My Proposal
38 New Britain Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
Mrs. Amy Boutillier
Sport and Medical Sciences Academy
280 Huyshope Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
Dear Mrs. Boutillier:
For my capstone, I’m volunteering at the Hartford Public Library in downtown Hartford on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30pm to 5:30pm and Fridays from 4pm-5pm. I am also volunteering at the Ropkins branch which is also connected to SANDS. My idea is to provide kids that usually go there after school, tutoring as well as give 4 STEM-based classes. This is beneficial to the community because it helps the children of the community become advanced in school. If this is a success then they will become the future of the community and they will be able to solve the problems we have today as a community. I plan to give an hour and 15-minute sessions to keep it long enough to get kids engaged in the class as well as be able to ask questions at the end. The class won’t be too long so that they don't get bored. I will be aiming to have 5 kids in this Capstone. It might be a mix and match since school is in season and it isn’t as busy with the same kids as it was in the summer when I volunteered. I am aiming for 5 kids because I want to provide assistance when they don’t understand a concept. I don't want to commit the same mistake I'm trying to fix which is to just give the lecture and answer a few questions. I want these kids to understand the concept so that means spending as much time as they need to understand. This is something I wish I had when I was growing up because none of my parents knew English we would have to go to my neighbor and ask them what my homework was about. In school you get help, but sometimes there would be many students and the teacher wouldn’t have the time to give each student the proper help they need.
My research question for my project will be: How can a student learn new concepts better with a student than with a teacher? This ties in with my project because I'm the student helping younger students instead of teachers. I will experience this when I’m teaching or explaining. The artifacts I’m going to collect to show that I'm doing my project will be a video of me giving a class or tutoring with the permission of the parents.
My mentor at the downtown library is Osho Williams Lina. She was the person I talked to about service-learning and she decided to help me out for my capstone as well. My mentor at the Ropkins branch is Mrs. Linda. You can contact her at lmontanez@hplct.org. I will also be assisted by other library staff. The library already has a STEM program, but I’m making mine on a separate day and talking about subjects they haven’t covered yet. A learning stretch will be to simplify explanations to children talk so that all my alumni will understand.
Sincerely,
Freddy Fabian
Job Shadow
Ever since I remember my dad always worked in landscaping. He works for Paradise Landscaping a small business that operates mainly in West Hartford. He started his own landscaping business about a year ago and is doing both at the same time.
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When I went with him he showed me that landscaping isn't just about mowing lawns you also have other jobs like mulching and putting gravel. As well as leave and snow removal. I went with him when he had to do a gravel job. He had to fill up wheelbarrows full of gravels and push them up a steep hill into the backyard. I did 3 trips and was gassed out. What makes his job worse is the weather! The weather is almost never in his favor. Either it's really hot, or really cold. Rainy days make his job impossible so he has to cancel. He finished in 2 days and really looked at him differently from that day. He has to work in the sun and I have never heard him complain about his job. He likes his job so much because it reminds him of his childhood when he was little helping my grandmother plant flowers. I really respect him for doing his full-time job and spending his weekends working on his business. He manages to do all that and spend time with his family. I really appreciate what he does for our family.
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