Problem-Solving Final

The title of my first Interdisciplinary Project on the first semester of my 9th grade year

was Mental Health Awareness in our Community of Huntington Park. This assignment was done

during the time given to us in class and during our own time at home. Our given task was to find

a way to spread awareness and shine importance onto a specific mental illness that we were

assigned. My group and I were in charge of suicide and we decided to present our solutions in

PowerPoint form. Through our PowerPoint, we shared some information on suicide, explained

the negative effects due to it, and offered possible solutions to alert people on a serious topic that

affects people of all ages such as a city meeting. This IDP fits the Problem/Solving category

because our group was given a mental illness that isn’t fully known about in our community

which represents the problem. Our powerpoint and what it had to offer was a solution that our

community can benefit from. Our call to action consisted of presenting our knowledge to other

classrooms and bringing awareness to other students and sharing numerous resources to get help

for either themselves and others.

The title of our second Interdisciplinary Project on the first semester of 10th grade was

the Zika Virus Awareness in our Community of Huntington Park as well. This assignment was

completed during the time given to us in class and during our own time at home as well over the

course of about 3 months. We were asked to spread awareness on the Zika Virus and how it can

affect people in our community. We also had to find a way to teach elementary students about it

in a way that they would be able to comprehend. We created a PowerPoint as well to

demonstrate the different outcomes due to the Zika Virus. This IDP fits the Problem/Solving

Category because the Zika Virus was a problem in our community that we had to find a solution
for people to become aware of it and take precautions. Our solution to it was to teach elementary

students in a fun way that they would be able to understand along with raising awareness towards

the virus.

In both IDPs, I was an active citizen, willing collaborator, and effective communicator. I

was an active citizen by engaging in finding solutions for my community and getting the word

out there about real-life conflicts. All the information that my group and I gathered, we shared it

not just with each other but to parents, students, and people of the community. I was a willing

collaborator by working with the teammates that were chosen for me. I wasn’t best friends with

the different teammates that I had for each IDP but I still managed to work effectively with every

one of them to get the work done. At last, I was an effective communicator because I had to

interact with different people to share the information that my group and I gathered in a way that

everyone would be able to understand. For example, the way I interacted with the panelists was a

lot different compared to how I had to interact with the elementary students when creating the

children’s book on the Zika Virus.

Between the two IDP assignments, I noticed a lot of improvement on my slides and the

content that I put on each slide. Instead of writing the whole sentence or paragraph, I now just

put bullet points and lots of pictures to guide my presentation and have a stronger visual on what

I’m trying to teach others. I noticed growth in working with other people because if I’m not

friends with someone or don’t want to interact with them, I choose not to talk to them. But

throughout the IDPS, I learned to work with others no matter what to get the job done because

that’s how it’s going to be in the real world. I also notice growth in knowing how to
communicate with different people of different ages. I still need to improve on my presentation

skills because, although I have done well in my IDPs, I always get really nervous no matter what.

It’s something that I’ve dealt with since middle school. The numerous skills I’ve learned so far

can help me in the future because these IDPs give you a perspective on how jobs and college are

going to be like and these skills that we’ve practiced since 9th grade will only continue to

improve.