Option #1

Fieldler, Elizabeth, auth. "Philly Cops Bust Crime In 140 Characters Or Fewer." National Public Radio. N.p., n.d. web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.npr.org/2012/04/10/150355105/philly-cops-bust-crime-in-140-characters-or-less>.

Mulholland, Jessica. "Philadelphia Police Officers to Start Tweeting at Work." Government Technology. 17 April 2012: n. page. Web. 25 May. 2012. <http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Philadelphia-Police-to-Start-Tweeting-at-Work.html>.

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  Reflection:
  What I found most challenging was writing about the connections between the image and a theme. I tried to branch out and have a varied collection to talk about so that it is not all the same things as everybody else. Plus writing in general is not something I'm best at so it was really hard to get started on the two paragraph explanations and have them be deep, meaningful, and insightful. When I first thought about this project I tried to get images that I knew I would go past on my everyday routine and try to find a deep connection to globalization with it. So for the first week I woud look very carefully at my surroundings and try to pick out stuff that nobody would really think twice at in regards to globalization then I went around having a regular camera, my phone camera and some pictures that I got from friends because I enlisted their help with gathering all the photos I needed. Personally my favorite image is the one of my dog. I love her so much that it scares my parents when I hug her because I may just squeeze to tight and pop her head off. Anybody that has seen me with my dog can guarantee that I love her the most and that she is my favorite being in the whole world. I learned a lot about the background of a lot of things and how there is a heck of a lot more globalizing going around then what I previously thought there was.
  

Since the begging I knew that this brenchmark will be specially challenging because our teacher give us options to select from, which was nice but at the same time scary because each option was hard in a way, wasn’t a safe choice. I chose the uncover story to find a good news in the city and show it because sometimes I feel like the people in Philadelphia underestimate the city and think that everything is bad.

For the reason that is a news article I couldn’t stay set in front of my computer and write a paper, I had to research and find people who will support my story in order to show that is real. Rotary Club is the organization that is sponsoring my exchange program and besides that they do a lot of good community service so was a pleasure for me talk about that fantastic people. 

A Study of Thematic Evolution

By Michael Dea

Capstone Mentor: Ms. Larissa Pahomov

Topic:

The goal of this capstone was to examine poetry and short stories over the course of four years to see how, if at all, the themes of the writing change over time.

            During the proposal stages of the capstone process, I looked at what I found interesting and what I enjoyed doing. As a result, I chose a capstone with a creative writing basis, given that I wrote as a hobby previously. Once the plans for what the end goal of the capstone were determined, the process of selecting what works would go into the end product was begun, supplementing some areas with works that were begun within the year. After this step’s completion, the selected works were analyzed for possible connections, the details of which can be seen in the process paper. Throughout this process, given that the works were written, they were reviewed by others for input on things such as themes, revisions (for newer works) etc.

Globalization In Philadelphia: A Small Photo Gallery 

I found this project to be very challenging in most areas. I found it really hard to think of the different themes of globalization and then when I had my themes ready, I found it hard to find a variety of pictures that represent each of these themes. I often found that the themes all intertwined in the photos that I gathered. From what pictures I collected and what themes I had thought of, my project focuses on the language issues, communication issues, marketing, adjustments that are needed for non-English speakers in America, and the indicators and facts of growing populations in certain cultures. Overall, I felt every aspect of this project was challenging, especially when trying to find photos that I could take around the city that would touch upon everything I wanted to talking about. Last, but not least, finding sources to back up my themes and the arguments that I made or points I was trying to get across was another very difficult aspect of the project. 

I collected my images by simply planning on taking pictures of things that I have seen before in my neighborhood and around the city. Once I had planned what photos I could take, I went out and took them. Some photos happen naturally as I came across certain things that represented globalization such as the picture I took of the group of Middle Eastern kids going to play cricket and the Hispanic bilingual news paper bin. For the images that I had planned to take, I based them around themes that I thought up, though I struggled to think of a wider variety of themes. My favorite image that I took is the one of the grand opening sign posted on the store that opened up across from the fruit stand. That picture holds a lot of significance to me because it represents the growing population of the particular culture in my area. The image also tells a story of how many businesses have become more ethnically diverse in Philadelphia, how much our city is changing due to diversity and the growing population of various cultures, the lack of consideration of many businesses and how they compete, and the racial tensions that are caused because of different cultures competing in business. This picture, for me, holds a lot of depth, that if I could spend more time on the project, I would probably write a whole lot more about. 

Evidence of globalization is so prevalent that it is virtually everywhere and as I found with the pictures I took, the evidence is primarily the various cultural businesses around the city. Every single place you go in Philadelphia, you come across ethnic restaurants and businesses and in some places more of the same ethnic businesses, which indicate that population of that particular ethnicity in that area. Aside from looking at businesses, there are people of all sorts of ethnicities and cultures walking around everywhere each and every day. I would say that globalization in Philadelphia is definitely more obvious than in states in the South and West. In states like Arizona, Ohio, Georgia, etc. there is a lot less diversity as I have observed in both Georgia and Arizona. Larger cities like New York, L.A., and Chicago would likely have globalization evident. In one of my sources that I used, there is mention of how urbanization and globalization tend to go hand in hand as many cultures try to populate urban areas for the resources that they have to offer. 

From this project, I learned mostly about how the various markets all over the Philadelphia area serve as an indicator of cultural diversity and the populations of each of those cultures. While compiling my photos and writing on the themes of each of them, I couldn't help but find myself going in circles with the mention of ethnic businesses and how they indicate so much about globalization. I also learned that we depend on globalization to keep the economy going as do other countries depend on it as well. I never really thought about how America benefits from cheap or less expensive trade from small countries and how they benefit from out trade as well. Another thing that I learned and found very interesting is that America has a higher percentage of exports than imports, but most of the products on the market are either from another country or made here and assembled in another country. The main thing that I learned is that globalization is all around us and affects all of us each and every day as language, marketing, cultural populations, and so on are constantly playing a role in our daily lives. 

My capstone was working to create a mural with a youth group in Pennsauken, NJ called BPSOS Delaware Valley Basement Breakers (B₃) on a project called Inside/Out.

The Inside/Out project was started by a French street artist who goes by J.R. He won the TED global prize last year for his idea of using photography to turn the world Inside Out. People from all around the world participate in the project, as they take photos of facial expressions, submit to the website, and receive large black and white copies to paste in a public space. SLA had done similar project under the JFK bridge. Through this project,  participants journal extensively with questions about their identity and hopes. Through exploring questions such as “where is your home? Where do you come from? Have you ever felt like you are the problem?” participants would be able to have a space to start thinking deeply about themselves and the world around them.

Digital Artifacts come soon!!!

     Step team performance &

      The “Show your colors” show

Ashley Etheredge

Mr. Bey

Manuel Advisory

Summary

I helped create a club (SLA’s fist pep-squad), I put on a show as well as choreographed a step routine that was performed in the show.

Abstract

My project was a performance that was based around SLA’s new pep-squad; I put on the show; including getting acts, setting up the performance space and setting the date and time but I also choreographed a step routine that was performed in the show. My step team performed in my show the “Show your colors” show, which was originally going to be a Black History Month show however; due to complications (of which I will explain in depth later in this paper) I was unable to meet my deadlines and missed Black History Month. I wanted to create a club that would continue on at the school after I was gone, that girls and boys could continue into college if they wanted to. I felt that this club could bring people together from all grades like other clubs such as SLA capella, Ping pong and the Poetry club but in a different way that people might not have seen before. I wanted to give insecure teenage girls and boys more self-confidence while having a ton of fun and meeting new people.

The Transit Navigator uses a website and other web tools to improve the usability of Public Transportation ("make public transit navigation simple").

I will be creating my own line of Liberian-Inspired prom dresses. There will be hopefully about six or seven dresses in the collection and I will be having full involvement in in everything that goes one. I plan to study and learn more about fashion design and more in college and it’s practically all I could think about since ninth grade. The product I’m creating is even more appropriate because then I’ll have something to start up on when I head to college and when I create my own business. Like I said before I’ve had this project in mind since ninth grade because I knew it would make applying to colleges much better since I would have my own line already out and doing well.