Global Awareness Passage

Expectations

Senior Capstone Graduation Requirement

Research Paper

Students are required to complete a formal MLA-style research paper using resources and documentation to support a clearly defined thesis . The work for the Global Awareness Passage helps students to gain a global perspective on an issue of their choosing, but the research paper focuses on a particular aspect of the issue.

Education of Others

Educating others can vary from person to person. It could include a Governance presentation, organizing a Day of Dialogue, teaching a class, creating a website, initiating a letter-writing campaign, or in some way raising the awareness of others about the chosen issue.

Community Service

To successfully complete the Global Awareness Passage, students are encouraged to engage their heads, hearts, and hands. To "create the world that ought to be" students are asked to find ways to truly impact their chosen issue, either on a global or a local scale. To do so, students can become engaged in community service, participate in an apprenticeship, or organize an action which will positively impact their chosen issue.

Writing the Proposal or Wrap-Up

Before Writing the Proposal

Choose an issue about which you are passionate – one that affects your life and that you believe you can affect.
Try to find a topic that you have been exposed to in the past, through classes, trips, or personal life experiences.
Before attempting this Passage, you should have had experience in research, community service, and personal risk-taking. You should be able to demonstrate your ability to follow through with commitments.
A suggested requirement for this Passage is the Research Paper writing class.

How to Write the Proposal for a Global Awareness Passage

Describe your Passage in the opening paragraph. You could use the newspaper format of who, what, when, where, why and how. Try to make your statements as clear as possible – write them as if someone who knew nothing about the school were reading your proposal.
Tell why your Passage is a challenge to you and what risks (physical, financial, social, and intellectual) you expect to experience.
Describe your preparation for this Passage. Include your strengths, past experiences, and training you plan to pursue prior to beginning.
Select a book to read that is related to your Passage; why did you choose this book?
Explain which Graduation Expectation/s you expect to address?
Describe the resources you have (personal strengths – motivation, knowledge, skills, abilities; people; books; materials; etc.). Describe the resources you will need, and how you will obtain them.
What do you anticipate to be your greatest obstacles and how do you hope to overcome them?
Identify possible peripheral learning.
Describe your first step in beginning this Passage and list your steps, in order, toward completion. A timeline with checkpoints may be helpful.
Include the following in the proposal:
- Community Service plan
- Research Paper topic/ideas
- Education of Others plan
How will you document this Passage? How will you show changes in skills, attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge? Describe what your Final Product will be.
State how you will know when this Passage is complete and the proposed date of completion.

How to Write the Wrap-Up for a Global Awareness Passage

Describe your Passage as you proposed it. The description should be written clearly, with attention to main events and/or highlights, so a person unfamiliar with you and/or the school could understand this experience. Balance a need to “summarize” with the equal need to detail the process you used to successfully complete this Passage experience.
Tell what you accomplished and how you know you reached your goals.
Describe turning points or highlights within the experience. These can be documented with excerpts from your journal.
Describe what obstacles, challenges, and risks (perceived and real) you encountered in this Passage and how you dealt with them. Describe unexpected events, setbacks, and opportunities. Explain whether or not your initial expectations were realistic.
List all the resources you utilized (personal strengths – motivation, knowledge, skills, abilities; people; books; materials; etc). Be specific.
Describe the book you read and how it applied to your Passage.
Which Graduation Expectation/s did you successfully address?
Describe peripheral learning or unexpected learning that occurred in this Passage.
Describe how you have documented this Passage. Be sure to include Community Service, Research Paper and Education of Others components.
The closing statement could include the following: how you feel about yourself and the completion of this Passage, why this Passage has made a difference in your life, where you will go from here with further exploration or experiences.

The document is written, now what?

Give the rough draft to your Advisor, Triad, and Consultant and ask for FEEDBACK. This will need to be at least two weeks prior to the planned meeting.
Make revisions and write a FINAL DRAFT of the document. This process usually occurs more than once. It often takes more than two weeks for the rewriting process.
Ask people to be on your PASSAGE COMMITTEE. The committee needs to include the following people:
- Advisor, Passage Consultant, and Triad members. You may also invite other students, parents/guardians, or community mentors as appropriate.
Schedule a PASSAGE MEETING time. Inform all members of the committee of the time and place for the meeting.
Give a copy of the FINAL polished draft of the document to each member of your Passage committee at least one week prior to the meeting time.
At the PASSAGE MEETING, seek approval and suggestions from the committee; take notes to use in making further revisions.

Examples

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