APPENDIX E

Journey Project Selection - Product Brainstorming Form 

Name: ​Emily King
Project Title: ​Welcome to Ryan’s Bridge!
Date: ​September 15, 2019

TYPE OF PROJECT

❏ Design or improve a product, service or system

❏ Plan or organize an event or activity
❏ Learn, present, or demonstrate knowledge of an advanced skill
❏ Other: ________________________________________________________________

OVERVIEW/PROJECT DESCRIPTION FROM LETTER OF INTENT:

When most EC students graduate, unless they’re high functioning, further education is not an option. I
plan to work with Ryan’s Bridge, a program that provides young adults that have intellectual
disabilities with an ongoing education after High School. A main aspect of this programs mission, is
that once an EC student graduates from high school, unless they are high functioning, they cannot
obtain a job or attend college. As a result of this they are basically sheltered inside, with little social
contact at home. Ryan’s Bridge wants to help the students who aren’t high functioning to keep a
social life, and to keep their brain’s growth.

For my Pride Project I decided to speak with the students and staff at Ryan’s Bridge (RB) on how I
could help their organization. ​When speaking to the students they said they wanted new supplies in
order to conduct more experiments and make more crafts. Furthermore, when speaking to the staff
they said they wanted the program to gain more notice. Due to the fact that they are privately funded,
and it is hard for them to make gains for the program on a larger scale. After contemplating on how I
could be of assistance I decided that I would conduct a supply drive to meet the students wants. In
addition to this, I would host a booth at a local street festival to help make the community more aware
of this program, tending to the staff’s wants.

After getting approval from Bella Love to have a space at their 2nd Friday Street Festival, I began
working with my mentor on designing the booth components. We discussed making fliers, posters,
and having a banner, as well as having goodies to hand out. A lot of planning went into each
component, making an effective booth. For instance, we decided to hand out homemade playdough
made by the students at Ryan’s Bridge, as this is one of their science projects that they can conduct
independently. The day of the festival we showed up several hours early to set everything up and get
ready for the visitors. I set up and decorated the table, set up a tent to provide shade, and got
everything ready to hand out. We had many visitors throughout the evening, giving me a lot of
opportunities to relay the message of Ryan’s Bridge. Many people were surprised by the plight of
special needs young adults after high school, not realizing what a serious issue it can be. Many
people asked how they could get involved, and several people were excited to share the information
with potential students they know.

Given the success at the street festival, I was determined to also have a successful supply drive as
well. I chose to conduct this collection at my church instead of school to reach a wider audience. I
contacted my church administration to get approval for this and to coordinate getting the information
into the bulletin and newsletters. Once granted permission I made posters and fliers advertising the
supply drive details. Posters with collection bins were placed in various locations throughout the
church, and I handed out fliers at each service. The response was quick and people were excited to
help. I checked the bins regularly - they overflowed with supplies quickly. The supply drive results
exceeded our expectations. In fact, Ryan’s Bridge had a difficult time finding storage for so many
supplies.

GOALS: Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (S.M.A.R.T.)

- Fill two/three bins with supplies for Ryan’s Bridge. I will do this at my church, and have a bin
set up at different locations throughout the church. As well as, I will be handing out fliers,
hanging up homemade posters, setting out bins, and putting a memo in the church bulletin
and newsletters. I will be starting on Oct. 5th, and attending almost every church service
Sunday and wednesday, to see the current state of each bin.
- At least 30 people visit my booth, this way the program gains more public recognition and can
grow. I will do this on Oct. 11, at a public festival held by Bella Love in Cornelius. I will have a
banner, posters, fliers, candy, and playdough made by the students for handouts. I will be
attending classes to make playdough and prep for the booth on Oct. 3rd and 8th. In addition to
picking up the banner from Kelly Richards, on Oct. 10th. This way I can meet with the students
and my mentor many times before the festival to ensure I am prepared and have everything I
need.

RESEARCH CONNECTION: How does your project/product connect your research you’ve completed?
N/A- not related to my paper

BACKGROUND: What do you already know about the topic?

I have helped teach the High School Special Needs Sunday School Class for about four years
now. I have also attended many events at my church that are for the Special Needs
teens/adults, since I was in elementary school.
TIMELINE: List your timeline below illustrating how you plan to spend half of your hours on the project.
1. Speak to Kelly Richardson, head of Ryan’s Bridge. ​(Done)
2. Get Kelly Richardson to be mentor. ​(Done)
3. Talk about potential ways my project could benefit Ryan’s Bridge and how I could work
with them. ​(Done)
4. Schedule days to meet with Kelly for all my mentor hours, and to help the class at
Ryan’s Bridge. ​(Done)
5. Conclude what I am doing on the project, and confirm my ideas with Kelly. ​(Done)
6. Email festival to confirm that I can host a booth.
7. Communicate to Kelly about my ideas for the festival and how she can help me, as well
as if the students can/want to participate.
8. Design booth for festival (banners, flyers, goodies to hand out, etc.).
9. Figure out what I want to gather from the supply drive by asking Kelly what supplies they
are lacking. ​(Done)
10. Email the head members at my church to ask if I can host a supply drive. ​(Done)
11. Confirm I can have a supply drive at the church.
12. Make posters, flyers and bins for the supply drive, that I can set up in each school.
13. Go to each church service and set up the bins, flyers, and posters.
14. Go to the bulletin/communications office and ask if they can advertise the supply drive
with an email, etc.

EVIDENCE: What will you produce to demonstrate that you have successfully completed this project?
● take pictures at every class I attend and record what we do.
● take pictures of the booth, and people interacting with it at the festival.
● bring in some of the playdough they made for the booth.
● show a chart of all the supplies we gathered.
● show pictures of the students with some of the new supplies.
● Bring some of the posters and fliers I made