During the years 2021-2022, I created my own very planet. I came up with every single detail of it. Including the name of the planet, what color it is, what is on the planet, etc. I did this because it plays into the whole “mystery of the unknown” type deal. The planet I create might not be far off from a planet that we have no idea about beyond what we can observe. I decided to do this because wanted to give my peers an example of how your imagination is capable of being a reality. My Planet is named ‘Astra’ which is a Latin phrase for ‘To the Stars”. I picked this because as you move around my planet, you get certain gleams depending on where you turn it in sunlight. The colors I have chosen are Black, Magenta, Pink, and Blue. Pink/Magenta firstly states that the planet rises to temperatures of 460 degrees! This intense heat, causes the planet to glow this instance of Pink and Magenta. Blue mainly plays into the abundance of water you find on the planet. So what do you get with hot temperatures and water? Air masses. They’re huge atmospheric volumes with specific humidity characteristics. In other words, Water vapor. The air on my planet is considered moist and humid. To further pull together my planet, I used the “Unobservable Universe” as my example. We don’t know what lies beyond what we CAN observe. This gives us the ongoing thought of ‘Who or What is out there?’ I want to show my peers that quite literally anything is possible. It might not be in this lifetime, planet, or dimension, but what I want to get at is that it CAN exist or IS existing somewhere.

My capstone was the yearbook for the class and school year of 21-22. The picture that I linked below was the cover that I designed for the yearbook as our theme is Netflix. In addition to working on the design of the yearbook itself, I have also organized photo days, collecting photos and information. The yearbook committee started by collecting pictures and working on getting information from the class of 22’. We all had a role and I was working on organizing all of it. I feel that I have learned so much about myself as a student, a creator, and a worker. Balance has been something that I have worked to improve during this project as a quality that is important as I am working on making a book and still finishing my schoolwork. Another thing that I have had to work on is control. I have a sense of wanting things to be perfect especially when I have a lot of responsibilities involved in the project, my want for perfection kicks in. Having control but not using it to the extent of perfecting every single little detail is something that I have had to work on, and keep a sense of balance. This project has been important to me because it is something to commemorate the class of 22. The class that was the first to come back from covid. A class that deserves a book of memories.

Hello, My name is Damien DiGiacomo, and I, along with Kasim Divers have done something amazing. We started project plants in classrooms. This project allows us to Help put plants in various classrooms throughout the school. We committed to doing extensive research on how plants can affect the classroom and how it operates in different ways. One study we found suggests that students actually pay attention better when plants are present in classrooms. A year-long study at The Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester, England, found that students demonstrate 70% greater attentiveness when they’re taught in rooms containing plants. The focused and more attentive students showed to perform better on tests and even retain information slightly better. The way we went about this project was first we consulted a teacher from school and then we proceeded to go out and buy all the necessary materials to complete the process. We intended to grow the plants ourselves at first but this would have taken quite a while. So instead we decided to buy some partially grown plants and then grow them a bit ourselves before handing them out. All the teachers who received plants seemed to be very happy to have them. This whole project has been a fun experience for us, we hope that project plants in classrooms will help all the students to come after us.

Hello, My name is Kasim Divers, and I along with Damian Digiacamo have done something amazing. We started project plants in classrooms. This project allows us to Help put plants in various classrooms throughout the school. We committed to doing extensive research on how plants can affect the classroom and how it operates in different ways. One study we found suggests that students actually pay attention better when plants are present in classrooms. A year-long study at The Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester, England, found that students demonstrate 70% greater attentiveness when they’re taught in rooms containing plants. The focused and more attentive students showed to perform better on tests and even retain information slightly better. The way we went about this project was first we consulted a teacher from school and then we proceeded to go out and buy all the necessary materials to complete the process. We intended to grow the plants ourselves at first but this would have taken quite a while. So instead we decided to buy some partially grown plants and then grow them a bit ourselves before handing them out. All the teachers who received plants seemed to be very happy to have them . This whole project has been a fun experience for us, we hope that project plants in classrooms will help all the students to come after us.

Hi, my name is Sahiba Saini and I am class of 2022. For my capstone, I decided to make an information website about the 2020-2021 Farmers Protest. I chose to do my capstone on this topic as it is very relevant to me, my community, and society. As the only Punjabi who is a part of the Sikh community, in the SLA student and staff body, I believe it is my responsibility to share and spread awareness about the issues taking place in Punjab, India. Over the year and a half, I have been constantly gathering information to put together and upload to the website. I want this website to be a platform where anyone can learn about the Farmers Protest, which also happens to be the largest protest in history. I have gathered information from primary and secondary sources to make sure I display the most accurate information I can while giving credit where it’s due. The website includes everything from the start of the protest to the middle and the end. From this process, I have been able to learn and apply many important skills such as time management, research, and communications. I used these skills to create a website that is easily accessible and easy to guide through. After months on this capstone, I’m proud to finish and publish my very own website about an issue I care deeply about.

For my Capstone, I decided to create a website. This website came from when I was struggling with thinking of what I should do for this project, which lead me to constantly change my mind and procrastinate. I set up this website to help students or anyone, in general, to calm down and take a deep breath from the struggles that they are currently facing in their lives. I just hope that this website helps people the way it helps me being on it and that people know that it is okay to take a break in life.

Website link: https://gforte22.wixsite.com/my-site-1

For my capstone, I want the students to have a fulfilling experience before entering high school. Many schools nowadays are just repeatedly teaching the students what would help them in the future when in reality it is a waste of time. But not engineering. By learning about engineering you are teaching yourself with the help of others. In the engineering curriculum, you are learning how to think out of the box, strategy on math or writing skills, and most importantly teamwork. Teamwork is a big thing in engineering and any field you put your mind to. With my experience for the four years that I have been hand-selected to be in CTE at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, I have learned the importance of knowing what you want and learning how to do it without feeling stress over something that can or may affect the input before the situation ever occurs. I am teaching my students that with the skills from being in a field like Engineering you can know and be hands-on with everything. I feel you are more likely to be drawn into something if can do it yourself and be proud of what made seem like a lot. For the last couple of weeks, I want to have a clear understanding of what engineering is and what it could do in the present time; because we are living in a world full of engineers changing and trying to make the best of what we have. Now was it an easy process? No, but it was a great experience.

For my final project at SLA, I chose to expand upon an activity that I have been doing for the past four years, which is playing the piano. However, this year I wanted to do something more than just “playing the piano”. I wanted to truly capture the essence of utilizing music to augment our school’s atmosphere. I foresaw this through playing instruments throughout the school during transitional timeframes, such as lunch. I would play the grand piano at the entrance of the school and have students gather around and chill. Additionally, I would play my guitar or ukulele and fill the school hallways with music as students would walk by and listen. I also used my music to fulfill the creative aspects of class projects. Furthermore, I participated in the school play by being the music scorer. In the process of executing my capstone project, I feel as though I learned that music is one of the most essential methods for creating a sense of harmony within a community.

https://youtube.com/shorts/GUeJJuTVQrc?feature=share

For my Capstone, I partnered with Victoria Williams to learn how to use the Computer numerical control (CNC) machine. In more simple terms, a CNC is like a laser cutter mixed with a 3D printer. My partner and I first began with the basics by researching and learning the machine. Once we were comfortable and aware of how to properly use the CNC, we started working on random projects, then individual projects. Finally, we sent out a survey to the whole school to fill out, asking them what they would like us all to make. With the responses, we were able to make plenty of things for the students in our school.

For our last and final project for our Senior year, Gabriel and I decided to handcraft a wooden bench. The reason we chose to do this is that we wanted to put our CTE and Engineering skills to use and create something that would leave behind our senior class’ legacy. Throughout our process, we did come across many challenges when it came to measurements and making sure our materials were fitting. Nevertheless, we were able to complete our main task.

Additionally, even though we did not get to paint over the bench and have all the seniors sign it as we originally planned, we were still able to sign it ourselves. That way, even when we leave, the school will still carry a piece of us.