The Class

I took a course titled Community Immersion in which I studied the for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors of my local community through the lens of systems thinking. Throughout the class, we met many different people who play important roles in the community. Many of them related to the health and well being of the environment, which influenced my project.

Visiting the Landfill

They were opening a new cell for additional trash.

Tons of waste was recorded daily.

The mound of trash made a mountain on the flat land.

Visioning

Our class decided that, with systems thinking, we could reduce the amount of waste created at our school campus. Because we were a new school, any waste reductions we made through strategic improvement projects in the first year would scale as the school grew. We believed our impact could be significant in just over a few years.

We created a vision statement and project goal

Our Vision

Our Goal

We researched best practices and brainstormed ways to apply those practices to our school.

We determined who our stakeholders were. We then surveyed them to determine their commitment and interest in our possible projects.

Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholder

Survey

Survey Results

We determined which projects would have the greatest impact and desirability with the lowest effort/cost to implement.

Creating a Baseline

To know if we met our goal, we had to determine a baseline for the amount of trash created daily. After learning about sampling processes, we decided to sort and weigh the trash twice a week for 10 weeks to create a baseline.

My Leadership Role

I was responsible for the composting project. I started by mapping out all the steps of the project, estimating how long each step might take, and ordering the steps to ensure I completed the project on time. The result was a Gantt chart I could follow throughout the project.

Preparing the Project

Kylie and Whitney Gantt

Launching the Project

I also had to convince my peers about the importance of using the compost bin when necessary. To do this I started to put compostable things in the compost bin and told my friends to do the same. I also presented the project to the student body at a chapel meeting so they could understand the value of why we compost, why it's so important, how it's beneficial, how it impacts, etc.

Indoor Compost Bin

Exterior Compost Bin

The Final Outcome

At the end of the year my class again took measurements of the waste our school produced. Using similar sampling techniques to the baseline measurements, we found that we had reduced the amount of daily waste by 45% percent. The result of all the class projects together allowed us to exceed our goal by 80%.

Life Skills

I have been a creative problem solver while working through our costume design unit in Art. I was stuck on a curvy road when I was handed an old shirt and a headband. My mission was to do my best and try my hardest. I then made the needed headpieces with thread, stuffing, wire, and fabric paint. I had painted on the stripes of the tiger's ears, but it was enjoyable.

I believe I played a confident communication role when presenting my TED talk. I designed a TED talk on a fashion trend I admire and participated in myself. I wanted to make a movement in my community. It had taken a lot of confidence and courage to be able to get up on stage and act myself. Overall I believe my presentation went well and people seemed to enjoy it.

I am a compassionate citizen because I intend to make a bigger art view of our community from now until my retirement. I want people to understand, know, and hear about art and how it has impacted me. I will strive to make our community more open to the less fortunate to have more experience in this field. Many people art strongly talented but don't have the resources or even money to be able to expand their horizons. Therefore I want people to be able to express themselves in a safe legal way.

I have been a very motivated student when it comes time of day for my English class. It's not so much the subject it the teacher and his teacher's style. Things are always broken down for you until you understand and he will never let you leave his class confused. I am always motivated to complete my work and attend class.

I would do well and pay attention in class. But I eventually realized that doing so isn’t enough. I expected to be able to pass tests, quizzes, and complete homework off memory from what I learned prior in class. Unfortunately, that is not the case, so now I try my best to review at least a little bit of my notes or any work we did in class to keep my mind fresh. Which is what makes me a resilient individual.

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