Welcome
Senior Signature Projects T3 Exhibition Night Tuesday, June 10, 5-7 p.m.
The Bay School of San Francisco 35 Keyes Avenue • San Francisco, CA www.bayschoolsf.org
Schedule
5 p.m. Exhibition opens in the Great Room 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Classroom presentations begin 7 p.m. Exhibition closes Each classroom presentation will take place at both 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. and last for 30 minutes. Christian Bohner* (Basement Recording Studio) Kate Hartman (311) Zach Heller (233) Sam Koch (310) Weston Kramer (227) Sam Lopez (245) * 6 p.m. presentation only
Rachel Miller (218) Cyrus Moghadam (219) Jason Nemerovski (208) Justice Skolnik (207) Zach Ticktin (225) Audrey Weber (317) Chase Williams (309) Claire Zager (234/236)
Projects Asha Abdallah The Psychology of Self-Expression Mentor: Leslie Allen I explored the psychology behind emotions through the creation of realistic paintings. I created a series of portraits that depict different emotions to be interpreted by the viewers. These paintings of human facial expressions investigate and celebrate the subtle and incredible ways we communicate.
Shani Abdallah Diversity within The Bay School Community Mentor: Tory Canby We are all so fortunate to live in the Bay Area and go to The Bay School but, because of this, it is easy to become unaware of the diversity that surrounds us. In such an environment, it is also easy to become embedded in the many stereotypes that live in the world today. I have created a diversity mural in order to help promote the idea of equity and diversity within The Bay School community. I decided to create this mural so that I could leave a lasting impression (symbol) that will hopefully promote all spectrums of diversity, even when I have left The Bay School community. My hope was to show people the idea of being open to all and accepting everyone for every aspect of who they are and to be aware of the stereotypes/micro-aggressions that affect people everyday.
Amy Andreini Outdoor Program Development Mentor: Riely White The goal of this project was to determine how beneficial it is for adolescents to participate in an outdoors program. To answer this question I established an Outing Club at a local middle school and led a weekend-long backpacking trip with the students in the club.
Nick Bennett Finacker Mentor: Steve Simon Over the past 12 weeks, I learned how to prototype and design an app to help people save money through goal setting. I also learned basic programming in hopes that in the future I’ll be able to bring the designs to life.
Abigail Bernard Reflective Spaces: A 3-Dimensional Look at Teenagers Mentor: Nicole Leong In modern media teenagers have been given the short end of the stick. Through a series of interviews I collected anecdotes and thoughts about how my peers interpret the world. I chose to portray moments of reflection and solitude through photography in an attempt to show how teenagers use time and space to understand and reflect on who we want to be in this world.
Will Boettcher Ben Knutson Tyler Krill Print in Steel: Accessible SLM 3D Printing Mentors: Ray Alley, Andrew Rutter, Chris Thorman Hephaestus is the world’s first open source, desktop SLM 3D printer. SLM (Selective Laser Melting) 3D printers use lasers to melt successive layers of metal powder (stainless steel in this case) into a solid, fully formed object. The ability to print 3D models in solid steel is a luxury that, until now, has only been available to large manufacturing firms. The Hephaestus 3D printer opens the door for individual engineers, designers, artists and makers to utilize this technology without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Christian Bohner Renovating the Recording Studio Mentor: Daniel Lippincott 6 p.m. presentation: Basement Recording Studio Bay has always had a large focus on the arts, no matter what medium, but our recording studio is becoming less and less adequate as students create larger and more complex projects in classes such as Video Production and Electronic Music Studio. I aim to give the studio a renovation by adding sound treatment that I will build myself and reworking the layout to be more flexible using new and existing equipment.
Christian Bolles Ian Child Franky Spektor Writing a New Mythos Mentors: Gary Bolles, Peter Kaminski, Heidi Kleinmaus What can we learn from a people and a culture that have never existed, a people created from the imagination and from pieces and snatches of the cultures of our world? This project tells the stories, sings the music and communicates the spirituality of an imagined culture. We created a fully realized world in the vein of Avatar or Lord of the Rings with cultures, languages, mythology, art, religions and natural environments. We have compiled all the pieces together on a public multimedia interactive website, www.childrenofvasaeah.com.
Gibson Buttfield Fut’sal Good Mentor: Frank Bonardi How does a peer coach influence the cohesion of a team? Comparing my coaching experiences to those of professionals, this project will not only be the first Bay School team run by a student, but is also an in-depth view into the differences between the two coaching perspectives.
Lizzie Coon Healthy Living on Your Own Terms: Avoiding the Freshmen 15 in College Mentor: Laurel Abstrac Transferring from high school to college is a big challenge for most teenagers — especially when it comes to the change in diet. Most people think it’s hard to eat healthy and cheap, but I disagree. This cookbook provides healthy makeovers to popular restaurant dishes along with healthy tips to use throughout college and beyond.
Jude Driscoll Unexplored SF Mentor: Lori Schafer It is important to remember the past and to dream of the future, but the present is too often disregarded. It is a pivotal time to live in the Bay Area as the world looks towards San Francisco more and more often as a cultural and economic center. 2014 is a year in which our great city sheds one identity to take on another. There has never been a more important time to encapsulate the uniqueness of San Francisco as it transitions from its hidden roots into an overexposed city. I created a blog which captures some of the elements of San Francisco which make it San Francisco.
Isabelle du Moulin The Influence of Beauty Mentor: Anna Kirstine Froker How do women perceive beauty? I explore the concept of beauty through historical, scientific and personal lenses to figure out how and why these perceptions change. A book of interviews and photographs examines the views of the women around me, and the ways in which they both receive and create influence.
Alexis Elliott One Wag Away from Happiness Mentor: Christina Chavez Why is the bond between humans and animals so unique? In order to find this out, I set up a dog room at Bay during finals week and midterms and asked the students what it meant to be able to play with dogs. I created a volunteer opportunity for Bay Students at a senior home with animal assisted therapy dogs, and I also shadowed multiple animal assisted therapy visits and was able to ask the recipients what it meant to be able to meet with the dogs.
Benjamin Eskin Shapson Gaming by Bay for Bay Mentor: Steven Rubenstein Video gaming magazines are an essential part of the industry, providing a wealth of information on the medium. The best publications appeal both to newcomers and veterans of video games. How might a by-Bay-for-Bay gaming magazine benefit our community of gamers and nongamers?
Aaren Field Eco-Friendly Jewelry Mentor: Saara Reidsema How can eco-friendly art inspire others to become more aware of the environment and the importance that recycling has in the never-ending cycle of life? My project attempts to answer this question through the process of making several collections of jewelry that are made from 100% recycled materials and by hosting a jewelry making class that taught children how to make recycled jewelry as well. My goal by doing this was to inspire others to create art from recycled materials and also teach people the importance of recycling.
Benjamin Foster Making Flight Accessible Mentor: Brian Brown Building and flying remote control craft can be an excellent introduction to mechanical and electrical engineering, physics and mathematics. To make the hobby and, by extension, the aforementioned fields more accessible and interesting for people without any prior experience, I created a remote control plane capable of performing autonomous vertical landings.
Kyle Fowler I See You...Better Mentor: Tom Lipton Serious photographers and videographers need a quality stabilizer, dolly and tripod/monopod. This project combined them into a single system with a lower cost than the three items cost separately. This could revolutionize the way that people film movies and give more people the opportunity to use these pieces of equipment.
Ben Gerstein Zeke Mostov Bacterial Diversity at Bay Mentor: Susan Lynch Our body contains over 10 times the number of bacteria as human cells. In popular culture, bacteria are often viewed as pathogenic, but they are also necessary for our survival. How does bacterial diversity change in the Great Room over the course of the day, and how does this affect the students?
Emmett Greenberg Getting the Ball Rolling Mentor: Rob Levander I designed and built a kinetic ball sculpture that incorporates art and engineering. My sculpture will be on display in the Admission Waiting Room to inspire prospective students.
Kate Hartman Ecopsychology: Nature and the Human Psyche Mentor: Robin Reynolds 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 311 Nature undoubtedly has a profound effect on the human psyche. This short film explores these effects through personal experience and expert commentary. It aims to inspire people to foster a stronger relationship with the ocean so they too can experience its benefits.
Alena Hauser Weaving through Culture Mentor: Linda Belden Weaving takes time and patience, and the Zapotec people in Mexico grow up being taught these views. I researched both their culture as well as the craft of weaving and designed and made a rug that has patterns and symbols representative of Zapotec culture.
Alexandra Heller Kiyona Mizuno Holden to Hayden: A Contemporary Caulfield Mentor: Shirley Tatum The colloquialisms we use today have evolved significantly in the past 50 years. By looking at the contemporary classic The Catcher in the Rye, we have adapted the novel and its colloquialisms into modern language in the form of a gender-bent screenplay. The adaptation, The H.V. Caulfield is a video blog written and performed by Holden Caulfield’s female counterpart Hayden. The project exists as the beginning of what could be a larger web series.
Zach Heller The Physics of Flight: Dogfighting in WWII Mentor: Sidney Liebes 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 233 How can uniting the thrill of dogfighting with technical aerodynamics inspire an interest in physics and history? I explained flight, tactics, maneuvers and the science behind dogfighting in classes I taught with pictures, animations, experiments and flight simulator footage.
Kaiya Holtzman Love the Skin You’re In! Mentor: Amanda Kessner Girls and women of today are overwhelmed with the stereotypes of beauty. How can we, as a society, better prevent young girls from growing up with the mindset that they are not beautiful? My goal was to help middle school girls understand what makes them wonderful just as they are and how they don’t need to look like a supermodel to be beautiful.
Maddie Howden Going the Extra Mile Mentor: Eliana Agueldo I am running a half marathon for blood cancer research. I also raised over $2700 that was given to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I conducted interviews for 13 people and ran 1 mile for each person.
Nikhil Inalsingh Help Wanted? Mentor: Meilan Carter Do you want a job? Do you know what it takes to get a job? My job readiness courses will help Bay students discover what it means to be a good employee and the proper ways to apply for and obtain jobs.
Stefan Jandreau-Smith The Ever-Changing World Mentor: Marilyn Englander Do you follow the news? Do you think the news is important? My senior project has been focused around these two questions, and as a result I’ve created a class that explores the ins and the outs of the news. This course not only gives students a better understanding of their surrounding world, but it also teaches students how to read and analyze the everyday news.
Alex Jonasse Lighten Up Mentor: Leigh Hooks Can sculpture bring attention to a space that goes overlooked? I created a light sculpture in The Bay School to make students take a fresh look at an ignored space.
Chase Johnson Molly Mitchel Immigrant Interview Fiction Mentor: June Donenfeld This project consisted of interviewing immigrants and detailing their experiences in fictional short stories. Through utilizing answers to thought-provoking, detail-oriented, and personal questions, the stories are fictionalized accounts of true experiences. This book explores a “then” and “now” short story for each interview, the first providing an account of life in a foreign country and the second an account of adapting to the United States.
Jack Jue Walking Through Time: Oral History Revived in the Presidio Mentor: Mary Maya History plays a pivotal role informing society’s decisionmaking, values and identity, and as such has traditionally held a high place in the American conscience. What stories does the Presidio of San Francisco hold, and how can they illuminate the present? This historic walking tour, researched, constructed and piloted under the guidance of the Presidio Trust, seeks to incite interest in history and broaden the Presidio community through the powerful tradition of oral story-telling. The tour takes place on the Main Post and focuses on the birth of El Presidio as well as Spanish and Ohlone Indian cultures and relations during the 18th century.
Andrew Kaminsky Listen Lesson Learned Mentor: Craig Samoviski Hey students! Not getting everything? Missed something important? Want to find out what you missed? We now have the power to record class discussions, lectures and other activities and put them up on the class page for download!
Yara Kanaaneh Gradiations: An Extended EP Mentor: Pamela Parker Music is a collaborative art. For my senior project I wrote a collection of original songs and recorded them into a fulllength album. I worked with musicians and artists throughout the process in order to explore how music can create deeper relationships with myself and others.
Jackson Karel Activist Noir Mentor: Seth Harwood I wrote politically bent noir short stories which use crime fiction tropes to explore real issues in our criminal justice system.
Kai Karrasch Artists at Bay Mentor: Tracy Kuwatani What if there was one place that you could meet all Bay School artists and view their work? I created a captivating website showcasing artists at The Bay School. Through interviews and pictures, you get an interactive and intimate experience with art and students at Bay.
Sophia Kauffman Featuring the 51% Mentor: Yolanda Zevas Throughout history, half of the people on the planet have been discredited, disrespected and oppressed simply because they are women. Knowledge is the first step towards eradicating this problem. My project aims to educate Bay students about gender inequality through a revised humanities curriculum, where students will learn about past gender-based oppression as well as current issues.
Miles Kelly Take My Picture, Brah! Mentor: Scott Buttfield Surfing is a sport and an art form that is misunderstood by the majority of people who don’t surf. Through photography, I aim to inspire an audience of non-surfers to learn more about the sport.
Rebecca King Putting the “Fun” in “Fundraiser” Mentor: Darlene Mann How do you put the “fun” in fundraiser? I answered this question through highlighting Bay Area volunteers. The twist? Drawing them a realistic portrait as a thank you present. See how it all unfolds on YouTube.
Jack Kissane The Senior C14’ss Mentor: Carole Cotter Gruenert Senior year of high school typically flashes by in a blink. I wondered if there was a way to capture this iconic time in all of our lives. Combining my passion for art and my interest in the evolution of my grade during senior year, I am painting our entire class; once at the beginning of the year and once at the end. This will demonstrate the transition for high school students to young adults ready to go out into the collegiate world.
Sam Koch #Viral Mentor: Carla Borsoi 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 310 I explored how things become viral, and whether or not I can harness the power of advertisement to increase school spirit. I also have made non-Bay videos with the intention for those to go viral.
Weston Kramer Character Connections Mentor: Kate Mayer 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 227 Most of us spend the majority of our time in public, moving from one place to another, working and just simply spending free time. During this time we pass right by and completely overlook the many interesting people, characters and perspectives that are all around us. This film aims to illuminate the complexities and points of view of the unique personalities we miss on a daily basis.
Emma Lasky Special Olympics Northern California Mentor: Tracy Rivkin Educate the youth through competitive sports! With competitions ranging from track and field to bowling, these men and women are able to prepare for life through sports. I worked with Special Olympics Northern California to help publicize and document one of their major events in May of 2014.
Sam Lopez Hippie Plastic Mentor: Javad Tavakoli 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 245 What the potatoes is this project about? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 36 million tons of food waste reach landfills each year in the United States. However, food waste does not have to sit, rot, and emit the potent greenhouse gas methane in landfills; food waste contains valuable organic compounds that can be used in the manufacturing of environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives to petroleum based products. Throughout the duration of the Senior Projects course, I was able to develop a bioplastic (a plastic derived from renewable biomass sources) solely out of food waste.
Zack Migdail Swords, Stretching and Stress Relief Mentor: Steven Ives How can doing martial arts reduce stress? Why? I explored this question and used the research to create a class that taught students stress relief techniques and martial arts together. The class was delivered in 10 lessons; it aimed to lower stress in the participating students as well as teach them Aikido and things they can do on their own to reduce stress.
Rachel Miller Better YourSelf through YouTube Mentor: Flourish Klink 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 218 How does taking interest in others lead people to become interested in their own lives? YouTube communities provide space for viewers to find people they admire and adopt their positive traits. Find out how millions are actively improving their lives online.
Cyrus Moghadam The Academy: Exploring Society through Television Mentor: Farhad Safinia 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 219 T.V. shows are designed to entertain audiences. The most memorable series, however, do more: “Breaking Bad,” “The Wire” and “Seinfeld” captured the respective spirits of Albuquerque, Baltimore and Manhattan. “The Academy” hopes to similarly depict and examine the culture of an elite New England boarding school.
Matthew Morgan Radio Journalism in the 21st Century Mentor: Katie Eberlie Over the course of the school year, I worked at a local radio station named KWMR to answer one simple question: what place does radio journalism have in the 21st century?
Jason Nemerovski Motivating the Bay Community Mentor: Kristin Wiederholt 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 208 Do you ever wonder how some people persevere and not let the complexities of life affect their roads to success? I made a film that explores the stories of several Bay students who have exhibited self-motivation to achieve their goals and dreams and examines the methods they use.
Alice Nemoto Art from Scratch Mentor: Michelle Wilson Through creating a collection of pieces of original art, I explored the value and impact that creating from scratch can have on our everyday lives by making my own paper and paints from reusable and natural materials.
Tommy Neville Saving the Arts Mentor: Sanford Barnet We are all often reminded that “the arts” are important to children’s education. This project explores whether current high school musicians can inspire funding for the arts in Marin County for the next generation of artists.
Izzy Paxton Exploring Motherhood Mentor: Anne Hamersky What is motherhood? What does it mean to be a mother? I explored these questions by interviewing various types of mothers and photographing them to further humanize their stories.
Sabrina Perell Cut and Stitched Mentor: Chloë Bregman Why do we dress the way we dress? What are people wearing in San Francisco? Come find out! This project fuses an exploration in fashion, photography and psychology. Through a blog-like website, pictures, articles and first-hand opinions come together to inform the everyday phenomenon of dress.
Kyoko Peterson Healthcare Access: Online Outreach for Youth Mentor: Ronnishia Johnson The 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic is a community organization that supports the mental and physical health of the Bayview Hunters Point youth. As a growing agency, it is working to inform a larger audience about its services, goals and character. I explored how social media updates, flyers and online outreach can bring the personality of this organization to the community.
Alex Rusbarsky No 4/4 You! Mentor: Scott Llamas For hundreds of years, composers have been writing music with odd time signatures and structures. However, a lot of this work seems to stay out of the current popular music scene. I think there is more to popular music than the basic song in 4/4 time with a Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus structure. How can songs utilize odd structures and timing but still be catchy?
Justice Skolnik Drop the Beat (and the Message) Mentor: Eddie Smith 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 207 Rap music is one of the most popular and influential genres of music in today’s culture. However, the messages conveyed in most of the songs are extremely derogatory. I took on the challenge of changing this message by producing an album with student rappers that promotes a positive message and relates to the Bay School community.
Erik Spangberg Strike Three! Birdie! Goal! Mentor: Collin Wikman I produced the Go Breakers! blog, an independent sports blog that consisted of analytic highlights from each Bay sports game I attended. These detailed articles featured individual performances, specific plays and overall team effort to name a few. The primary intention of this blog was to capture the attention of the Bay School community and increase the support of the athletic programs.
Emma Sturdevant Dancing through Adolescence Mentor: Jenny Rand “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” - Martha Graham Adolescent girls encounter numerous societal struggles as they grow up and discover their identities. As a dancer and a young woman, I have always wanted to create a piece of my own and had the opportunity to choreograph a series of short pieces that revolve around the concept of growing up in today’s society. Through working closely with other dancers, I strove to capture their experience, pain and passion and reveal to the community their truths about growing up female.
Zachary Ticktin The Importance of Vitamin D Mentor: Dr. Roman Karp 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 225 Do you get enough time in the sun? It is estimated that one billion people around the world have insufficient Vitamin D levels in their blood, leaving them susceptible to chronic diseases. I designed an affordable blood test that allows anyone to easily identify a Vitamin D deficiency.
Fiona Twiford Clean Green Biking Machine Mentor: SB Phillips With its steep hills, San Francisco seems like the perfect place for the electric bike…but why hasn’t the idea gained speed? This project aims to promote electric bikes as a greener, more sustainable form of transportation through the construction of an electric bike and a supplementary blog highlighting issues related to electric bike culture.
Yelena Vayn For the Love of Dance Mentor: Yuriy Timen Competitive ballroom dance has been a major part of my life. I organized a ballroom dance charity event to benefit The Destiny Arts Center in Oakland.
Jake Vollen Sports Sports and More Sports Blog!!! Mentor: Daniel Rathman There are many professional sports blogs on the Internet that focus on a variety of topics, but there has never been a sports blog focused on Bay School varsity sports--until now! The focus of the Bay Sports Blog is to improve sports spirit by making Bay students more aware of information related to individual athletes as well as specific varsity teams as a whole and by increasing the way Bay students interact with sports teams as spectators.
Audrey Weber Let it Glow Mentor: Patrik D’haeseleer 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentation: Rm. 317 Light could be found naturally in many nooks and corners of the world. So could this light be used to make a living light source? To find an answer, experiments and research were conducted on four different types of bioluminescent creatures. From these experiments, the most reliable organism was determined and a living light source was produced!
Anni Wen Road to High School Mentor: Samuel Beltran Believe it or not, many middle school students at public schools are surprised to learned that private schools and financial aid exist. This High School Options 6-week curriculum informs eighth graders at Summerbridge about different high school options. Armed with increased self awareness and knowledge of schools, students are able to feel confident and make informed high school choices.
Chase Williams No Business Like Show Business Mentor: Katherine Petrin 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 309 Independent movie theaters used to line the streets of San Francisco and were cultural centers of each community. As San Francisco grew as a city, bigger theaters began to appear, taking away from the rich culture of small local theaters. Fewer than 12 independent theaters are thriving today in the city, and the numbers are still decreasing. How can holding movie nights at local independent theaters bring communities together and raise awareness about the theaters’ culture and history?
Chris Wong Exploring Two Different Sides of Music Mentor: Ben Bachmann I worked with the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys to compose a short piece of religious choral music which was performed at the Cathedral. When working with the choir, I showed the choirboys a new teaching style while looking at two completely different sides of music.
Jordan Yanowitz The Blueprint for Success Mentor: Italo Robinson The Blueprint is a system that allows anyone to take any goal from start to finish. It is based on the simple concept of plan, do and review. See how this system has allowed people to achieve their objectives.
Chessa Yee The Halt on Gentrification Mentor: Lauren Grause The process of gentrification has changed the culture of San Francisco, some may argue for the worse. I have written a bill that will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors in order to be on the next ballot. The bill focuses around regulating gentrification and making sure that tenants are treated fairly in the process of making San Francisco a more modern and progressive city.
Claire Zager One-Woman Play Mentor: Zahra Noorbakhsh 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. presentations: Rm. 234/236 Autobiographical One-Person Show (noun): A play with only one actor that is written as a memoir. Autobiographical solo performer (noun): A crazy person who shares intimate details about their life to entertain an audience, and somehow has fun doing so.
Mentors, thank you so much for all of the expertise and guidance you’ve provided throughout the year. These projects would not have been possible without you!
Senior Signature Projects are the capstone to The Bay School’s academic curriculum.
Guided by Bay’s Senior Signature Projects instructors, students organize and plan their projects, reach out to potential mentors, track and document their progress and work through projectspecific challenges as they arise. In the end, each student creates a deliverable and makes a formal presentation to the school community. Through these projects, students explore possible areas of study for college and careers, develop project-planning and professional skills and connect deeply with the community beyond the walls of the school.