10th Grade: 2023-2024

At the start of the sophomore year, I did a group project where we chose a group of people to thank. We tried to choose an underappreciated group, the janitors of our school. We bought them donuts, collected letters from various people around the school to thank them, and put up signs all around the school that are still here.

This project represents the JAGS pillar of communicating ideas. We had to communicate with our team members on what our plan was. Then we had to communicate with as many others as possible to get cards. Then our posters still serve as a way of communication with others that helps keep our school clean.

The documentary was the most time-consuming and hardest project during my sophomore year. We had to conduct multiple interviews with people who have lived in other countries and an expert in childhood psychology. We had to come up with a script and do our own research into what we think makes a good childhood. Finally, we had to cut and edit it into one final product. It was long and challenging, but it was also gratifying when it was finished, and I am proud of what we made.

The documentary is strongly aligned with the JAGS pillar of recognizing perspectives. During our research, we had to understand various perspectives on childhood. We got a very personal interview that helped us recognize and understand world perspectives from a different lens than just research. This was a digestible way to talk to people with drastically different lives from mine.

For my sophomore year science artifact, I chose my GO Night presentation. This was a group project with three other people, where we came up with a plan to help one of the UN's SDG goals.  We then volunteered at the Akron-Canton Food Bank and shared about it.

This project relates to the JAGS pillar of take action. It easily encompasses taking action because of our time volunteering. We shared about why it is a problem and how easy it was for us to volunteer. Finally, we encouraged others to go volunteer, and emphasized how simple and helpful donations and volunteering is.

My sophomore year artifact for French was this short research document. We got in random groups, and because of this, we had to learn to work together even though we didn't know each other well. Then we had to compile information about French culture. 

This is representative of recognizing perspectives. This was a cultural activity where I had to find the most important parts of French culture. This would become essential for next year when I traveled to France. This assignment and others like it helped me recognize the perspective of French life, and later, when I traveled to France, it was easier for me than for my peers because of my background in French culture.

My extracurricular from this year was the trip to Costa Rica. This was my first time traveling internationally, and luckily, it was with my friends. We stayed for a few days and experienced lots of fun new things. It was also a time when I made new friends and got closer to the friends I already had.

The JAGS pillar that was represented during this trip was investigating the world. This was my first time out of the country, and it was great. During our short visit, I tried as many new things as I could. I fully immersed myself in the culture, from trying new foods to going to the beach, this trip was packed with exciting new things that I am glad I got to experience.