Primary Proposal Paper
Capstone Proposal
In School Mentor- Srta. Manuel
Outside School Mentor- Señora Brown
It was mandatory for my capstone to select a mentor to aid us in our growth through our individual projects. I selected Señora Brown as my mentor because she is my grandmother and has expressed her distress in the fact that our culture is starting to fade slowly. My grandmother agreed to teach me a different dish every week explaining the recipe and process. I also chose Srta. Manuel, a Spanish teacher in my school, as my in school mentor due to her strong connections to the Spanish culture. Both of these women are culturally influence and very strong role models. My grandmother had already spoken to me about her approval in my wanting to enhance my connections to my personal cultural background. Neither of these women would allow me to turn in half done work, simply out of the fact that I am representing my culture and should be proud of every piece of work I present.
I decided to learn how to recreate recipes that have been passed down through the generations of my family. In this project, I hoped to enhance my cultural awareness by surrounding myself with facts about my heritage. The main idea of my project was for me to learn how to recreate older recipes and in the future pass them down to the next generations. Also this gave me the chance that I’ve needed to learn how to cook in general.
For my presentation I will create a surprise dish and on my website there is a photo-journal showcasing the many dishes and processes I went though during this project. When learning how to cook by memory, and recipes that have never been written down, it is essential to focus and practice multiply times. Therefore there is a need for there to be a few main dishes to be recreated more often then others. Those dishes will be my main product, though there will be evidence of the other dishes I learned. My product will be one of my main dishes made completely without the assistance of one of the veteran chefs that will aid in my lessons.
Ever since the end of my Junior year, when I had the opportunity to witnessed Seniors presenting their Capstones, I knew that I wanted my project to not only make a difference in myself but in future generations as well. The fact that I wanted to influence the future is how I came to deciding my Capstone project. I want to learn more about my heritage though its food. I have always wanted to learn how to cook, specifically Puerto Rican dishes that I have eaten since my childhood. My project was based on the idea of my learning to do something that is new and interesting, but that would also challenge me to push my comfort within this area. I’ve never really enjoyed cooking, though I love to bake, hence my discomfort with learning a new dish to recreate alone. Also since there has been abundance in cultural mixing, I find the idea comforting that I can actually portray parts of my culture and have accurate pride in myself for showing my heritage.
The Core Values in My Senior Capstone Project:
Inquiry:
- How do I further enhance my cultural awareness?
- How do recipes change as they go through generation?
- How does a generation lose its culture?
Research:
- Cultural Research about Puerto Ricans
- Interviews to ask about changes in generations
Collaboration:
-Working with my grandmother weekly to learn a new dish
-Get critique on my work and ideas from my SLA mentor, maybe student taste testing if I find it appropriate
Presentation:
-Physical surprise dish representing my final trial of recreation
-Visual Images of the Dishes and Processes (edited and organized to present a coherent image of my growth and development)
Reflection:
-At the end of project I have learned at the minimum a new dish that I can recreate without the aid of other chefs, this in itself is part off my reflection..
In School Mentor- Srta. Manuel
Outside School Mentor- Señora Brown
It was mandatory for my capstone to select a mentor to aid us in our growth through our individual projects. I selected Señora Brown as my mentor because she is my grandmother and has expressed her distress in the fact that our culture is starting to fade slowly. My grandmother agreed to teach me a different dish every week explaining the recipe and process. I also chose Srta. Manuel, a Spanish teacher in my school, as my in school mentor due to her strong connections to the Spanish culture. Both of these women are culturally influence and very strong role models. My grandmother had already spoken to me about her approval in my wanting to enhance my connections to my personal cultural background. Neither of these women would allow me to turn in half done work, simply out of the fact that I am representing my culture and should be proud of every piece of work I present.
I decided to learn how to recreate recipes that have been passed down through the generations of my family. In this project, I hoped to enhance my cultural awareness by surrounding myself with facts about my heritage. The main idea of my project was for me to learn how to recreate older recipes and in the future pass them down to the next generations. Also this gave me the chance that I’ve needed to learn how to cook in general.
For my presentation I will create a surprise dish and on my website there is a photo-journal showcasing the many dishes and processes I went though during this project. When learning how to cook by memory, and recipes that have never been written down, it is essential to focus and practice multiply times. Therefore there is a need for there to be a few main dishes to be recreated more often then others. Those dishes will be my main product, though there will be evidence of the other dishes I learned. My product will be one of my main dishes made completely without the assistance of one of the veteran chefs that will aid in my lessons.
Ever since the end of my Junior year, when I had the opportunity to witnessed Seniors presenting their Capstones, I knew that I wanted my project to not only make a difference in myself but in future generations as well. The fact that I wanted to influence the future is how I came to deciding my Capstone project. I want to learn more about my heritage though its food. I have always wanted to learn how to cook, specifically Puerto Rican dishes that I have eaten since my childhood. My project was based on the idea of my learning to do something that is new and interesting, but that would also challenge me to push my comfort within this area. I’ve never really enjoyed cooking, though I love to bake, hence my discomfort with learning a new dish to recreate alone. Also since there has been abundance in cultural mixing, I find the idea comforting that I can actually portray parts of my culture and have accurate pride in myself for showing my heritage.
The Core Values in My Senior Capstone Project:
Inquiry:
- How do I further enhance my cultural awareness?
- How do recipes change as they go through generation?
- How does a generation lose its culture?
Research:
- Cultural Research about Puerto Ricans
- Interviews to ask about changes in generations
Collaboration:
-Working with my grandmother weekly to learn a new dish
-Get critique on my work and ideas from my SLA mentor, maybe student taste testing if I find it appropriate
Presentation:
-Physical surprise dish representing my final trial of recreation
-Visual Images of the Dishes and Processes (edited and organized to present a coherent image of my growth and development)
Reflection:
-At the end of project I have learned at the minimum a new dish that I can recreate without the aid of other chefs, this in itself is part off my reflection..