This guest blog post was written by Girl Geek X community volunteer Annie Chang.
Upon arriving at CCPA’s auditorium for a debriefing for Girl Geek X volunteers to learn about their roles in participating for Senior Capstone Presentation Day, we divided into groups for rounds of presentations, questions, and answers — as well as areas of growth and strength. CCPA instructors guided Girl Geek X volunteers to their classrooms for demos of senior projects.
For their capstone presentations, students were asked to identify a problem within their Oakland and local communities. Breaking out into small groups allowed students to experience teamwork, collaboration and participation. This is the culmination of three separate classes with educators.
Kicking off presentations in Portable 2, students present “Journie” — their response to identifying the mental health issue of having writing therapy and access to counselors. After enthusiastic questions and answers, student and programmer Armando Figueroa was asked what was the greatest lesson learned after a year-long process of group work. He responded enthusiastically: “Time waits for nobody.” Resoundingly, the group agreed their pain points were time management and communication.
Next, M n As Team presented their app “Sobriety Companion” impressively. After presenting statistics about populations suffering from substance abuse disorder, they noted that participants leaving a rehab treatment program have a 40-60% chance of relapse.
The relapse-prevention app comprehensively offered a daily pledge, progress tracker ((counting sobriety time), learn from others page, and a map consisting of the nearest Alcoholics Anonymous / Narcotics Anonymous / Methamphetamine Anonymous self-help 12-step meetings as well as links to rehab treatment centers. When asked about areas of growth, students admitted to being prone to procrastination and hastily finishing tasks last-minute.
P.A.R.T.E. demoed their app “Mental Evolution” containing features such as a mood journal, map, calendar and community space (for sharing content based on mental wellness challenges). This group used Google Forms to create a survey of their communities and decided to focus their target demographic of low-income communities.
Girl Geek X volunteers got to see wireframes of early mockups of the app and after Q&As, students were asked what was the highlight of working on their capstone project. The ladies enthusiastically noted their affinity for group work, team work and collaboration, and cited their strong communication skills as well as alignment of values.
You can still register to volunteer on Thursday, January 25th, 2024 (5:30pm-7:30pm) at CCPA high school in East Oakland with Girl Geek X to attend Senior Expo – give feedback and support to students on their final presentations and action plans for the semester!
Girl Geek X’s partnership with Oakland Public Education Fund in adopting Coliseum College Prep Academy (CCPA) provides valuable experiences for Girl Geek X community volunteers to engage with the local school community. Join the Girl Geek X email list to be notified of future events.
