For my project, I wanted to help kids with autism better communicate and show their emotions. I did this by working at my mom’s job, Helping Hand Family, by working with the children individually. I would observe their behavior and get to learn all the different ways for things. I would also help teach them how to ask for something even if it’s not through speech. Even pointing to what they wanted was acceptable, as long as they communicated without outbursts or angry gestures.

I am Drew Dunham-Snipes and for my capstone, I wrote a guide on being a student-teacher at SLA Beeber. This guide highlights some of the difficulties of student teaching by addressing solutions to the shared struggle. I compiled these student teaching recommendations by asking fellow TAs for their advice to future student teachers. It includes a couple of defining strategies and acts as a resource to help TAs gain a goal or mission. I learned how much work teaching is and have gained experience of being in the classroom from a teacher’s perspective. I wanted to share that perspective and offer solutions to situations that I have handled successfully. Here is the guide:

In my Capstone project, I took on the role of operating the Ultimate Frisbee Club at the Science Leadership Academy (SLA). The project aimed at nurturing leadership skills and fostering community building through the medium of ultimate frisbee, a sport that uniquely blends athletic skill with principles of fair play and self-officiation. The process involved conducting comprehensive research on leadership theories, team dynamics, and the technicalities of the sport, informed by expert insights, and community-based organizations. Practical execution encompassed regular training sessions, incorporating both frisbee skills and leadership activities, fostering a learning environment that encouraged communication, collective responsibility, and problem-solving. Through this immersive experience, I enhanced my leadership capabilities and gained valuable insights into organizing and managing a community sports club. Additionally, I discovered the power of sports as an effective tool to teach life skills, promote community engagement, and create a supportive and inclusive environment. The project left a positive impact on the SLA community, inspiring students to engage in physical activity while developing leadership skills.

Ola, Brandon, and I developed a capstone project to create a music production course specifically for high school kids. We then went on to real-world FL Studio applications. Through special sessions with guest producers, the course curriculum also introduced students to several musical styles. Our team was able to sustain steady progress in the face of obstacles including equipment failures and schedule constraints thanks to efficient communication and flexible scheduling. We’ve recorded a song and are currently filming a video for its presentation as the Capstone Project comes to a close. We now possess priceless skills like project management, effective communication, and problem-solving thanks to this experience. Despite considerable plan changes, the project’s successful completion highlights our team’s capacity for adaptation.

Our mini-course was designed to provide newcomers and Emerging Multilingual Learners with the abilities they need to succeed academically and thrive in high school. This was created to provide a supportive environment where they can flourish. We recognize that language barriers can present unique challenges, and therefore, we were committed to providing targeted assistance and tutoring in the subjects and classes where students struggle the most. Our goal was to fill up the knowledge and comprehension that new students frequently have when they enroll in high school. Our mini-course is built around giving students the fundamental study skills they need to successfully navigate the high school curriculum. We help students learn essential study skills like time management, note-taking techniques, active reading, and memory improvement. We supported, mentored, and empowered newcomers and emerging multilingual learners to reach their full potential in high school and beyond, and now that our journey has come to an end, our students are prepared for the forthcoming high school years.

For our senior capstone, my partners and I derived inspiration from an earlier skit we created in English class the previous year. Since my partners and I genuinely enjoyed the process of writing performances, we didn’t think twice about writing the next school play.Writing a play was no easy task between having writer’s block, lots of revisions, meetings with Ms. Hare for feedback, having deadlines, picking cast, and rehearsals. The part that required the most work was obviously writing our script, but also making sure the characters depicted what we imagined. We came a long way and gained an experience that we’ve never had before. Personally, what I took away from this project is growing as a writer, but the thing that stuck out to me the most was how much work goes in behind the scenes. My specific task for the play was managing the stage crew, and it taught me that you don’t always need to be in the spotlight to do something great. The objective of my capstone was not only to put on a memorable performance, but to also inspire others to take something that they love, and to share it with other people.

Hello everyone!

For my capstone project, I partnered up with Faith Hauger to create a book review website for the SLAB community called LE LIVRE. Our project seeks to promote a safe space for students to engage in discussions and form connections through their shared love of books. Welcoming students to express their thoughts and opinions freely, leads to an environment of mutual respect and understanding among its users. Encouraging students to build relationships with each other and freely exchange perspectives on the books they read, without fear of judgment. Ultimately, by creating an inclusive space for students to connect and engage, helps promote social and emotional well-being, community building, and fostering a sense of belonging.

In addition to promoting a reading culture, LE LIVRE addresses literacy issues and provides external resources and tools to generate awareness about such matters and promotes effective community engagement. In summary, the website creates a reading culture that promotes lifelong learning, intellectual curiosity, and improvement in literacy skills.

The creation of LE LIVRE along with our book club, has taught us how students interact with a community that encourages them to explore and expand their interests. It taught us the impact and difference that having a community can cause. Which was also our guiding question and main goal for LE LIVRE. We look forward to continuing to foster a love of reading and literature among our peers and we are excited to see how our project will be received by the SLAB community.

For my capstone project, I wanted to do something for the reading community at SLA Beeber. Reading is something that’s solved my boredom, broadened my horizons, and formed connections with others in my community. Knowing the power of reading, I wanted to do a project that would help bring others together who have a shared interest in reading. I paired up with my friend, and fellow book lover, Kaesy Felix. We decided to make a website where people could talk about books with others. Inspired by websites like Reese’s Book Club, Between Two Books, and Belletrist, we’ve created a website where we discuss our favorite books in a variety of genres, our monthly book club picks, and new releases. My favorite section, and the main goal of our website, is the tab where people are able to talk with others about the book of the month. With the use of padlet, we’ve created “walls” where users can add posts. In response to others, people can like and comment, further starting conversations. The general idea of this project was to create a “digital book club” where people don’t need to meet up at the same time, place, etc., and can talk about books and have discussions like we might in person. Honestly, this project has been really fun and interesting for me because I’ve loved being able to talk about the books and being able to use my creative skills to produce a website that looks and functions how we want.

Hello!

For my capstone, me along with Maya Johnson and Alexandria Thompson decided to create our school play from scratch. I took part in directing, writing, and orchestrating the lights. During our time directing the play, I learned more about time management. There is a really tight and strict time schedule to abide by, and it was difficult at times to achieve those time goals, especially during the writing phase. One of the most exciting parts of the project was writing the script. Writing all the twists and events was a major brainstorm of creativity. There were times where writer’s block came, and we couldn’t come up with anything for days. However, when we saw our script being performed, we couldn’t help being so proud of everything we accomplished. Not just us, but our actors who did marvelously. Our main goals in our play were to create something for everyone to enjoy and to allow the actors to feel free in incorporating their thoughts into the play. In the end, our play came out to be amazing.