11th Grade: [2024-2025]

In my junior year, I completed the AP Language and Composition class. In this class, I completed a project with my group to make a podcast. For the podcast, we chose to research the wonders of space, and if life can be sustained somewhere that i not Earth. I researched experts and found one who lived in Quebec, Canada. He was on the Space Council and also worked with Russian astronauts during the space race. He was very knowledgeable and gave us insights into what humans may not realize about space. Something I found interesting about this project is that space exploration may not be possible in the next 50 years due to space junk and pollution. 

Creating this podcast allowed me to take action and investigate the world. I had to take action by reaching out to the professor with my group and setting up a Zoom call. These skills have helped me because now, when I create research projects, I know the best and most efficient ways to gain credible experts who can support my ideas. I also had to investigate the world during this project by exploring different parts of the world through research to create the podcast. One of the main problems with space was pollution, therefore, I had to research other nations and their policies when it comes to sending people to space. Overall, this project has prepared me for future research projects because I have the resources to gain from excellent experts. 

Throughout my junior year, I have had to complete something called Tablas, or tables, for my Spanish IV class. Tablas help students understand different Spanish-speaking countries by incorporating themes into them. For example, I did a theme on the environmental threats in Colombia. I researched, in Spanish, the problems Colombia is facing currently with deforestation. I also researched the ethnicities located in Mexico and where they originated from. 

Tabals correspond with the JAGS pillar to investigate the world. Tablas helped me explore other countries and their current issues. I was able to stay up to date with countries I normally do not look at daily. I also feel as though Tabals have made me a better speaker and reader when it comes to translating Spanish. I also investigated different regions of each country and explored the cultures through research. Tablas have helped me when traveling because Spanish is such a popular language in today's society. 

In my physics class during junior year, I created a car out of a mousetrap and some string. I completed this project with my two other partners. The goal of the project was to make the car go without pushing it, hence the string and spring. The idea was to wind the string up so there was elastic energy in the car, then transferring it to kinetic energy. We also designed our car to have a theme of Aladdin. We wanted it to seem like a magic carpet ride for the characters. This project was very time-consuming, and we had to keep a daily log that was almost 20 pages long. We created reflections at the end of our project to see the work and accomplishments we completed. 

This project required me to take action because of how time-consuming it was. I had to come down during my fourth period because it was a meticulous project that we needed to get right. One of the requirements was that the car needed to travel a minimum of ten meters. I also helped everyone in my class tie loop knots because they were very difficult to make. Overall, this project was very fun to create because of its uniqueness. This project has helped me learn problem-solving. I feel ready for future JAGS projects because I can come up with quick solutions.