Delgadillo 1

Amber Delgadillo

Ms.Kopatitch

March 15, 2019

Problem Solving

In highschool, I have grown a lot as a professional. Our school requires semiannual

projects called interdisciplinary project where we present on a specific topic. I have grown in my

presentation skills and my communication skills amongst other things. In the ninth grade, we

were given an assignment to discuss mental illnesses in our community and bring awareness to

the subject. We were told to provide statistics of who was affected, what factors contributed to

the illness, which groups were predisposed, etc. We learned the physical and emotional effects of

having to live with eating disorders, and the fact that people with eating disorders have the

highest mortality rate. In our presentation we provided nearby resources for those struggling with

eating disorders.The title of my IDP project for the ninth grade was Eating Disorders. We chose

eating disorders generally and not a specific type, in order to give more information on the

subject. We presented at our school, Linda Marquez High School, in the fall of 2015.

We created a PowerPoint on eating disorders emphasizing its effects and provided

resources as well as ways to educate the community on such topics. We had different

propositions on how to raise awareness such as posters. The assignment fits the problem solving

category because it allowed our community to come together in order to attempt to solve a

mental health crisis that affects many people. The assignment brought attention to the crisis in an

attempt to help solve the issue. We faced a difficult problem and provided ways to aid solve it
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such as, helping people seek therapy, raising awareness, and directing people to professionals

who could help them become healthier.

During my sophomore year at HPIAM, 2016, I was asked to create a powerpoint and

children’s storybook that informed the public of the importance of vaccines, and the topic of

measles. We created PowerPoint on different measles epidemics, how they start, how to prevent

them, and what can be done in Los Angeles to avoid future outbreaks. In addition, we created a

children's book, in vocabulary they could understand, educating children on the illness and the

importance of vaccines. My group informed the audience the signs and symptoms of measles, as

well as different available treatments. The goal of the project was to help solve the measles crisis

of the time, and learn how to prevent them in the future. The assignment falls into the category of

problem solving as its educate the public as well as young children on measles and how it could

affect them. The assignment also works to solve the rise of measles in California, specifically

Los Angeles, as we provided a step by step guideline on what to do in order to minimize those

affected, as well as what precautions to take. This assignment helped young children and their

families learn about a complex topic in simple terms, enabling them to live healthier lives.

Like IDP, our school has something called SLO’S, these are goals set for ourselves as

students, and qualities that we should have. The SLOs are apparent in many projects and

assignments, however, they are most present in our IDPs. The HPIAM SLO’s are; active citizen,

critical thinker, effective communicator, and willing collaborator. The SLO’s are used to

measure our progress academically, and reflect on our work. In both assignments, all the SLO’ s

were met, as I helped the public, presented, worked in a team, and came up with a solution to a
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problem. In both assignments, I proved to be an active citizen by educating my peers on lesser

known serious issues, such as the measles epidemic, and eating disorders. I was also an active

citizen by going out of my way to present to different groups, as well as being the first to contact

the school. Being an active citizen, I took the initiative by contacting different professionals in

order to do research. Additionally, I was a critical thinker by devising a way to explain the

importance and impact of these issues to an audience of varying knowledge, as well as in

different levels of vocabulary. Even so, I was a critical thinker by organizing the project in an

efficient and understandable way. I also weighed the effects of our measles plan, revising it

many times before making the final draft. I was also an effective communicator by presenting to

not only a panel of teachers and parents, but to many other students. I effectively communicated

with my teachers and advisors working for feedback in order to improve our project. On top of

this, I communicated with my group members in order to get things done on time an split the

work evenly. Finally, I was a willing collaborator by combining efforts with my group in order to

split tasks evenly and assign roles, ensuring smooth sailing throughout both projects. I

collaborated with my team members by asking for their opinions, having respectful discussions o

what we should do as a group. Lastly, I also made sure that every member felt comfortable and

was heard, able to express their opinions.

My first assignment was based on mental health issues and had to reach the goal of

promoting awareness in our community, whereas the second assignment was about infectious

diseases and how they spread. Additionally, we had to recommend ways to prevent measles and

act during outbreaks, compared to how we provided professional help and other resources for

Eating disorders. Both assignments had aspects of analysis and research involved. Additionally,
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both focused on promoting the education of topics in the health field. Ultimately, the difference

between the two assignments is the type of illness and the method of spreading awareness. The

first assignment included posters and pamphlets, the second used statistics and a short story.

Based on both assignments, I still have to improve on how I organize my information and

slides, however progression is shown from the first to the second assignment as the information

is more concise and easy to read. Mty work has become more professional, as well as easy to

follow. My communication skills have also improved, as I stuttered less, and was not reliant on

my slides. The skills learned from the IDP can help me in the future when I need to present to an

audience, or educate people on subjects they do not comprehend. My communication and public

speaking skills were improved through these assignments as well as analytical skills and

perception. The skills may also come in handy when applying to jobs or schools and in a

workplace.

3 specific examples that demonstrate proof of SLO's: