For my Senior Capstone Project, I focused on expanding the JD Lemonade Stand, a yearly event originally started by the Tecumseh Learning Pad. This event is held every April to promote Autism Acceptance Month and raise money for local organizations that support individuals with autism. What made this project really personal to me is that my sister, Morgan, helped start the original lemonade stand when she was in elementary school. Being able to take that idea and build on it years later felt really special, like everything had come full circle.

In past years, the lemonade stand was mostly just at Tecumseh Elementary School, but I saw an opportunity to make it something even bigger. I collaborated with Meg Ames, a special education teacher at JD, and together we worked on expanding the event to every school in the Jamesville-DeWitt district, including the high school, middle school, elementary schools, the transportation department, and even the district office. This meant organizing materials, recruiting staff and student volunteers, and making sure everyone across the district was on the same page.

One of the biggest parts of the expansion was creating custom JD Lemonade Stand t-shirts and 3-D printed Autism Acceptance pins, which were sold at each stand. The money raised, which was over $10,000 went to the Central New York Autism Society of America,  ARISE Adaptive Design, Tech By Brian. It was amazing to see the community come together to support such a meaningful cause.

This project taught me a lot about leadership, event planning, and advocacy. It also reminded me how powerful student voices can be when we use them to create change. I'm really proud of what this project became, and I hope future students continue to grow it even more in the years to come.