Capstone Draft Proposal

Name of student: Talia Lees Date: October 4th, 2023

Teacher: Mr. Green Block: C

The Capstone strand I have chosen is a Product.

Proposed title for my Project Proposal: (write the proposed title for your Capstone Project in one clear
sentence): Mental Health Website/Instagram account help!

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that connects with
a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that you cannot just google an
answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How can we create an effective website/instagram page to provide teenagers with valuable mental health
help and coping methods, addressing their unique needs and challenges?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you are choosing to
investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry connect to your passion(s),
purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

I chose this inquiry question because I think mental health disorders are a large problem in teenagers in this
day and age and I think there needs to be more proper sources that teens can go to where they are able to
find help and support. Some people aren’t comfortable with going and talking to a therapist, so I think
having a website or an instagram page where they can go to and read and see different posts to find help,
will possibly help and be appealing to teens.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this area of inquiry?

I have personally have struggled with anxiety throughout my whole life and I have learned a lot about it over
the years from listening to my parents and therapists help me through it. I have also discovered different
coping methods and strategies to help with my anxiety. They don’t make my anxiety go away but the coping
methods will relieve me for a little while and help me feel better during a hard situation or moment. I also
have friends and close family members, such as my mom, who struggle with anxiety, and I have seen how
it affects them and what they do to calm down.

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Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What connections does this
inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

I am not 100% sure of what I am wanting to do for my career path yet, but so far, I know I want to do
something involving psychology or social work as I want a job that helps others on the daily. I want to be
able to make a difference in some people's lives and help to improve things that they struggle with. This
connects to my inquiry question because as a social worker/counsellor you are constantly helping people
and giving them different coping methods and way to strategize their mental health problems. I also want to
do this on my website/instagram page and try my best to help make a difference in some people.

Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core competencies will
be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections.

“I can express my needs and seek help when needed.” This is one of the core competencies that I have a
strength in and connect to. With my capstone and my school work in general, I will ask my teacher and
peers questions that I have when I need help. I will make sure I have a good understanding of what I am
doing before I just do it. I should have a set plan before I start which means I need to proofread my work
before I check it and I can also ask a teacher or friend to look at it and make sure it looks good. I think it’s
good to reach out for help because if you don’t you might sit there lost and confused the whole time if you
don’t want to speak up and ask. This is connected to my project because I won’t be able to do this without
asking for clarification and help with some things.

Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to present your
project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once completed. You may use a
combination of mediums.
o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or PPT
o Physical portfolio
o Website
o imovie presentation
o YouTube channel

For my capstone, I will be creating an instagram account and a website. I will present my instagram
account by having a public account and making regular posts on it about mental health struggles and
addressing that these problems are normal and talking about different coping methods and strategies that
may help and encouraging people to try. I will talk about my personal experience with anxiety on my
website because I think it is good for people to read and see that they aren’t alone, and my story might be
similar and relatable for them. My instagram account will be public and ongoing along the way of my
capstone and it will include different updates and posts as much as I can. I will make my account look nice
and presentable so others will press on it and be appealed to look and read it.

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Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what will you
research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced at the end of this
project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your proposal.

I am planning on creating an instagram page and a website about mental health tips and help for
teenagers. On my instagram page, I will try to post a few times a week about mental health tips and coping
methods that people can use to help themselves during a hard time. I will research many different mental
health websites and read about people’s personal experiences and what they have done and used to help
them get better. I want to try and talk to people about their personal struggles and what they do to feel
better, and I will also connect with my counsellor and talk to her about what she thinks will help improve my
project. I am going to study different mental health issues and what can help someone with each mental
health disorder feel better and cope. The final product will be a instagram page with multiple posts and tips
and help and I will try and talk and relate it to people’s personal lives so others are able to relate to it if they
struggle with the same things. My goal is to help teenagers and high school students feel better about their
mental health disorders and help them feel comfortable with sharing what they struggle with and I also
want to help them discover new coping strategies and tips to help feel better.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and skills you will
need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to access/learn all of the resources
necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail your plans.

-Create a website
-Purchase a good website creator to create my own
-Create an instagram account
-Learn how to create and function my website properly and organize it
I think there is many teachers in the school that will be able to help me with creating a website and I can
message them on teams and ask if there’s a time where I can come in and get some help on making my
own website to ensure that I do it correctly and don’t have any mistakes. I

Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will you need to

help you complete your capstone project? How will your mentor(s) help you? What is your plan to access
the mentorship/community connections necessary for this project?

My mentor for my capstone is my counsellor, Ms Glassco. Ms Glassco is a school counsellor but she also
is a registered clinical counsellor which means she’s able to be a counsellor in many other places outside
of the school and do a bigger and more important job. She can help me by discussing topics with me that

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 she might hear a lot as working in a high school and she can tell me common mental health disorders that
she sees that teenagers often struggle with. She can also help me discuss coping methods and tips that
she tells to her students and I can go off of that as a guide. To be able to discuss this with my mentor, I
will book a counseling appointment with her a few times a month and discuss my capstone work with her.

Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee that might
affect progress with your Capstone Project?

-People not viewing my posts or my website, which won’t make it get anywhere.
-Information being posted that some people may not be interested in
-Uncommon mental health disorders being mentioned

Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about your project
that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

-Talking to peers and friends about their experiences and asking them for any strategies they used to
cope with mental health problems.
-Asking my teacher/other teachers if they have any advice how to make my website and instagram page
look good and welcoming.
-Get as much advice and support as possible.
-Help with creating my website and putting it together?

References: Provide a literature review of 5-10 PEER REVIEWED ACADEMIC references: research,
videos, etc. that offer some preliminary research you have done for your project that shows you are able
to access the key information that you will need to be able to complete this project/work. Your list should
be written using correct APA formatting.

1.)
Richardson, M. (2022). Student experiences of assessment. In Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational
Assessment(pp. 64–80). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv23xmr2z.11
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv23xmr2z.11?searchText=Social+anxiety+in+teenagers&searchUri=%
2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DSocial%2Banxiety%2Bin%2Bteenagers%26sd%3D2021%26ed
%3D2023&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-
default%3Ac5e30882009ee1f849710fbcf2c4d5aa

2.)

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Wise, J. (2016). Anxiety in teenage girls rises sharply in past decade, finds study. BMJ: British Medical
Journal, 354. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26943817
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26943817?searchText=Social+anxiety+in+teenagers&searchUri=%2Fact
ion%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DSocial%2Banxiety%2Bin%2Bteenagers&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_s
earch_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A64cfccee9c2f9817713f29ec66e02c1d

3.)
Leeves, S., & Banerjee, R. (2014). Childhood social anxiety and social support-seeking: distinctive links with
perceived support from teachers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(1), 43–62.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/43551125
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43551125?searchText=Anxiety+in+teenagers&searchUri=%2Faction%2
FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAnxiety%2Bin%2Bteenagers&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fc
ontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Acb01bafc9e0b096c10a41a5fb9954bd0
European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(1), 43–62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43551125

4.)
Somerville, L. H. (2013). The Teenage Brain: Sensitivity to Social Evaluation. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 22(2), 121–127. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44318646
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44318646?searchText=Anxiety+in+teenagers&searchUri=%2Faction%2
FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAnxiety%2Bin%2Bteenagers&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fc
ontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Acb01bafc9e0b096c10a41a5fb9954bd0

5.)
Cuellar, A. (2015). Preventing and Treating Child Mental Health Problems. The Future of Children, 25(1),
111–134. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43267765
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43267765?searchText=Anxiety+in+teenagers&searchUri=%2Faction%2
FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAnxiety%2Bin%2Bteenagers&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fc
ontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Af0d91dc68b80e05ccc38251be1662282

6.)
Vattano, A. J. (1978). Self-management procedures for coping with stress. Social Work, 23(2), 113–119.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23712018
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23712018?searchText=How+to+cope+with+anxiety&searchUri=%2Facti
on%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DHow%2Bto%2Bcope%2Bwith%2Banxiety&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_
search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ae3b71dfe5e2854165a63d870e6cd12c5

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