At 10:00am, my social justice group and I will be interviewing the CEO of Period Piece. Period Piece is a YouTube channel that shows how periods were perceived through periods of time. We are so excited to meet her and learn from her!
Grade
Learning Value Post
Recently, we finished up our big science project. Io, Oni, and I made a device that eliminates “trash juice” from the side of the street. During this process I definitely had to problem solve and persevere. I could use these skills later in life which is one of my learning values.
My First Photoshop Project
This is my photoshop project. At first, I started with just Grace and Io on the plane but I added Stella, Piper, and the pug towards the end. I think I definitely used contrast because of how the white shoes contrast with the dark plane and background. I think that I also used proportion because of how Stella and Piper’s heads are smaller than Io and Grace as if they were planets behind them. I think that also created a harmony and balance because of where they are placed. This also gave the piece a sense of motion. I think the background helped with this because of how the colorful part is in the center.
My Period Con Experience
Name: Olivia Bagan
Social Justice Group: Menstrual Health
Date of Fieldwork: November 18, 2017
Name of Organization: Period: The Menstrual Movement
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: The entire Period team, Diva Cup representatives, Lunette Representatives, Glad Rags CEO, Thinx representative, Flo Candle CEO, Ingrid Nilsen, Congresswoman Grace Meng, and Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, (probably some others who I am forgetting at the moment).
Type of Fieldwork: Convention
What I did:
We went to the convention and talked to many people from the different companies and organizations listed above about volunteer and/or interview opportunities and about our project. We also discussed internship/job opportunities with Nadya (Period Founder and Executive Director) and Eudora (Programs Director). We got an interview with Ingrid Nilsen as well!
What I learned:
I learned so much about reusable products. For example, on average, a woman produces up to 300 pounds of waste with menstrual (not feminine hygiene) products alone. By using a menstrual cup, washable pads, or thinx underwear, you can eliminate all this waste that would take 2-3 centuries to decompose. I also learned about how hard it can be to be a menstruating human using he/him or they/them pronouns because of language used to describe these products.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
Through this fieldwork I learned how hard it can be to spread awareness about this topic because of the stigma and taboo surrounding periods. I also learned the proper and appropriate language to use when talking about menstruation. I think that not many people feel comfortable talking about this topic and it may take some time to get everyone used to the fact that menstruating is natural and it’s something that 50% of the population has to go through every month. Lots of people are also unaware that this is in fact a human rights topic because of how these products are thought of as a luxury when they are a necessity.
This conference allowed me to build skills that will help me when I am an adult.
Learning Values
Value 1: To me, learning is “meaningful” when it provides opportunities to develop skills that will help me make a positive change in the world.
Value 2: To me, learning is “meaningful” when it provides opportunities to develop skills that will help me be a responsible person in my community and in the world.
Value 3: To me, learning is “meaningful” when I can challenge myself.
Africans in NY: Creative Narrative Assignment Reflection
Above is my creative narrative assignment. This historical fiction piece was an assessment on my knowledge of the time period. Before we began writing our pieces, each student was given a short biography of an African in New York. We then had to integrate facts from the biography and facts that we knew about New York City in the Colonial Era while filling in the blanks with creative writing.
While writing this piece, I learned a lot about the time period. I learned about the similarities and differences between Colonial New York and New York today. My biography had little information so I had to do some research on the side. I also learned about myself as a humanities student. I learned that it is very challenging for me to write historical fiction; especially when I am required to include specific facts. Overall, this was not my favorite assignment but I learned a lot in the process of writing it.
Thematic Connection Essay
This is my essay. It compares how false accusations are used to gain power and attention throughout the Salem witch trials, the McCarthy Era, and current day. This essay taught me lots of things. It taught me how history has repeated itself many times. It taught me how the people in power often are the ones who are repeating the mistakes made by other people in power. It has also inspired me to become even more interested in current events. This essay has shown me so many things and now I can make even more connections in other writing assignments!
We recently received our grades on this essay and I am very proud of them! After seeing my grades and reading the comments Suzanne left on it, I realized that I did a much better job on this essay than I thought I did. While I was writing my essay, I was constantly changing my idea/themes and starting over paragraphs. When doing this, I thought that my essay was not going to be smooth and connected. After revising and editing, I was surprised to find that my essay was in fact smooth and connected. This gave me a sense of satisfaction and completion. What really helped me was my writing partner Dora. She did a great job editing. Overall I think I did a really good job on this essay!
(Suzanne also helped me so much!!)
Ecology Action Project Presentation
https://app.letsrecap.com/public/r/cafa475c0f90c4579025d2e73bfcefe3
Above is the link to one of my Recap videos. Recap is an app in which teachers can send a video of themselves asking a question and the students have a certain amount of time to answer it. In this recap, we were asked to say if we found unit rates helpful (because we were wrapping up the unit on unit rates) and to come up with an example of comparing two items by using unit rates.
My Final Eye Project
I would like to name this work Olivia’s Eye. I created this work of art by using a blending stump and different pencils to create value. Some of the things I learned while creating it were how to use the different pencils and how to make certain parts of my drawing pop out. My favorite part is the eyelashes on the right, top part of my eye. If I could change something about it I would put more detail into the iris. I say that because there is so much detail in my photograph that I didn’t include. While making it I was surprised about how well it turned out! I never thought that I was capable of making something like this and I pleasantly surprised myself! Something else I would like to share about this artwork is how much fun it was creating it. I can’t wait for more projects like this in the future!