For my capstone project, I designed and executed a community mural in the school ballroom, inspired by Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. The process involved significant inquiry with school artists to understand mural design, extensive research into materials and painting techniques, and collaboration with Mural Arts for funding. Initially, I explored STEM and language-based projects, then a Moroccan zellige tile mosaic, before settling on the mural due to funding constraints. The final product features a tree with a trunk painted by me and leaves representing various school communities. This project taught me the importance of adaptability, the practicalities of large-scale art production, and the power of community engagement. Reflection throughout the process allowed me to refine my vision and ensure the mural resonated with its intended audience. Ultimately, this capstone demonstrates the application of SLA’s core values in overcoming challenges to create a lasting, community-centered piece of art.

In an effort to bring my neighborhood together and promote sustainable living, I transformed my front yard into a thriving community flower garden. Through the process, I learned the importance of planning, patience, and research. I learned a lot, not just about gardening but also about organization and challenging myself. I did a lot of research, and I even taught someone about the process of planting as it was happening. It wasn’t easy, but being able to teach myself something I had never done before was both fun and grueling. I spent hours of every week maintaining my flowers and teaching others about how gardening worked and how my process had been going so far. I am very proud of how far my garden has come, here are some picture of my before and (almost) after! The final result will be shown in my presentation!

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C-GDvB3fA4ZylxEl0Jfpd21TF7oi6OimuIG99l6XP7Q/edit?usp=drivesdk

This is the current version of my capstone project. Its purpose would have been to prevent the user from entering unwanted websites until its hour-long timer finishes. In its current state, it is only missing the ability to block websites, and it has not been turned into an extension. It has been fun messing around with the code, and I plan on adding more to it later on. If you have any ideas on what I could add to the code, email asears25@scienceleadership.org

“Sandvich Maker” Codepen.io, 2025, codepen.io/SirAndrew4/pen/RwXzjRj?editors=1010. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.

“Website Blocker.” Codepen.io, 2024, codepen.io/SirAndrew4/ pen/PwYWGaX. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.

My Capstone was made up of 2 parts. The first part, which I worked on primarily during the first half of the year, was EduCon, a conference held at SLA aimed at allowing educators from around the country to connect with each other and learn how to be better teachers. As senior co-chair of this conference, I helped plan and run EduCon. The second part of my Capstone project is a podcast I made about senior year, its goals being to allow juniors to understand what they can expect during their senior year and to document the experiences of seniors from the class of 2025. I wanted to make sure that juniors, or even underclassmen, can have an idea of what senior year is like before it’s already upon them.