For my capstone project, I chose to continue a project originally started two years ago and continued last year by my friend. I’m the third senior to work on this capstone. The capstone was originally a greenhouse on the sixth floor terrace. However, since I wasn’t able to get funding for a new greenhouse, I had to shift the project’s focus while maintaining its key ideas. My project had two main parts, a mini-course and a Google Site that accompanied it. Each week in November to January, I would plan out, research, and develop lessons and activities to teach to freshmen about greenhouses, gardening, and the plant cycle. This was the most difficult but also the main highlight of the project because I was able to bring “parts” of a greenhouse to people without having one. After the mini-course, the plan was to make a digital handbook for my greenhouse, but that would soon change to a Google Site containing my mini-course and all things surrounding greenhouses and gardening. Overall, I really learned a lot about a hobby I rarely have time for as well as lesson planning and teaching a class about a topic.

LINK TO CAPSTONE: https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/abloomingsla/home

LINK TO BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://docs.google.com/document/d/146_uYbrQ1pZ_cLrxsPEKeH9Fvh0nZ7dRzTAkNpLazb0/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone project, I focused on spreading awareness about Sickle Cell Disease and Sickle Cell Trait to the students at Science Leadership Academy. This topic is meaningful to me because my cousin, Isaiah Turner, passed away from a rare Sickle Cell crisis, even though he only had the trait. His story motivated me to make sure others understand the seriousness of both the disease and the trait. I started by designing pamphlets with key information and eventually organized short presentations during advisory periods to reach more students directly. The process involved a lot of research, interviews, and collaboration with my mentor to make sure everything was accurate and engaging. I faced some setbacks, like delays in getting my pamphlets printed and scheduling issues with advisory sessions, but I didn’t let those stop me. Presenting to different advisories and seeing students engage with my project made all the effort worth it. This experience pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me how to adapt, communicate, and stay focused on my goals. I’m proud of the work I did and the impact I made. Even though everything didn’t go exactly as planned, I learned that flexibility and determination will lead to something powerful and lasting.

Click Image to see full pamphlet!! This is a digital copy of my personalized tri-fold pamphlet that I created!

Annotated Bib: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q1UjiyEgKNacO4XsGRgtmyVtb0x2-E9g-oU12GLGmYE/edit?usp=sharing