way to depict my project’s successes as well as its defeats, was to create a video with testimonials from both mentors and mentees. This will replace the reflective essay and subsequent notes.

Reflection:

During the course of this capstone I realized that when you are starting a project like this with the intention of making it last after you are gone, there is going to be a lot of mistakes made. I for one can say that I probably did more things wrong than right in the very beginning. In the end though I think that both the mentees and mentors felt as though they got something significant out of the program and will treasure the experience for a very long time.

Annotative Bibliography:

Eric Johnson Capstone

Posted by Eric Johnson in Capstone on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 7:18 pm

For my Capstone I helped my brother Gordon replace his old engine. He spray painted the new engine, orange and the old one, blue. First, we lifted his car with a jack and put a jack stand under it to keep it up. We took his old engine out and removed the belt tensioner, clutch plates, sensors, spark plugs, and wires. We then applied those to the new engine. Once we did that he spray painted the newly applied parts on the new engine silver.

I also helped my uncle Gene remove tires and check the brakes. He taught me how to lift a car with a jack and the difference between jacks. He told me if I didn't get the jack under the frame of the car I car bend the cars exterior. He taught me the uses of a mat, he told me it was my "best friend." I remove the door frame of a car to fix the windows.

I had fun working with my brother and uncle. Both my uncle and my brother are machinists and thought it would be great for me to learn about cars. They were eager to teach me about cars and my uncle kept me working because it wanted me to fix my own cars. My research question was "Which part of an engine is the most important?" I found that there isn't one particular part that is important to a car's engine. in fact there are 16 different parts of an engine that are important. They correspond and help each other, they all play a big part in the function of an engine.

Mikayla Brailsford, Senior Capstone

Posted by Mikayla Brailsford in Capstone on Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 6:04 pm

“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.

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