SR GCE Portfolio

Hello and welcome to my second action project for my class, Endurance! For this course we have been learning about what endurance means and how can we are able to apply this skill to our lives. For this action project we dedicated twelve hours of our time on something that we care about. I decided to utilize this time to continue to work on my Christian clothing brand that I have been working on for a while now. I decided to dedicate twelve hours to actually print out the designs that are in my first collection to prepare for the clothing brand's launch date, June 4th. I developed and a created a vlog that captured my journey throughout this whole experience. Throughout this process, I had to leave to the store, do some budgeting, manage my time wisely, communicate with others, and reach my goal to bring Refined Apparel's mission to life! While going through this journey I kept thinking back to our discussions in class. Throughout this course, we read the book, Night by Elie W...

Hello and welcome to the final class of my senior year at GCE Lab School! This class is called Endurance, and it is all about enduring hardships and trials and how that exactly looks like. In this class, we have been focusing on what our life missions look like and how our lives will change after high school. Through this unit, we have been reading the book  Night  by Elie Wiesel. We dove into what both, physical and mental endurance looks like and means. While reading this book, we have been connecting it to our lives and how we are able to relate to it one way or another. For this action project, we were assigned the task to write an autobiography! We wrote our autobiographies as if we were fifty-five years old and looking back at everything that we have gone through. We had to include the mental and physical challenges that we have had to endure throughout our lives, which has made us the people that we are today. Here's my autobiography and I hope you enjoy it!

 Welcome to my last action project of this term for my class called, Equality. For this unit, we took a deeper look at the things that we believe and that could change for the best in our society. We were looking at inequality, specifically, in class, gender, and race. As a female and someone who comes from a predominately female family, I have seen and have experienced different types of inequality often. For this action project, I chose to focus on inequality in the education system for females. We were assigned to create a time capsule and look in 2119 and identify what would be going on, surrounding the type of inequality that we chose. We had to answer questions like, "what would society look like at this time? How would your inequality look like in 100 years from now?" etc. I decided to focus on inequality in the education system for females because a lot of the time women feel like they are silenced when trying to speak up in the classroom and seeking higher education....

Welcome to the first action project in my Humanities class called, Equality! Within this class, we dove into the different perspectives of what equality has looked like throughout the history of the United States. In this class, we read the Case of Reparations! This allowed us to gain a better understanding of what the topic of equality looks like in the city that we live in. We got to learn about marginalized voices in the city and how housing worked for people of color. We continued to talk about other topics that fall under the category of equality. For example, we discussed topics consisting of feminism, discrimination towards different races, and how class can also impact a person's life. For this action project, we were asked to choose a historical event and transform it into a textbook! I chose to focus on the Delano Grape Strike and what discrimination looks like today for Hispanics and Latinos that live in the United States. Hope you enjoy it!

Hello and, welcome to my second action project for my Humanities class called Journalism. For this unit, we have looked into the question, “What is Photojournalism.” I was super stoked to dive into this unit because I absolutely love photography, and there are a lot of photographers in my family. We learned the ins and outs of photography, along with how a photo can create a large impact on a story! We studied the job of Photojournalists and how they capture/document stories and issues that are occurring today. A great example is Sebastiao Salgado, he focuses on climate change and other issues as well. For this action project, we were asked to become Photojournalists and ask someone in our lives, “What is the meaning of life?” While doing so we were also focusing on the mechanics of photography as well. I hope you enjoy this action project of mine as much as I did! SR. LivingSelflessly.2020 This is Jennifer. Jennifer is a Youth Pastor and a worship singer located here in Chicago. I dec...

Welcome to my first action project for my Senior Humanities class, Journalism! In this unit of Journalism, we have been learning about what it looks like for journalists and the in-depth process/skills that are necessary for this profession. Throughout, this unit we also read the book called Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman. We received a better understanding of some do's and don'ts when interviewing while reading Our America. While collecting these strategies, we also had the privilege to attend some virtual Northwestern University panel. Within these panels, we identified what makes an effective journalist. For this action project we had two options, and I chose to choose a topic that I'm passionate about, and make a report on it. I decided to focus on Hurricane Maria, and how Trump considered selling the island, after the tragic natural disaster. Here is the report I made!   President Donald Trump considered sellin...

For this last term of Policy we talked more about the three branches of the U.S government, and how Policy comes into play with them. For each term we looked into legislative branch, executive, and judicial. We have been looking at how the way the branches run from the past, and how it is being ran now. This completely changed especially with the current events that are happening across the nation. For this action project we were able to do a creative action project where we choose what we are able to do. I chose to take what we have been learning in class, and take what is currently happening in our society today. I specifically, wanted to conduct a research paper where I take a look at what the Executive branch is doing with our current national crisis. I wanted to do this because I believe it is important to continue educating myself in this current issues, and to dive into it because it is history that we are all currently living. Sources: 1) Sofia Lotto Persi.Trump De...

Through this first unit and final course of the year we care closing this school year by taking our class called, Policy. In unit of Policy, we have been discussing legislation and what it looks like. We dove deeper into what legislation looks like in the past around WWII and what it looks like now the 21st century, especially, with COVID-19 being a very large and global matter. As a field experience this unit we were able to and lucky enough to speak to Connie Jordan for the second time this year. Connie Jordan is a very insightful public defender for the state of Illinois. We were able to learn more about legislation through her eyes, and her perspective of what it's like being a public defender. For this action project we had the chance to choose a bill that has not been passed yet that we may advocate for and write a letter to whom it may concern about our opinion and idea of the bill. Throughout this we have to continue using rhetoric, policy, and a great argument! SR GCE ...

For the second to last unit of our class, A Nation's Argument, we have been looking into the Bill of Rights and the ratification in it. In the unit, we were able to gain a better understanding of the US Consitution and the fifteenth Amendments. With this investigation, we were able to get way deeper into this topic by watching the documentary, 13. This documentary was focused on the 13th Amendment, which states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." We then continued to look and start thinking about American citizens and the rights that are given coming into America, and how these rights apply to immigrants. We also asked the question about how Amendments also address that topic. For this action project, we were able to go through our student handbook to amend a current school rule. I chose to amend the...

Welcome to my first Action Project for my Humanities course, A Nation’s Argument. For this unit, we looked into America's Declaration of Independence and different types of premises. Throughout this unit, we learned how to create an effective argument when using inductive and deductive premises and what the word argument really means. For Field Experiences, we went to Alderman Walter Burnett and sat in on a city council meeting to watch an ordinance being passed or not on legalized marijuana usage in Illinois to get a real taste of what argument is and how it is used in the city we live in. For this Action Project, we were able to declare our independence to create our own syllabus to create a structured independent study as a common course/class. I chose to create a course based on learning about Caribbean history. With my personal experience, I have noticed that American education is very black and white. There is not much of an in-between or outside to really inform and expose...

Throughout this term of Rhetoric, we have continued to learn and conduct a search about what it means to be rhetorical. This term really focused on the art of rhetorical and what can be demonstrated through art. Through this process, we did some research about different artists, and we had to analyze the rhetorical that we found within the pieces. For this action project, we had to create our own individual piece that tackles some type of global and current issue. When creating this piece we had to make sure that we include the concepts of pathos, ethos, and logos along with rhetorical devices. We were open to many different mediums like poetry, music, visual art, etc. I chose to create a multi-media art piece that speaks upon Puerto Rican independence. SR. PUERTORICOINDEPENDENCE. 2019 ARTIST STATEMENT: I am a sixteen-year-old Puerto Rican from Humboldt Park, Chicago. This piece is focused on the Puerto Rican Independence Movement that is currently occurring in Puerto Rico. The...

In my class, Rhetoric we have continued to use what we have lived in unit 1 into, unit 2 by studying the status quo and how we are able to change that. In this unit, we wanted to push out Rhetoric skills and analyze the situation while using them. For example, we took a look at the Nixon v. Kennedy debate, spoke to striking teachers, and a mini-debate we had between De Las Casa and Christopher Columbus. Throughout this unit we had some Field Experience guests (Ugo Okere and Troy LaRaviere) come in to speak to us about how they might use Rhetoric and how it affects their everyday job/life. We also spoke to them about what the status quo means to them and what they do to challenge it. For this Action Project, we were influenced by one of our Field Experience members (Troy LaRaviere) to create an op-ed (opposite page of an editorial page). We were able to choose a topic and speak about how it challenges the status quo. For my op-ed, I decided to write and study the US's decision t...

In this first unit of Rhetoric, we have been learning about what Rhetoric is and how we use every day without acknowledging it. If you don't know what Rhetoric is, it is effective and persuasive writing or speaking and a language that is designed to hook in a set audience. Within this unit, we had learned Rhetorical devices and the three different concepts you need to use to become a successful Rhetoric speaker. The three concepts we learned were Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos is creating trust and credibility, Pathos is demonstrating emotion to lure in the audience, and Logos is providing logic to the reader or listener. While learning all of this, we paid attention to the Democratic debate and wanted to use our Rhetoric skills as if we were the Democratic candidates. For this Action Project, we were assigned a Candidate to study and research. We had to create a question for the candidate and answer it using the three Rhetorical concepts and two Rhetorical devices. I was assigned...

In the third, and final unit of our class, Drama we read the play, A Raisin In The Sun. Which takes place in the 1950s in Chicago while there was blockbusting, segregation, and discrimination. This play focuses on a black family that lives in the South Side of Chicago with many different dreams of kinds of dreams. In class, we have been learning about what is the matriarch and how it can be perceived with some people dividing gender. A matriarch is described as someone or something that strong, decision maker, and the leader. An example of a matriarch is Mama from, A Raisin In The Sun. She was the head of the house, the matriarch. For this action project, we had to choose a scene and a character from, A Raisin In The Sun and create a commentary of the acts of the character throughout the scene. We had to comment on the negative and positive qualities the character we chose demonstrated in the specific scene. At the end of the commentary, we had to give a lesson that we learned from tha...

For this our Humanities class, Drama we have been learning we read and looked at a play called A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. We learned about the history behind Ibsen, and how his play writes was a big influence on society. He took a lot of what he saw in society and implemented them into his creations. We learned about the different gender issues that continue on from the early 19th century to now. By reading A   Doll's House we were able to gain a better understanding of gender roles, and how women were treated. For our action project, we had a write two original scenes that include Nora from A Doll's House, a historical woman from The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, and another character that characterizes the student who is playing that character. While doing this we were given a guiding question, "Should men and women have different roles in society?" as a group we decided to focus on the question, "Are women able to be independent on their own?" I...

For this first spring unit of Drama, we did some research about Shakespeare, who he was, and he affected the way we look at literature today. We learned that Shakespeare was not only a playwright, but he was also an author of many sonnets. In class, we read one of Shakespeare's well-known plays called, The Taming Of The Shrew.  This play focused on gender roles, and "jobs" men and women had back in the 1500s. As we read this play we learned that the work that Shakespeare created was based on what was happening around him. For this action project, we had to create our own sonnet that speaks to one of the characters in the play, The Taming Of The Shrew. In the sonnet, we had to agree or disagree with the character and give them advice. While creating this type of poem we had to think about the iambic pentameter which is having ten syllables in each line, and in sonnets, we have to rhyme with every other line following the format of four lines for each quatrain. SR.TheT...

In our second unit of Forbidden Book, we were studying diversity, and how it's implanted into books. Throughout this unit, we took a look at the different meanings a book has. For this action project, we chose a banned book that we wanted to read. We had to read and analyze the book to understand the reasons why this book was banned, and who exactly banned the book. I chose to read the book Of Mice and Men which is a book written by John Steinbeck in 1937. This book is about two men migrating from Alabama to California to work on a ranch in 1937 during the Great Depression.        CC.OFMICEANDMEN.2019

In our first unit of Forbidden Books, we have been learning about what censorship is and the process of banning books and censoring certain contents in the world. Over this unit, we explored what censorship really meant, why we have censorship, and we even questioned what we thought about censorship is it actually good or bad to have it? We then transitioned to what a Socratic dialogue is, and the history behind its formation. We also started reading, Fahrenheit 451. This book is about a world where books are banned across the country, and whoever is found with a book at their homes has their home burned down. The book revolves around the main character who is actually a fireman (who has the job of burning books). We thought this book was effective because it gave us a fictional understanding/metaphor of the way books are perceived in different perspectives. I really enjoyed the book and was very interested to see the comparison of our world to the world in the book. For this Forbidd...

Hello! In this class called Global Peace. We have been talking about activism, and ways we are able to better our community! So for this Action Project, we were given the opportunity to make that happen by selecting an issue we have noticed around our city, and figure out a way we are able to fix it. I chose to tackle the conflict of gentrification. SR.FightGentrification.2019 Citations: Florida, Richard. This Is What Happens After a Neighborhood Gets Gentrified. TheAtlantic. September 16, 2015. Garica, Evan. How Gentrification Takes Shape Across Chicago Neighborhoods. WTTW News. January 18, 2019 Gerasole, Vince. Development In Humboldt Park Sparks Discussions Of Gentrification. CBS Chicago. September 19, 2018 Rosenblat, Joshua, and Howard, Tanner. How Gentrification Is Leaving Public Schools Behind. U.S News and World Report. January 18, 2019

For this elective term, I chose to take the class called Global Peace. In this class, we are able to talk about ways we are able to use ourselves to make a change for things that we are passionate about. In class, we have talked about activism and the roles it takes to be an activist. We have been talking about different methods known as the Gandhian principles we can use with activism such as Sarvodaya, Swaraj, and Satyagraha. Sharp's Methods are basically more than 190 ways to protest with non-violence actions. Sharp's Method is a very resourceful way to take action without causing harm. Many people use these methods without even realizing it. For this action project, we had to choose an activist to learn about. We had to study their techniques and methods they use/used as an activist. The activist I chose to study is Tarana Burke who started the #MeToo movement. Doug, Criss. TheMedia'sVersionOf#MeTooIsUnrecognizableToTheMovement'sFound, TaranaBurke.2018 In conc...