Thursday, May 18 C Block: 1:45-2:20 pm Rebecca Grintsaig: Engaging Young Students in Science When I was younger it was often hard for me not to get overwhelmed by textbooks, so with my Keystone project, I hoped to create something that I believe would have helped me. I took the chapter from our standard biology textbook on eukaryotic animal cells and I rewrote and reformatted it. I took that information and used it to make my own “fun” textbook that incorporated cartoons, activities and plenty of color.
G Block: 2:25-3:25 pm Yonim Schweig: Green Roofs For my Keystone, I created a 10-foot-by-10-foot living roof, filled with succulents and drought resistant grasses. The roof provides habitat for native insect and plant species, and will serve as a nice spot of green, in the largely plantless neighborhood. This project will be carried on through the years by student and faculty volunteers who will water and maintain the green roof, hopefully allowing to act as a long term source of environmental education for JCHS.
Gabi Finestone: Sustainable Agriculture & Kitchen Gardening My Keystone project explores the relationship created when people know where their food comes from and how it was grown. I created my own kitchen garden. I grew a variety of fruits and vegetables on my deck and used them in my cooking. I also volunteered with the Agricultural Institute of Marin. Over the course of four visits to the Marin Civic Center Farmers’ Market, I interviewed 10 farmers and wrote a biography for each.
Friday, May 19 F Block: 8:50-9:45 am Emma Simonoff: Cults For my Keystone, I researched cults and cult leaders. I then wrote and produced a short mockumentary following a cult-like high school clique. I’ve wanted for a while to create a mockumentary, and I thought that this topic would be a great way to use the format, using the documentary style to get an insider look into the group.
Eliana Aiken: Fashion with Compassion For my Keystone, I organized a charity fashion show benefiting an Israeli-based food bank. The show raised about $4,000 and all the money went to Yad Eliezer. This project took about a year to organize and it taught me a lot about marketing and organization.
Monday, May 22 A Block: 8:50-10:05 am Sasha Manus: Experiences of Twice Exceptional Students
Ethan Seder: Creating an Electric Bicycle My Keystone project is about alternative forms of transport. I decided to take an old bicycle and put a range extender motor on it. I got the idea originally when I was in Australia biking around 25 to 60 kilometers a day on my bike, which could take two to five hours. Although it was great exercise, sometimes that was draining. Here in the Bay Area, I’m often stuck in traffic. I drive all three bridges every day--a 50 to 60-mile commute. Alternative forms of transport like putting a range extender on my bicycle, would allow us to reduce traffic.
For my Keystone, I created a verbatim piece of theater, highlighting the experiences of twice exceptional students from and outside of the JCHS community. Using excerpts from the various interviews with these students, I attempted to highlight the most commonly brought up topics. My secondary mode was a research paper focusing on the most effective methods of educating twice-exceptional students at the secondary and university levels.
B Block: 10:10-10:50 am Paloma Pronin: Car Culture and History For my Keystone project, I created a car show at JCHS. I took the passion I have for cars and shared what I love about it with other people. By getting a peek into what a car show is like, I hoped to share the importance cars can have for enthusiasts, while also hosting a fun event for our community.
D Block: 2:05-3:20 pm Oliver Bass: Tattoo Art For my Keystone I explored the art of tattoos and what separates artists in the tattoo world. For my primary mode I explored creating my own large art piece in geometric tattoo style and inspired by other geometric tattoos and personal pieces. For my secondary mode, I explained what makes an extraordinary tattoo artist and described what that the process of creating a tattoo is like.
Masha Sundukovskiy: Health Benefits of HumanDog Connections My Keystone project explores the benefits that engagement with dogs has on human physical and mental health. I’m also excited to share my appreciation for dogs with the community. I created a “De-Stress with Dogs” event featuring three therapy dogs at JCHS. For my secondary mode, I’ve been volunteering with Rocket Dog Rescue and learning about the adoption process and fostering dogs.
Tuesday, May 23 E Block: 8:50-10:05 am Joseph Borison: Beekeeping and Creating a Sustainable Observation Hive I’m really interested in pollinator education and educating people about the importance of bees. Many educators use observation hives, with live bees, so that people can look at them up close without fear of being stung. The problem is that those bees usually die because they’re isolated from the hive for a long period of time. I redesigned the observation hive so that is not a consequence: you can bring in the entire hive in one thing so that way none of them dies in the process.
Max Kuznetsov: Developing a Video Game with Only C++ For my Keystone, I started development on a video game made with as few resources as possible. Most of the focus has been on the “low level” aspects of developing, mainly working on the engine running all of the logic and processing behind the video game. My primary mode is the video game itself and my secondary mode is a research paper on the effectiveness of different methods of structuring data in game engines.
H Block: 2:05-3:15 pm Jonathan Stadtner: The World of e-Sports
Vicki Maler: Exploring Jewish Identity
For my Keystone, I made a film about e-Sports. The film outlines the history of the e-sports scene and talks about what e-sports has become and how it is continuing to grow at an impressive rate.
For my Keystone, I explored the topic of Jewish identity: my own and others’. I spent the year volunteering with Tawonga’s Bar and Bat Mitzvah program for interfaith and/ or unaffiliated Jewish middle schoolers.This program is a chance for students to get a Jewish education without attending a synagogue or Hebrew school, and for most, this is the first “Jewish program” they’ve ever done. As a volunteer, I was the madricha for the San Francisco cohort, co-leading workshops and staffing all retreats.
My secondary mode is a short research paper that talks about the comparisons between what people normally think of when they hear ‘sports’ and e-sports.
Thursday, May 25 A Block: 8:50-9:45 am
Oksana Chubrikova: Triathalon Training and Culture
Sophia Felson: Becoming a Yoga Teacher
My Keystone documents my experience of training and competing in a triathlon for the first time. Over the past few years sports have become a significant part of my identity. Especially individual sports like running and swimming helped me build discipline and mental endurance. So for my project, I combined my love for different sports in a single multi-sport event in the form of a triathlon.
For my Keystone I embarked on the 200-hour journey of attaining a yoga teacher certification. The training taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and opened up so many doors. My primary mode was the training, and my secondary mode was to write a paper on the eight limbs of yoga: a tool for living a more peaceful life.
Ma’ayan Epstein: Using Exercise to Fight the Power
Daniel Atias: Fitness & Nutrition
For my Keystone project, I wrote a paper about the empowerment of exercise. Being in touch with your physicality gives you balance and a level of self-awareness that you only get when you can use your body to develop self-sufficiency and confidence and have a holistic, well-rounded sense of self. My reserach analyzes social systems and social revolutions, looking at existentialism and the feminist/women’s health movement for models about making effective change in an oppressive system.
My Keystone examines fitness and nutrition. I chose the topic because it is crucial to be informed about this and unfortunately the school curriculum doesn’t cover it. I learned about how various types of foods affect your body, how to build muscle and burn fat, and the benefits of being healthy. I created a video explaining the “nutrition facts” label, which can help people make better and shrewder decisions in their day-to-day lives. Take good care of your body -- it will be with you for the rest of your life!
G Block: 2:25-3:30 pm Zaki Wood: The Future of Virtual Reality
Reuben Hollander: The Voices of ADD
For my Keystone I created a “Ted-Talk” that explains why virtual reality should be integrated into school curriculum. It includes some history of virtual reality, some examples of current virtual reality gear and their uses, and examples of what it may look like in certain classes.
For my Keystone, I did a series of interviews about school and daily life with individuals who have ADHD. From these, I created a podcast which synthesizes the central overarching themes from the interviews. The goal of the podcast is to be able to transmit the voice and experience of the interview to a wide audience.
Friday, May 26 F Block: 9:10-9:55 am Ilai Aloni: The Art of Photography For my Keystone I decided to become a photographer. Through my Photography class and endless hours in the dark room I have developed my skills as a photographer. I decided to create a showcase of film photography to share with my community. This includes photos from my trip to Atlanta, my crew members at work and our journey to New Orleans. For my secondary mode I have written about my journey and all the specific skills I have learned throughout the year.
H Block: 2:25-3:00 pm Michelle Barash: Every Drop Counts For my Keystone project, I am eduacting the JCHS community on the importance of blood donations. For my primary mode, I’m hosting a blood drive at the school to give students and professional community a chance to donate. For my secondary mode, I’ve been volunteering with Blood Bank of the Pacific and learning about the blood donation process.
Tuesday, May 30 A Block: 8:50-10:05 am
Riana Iosilevsky: Personality Disorder Comorbidities and Stereotypes My Keystone focuses on personality disorders, centering on education, comorbidities between them, and negative stereotypes about them. The main part of the project is a research paper detailing the above, taking from research and written experiences to accurately provide information. For the more public presentation of it, there is a series of posters battling stereotypes in a simpler and easier way to absorb than a research paper.
Sydney Ticktin: Effects of Technology on Teenagers For my Keystone, I explored the effects of technology on teenagers. For my primary mode, I conducted an experiment which included the elimination of technology use among seven young adults. Throughout the experiment, they were asked to monitor how their lives were impacted.
D Block: 2:05-3:10 pm Danielle Elbaz: The Criminal Justice System: People and Their Stories For my Keystone project, I’m making a podcast of selfconducted interviews. I’ve visited several prisons and organizations that work with incarcerated people, and interviewed them about their lives: how they got in there, what effects it had on them. I’m putting a main focus on solitary confinement and the mental and physical outcomes of being put into solitary confinement.
Talya Sandel: Experience of the Ethiopian Community in Israel- Pen Pal Project For my Keystone, I explored the experience of the Ethiopian community in Israel. I worked on creating, coordinating, and participating in a pen pal project between JCHS students and Ethiopian-Israeli students at a majority Ethiopian Israeli school in Kiryat Bialik called ORT Dafna. The goal of the pen pal program and my separate research on the Ethiopian community in Israel was to learn about the experience of Ethiopian Israelis through their own voices.
Friday, June 2 F Block: 8:55-9:20 am
Nicole Leinov: Anxiety and Panic Attacks For my Keystone, I wanted to learn more about the science and psychology of anxiety and panic attacks, as well as the stigma behind them and the experiences of people who go through them. I journalled about my own experiences with anxiety and panic attacks, and from those pieces, created a short story about a character going through the same thing. I also researched what goes on in the body during anxiety and panic attacks, what triggers them, and popular coping mechanisms.
G Block: 12:55-2:00 pm Jordan Kimel: Basketball Coaching
Leon Shuster: The Importance of Self Reflection
My Keystone topic is how basketball affects kids and players and the community around them. I am volunteering at an organization, and I will be coaching or co-coaching a team. I’ll be documenting conversations that I have with the athletes that I’m coaching.
For my Keystone, I interviewed different types of people, asking them to reflect on how their past experiences shaped who they are today and what life lessons they have learned, along with what morals and principles they have taken on. I interviewed a Russian immigrant, a teacher, a student, and a veteran, and created a presentation in which I transcribed certain parts from my recordings and synched the audio to them. I also wrote a personal essay, answering the same questions I asked the people in my interview, and analyze the importance of self-reflection.
H Block: 2:15-3:10 pm Tessa Zitter: Stage Combat I’ve always been really interested in the differences between physical fighting and stage combat because one is about protecting yourself and the other is about protecting the person you’re fighting. Over the summer, I took a stage combat class and loved it. My goals for my Keystone project were not only to learn to fight but also to choreograph and teach. There are a lot of moving pieces and things to consider when choreographing and I wanted to learn to manipulate them myself.