Global Collaboration

In the second unit of If These Walls Could Talk, which is an art history elective I learned about murals in the 20th and 21st centuries and how different materials were used to create the artwork. I also learned about different artist that lived during those years and how materials changed over time. Specifically, I learned a lot about contemporary artists like JR and Shepard Fairey, who are two of my favorite artists. For the second Action Project, we were put in a groups and had to come up with an idea of a mural that will be installed in our school’s new space. We experimented with different artistic media and techniques to create materials swatches to help us determine which would work best in creating our final mural. In the end, we chose wheatpaste and mosaic because we all like how they looked on the swatches. I enjoyed creating my swatches and working with the technique I chose. However, working in my group was challenging because we all had disagreements and we had a hard time working with each other. But at the end, we all came together and found what we wanted.

Created by JV, RD, GN, MV, DR, 2015*

Name:JV
Title: Global Collaboration
Date: 12/10/15
Measurement: 3.4 by 11 and 3.4 by 11

The image that my group and I created is a series of three faces created using the facial features from the members of my group. In the background, we incorporated parts of the globe to show how we are from all over the world. This is a tribute mural that represents us as students at GCE, how we are a community and to show us as global citizens. We wanted to create something interesting yet eye-catching. We chose to use JR’s Face2Face idea, which is to print out black and white faces and wheat paste them to a canvas. The swatches that we did all came out good in fact, they came out better than I expected. I worked with wheatpaste also known as flour paste, which is like a gel adhesive made from flour or starch and water. It has been used to create all different types of artwork. It is really easy to work with, all I had to do was apply paste to the surface, put down image over paste. Apply paste over the image this seals the image and protects it. Wheatpaste is my favorite type of medium to work with because of how simple it is to make and how inexpensive it is. I appreciate being able to make it myself with simply water and flour and the glossy finish it leaves on the printed images. 

After completing all of our swatches, my group chose to use wheatpaste and mosaic in our final mural. My group chose to work with wheat paste and mosaic, we choose these two because we liked how the swatches came out and we think the final piece will look good with our combined faces wheat pasted on the canvas and having a mosaic design around the face representing parts of the globe. I think our final mural is going to come really cool and I can’t wait to see it in our new space.

Created by MV, Mosaic.

Created by JV, Wheatpaste, 2015*

Wicker

My elective term class is called, If Theses Walls Could Talk. Which is a art class that I am taking to learn more art history; and learning about murals, to help us build our new school space and add murals in our building. We learned about Prehistory, Egyptian, Greek, and Renaissance art to better understand how art came about and how it changed over time. The first Action Project we had to create our own mural based on an neighborhood in Chicago, we had to create a mural that show what we think that neighborhood needs. I picked Wicker Park because I really like that area, and I wanted to do a tribute mural for it showing all cools pieces of art that I have seen and putting all of them together to make one mural. What I struggled with this project was staying trying to stick with one topic. What I enjoyed was making my mural. 

JV

11/2015
Wicker 11” x 14”
Photoshop. 

Wicker Park is a Chicago neighborhood located northwest of the Loop, south of Bucktown and west of Pulaski Park. Wicker Park is named after two real-life people. The first actual “hipsters” because they created the coolest part of Chicago and this area became well known because of Charles and Joel Wicker were two Chicago businessmen, who helped build the city during the late 1800’s. The two brothers bought 80 acres of land off Milwaukee Ave around 1868. And they donated 4 acres to Chicago Public Park. But in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed some of the area. After the fire, the neighborhood started building new houses and created many jobs that helped European immigrants.

Today, Wicker Park continues to grow as a community. Not only does Wicker Park have cool murals all around the neighborhood. Art is also a big theme in the area, I feel like art brings the community together, and brings life and color. Many artist live in Wicker Park but they don’t get recognized for the amazing work they are doing. Wicker Park is filled with the coolest hipsters that stay up-to-date with fashion and have cool looking styles, which brings a unique life to the area I think it brings youth together instead of going against each other. Since Wicker Park has clothing stores more teenagers tend to shop in that area, and by that many meet new people which is the culture of the neighborhood. Wicker Park also has really good restaurants, which brings more people to come check out the neighborhood and also bring more business. Wicker Park is becoming a big tourist spot. Wicker Park was named the #4 hippest neighborhood in the country. The total population in Wicker Park is 52,131. Every year in July the Wicker Park Fest is held, which brings people from all around to enjoy music, food, and good vibes.

The mural I chose to do is a tribute because I want to show my love for Wicker Park, I also want to make Wicker Park more known. I feel like a lot of people in Chicago don’t know about this area and a lot don’t know about why murals are made and what the purpose of art in a neighborhood. I like how Wicker Park has such good vibes and feels like a community so many people are just walking around and talking. I want to show how I feel in Wicker Park and how I see it as such a cool part of my city. My mural is going to be created using photoshop. I will be putting all the murals that I have seen in Wicker Park to create my own and to show the work of the ones who created these murals in their neighborhood . I think this will be cool because I will be using the purpose of the Renaissance as inspiration for why I am creating this piece of artwork. The Renaissance was a new era of life because before art was just flat, it had no depth everything was the same size. Paintings became more cool by adding depth and a horizon line, creating a art piece that is appealing to the eye with colors, depth, and style. I want to use a lot elements like that in my mural, I plan to use colors I want to use these sets of eyes, that are to show everything I see in Wicker Park. I want to repeat images to create depth and make it look unique. Im also going to use this art piece of this little character that I see all around the neighborhood. I think he look really cool and I only see him in Wicker Park. I added "We Can Donut" because my favorite donut shop is in Wicker Park, and I also added a girl in the confer to represent fashion. I really like creating my mural and I think it looks pretty cool. 

Be Proud To Be HISPANIC

In the last unit of Rhetoric which was called Unite, I studied political speeches to learn how to inspire and unite others for a good cause. I learned rhetorical skills and devices to analyze political issues that are going on today. For the last action project I had to pick a political issue and create a piece of art explaining how I felt about the issue and bringing out more awareness to this topic. What I enjoyed about this project was creating the artwork and how it came out. What I struggled with was picking a issue to talk about and to make an artwork about it.

Created by JV, Bracelet Sketch 2015.

I am JV and my topic is immigrant status, specifically tied to discrimination against Hispanics in the US. I chose to create art about this issue because of how much it literally hits home for me. I am both Mexican and Puerto Rican, and at one point my grandmother and great grandmother were immigrants themselves in the US. Both families members faced discrimination for being a certain race and also because they were both immigrants. After arriving in the US, my grandmother and great-grandmother both had a hard time finding jobs and getting around Chicago because neither of them knew English. People would make fun of them because they were Hispanic and new to America.

Even more personally, I have very strong feelings about anti-immigration attitudes towards this topic because I myself have experienced discrimination from other races despite being a US citizen. I wanted to show how Hispanics are a race that suffer greatly from this kind of racism and prejudice. Did you know that the most discrimination Hispanics face is at their workplace? 11% are treated unfairly, 10% are being mistreated by police, and 9% get mistreated by the health care system along with unfair treatment while they’re dining at a restaurant. This Gallup Poll was conducted June 15-July 10, 2015,using a random grouping of 508 Hispanics, aged 18 and older, who lived in all 50 U.S. states. (Discrimination Statutes Among Hispanics, 2015.)

Created By JV Bracelet, 2015.

I decided to make a bracelet that represents hispanics and how we should be proud to be hispanic and not let anyone bring us down because of our race. We should be proud to have really good food and big loud families. We should be proud of our dark or light hispanic skin, and everything that comes along with being hispanic. I chose to make a bracelet because anyone can wear it, even if the person isn’t hispanic and just wants to support stopping discrimination.

The colors that I picked for my bracelet fibers are: red because it represents passion and love; green represents safety; yellow represents happiness; purple represents independence, and pink represents inner peace. I wanted red and green to be the main colors because red is in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican flags. I wanted the other colors to be peaceful and calming. All theses colors are what I want my Nation to have we need peace and stop hurting each other. 

I designed my bracelet in a braid style and spiral friendship pattern, to show how people can unite together.

Created by JV Bracelet, 2015. 

My bracelet has pathos through the passion and pride it shows towards Hispanic culture. It also shows alludes specifically to Mexico, since when I think of this part of my heritage, I think of lots of colors, especially the ones that I chose to use in my bracelet. The logos displayed through my bracelet is the colors and facts behind it, people should stop hurting each other just because of their race. We should all stand together and be pride of what we all are.

If I had the chance to publish my artwork I would want it to be worn on people’s wrists or ankles, so that way it is visible to everyone. I would first make it for family and friends to help me support my idea, then eventually other people will start to notice and would want to help stop discrimination.

Materials:
-a ruler
-scissors
-tape
-embroidery floss
-cotton string
-safety pins
-wrist to measure

Citations:

"Immigrant Status Tied to Discrimination Among Hispanics." gallup.com. Justin McCarthy. 20 Aug, 2015. Web. 15 Oct, 2015. 

"Understand The Meaning Of Colors." empower-yourself. N.P. N.D. 2010. Web. 20 Oct, 2015. 

The White Lighting

In the second unit of Design and Engineering we learned about wheels, and we investigated the bicycle to better understand the evolution of transportation. For the last Action Project we were paired up with a teammate and had a scenario to build a scale model of our own innovative bike. Our client’s name is Peter, he lives in Hyde Park and is traveling on the Lakefront trail. Peter wants a bike that goes fast, but can help support his heavy backpack which tires out his legs. We made a bike that fits Peter's needs, called the White Lighting. What I enjoyed about this Action Project is creating the bike and making the model. What I struggled with was finding a name for our bike. Overall I enjoyed the Design and Engineering class, I learned a lot and will apply what I learned about designing in my life.

Created By JV & RD Bike 2015.

Our persona's name is Peter: he is 18 years old, lives in Hyde Park, and needs to get to school which is 11.5 miles away via the Lakefront trail. He wants a fast bike that will get him to school quickly. He likes to wear his backpack when he rides, which means he has to carry his heavy textbooks with him. This means his legs get tired quickly on the long ride to school, his arms get tired when they are in the same position for too long, and he has back issues. I interviewed my best friend to get some good feedback on what she thinks is best to have on a bike. She said “I like a lightweight bike so that way I can go fast.” This feedback helped me because Peter also wants a lightweight bike, so I decided to use carbon because it’s a light material to create a good frame.

The bike that we designed for Peter is The White Lighting bike; it has an ID touch handle bar, which identifies the owner of the bike, and the wheels have LED lights that turn on and off depending on how bright the sun is. The bike has handlebars that you can put your hands in and are also heatable. The seat has a back to it which provides the rider with more comfort and the seat is also heatable. The bike has a GPS which allows the wheels to move by themselves if the rider gets too tired. The GPS is water proof and solar powered, which means riding the bike more is better because they GPS will be powered.  It also has an adjustable speed, and the ID handle bar has a light that can be used for the night so that way the rider can have a better and clearer view. The bike has an adjustable basket in the back just in case the rider needs more storage space. The wheels are mountain bike wheels which would help with the snow and rain. Like I said before the bike is made of carbon which is a very lightweight material and the seat is made of nylon which will last longer during the winter and rain. The benefits of riding our bike is that you can go fast, you can change the speed on the GPS, it has cool LED lights, and it will provide you more support for your body with the chair seat. This bike is perfect for Peter because he does have to ride a long distance to get to school. The reason to believe is because my partner and I travel a long way to school, so we know the stress of carrying a heavy backpack and how tired you get.

Created By JV & RD Bike Model, 2015.

Since it takes Peter 11.5 miles to get to school that is 59 minutes. To find his average speed I had to divide 50 mins by 11.5 miles and that equals 5.13 meters per second and in miles per hour it would be 11.69. The wheel’s diameter is 26 inches, the circumference is 81.6. I got that number by multiplying 26 by 3.14. The number of times the bike wheel rotates is 60720 ft divided by 6.8 which equals 8929.4 rotations. Our model’s wheel is 2.36 inches tall, and the real bike’s wheel is 26 inches tall, so our scale is 26/2.36 or about 11:1. Peter is looking for a faster bike because he has to travel a large distance. He would want a big cog in front and a small in back so that he can go faster. The chainring in front will have 53 teeth, and the cog in the back will have 13 teeth, which gives you a gear ratio of 13/53 or .245. Our bike will demonstrate Kinetic Energy when Peter is riding down a hill because the bike is in motion, and Potential Energy when Peter is on top of the hill because the bike isn’t moving.


Citations:
Cardona, Nicolle, personal interview with biker. 11, October 2015.

Travel To Lecce.

I am taking Italian as a language class at GCE, for this project we were assigned to make a slide show based on the city we got from Italy. My city is Lecce, which is "The Florence of the South." I enjoyed doing the project and getting to learn more about Italian culture.

Making America Great Again!

The purpose of this Action Project is to demonstrate my understanding of effective rhetorical techniques by highlighting and educating others about a rhetorical challenger. My task was to select, analyze and present an example of somebody today who is talking about issues that I agree with or don’t. This project is to raise awareness against ignorance and oppression. I had to select a text and annotate it using the rhetorical devices. I also had to create a prezi that teaches others about the rhetorical challenger that I have chosen. I picked Donald Trump, who is very well known for speaking his mind about many topics, and who also happens to be running for President the United States of America. I chose him because I don’t agree on many key issues with Trump; I think he is really obnoxious and and doesn’t care about our country, but just cares about money. What I enjoyed about this Action Project was annotating Trump’s speech and making a prezi out of it. What was most challenging was trying to find a copy of his speech in writing instead of a solely recording.

Tiller Kicks

The title of this course is called Designing and Engineering, which is a STEAM course that focuses on building things well. The course teaches us the history of design and how it changed so much over time, and benefited us in many ways. The purpose of this action project is to redesign a tool with a classmate that can benefit the elderly. Our users would be senior citizens; they are unique customers because they are older and need special equipment in order to work. Some have back injuries, some have knee problems etc. We learned about Empathy, which means to understand and connect to a customer's needs. It relates to this project because my partner and I had to think about what the elderly need in order to complete a task in a garden. What I enjoyed about this action project was redesigning the tool, and making a new one. What I found challenging was coming up with new ideas. What I am most proud of is the product my partner and I made.

Created by JV & DR Storyboard, 2015*

This is our story board about where, how, and why our customers will use our product. I learned that many things can go wrong when gardening, hands are better than tools, and take your time when you are working in a garden. Lightweight tools are easier to move around. Bad tools are heavy, electric, and wooden. For the external investigation I interviewed my mom who is a gardener and she told me, “I like using a tool that has a gel grip on it, because it makes the tool more comfortable to use.” Going off my mom’s quote I knew that I had to add gel in my project. For our field experience we went to Home Depot and decided to recreate a Tiller, which is a tool used to turn soil making it fresh and more alive. I learned that all versions of Tillers have feet/legs and are all used to work with dirt, and mix it up. Tillers all have handles and tines. They also all have safety pins to protect the sharp parts.

Created by JV & DR Model, 2015*

The new tool my partner and I designed is a shoe, the name is Tiller Kicks. It’s shaped to fit one foot of your choice, has toe slips so your feet fit in more comfortably and gel is inserted by the toe area. The kicks also have Croc material inside which is gel/foam-like to make the shoe even more comfortable. The outside material is made of Nappa material which is a full-grain un-split leather made from kid lamb, or sheep skin and is very protective; and will protect the customer's foot. The tines on the bottom spin on their own when you push down. Much like a pen that clicks, it uses force and a wedge because it digs into the ground and separates the material in order to work. The unique shoe isn’t too heavy so it will be the right amount to help an elderly get more leg strength. It also benefits people with arthritis because their toes would be separated and fit better without hurting. 

Created by JV, Vectors/Forces, 2015*

The obstacles my partner and I went through was if our design should have batteries or be able to have the same design as a clicking pen, like when you click down it moves and when you don’t click down it’s back in its place. We also looked into if our tool should be for both feet or for just one. My partner and I just talked it over and we both agreed on a clicking shoe, and for it just to be used for one foot because it will be easier to keep balance and also more lightweight.

We think our new tool is better because it’s more useful and it benefits the elderly more, especially if they have knee problems or arthritis. The Tiller Kicks will help them improve their leg strength and also get good exercise out of it.

Citations:
Vargas, Lucy, personal interview with gardener.19, September 2015.

;

The title of this course is Rhetoric, which is my first Humanities course as a Junior. The course supposes that we use language to bring unity, division, and transcendence into our school, work, and civic life. To succeed we learned about Rhetoric devices that helped us analyze and critique language by watching videos, or reading short passages. The purpose of this action project was to demonstrate mastery of rhetorical techniques by writing my own speech. I had to imagine that I was in a political debate and had to come up with a topic that raised awareness. What I learned during this action project is all the devices and how to analyze a speech and text better. The challenges I faced during this action project is talking about my story about depression. What I am proud of is how my transcript turned out.

                                                                                          Created by JV 2015*

Did you know that suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds? Approximately 5,000 young people die each year. Some causes of suicide are teens feeling like they can’t fit in and get block out from crowds. Feeling like they can’t be accepted for who they are, some youth LGBT have been going through this for many years. Some have taken their lives because family members and friends wouldn’t accept them for who they were. Jean-Philippe was 14 years old when he ended his life due to depression and suicide because he constantly got teased for being gay. His own family members found out by reading the letter he left them in which he wrote, “PS: By the way, I was gay and I would like to say to the ones who still love me I will never forget them.”

Depression doesn’t always win. My sister’s story is one that can be told proudly. I remember when we were younger she would never let me paint for nails or do her hair. She would cry, scream, and yell because I would force her to let me, but I had no luck. She started “changing” around 10 years old, wearing baggy clothes, cutting her hair shorter, not wanting to talk. Certain family members wouldn’t understand why she was dressing like this, or why she acted a certain way that was different from their expectations of her. I noticed something on her arm one day; I saw cuts and I asked her what was wrong. She told me that she felt like we wouldn’t accept her because she's a lesbian. Lucky for her, she has a family that is the most loving, caring, and group of supporters for her.

A semicolon is used when a sentence could have been ended; but wasn’t. The Semicolon project is a faith-based, non-profit movement dedicated to offering hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide addiction and self-injury. The project promotes the semicolon tattoo in order to raise awareness of these important, life-or-death issues, but most importantly to let sufferers know they don’t have to live in shame because they aren’t actually alone. I am planning to get this tattoo when I turn 18 to represent my sister and myself, because I suffer from depression as well. 

Depression is like a big tumbleweed filled with uncontrollable feelings and thoughts. You never know when it’s going to leave or cross your path again or what garbage it’ll pick up along the way. Some days you’re fine, and then the next it’s there hovering over you and can take days, weeks, and even months for it to leave. Even the simplest things can make it come back and you just wish you could feel numb. Robin Williams was one of my favorite actors and he lost his fight with depression as an extremely successful,well-known adult. Just because he had a big smile and knew how to make people laugh doesn’t mean he was okay. One thing I learned from depression is that it’s so easy to hide from people; you can look so happy but inside you are running, running, running away from that one thing that can bring you down. Another thing that I learned is that depression isn’t me, it’s just a thing that happens. You have to stay positive and accept yourself for who you are, not caring what other people think. Depression doesn’t always win. Be like the semicolon - before you judge pause and take a moment to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

Citations:

"Semicolon Project." www.projectsemicolon.org. Amy Bleuel. 2013. Web. 19 Sept, 2015.

"Facts and Figures."afsp.org.N.P. 2015. Web 19 Sept, 2015.

"True gay youth stories." akeweedatarrowhead.net. Gary Lynn. 2004. Web. 19 Sept, 2015.

All in the Family.

In the third and last unit of the Cure course, we studied the revolution that happened in Western Medicine with the discovery of vaccines, turning medicine to the direction of prevention. In Math, we studied equations, and connecting them with real-life scenarios.  The last action project was to take on the role of a very specific kind of doctor which would be yourself , your own "prevention doctor", empowering yourself to make healthy choices regarding nutrition and complementary approaches to leading a healthy life. We created a video to represent that. I talked about Diabetes because it does run in my family, I wanted to address how people can prevent it from happening to them. I really enjoyed this whole course. I loved learning about taking taking a different option on medicine and how there are so many different ways that you can cure yourself without going to the doctor in some cases. For our last field experience we had a guest speaker who taught us about plant medicine, she showed and taught us how to make Fire Cider, and Healing balm. Which are two alternative ways to treat yourself when you are sick or hurt. I learned so much throughout this course and also improved in math which I am proud of myself for that.

Secrets.

In the 3rd Unit of the Drama course, we studied the term Matriarch. We read A Raisin in the Sun to gain a better understanding of race and class in the 1940s. By reading the play, it made me understand the meaning of matriarch. One character from the play was Mama, the matriarch of the family. She supported her family and did everything she could to make them happy. The purpose of this Action Project was to write a traditional Greek chorus about A Raisin in the Sun. We came up with a guiding question for our Action Project, and interviewed people to see what their response was and used that as the voice of the chorus in response to a character in A Raisin in the Sun . My guiding question was "Is it okay to keep secrets?" I came up with is guiding question because I wanted to talk about Ruth from the play. In the play, Ruth kept a secret from her husband Walter which later caused problems between them. The purpose of my chorus is to teach others not to keep or hide secrets from someone that you care about because later on it's going to come back and hurt you more. Overall I really enjoyed this course. It was so amazing having a class that taught me about women and how we are seen in society and what are “roles” in regards to gender. Each play that we read taught me something new and I really like that.

PAIN.

In Treatment, our second unit, we investigated the revolution that happened in Western Medicine with the discovery of penicillin, which helped treat a lot of diseases during WW2. We also focused on how antibiotics and other common medicines work and how they chemically react with our bodies. For the math part we practice balancing chemical equations, and quadratic equations and that helped us understand the processes better. For the Action Project we were challenged to create a medicine box, we had to pick OTC medication and Rx to help treat a pain that we researched. I thought the project was really cool, we made our own medicine box putting all the information on it. We has had to make a video of us demonstrating quadratic equations, the number that we used came from our box we measured each side in inches.

Created by JV 2015*

.

Citations: 

"Advil Side Effects." www.drugs.com. N.P. 20 April, 2015. Web. 5 May, 2015.

"Natural Remedies. " www.natural-fertility-info.com. Hethir Rodriguez. 20 October, 2014. Web. 5 May, 2015. 

"Uterine Fibroids." www.mayoclinic.org. Mayo Clinic Staff. N.D. Web. 8 May, 2015.

A Double Life.

The second unit in Drama is called Doll, we learned many different definitions of a Doll and how a woman who is seen as a Doll can have different roles. We read Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House to gain an understanding of social and gender roles in Europe during the 19th Century. For the second Action Project we had to write a play, using Nora the main character in a Doll's House , and a chosen historical. I picked Elizabeth Blackwell, I also picked a character in The Little Foxes. During this unit I learned a lot about woman and how we are suppose to have certain rules because of our gender. This unit really taught me a lot and I enjoyed it so much. 

No more Tonsils or Adenoids?

The title of the course is Cure, the course is divided into 3 units, each one representing a revolution in the history of western medicine: emergency, treatment and prevention. The first Unit was called "Emergency" which we learned about surgery as a primal method of healing in western medicine. Surgery lead us to an understanding of the different anatomic systems, organs and tissues. The purpose of our first Action Project was is to map a chosen surgery, by presenting the type of cells affected by the procedure and explaining the process of healing that takes place. The surgery that I picked was Tonsillectomy, the reasoning I chose this surgery was because I had this producer done on me when I was younger. I had both my Tonsils and Adenoids taken out. I wanted to learn more about the surgery, and how it was done. My experience wasn't that bad, I healed in 3 weeks, the pain was mild I was on a liquid diet and the only bad thing was I couldn't eat like a normal 8 year old. I really enjoyed this project, I learned a lot and I like how my prezi came together. 

https://prezi.com/q6v8dzb7ok06/edit/#25_30863873

Traditional Woman.

The title of this course is Drama, which is the third Humanities course in the "Global Stories," track and is my last Humanities course as a Sophomore. The Drama course is an investigation of feminism through plays. In the first Unit called "Shrew" we read In the Taming of the Shrew to gain an understating of roles in the 16th century. In the first Action Project 1, we created a sonnet that addressed one of the main characters in "The Taming of the Shrew." I picked to write to Bianca, who was seen as a traditional woman. Her role in the play was to obey the men in her life and everyone loved her for that. Once Bianca got married she changed, showing her husband and others in her life that she wasn't going to be told what to do. She showed them that she had her own voice. I think what Bianca did was right because in a marriage, the couple should treat each other equally and no one should rule. Overall, I really enjoyed the first Unit, and can't wait to see what the others are going to teach me. 

Bianca you were so quiet everyone was in love with you
you were seen feminine and beautiful
men thought you were obedient and
would make the perfect bondmaid
but you were the bomb that was made
Your father loves you
He sees you as the perfect daughter

Yeah you were quiet but you
played the game better than Kate could

You were smarter than Kate now you
have the man you love
the freedom to speak what you think
Kate thought you were the better woman
You were seen as a “traditional woman”

Am I your bird? they thought you would follow all of their rules
I mean to shift my bush; but you showed them who ruled
Gamesome is what you played
while turning heads you were turning them away
And then pursue me as you draw your bow. 

Keep up having your strong voice
Have your merriment
Show women that they can have power too
It’s good that you stand up to what you believe is true
You are welcome all.

The Yellow Fever Epidemic.

In the last unit in the disease class called World, we learned about how diseases can cause an epidemic. For this Action Project, we had to map and graph the path of an epidemic caused by a disease that we picked. I picked Yellow Fever, the reasoning for picking that disease is because I wanted to learn more about it. I have heard about it before but didn't know a lot of information. What I enjoyed most about this Action Project was finding information about my disease. What I found most challenging is graphing information on Gapminder. Overall I enjoyed doing this project, and I also really liked this term.

Yellow Fever. wwnc.cdc.gov. 2008.

Yellow Fever originated in Africa and was likely brought to America on ships during slave trade. The number of Yellow Fever cases has increased during that time because of the rising population cause dense living and not the right sanitation. The climate was also changing causing a rise of mosquitoes.

Yellow fever is caused by the Yellow Fever virus YFV, also called Flavivirus. The virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes, who pick it up from monkeys or humans, then delivers it to a new human when they bite and suck blood. The disease cannot be spread from person to person. Yellow fever epidemic of 1793 started during the summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The disease was brought by refugees and mosquitoes on ships from Saint-Domingue. The disease rapidly spread to Prot City. About 5000 people died, ten percent of the population of 50,000.

Gapminder. Created by JV. 2015.

Above is a graph that shows a drought and epidemic deaths that occurred in the 1990's in Kenya. This epidemic that is shown may have been Yellow Fever. I picked Kenya because that was one part of Africa that was infected with Yellow fever. Two risk factors for this graph is drought, farms in that area lost crops because of low water continent. That will cause people not getting the right nutrition and weaking their immune system to fight off disease. That will cause an epidemic to spread because if you are weak and than get sick with an illness, you can fight it off. 

In 1853, the disease killed 7,849 residents of New Orleans. The press and the medical team did not alert citizens of the outbreak until the middle of July, after more than one thousand people had already died. The New Orleans business community feared that an epidemic would cause a quarantine to be placed on the city, and their trade would suffer. The steamboats carried passengers and the disease from New Orleans to other cities along the Mississippi River. Norfolk, Virginia 1855. A ship carrying passengers infected with the virus arrived in Hampton Roads in southeastern in June 1855. The disease spread quickly through the community, eventually killing over 3,000 people, mostly residents of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

The symptoms to Yellow Fever is affecting the kidney and liver causing high fever and jaundice. This disease is not curable, but is preventable with the Yellow Fever vaccine. The first vaccine was made in the 1930s and that controlled most of the outbreak. The vaccine coverage reach 60% to 80% of a population at risk.

The R0 for Yellow Fever is 4.1 so for every 1 person 4 people get infected. Vaccination is the only way to prevent the disease. If this disease would happen to break out again, I would say to quarantine people who may be infection because that would stop the spread of the disease. I would also recommend the vaccine because that brought down the infection rate.


Citations:

Gapminder. www.gapminder.org. N.P.N.D. Web 15 March, 2015. 

The importance of climate to global distribution of dengue and yellow fever.climate-services.org. Michael A Johnson. N.D. Web 15 March, 2015.

Yellow Fever.healthline.com. Colleen Story. 2012. Web. 15 March, 2015.

Yellow Fever Epidemic in New Orleans 1853.lafayettecemetery.org. N.P. N.D. 15 March, 2015.

History of Yellow Fever.historyofvaccines.org. N.P. N.D. 18 March, 2015.

The Color Purple.

The last unit in Forbidden books is called Diversity, we learned about why books have been forbidden for promoting diversity. To understand that better we had to pick a book for this class that has been banned. The book that I chose was The Color Purple, I picked this because when I was younger I saw the movie but didn't understand the meaning of it. I also wanted to find out why the book was censored in so many places. For this last action project we had to write a well crafted essay stating a thesis topic on the topic of our book. I picked to do an Literal, ethical, and symbolic level. I wanted to talk about God in my essay because that word was heavy used throughout the book, and so was religion. What was most challenging about this action project was writing it. Since I picked a hard topic it was hard developing my essay. What I am most proud of is how my essay came together and I really enjoyed reading the book.

The Color Purple: A new story for a Familiar Reader. library.duke.edu. 2008. 

Stages.

In the second unit of my Steam course called Mind, we learned about the nervous system, by focusing on one disorder that impacts multiple aspects of the mind: autism. We also learned about different mental illnesses. The purpose of this action project is to create a sensory experience for my classmates to experience for a moment, and see the world through the eyes of someone with a mental disorder. We also had to create a flier stating information about the disease I picked. For my action project I did some research on my Great-Grandmother who is 90 years old and has full blown Alzheimer’s. I picked Alzheimer’s because I like learning more about this mental disease and since I work at a Nursing Home and my Great Grandmother has it I feel comfortable talking about it.

In the DSM-V it says that Alzheimer's is one of the Etiological Sub types, which says that Alzheimer’s is dementia. Alzheimer's is a disease that affects the brain, it’s a disease that slowly kills the neurons in your brains and usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. Most common symptom is forgetting daily tasks. In Alzheimer's, there are four stages to Alzheimer’s, Stage 1 – No impairment. Stage 2 – Minimal Impairment/Normal Forgetfulness. Stage 3 – Early Confusional/Mild Cognitive Impairment. Stage 4 – Late Confusional/Mild Alzheimer's. An Alzheimer's patient’s mood can change for many different reasons. Sun-downing is a condition that affects people with Alzheimer’s elderly usually become confused or disoriented at the end of the day. This can last from 5-8 pm it may prevent people with dementia from sleeping well. It may also make them more likely to wander. Sun-downing is a main cause in Alzheimer's, it causes pain to the patient and also makes them very aggressive. For my project I asked questions to my Grandpa who’s mother has full blown Alzheimer’s.

Grandpa: Son of my great grandmother. “Its hard living with my mother because she constantly forgets how to do certain things. She forgets where the bathroom is, where her room is and even forgets the family members that are taking care of her. She also gets very aggressive when we are just trying to help her, going to bed at night is the worse because she just wants to stay up and walk around the house but she can’t because she ends up getting in the wrong things. Its so hard seeing her going through this but I know we are doing our best to keep her healthy and most importantly keeping her around.”

My lesson plan experiment, my classmates will wear tinted sunglasses because old people can’t see well, latex gloves with tape around two fingers so your hands feel weak trying to pick up items, and headphones with random noise playing because some Alzheimer's patients hear loud noises. This experiment will make people experience what Alzheimer patients go through.

Thirty Year War.

 The second unit in Forbidden Books is called Dogma, we learned about two main world religions which are Christianity and Islam. We learned how religions can cause huge problems between people and how some people and books can be censored or ban because of certain beliefs the book stated or the person has. To understand a religion better we visited a Muslim Mosque, where we were able to ask questions and get a better understanding of Muslim beliefs. The topic that I picked was Germany during the 1930's, when Hitler was in charge and taking over Europe. I picked this topic because I love researching about history and learning more about it. One interesting detail that I learned was the night of burning books in Berlin, I have never heard about this event and it was nice learning something new I explain this event more in my side show. What I enjoyed most about this action project was doing all my research, and finding pictures for my slides because I like to look at pictures from the past. One thing that I found most challenging was doing the research because it took up so much time. Overall I really enjoyed doing the project I learned a lot!

No more Caffeine!

My Steam course is called Disease, and focus on how the body works and how it also creates diseases and sickness in your body. In the first unit called Body, we learned about cancer, how how different diseases can manifest themselves in your body. For our first action project we were asked to pick a disease, create a patient profile for the person that we chose to interview. I picked STV which a heart disease, the reasoning I picked this disease was because my mom has it. I didn't know a lot about it, and it was really easy for me to interview her. What I enjoyed the most about this action project was drawing the profile to show the disease and were it affects the body. 

Created by JV 2015*

Lucy was at work when she felt tightness in her chest and pain on her left shoulder, she started getting really hot and started sweating. She felt like she was going to faint than all of a sudden her heart started beating so fast and felt little shocks were hitting her heart. She sat down by the nurses station, they took her blood pressure and it was really high. Her boss then took her to the hospital. The doctors didn't really know what was wrong with Lucy, they ran tests and said she just had a mini heart attack. She was than released from the hospital, but when she got home she drank a cup of coffee and ate a piece of dark chocolate, and just in a few minutes she had another attack but this time it was even worse than the first. She went back to the hospital and was diagnosed with SVT. She knew that this heart diseased was passed down in her family but didn't know she had it. She never felt symptoms until she had her first attack. She grew up her whole life not knowing she had this disease, so why would it show up now? Lucy was under a lot of stress, she works in a nursing home with 12 hour a shift. That can put a lot of stress on your body, she also consumed lots of caffeine she drank 8 cups of coffee a day. That is a lot of caffeine that the body can't handle especially the heart. This disease also makes your blood really thick, since the heart has an irregular heart beat, there is a lot of blood being pump into the body. To thin Lucy's blood she has to take aspirin, and Cartia to slow her heart rate. After being diagnosed with SVT Lucy had to change her diet, she could no longer consume anything that has caffeine in it. Lucy started having the more attacks, her heart rate would go up to 230 beats a minute. "Having attacks feels horrible, you don't know when it can happen."

 Supraventricular tachycardia was passed down genetically from Lucy's father side of the family. This can be a risk because Lucy's children can carry down the disease and pass it down. The disease mostly occurs in Women, and Lucy has 3 daughters. When Lucy is having an attack she experiences electrical impulses starting from the Sino-atrial node. Than travels to the Atrio ventricular node causing shock waves to the heart. SVT  can happen all over the world because its genetically passed down.

Questioning Love?

My humanities course is called Forbidden Books, and focuses on why books have been banned over the course of history. In the first unit called Politics, we learned about why books have been forbidden for political reasons. We used “The Apology” which was written by Plato to dive deeper about this topic. For our first action project we used the Socratic Method, which is asking a series of questions and creating a discussion between two individuals.The topic that I chose was love, I picked this topic because I always question it. I wanted to do some research and see what other people thought about love. And I wanted to raise some questions. What I learned by using the Socratic Dialogue was you can be open, and ask any question that you have on your mind. The Socratic Method can be considered dangerous because you are asking questions that maybe people don’t want to answer because they see it as a threat, or want to hide the true answer. Overall I really enjoyed this unit, I learned a lot and I hope you enjoy my video!


Characters

Jpolis (Character 1, played by JV)

Jellis (Character 2, played by NC)

Filmed 2/10/15 in Skylight

Props: Chicako sign

Topic:
Love

Character #1: Oh, Jpolis I have fallen in love and I couldn't be happier!

Character #2: Well you are glowing so tell me about your love.

Character #1: I feel amazing, I’m up in the clouds. My head is all fuzzy my ,feelings are out of control, love has got me looking crazy. It's overt love.

Character #2: Everyone knows that love can be an amazing feeling. But what is it, can it be more than just a feeling?

Character # 1 Love can be a feeling that you feel towards anything, not just a certain feeling that you have for a person. It can be love for your parents, family members, friends, and pets. It can even be a item, a necklace that someone gave you can have meaning to it, and you love it.

Character #2: I never thought love could be like that. Does a necklace make your head fuzzy and make your feelings out of control? Is that how you define love?

Character #1: Yes a necklace could do that, but also many other items. The item can have a background story that can be caused by the person that gave you the necklace.

People may have different definitions on what love is due to the people they grew up with, but in the end , love has the same effect on everyone. Parents can demonstrate what love is by being caring and understanding towards you. They will tell you they love you and that will show unconditional love. But other people can show different versions of it.

Character #2: And what are those versions?

Character #1: Well like I said before, unconditional love is when you love a person no matter what. The opposite of that is conditional love, which means living up to one's expectations and pleasing them, then they will show you love. But if you don’t do that the love will fade away, then you know they are just using you, and don’t feel love towards you. 

Character #2: I never thought love could be like that. But how can these two types of love play a role in your teenage and adult life?

Character #1: Well if you were given unconditional love then you learned how to accept yourself for who you are and are happy just being you. You will also have high levels of confidence and self-esteem. With conditional love, which is common, you will find yourself having lower self-esteem, jealousy in relationships, suspicion, and insecurity.

Character #2: So what kind of love do you give?

Character #1: I think a little of both, it’s important to show both sides because you can develop a deeper relationship. That will also show the person you truly love them. 

Character # 2: I learned so much. Thank you, for your insight on love Jellis.

"Come back to me."

This unit in the Ollywood class called “Post-Production.” We learned about the main elements of film production: lighting, camera angles, and acting, we also learned how to put a film together, and what its like to edit a film also. We had a guest speaker come in and talk to us about this process, he works in the film industry, and he really went into detail on what it’s all about. For this last AP we had to pick a movie and analyze it and also make a podcast, so we can expresses what we thought about it. The movie that I choice was “Atonement.” I picked this movie because it really caught my eye, and I love movies that are based in the 1930’s, I also thought it was be interesting to critique a movie like Atonement.

I learned so much throughout this course, and since I took this class every time I watch a movie, I always pay attention to the angles, and the special effects. I think its so cool that I know all of this information about movies, and I know the true meaning of what its like to make them. What I enjoy most about this project and course was all the movie I got to watch, new ones and old ones. What I thought was challenging was trying to remember all the names to specific names of editing, and angles. Overall this course was amazing, and I would love to take it again.

                                                                 Created by JV, 2015*

My Service Project.

Five Faces is a course that teaches my classmates and I about the different variations of Five Faces of Genesis. The course explores the beauty and challenges of life through the examination of personal creativity and how it can impact my life and communities. In the last unit called Bring it all Together, we learned about how community service can be so important and can make a huge impacted in our lives and many others. We had to use all the skills and tools that we have developed throughout this course to apply to a real world situation. Not only did we use all the skills, we also came up with really unique community service ideas. What I had trouble with during this AP was finding time to actually do my community service. Since I work over the weekends it was really hard because that was the only time that I could have completed it. What I enjoyed the most was actually doing my part in servicing, I love helping other people, I felt very proud of myself serving.



  My community service idea was to help out my local Austin-Irving Branch Public Library. I have been going there since I was little and I loved going so now that I have went back and did community service there, I felt very proud of my self. I also felt very comfortable and I love what I did. I had thoughts on what I was going to do, like organizing and labeling books. But when I come in Andrew, who was my supervisor said I would be doing more than that. That would be my Seer part of my project because I pictured what I could be doing. My service hours were 9:00-1:00pm which is a total of 5 hours. I used my observer skills when I entered the building, it smelled and looked the exact same since the last time I had been there. The library was completely empty and Andrew walked me over to a cleaning closet with all the supplies that I would need. He explained to me that I would be cleaning children’s toys, which would benefit over 100 children. I think that was so amazing because I would stop the prevention of sickness spreading throughout the library, and many children would avoid getting sick. I think that it was cool that I clean the toys because many people don’t think a child can get sick off a toy item, and that can be one main reason why many children become sick. The three things that I combined throughout my service was to be productive, staying on task, planning, I think planning was the main part of my whole project, and enjoying what I was doing. To me I think I did such a good job because I helped out my whole community. I also kept a positive energy throughout the whole experience. All the staff members said I looked like I was enjoying what I was doing, they said I had such a big smile on my face and that I made everyone’s day I was being an Alchemist/Fool. I think that is so important because people that you worked with will remember what good volunteer you were. Overall I had an amazing experience, and I would definitely keep completing my service hours at the Austin-Irving Branch Library!

I used my Seer techniques to vision how my community service project will have turned out. 
Here is a picture of what I thought I would be doing at the library. 

Created by JV 2015*