View the Creating Smiles project by clicking here. This group of LHS Capstone students researched the amount of contact that students with disabilities have with the general population. They were so disappointed to find out how isolated these students are. The students were driven to make a plan and implemented that plan and were forever touched by the genuine kindness their new friends. Fortunately, the LHS students also researched common behavior issues off these special needs kids, so they knew how to handle a host of unusual situations.
View the Winter Driving Tips project by clicking here. This video was played for the entire LHS student body just as winter was getting under way. This group surveyed a large number of high school students and found that they really needed a review of this information! They were able to find a professional videographer to teach them how to use the equipment to make their video. One of the best parts of the Capstone class is that students learn how to do amazing things that are not normally part of the routine high school experience but that are basic to the business world.
View another LAS Senior Capstone Webpage by clicking here. (under development)
K.A.B. Bully project
For the KAB bully project, a team of seniors surveyed a class of fifth grade students from Cherry Creek elementary in the Lowell Area School district. The results showed that the fifth grades did see bullying in their classroom as a problem. The Lowell High School seniors, created a series of mini-lessons that included highly-rated online videos, personal testimonials, hands-on projects, and role-playing to define bullying and practices acceptable ways of dealing with it. Ultimately, the fifth graders enjoyed their time with the senior students and felt more capable of dealing with bullying issues in a positive way.
Senior Give Back day
The idea for this project was generated by a team of staff members. They approached the Capstone class and requested help with advertising, procuring needed equipment and staff supervision of several different volunteer locations, and assigning each member of the senior class to a specific work location and transportation to that location. While on the whole, the project is a volunteer project, it is considered service learning because the Capstone students learned about different methods of advertising, and how to organize a volunteer event which included well over 300 people!
Wittenbach center project
One of the most important parts of service-learning is student voice. "Service-learning provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service-learning experiences with guidance from adults." With the exception of the Senior Give Back day, every project was chosen by students. They researched community needs, developed an action plan, and implemented that plan. Here, students worked with the Director of the Wittenbach Center (an environmental learning space for Lowell Area Schools). They had to communicate with the director, they had to create a budget, they had to plan appropriate work time, purchase materials, and then actually complete the project. The final pictures show that this project was well done!
The PAWSiTIVE Walk
What a cute title, right? Several students had a passion for animals and wanted to raise funds for the Kent County Humane Society. They did a fabulous job. In learning to set up a fund-raising project, this group presented their project idea to the City Council at a general City Council Meeting. They worked with the Chamber of Commerce to use the downtown Chamber building, they recruited middle school workers who were trained for specific job duties, they found people who were willing to hand-dig through at least a square block through a foot of snow to create a dog walking path, they had snacks, professional photographers who donated their services, and conducted plenty of advertising.
The social, dog-walking event was a huge success generating in just a few hours over $500 to donate. People with pets had the chance to gather, visit, and have their photos taken with their pets for a donation. Several downtown business people said that the event brought many more customers to town than usual, especially considering the weather.
Ultimately, this group of students was asked to conduct a professional presentation at the Kent Intermediate School District facility to highlight one of the best service-learning projects in the area! One of the students created the DVD presentation you can see below.
The social, dog-walking event was a huge success generating in just a few hours over $500 to donate. People with pets had the chance to gather, visit, and have their photos taken with their pets for a donation. Several downtown business people said that the event brought many more customers to town than usual, especially considering the weather.
Ultimately, this group of students was asked to conduct a professional presentation at the Kent Intermediate School District facility to highlight one of the best service-learning projects in the area! One of the students created the DVD presentation you can see below.
Talk about cross-curricular learning - that's exactly what happened when a team of A.P. Chemistry students from Lowell High School and their chemistry teacher, Katie Hatchett, combined their love of science with their love for community service. Students were enrolled in Kim Keglovitz's Senior Capstone English class (a project-based learning course), and they developed a project to encourage students to love chemistry after conducting a survey showing the younger children's interest in science lagging. The LHS students researched the great importance of science and wanted to see their program grow, so they developed a project to impact youth. The fifth graders, no doubt, changed their views about chemistry and many have gone on to participate in the LHS A.P. Chemistry program. This service-learning project was a complete success!