Sunshine (novel)

I am using AAR to work on my novel, titled Sunshine. Sunshine chronicles a post-apocalyptic world, where regular catastrophes plague humanity and can only be driven off by a magical substance called "sunshine." The sunshine-seller, nephew of the deceased legendary figure Light-Bringer, distributes this "sunshine" and befriends two children named Alice and Tim. Throughout the story the sunshine-seller is confronted with questions about the evil nature of humanity, and whether the "sunshine" Light-Bringer so loved can truly save people.

Making Meaning Through Self Portraits

I compose self portraits as a way to express myself and to expand my AP art portfolio. My project will examine the way different techniques used by famous artists were employed to frame personal and cultural meaning (for example, how self portraiture was used to deal with issues like mortality, emotional stress and cultural events). By studying techniques and works from art history, I will use different famous artists' techniques to create a series of self portraits to explore the relationships between artist and subject.

Availability of Physical Therapy to America's Indigent Population, and How It Could be Used to Combat the Opioid Crisis

This project will look into the availability of orthopedic physical therapy services for the indigent population in America. This will involve looking into how many free clinics provide such services as well as how much Medicaid and Medicare will pay for these services. This project will also attempt to determine if physical therapy can be an effective alternative to prescription painkillers.

The Benefits of Music Education

This project looks at the various aspects of music education in California. After Proposition 13 was passed, music education took a massive hit and now very few public elementary schools in California offer it. I will be researching the benefits of music education to gather data that demonstrates why it is an essential part of education.

Graffiti: Not All Bad

The goal of my project is to shift public perception away from the popular stereotype of graffiti as a degenerative form of art. As part of my project, I will be displaying my original graffiti pieces in the forthcoming AAR-Paly Garden to demonstrate that graffiti can be used to enhance the beauty of any space. This project will be my first step toward becoming a public graffiti artist.

Minority Presence in Journalism

There is a lack of minority representation in journalism. Despite organizations working to bring more minorities into journalism, all minority groups combined account for only 22.4% of television journalists and 13.34% of journalists at daily newspapers (White, 2015). This problem has negatively impacted the voice of minorities because they are not represented in mainstream media. According to the Center for Media Literacy, “currently only about 40% of the nation's 1,600 daily newspapers employ any minorities in editorial staff positions” (Cort, 2017). A possible cause of this problem is the lack of minority participation in high school journalism programs. Perhaps a study which investigates minority presence in high school journalism by collecting data to determine the effectiveness of a project encouraging minority students to get involved in high school journalism could remedy this situation and increase the number of minority students in the journalism program at Palo Alto High School.

The Ideal Sexual Education for Middle and High School, and How It Compares to PAUSD's Sexual Education

Through researching United States laws, California laws, and studies on sexual education, I am attempting to find the ideal sexual education curriculum that results in the least amount of teenage STIs and pregnancies, as well as an increase in knowledge about consent. By finding the most affective and comprehensive sexual education methods, I will use this tool to compare the sexual education programs within the PAUSD community. Through personal experience with sexual education and interviews with many teachers and members of administration, I hope to gain an understanding of PAUSD's sexual education strategy. The final goal is to document the ways in which PAUSD has progressed as well as what needs improvement in order to benefit all students within the PAUSD community.

Analyzing the Achievement Gap in the Bay Area

In the Bay Area, there is a significant achievement gap between students of different races and socioeconomic statuses. I will visit two different local schools (one affluent, one struggling economically) develop and test curriculum to see if it makes a difference in students and their respective achievements. I will be using action research, specifically interviews and focus groups, to collect data on the economic achievement gap and the impact of strategic adjustments to curriculum.

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