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CULMINATING PROJECT PROPOSALS NATHAN
HALE 07-08
Culminating Project
Proposal #1 By Student McStudent MUSIC
AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Changing My Community
With “Changes” Short Summary of My
Project: Jazz musicians call the chords
in a tune “changes.” When you know
the changes to a tune, you can improvise with a group of musicians, make up
your own melody, and still stay with the group. Knowing the changes helps you to be free and creative. Change in society can come when you know
the rules, the ins and outs of a society.
Through my project I will use musical “changes” to create community
change. I Overview I will
research the history of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative
Musicians), learn about the community work they did in Chicago, and then try
to do the same kind of work in my community by promoting music and giving
free music lessons to kids in my neighborhood and in other schools at
community centers and elementary schools.
I will also work with an after-school music program directing the
school’s first ever jazz combo. All
will be welcome to be part of this ensemble, and we will perform for members
of the community. I will
also research the impact of musical education on other learning for students,
since I believe that there is a connection between having musical experience
and having high academic achievement.
Teaching music to younger people in my community and in other schools
will help me to learn to be a great teacher, a better musician, and a friend
and mentor to others Prior Knowledge One of my
favorite jazz musicians is a man named Henry Threadgill. He plays saxophone, clarinet, and flute,
and has an amazing band that I saw once in New York City. In researching his life, I found out that
he is a member of a group of artists and musicians called the AACM, the
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Another famous group that is part of the
AACM is the Art Ensemble of Chicago. These musicians and the
collective became famous in the 1960s in Chicago, during the civil rights
movement. They believed that their
music, jazz, was primarily an African American music but that it had been
taken over by a white society. They
wanted to create music that honored the artistry of its heritage. As a collective, they supported one
another so that they could pursue their musical projects and not have to rely
on “gigs” to make money. Another thing that was an
important part of the collective was community outreach. These amazing artists and musicians went into
the community and taught free music lessons, sharing their talent and vision
with others. I was inspired by their
use of music as a form of activism and fighting for social justice. Their work was an important part of the
civil rights movement! I have played the saxophone
since fifth grade in school bands and in my own combos. I like to play jazz most of all, and
listen to jazz in all of my spare time.
I would like to be a music teacher some day, and have spent a lot of
time analyzing how my great teachers work to motivate me and encourage me to
always try harder. I have coached
some music ensembles at my old elementary school, and I believe that I have a
talent for teaching. As I said, I have learned about
teaching from the great teachers I have had throughout my school life. Expected Outcomes I will
read the following books to guide me through my project: Wilmer, Valerie. As
Serious As Your Life: John Coltrane and Beyond. New York: Consortium
Books, 1999. Lewis, George. A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and
American Experimental Music. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2005. Lawrence,
Joy and William M.
Anderson. Integrating Music
into the Elementary Classroom. Boston: Little, Brown, 2004. I will collect grades and WASL
scores from the students I teach if they are willing to tell me so that I can
see if there is a connection between studying music and doing well in
school. I will also survey my students
and their families before, during, and after my lessons to see if they feel
more confidence at school. I will approach my project from
the perspective of a teacher, with a guiding question about how confident
students feel in school. Final Presentation For my
final presentation I will perform a piece that I have transcribed by Henry
Threadgill on the tenor saxophone.
Then I will have one of my student ensembles perform. I hope that the universal language of music
will communicate to members of my panel.
I will also have my students tell how music has impacted their lives. My hope
is to one day be a professional musician and an educator, but also a
community activist. This project
combines all three! I also
will submit some of my original compositions that I will create with my
students as evidence of my learning. Culminating Project
Proposal 2 By Pupil O’Pupil HATE CRIMES: A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR THE NATHAN HALE COMMUNITY
Short Summary of My
Project: According to the Department of
Justice, Hate Crimes are on the rise in the US. Whether this is supported
statistically, or anecdotally through recent events like Jenna 6 or the two
well-publicized attacks on the New York City Subway, public perception is
increasingly drawn to issues of racial, religious, sexually oriented, or
mental or physical disability-based crimes of bias. The purpose of my
Culminating Project is to shed light on this phenomenon through in-depth
research, as well as to create a resource guide for the Nathan Hale community
in educating ourselves and preventing such crimes. Overview I plan to
conduct thorough research of this increasingly complex civil rights issue beyond
the headline stories garnering much national attention. How much have hate
crimes increased over the past decade? What areas of the country,
particularly Washington state and Seattle, deal with bias-based attacks? And,
how exactly does the government define a hate crime? Beyond these
particulars, I will also research the level of awareness of the surrounding
Nathan Hale community by surveying and interviewing students, families and
community members. The purpose of this is to provide a thorough and complete illustration
of the issue of hate crimes in the Nathan Hale area. Lastly,
the insight and information from government and civil rights organizations, coupled
with the knowledge I gain from the community, will support my work to create
a resource guide for Nathan Hale and its neighbors. I hope to incorporate
factual information with current local and national programs that aim to
prevent hate crimes while providing strategies in case a hate crime occurs. Prior Knowledge Beyond the recent news headlines of
hate crimes, I have recently studied hate crimes in Social Studies and
Language Arts classes. We have compared some statistical data with that of
the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, while also comparing literature from that
era and today. One of
the key differences I have learned thus far is that hate crimes have much
broader definition today. As I mentioned above, these crimes of bias include
race, religion, sexual preference or orientation, mental or physical
disabilities, and other categories. This contrasts greatly with the 1960s’
focus which was primarily on racial bias. I also
know that the federal government has passed laws to deter hate crimes ,
though I strongly believe that the awareness of such laws by the American
public is far from ideal. Expected Outcomes In order
to better understand the issue of hate crimes, I will research the topic from
literature, as well as from websites such as: http://www.civilrights.org/issues/hate/ http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2006/index.html http://www.stophate.org/stophate/ These websites provide
substantial data and information on the scope of hate crimes in the US. I
will use them to provide relevant evidence of the issue of hate crimes
nationally and in our community in Seattle. This research will also help me
to formulate a better series of strategies for hate crime education and
prevention in the form of a resource guide. This resource guide will be
published and made available to each classroom at Nathan Hale High School, as
well as to other schools in our community, along with the numerous other Lake
City, Wedgwood and Northgate public facilities and organizations. Final Presentation My final
presentation will include a PowerPoint presentation that highlights the
important information and data that represents the realities of hate crimes
in America and Seattle. The purpose of this presentation is also to
communicate the survey and interview data I collected from Nathan Hale High
School and the surrounding community. I hope this convinces my fellow
students and community members to be more aware and motivated to address this
growing issue. Finally,
I will also present the resource guide which, again, will offer current
statistical information of hate crimes in the Seattle area and strategies to
prevent or confront current and future problems of hate crimes. |
