Danielle's Senior Digital Portfolio by Danielle Armstrong

Special Education Office Tech

bowsnpinkdani — 2015-05-13 05:09:47 UTC

One of the best decisions that I've made this year was centered on a way to get out of taking AP Statistics. I chose to be an Office Tech for the Special Education Students to keep my mom from complaining that I'm wasting my time by taking another simple elective, and what had started out as a way to get out of a class turned out to be one of the most educational and eye opening experiences in my high school career.

This year the special Ed Program put on a show titled The Land of Green Ginger. I worked with them throughout the entire process and helped with blocking and teaching lines. These students were so dedicated and pushed through all of the difficulties that they faced. I am so incredibly proud of them and I can't even begin to explain how strong they are; the show was so heartfelt and something I'll remember for years to come.

After working with them I can only hope that I have helped them grow as students, but I know that they have truly helped me grow as a person. They are so untouched by the negatives in our society and they look out for each other; but besides that these students are proof that unconditional love does exist. These are things that I'll keep with me as I continue in my ever changing life.

Senior Signature Project

bowsnpinkdani — 2015-05-13 05:28:45 UTC

Our community partner is a therapist, and she made it very clear during our interview that it takes 5 positive thoughts to cancel out ONE negative comment. Therefore, after pinpointing this negative comment, we had each participant write down 6 things that they love about themselves in order to cancel out the original comment. When the volunteers returned to class, we wrote out something that we wanted to get across to them, most of these were "You are important." But during this process, we made a lot of connections with a lot of students, and for those participants our notes were things that stood out to us that we loved about them.

Communication is key, our project highlights that. In every single interaction, what you say is remembered, this goes for both the good and the bad.

We have only heard positive comments about our project, people are saying that it was eye opening and participants have come back to us saying that they couldn't thank us enough for everything that our project has done for them.

VAAS Leadership

bowsnpinkdani — 2015-05-13 05:44:30 UTC

As silly as it sounds, Leadership has turned out to be an educational class. It has taught me how to handle various situations, communicate effectively, and give/take direction.

There have been a few issues within the year involving PTSA and myself, but through the teachings and discussions with Mr. Harris I've learned how to communicate without becoming self conscious or backing down from arguments because of my age. He has taught me to always do what is right, even if it means that I have to put myself out there.