exemplar-_personal_project

IB MYP Personal Project - Christmas In July Experience Planning Learning Goal My learning goal is to become more educated about the effects of homelessness in my community. During the summer of my 9th-grade year, I began contemplating my chosen IB MYP project topic. Shortly after pondering about my passions, I came upon a seemingly obvious answer instantaneously. My mother would always say I had a love for the homeless, but I never understood how that passion originated. For as long as I could remember, I have always loved to serve the homeless. Beginning in late elementary school, I participated in initiatives involving feeding and caring for the homeless. Even so, I always felt disconnected since I never got to interact with those I was helping in these programs. Nevertheless, a global pandemic, known as COVID-19, surprisingly gave me an opportunity to mend the disconnect I felt for the past few years. The effects of homelessness became more pronounced to me in this season as the roads were silent and, for the most part, clear of human presence. As my mom and I strolled through our neighborhood, we interacted with the homeless and formed authentic relationships with each soul along our street. We soon considered these souls our friends, which coined the phrase, "friends on the streets". My experiences with the “friends on the streets” inspired me to write an article and produce a video about the lessons they taught me during the pandemic. In this article, I featured the inspiration for my learning goal. Once my mom and I gave our "friend on the street" money, he returned to us ecstatic about every item he purchased. "Without us asking, he showed us everything he bought and gave us a heartfelt thank you," (Strother 1). Because of my newfound relationships with the “friends on the streets” and the experiences I had, I decided my learning goal should delve deeper into the homeless topic. Prior Knowledge & Skill Knowledge Before beginning this process, I knew little information about the extent of homelessness from an educational standpoint since my classes skimmed the topic. I understood that homelessness was a problem affecting many Americans, specifically veterans, women, and children populations. Similarly, I realized mental illness was heavily intertwined with the homeless population. Skill As a current entrepreneur and co-founder of You Can Fit Out 2, LLC, I had experience with website design, marketing, and video production. Because of my involvement in business, I also polished my organizational, strategic, financial, and promotional skills. This arsenal of skills will enable me to continue serving the homeless community without going into debt. Also, I was familiar with event planning because of my experiences with You Can Fit Out 2, LLC and my IB PYP project in the fifth grade. My IB PYP group project encompassed healthy lifestyle planning, which developed my planning skills for future tasks. Product Through my learning goal, I hope to gain a clearer perspective of homelessness in my community and greater insight regarding the lives of my “friends on the streets''. Although this is true, I mainly desire to use my learning goal to positively impact the homeless community. For these reasons, my product will be an annual community experience for the homeless, entitled Christmas in July. I planned to put this annual event into effect during the summer, in July, after discovering the harsh conditions faced by Atlanta’s homeless population during the summer. According to the Atlanta Mission, "Without access to air-conditioned spaces, reliable shelter, and water supplies, those experiencing homelessness in the summer are left to spend night after night on the scorching streets [which can reach up to 175 degrees]" (1). As a result, homeless individuals can experience illnesses such as heat stroke and brain damage (Atlanta Mission 1). I made the theme of my annual experience Christmas in July, given my love for Christmas and the under-the-radar holiday, Christmas in July. I planned to create Christmas-inspired summer packages to pass out to my “friends on the streets” in Downtown Atlanta where homelessness is fairly prevalent with the help of several volunteers. 1

Product Success Criteria Given the extent of my final product, I wanted to establish parameters to ensure that Christmas in July was feasible and successful. Georgia has more than 10,000 homeless individuals, which is not a feasible number for Christmas in July at the moment (“Georgia Homelessness Statistics” 1). Subsequently, I had to narrow down my experience to involve fewer homeless people in a highly concentrated area in my community. On that note, I also had to create neat and appealing packages for the homeless that aligned with my dream for the annual community experience. As a server, I want contributors and those being serviced to feel the positive impact of my work. Therefore, I designed the packages to accommodate the possible mental health needs of the homeless community as twenty-five percent are considered seriously mentally ill (Tarr 1). Likewise, I wanted to have a spokesperson who resonated with my passion about the homeless so their words and participation could inspire children, teens, and adults to serve in their passions in the community. Aesthetics: The Christmas-inspired packaging must be within the established color palette, which is red, watermelon green, light blue, and gold. To adhere to the Christmas in July theme, my packaging color palette must combine both Christmas elements and summer colors. The evidence of success will be the packaging colors aligning with the detailed palette. Size (Feasibility): I will serve a minimum of ten homeless individuals in my community. I will have a maximum of three volunteers (excluding myself) take part in Christmas in July this year. Since this is a soft launch for my annual community experience, I would prefer to start at a smaller scale to identify more efficient processes for fundraising, advertising, recruiting, etc. By serving fewer people with the help of fewer individuals, I can create high-end packages for the homeless, which can affect them at a higher level. The amount of Christmas-inspired care packages created will measure the number of homeless individuals served. The number of individuals recruited to assist in the execution stage will measure the number of volunteers. Customer: Christmas in July will add life value to the lives of the homeless and positively impact volunteers. This project adds life to the served and the servers. It embodies the season of giving in the heat of July. Thus, I want the served, or the homeless, to have something more in their life, and the servers, or volunteers, to have a new perspective on service. I will measure this criterion by observing the reactions of homeless individuals and taking testimonies from participants and donors afterward. Safety: My annual community experience must have Christmas-inspired packaging and materials that individuals with behavioral and mental illnesses can safely use, which would include things like blunt objects. Because about 45% of the homeless have a mental illness, I chose to have my packages be beneficial to their current health status (Tarr 1). I will measure the safety of my packaging by researching appropriate materials and consulting with experienced medical professionals (i.e., my mom and dad). 2

Material: Christmas in July needs to have promotional and fundraiser materials, which would include a promotional video, website, and PayPal funding page. I need to have these materials to create an established groundwork for my experience, so it will continue to grow over the years and be economically sound. The quality of the materials will serve as evidence that I was successful. To measure the quality of the materials, I will receive testimonies from family and friends about the accessibility, quality, addictiveness, etc. of the materials. Time: The deadline for my project will be January 22, 2021, which is exactly a month before the official deadline. I want to add additional special touches to my project after completion. By completing the project early, I will perfect my project and submit it earlier than the official deadline. The Christmas in July Experience will be fully complete before January 22, 2021. Impact: To introduce an alternative perspective, my annual community experience will have a fellow peer-leader as the face (or model). I want my project to inspire others to pursue passions related to themselves and their communities. By having a representative on board, other kids would see that it is possible to do this since more than one person is in on it. I can measure this by assessing the number of promotional materials she appears in as well as the number of elements she contributes in other areas. Action Plan I designed an interactive, multi-purpose timeline for the completion of my product and accompanying assignments. In my timeline, I dissected overall tasks into phases for efficient goal completion. Because each task relates to one or more success criteria, I also listed those in a selected column to assure that I satisfied my outlined requirements in each step of the process. Lastly, I outlined a summary of my progress in the notes section to track steps and completed tasks. LINK : Action Plan (hyperlink for initial version on Evernote Platform) Timeline Overall Task Task Phases Relevant Success Criteria Deadline Notes 09/21/21- 10/8/21 Establish ATL Skills ● Review Step 9 in IBMYP Personal Project Student Guide ● Watch ATL skills video ● Read Appendix C for plausible reasons and causes ● Complete the ATL skill chart ● Decide on 1-2 skills from each ATL Skill Category N/A October 8th ● Completed early on October 7th ● Due to Fall Break (October 7th-October 11th) ● Decided to use the following categories ● Research ● Communication ● Thinking ● Established the following as ATL skills: ● I.L.S.-Collect & analyze data identify solutions & make informed decisions ● C.S.- Use a variety of media to communicate with a range of audiences ● C.L.T.S.-Revise understanding based on new information and evidence ● C.E.T.S.- Combine knowledge, understanding, and skills to create products or solutions 3

10/11/21- 10/15/21 Research appropriate materials for the packages ● Establish packaging color scheme Via online research: ● Settle on safe packaging form for those with mental illnesses ● Determine which items of the three categories (hygiene, nutrition, and physical well being) are needed most ● Decide on edible items that have the least likelihood of allergy ( & create alternatives for allergy items) Aesthetics Customer Safety October 15th ● Completed early on October 8th ○ Due to fall break (October 7th - October 11th) ● While doing the CRAAP test, I found useful information regarding items for homeless care packaging and the packaging itself. ● While I was researching the connection between mental illness and homelessness, I also settled on a type of packaging within the theme and safe for everyone to use. ● Since my success criteria for aesthetics had a specific color palette, I chose the following colors: ○ Red ○ Watermelon Green ○ Light Blue ○ Gold 10/15/21- 10/20/21 Determine finances and funding ● List item costs ● Determine sum of costs for each package ● Establish packaging cost ● Outline a feasible number of packages to give within budget ● Establish a donation amount ● Decide the number of items placed in each package and the arrangement of those items ● Create a Paypal account for donations Material Size Safety October 20th ● Began early on October 9th due to Fall Break October 7th - October 11th) ○ Checked off four tasks on October 9th ■ Decided that 12 packages were feasible ■ Decided the number of items and arrangements in the jars ■ Still need to factor in packaging costs so it may change ● Continued working October 17th ○ Created a Paypal account and spreadsheet for financials 10/20/21- 10/31/21 Create a media kit for the outreach experience ● Decide on the face of the community experience ● Produce promotional material (website & promo video) with the chosen face of the experience ● Link the financial elements (Paypal account) to the website ● Create flyers & email promotional materials ● Share website link, Paypal link, and marketing materials with appropriate audience Aesthetics Impact Materials October 31st Since it was senior SAT day, I had an ample amount of time to complete the following: ● Decided on the face of the community experience prior to the established starting point (October 20th) ● I did not record my thoughts about the process until October 28th. ● Began editing and producing promotional materials (email banners, videos, flyers, etc.)prior to established starting point (October 20th) ○ Like the previous task, I recorded the finished product on October 28th. ● Began creating website prior to established starting point (October 20th) ○ Like the other tasks, I decided to wait until I had a finished product to record in my journal. ● Since the initial idea, I have been contacting friends and family to contribute to this experience. 4