Back
  1. Spice Hazard

    July 21, 2022 by Saffron B.

    Driving Question: How can we improve our spice tolerance through a mixture of science and cultural understanding?

    Project Summary: This project was a dive into the science and Mexican cuisine and culture. Saffron and Santiago researched many different kinds of chili peppers before deciding on five local peppers that they and a group of volunteers would be eating to increase their spice tolerance: costeño, pasilla, jalapeño, chiltepín, and habanero. The pair recorded themselves doing so to share their findings.

    Student Reflection: “Working on this project was painful, but it was so fun and totally worth it. I learned that eating spicy food can make you feel like you’re being stabbed and yet fill you with a rush of adrenaline, and to be able to share that feeling is simply amazing.” – Class of 2024 student Santiago D.

  2. Photography Oaxaca

    by Raf W.

    Driving Question: How can I create a photo album capturing the true essence of street art in Oaxaca City?

    Project Summary: Raf’s personal project is about photography and photo editing. His project aimed to capture the essence of street art in Oaxaca. Due to the fact that Oaxaca has an abundance of incredible street art, Raf felt it was of high importance to capture this beauty using photography and exemplify it using Photoshop. You can see the pictures Raf has taken and edited below, which hopefully provide a sense of Oaxaca’s beauty.

    Student Reflection: This project gave me the time to just pause amongst all the craziness in a term. When taking photos, I felt relaxed, and that I was really appreciating Oaxaca for what it was. I learned that if we don’t pay attention to the small details of a given environment, we might miss its beauty.

  3. Journey to Monte Albán

    June 16, 2022 by Alex N.

    Driving Question: How can I preserve a part of Zapotec history and give it a new life in the form of VR experiences?

    Project Summary:

    Aarushi and Alex’s video focused on the Central Valley of Oaxaca and the civilization that emerged known as the “Be’ena’ Za” or “The Cloud People.” The Be’ena’ Za thrived and became one of the largest civilizations in Mesoamerica, and today they are known as the Zapotec.

    Alex and Aarushi introduce viewers to the world of the Zapotec through a VR experience. Their video takes you back in time on a journey into the magnificent city of Monte Albán. The pair invite you to embrace the wisdom of the Zapotec through astrology, religious, and ancient beliefs.

    Student Reflection: This module was really exciting for me. I learned a lot of new things and added multiple new subjects to my skill set. This module was also extremely challenging since I had no real prior knowledge about virtual reality or archaeology, but because of our excursions and guest speakers, I was able to create a video VR experience which I am extremely proud of!”- Aarushi A.

  4. Language Death in Oaxaca

    by Zoya A.

    Driving Question: How can I use video to present my investigations (SPEED factors) into the lives of the Zapotec people of Oaxaca, Mexico?

    Project Summary: In this project, Zoya looked at the lives of the Zapotec community in Oaxaca, and how their lives are impacted by their exposure to Spanish. Her film explores the different aspects of Spanish language exposure (in education, economy, and stigma) and what it meant for the Zapotec people, with a question left to the audience: What does the future look like for the Zapotec?

  5. Language Death in Oaxaca

    by Diego M.

    Driving Question: How can I use video to present my investigations (SPEED factors) into the lives of the Zapotec people of Oaxaca, Mexico?

    Project Summary: For his project, Diego focused on the death of indigenous languages in Oaxaca and how the Zapotec people are fighting to keep their language alive, despite the odds.

    Student Reflection:
    “Even though I live in Mexico, exploring another side of the culture was really interesting, such as language death. Connecting with people and learning about the story was something special that I can’t really put into words.”

  6. Documentary Filmmaking

    January 28, 2022 by Niko W. and Dhruv G.

    This project taught me the importance of collaboration and using people as a resource. Because we were able to combine our skillsets, we could create a high-quality final product, which I do not think I would have been able to achieve alone. I learned a lot from this team project, including troubleshooting Premiere Pro and maintaining our sense of humor in stressful situations.

    -Class of 2023 Student Dhruv G.

    As a personal project this term, CM2 students Niko W. and Dhruv G. challenged themselves to develop a short documentary capturing the essence of how modules work at TGS, using the Mo-Botics module as an example. They set out to answer the following driving question: “How can we use documentary filmmaking to capture the essence of PBL at TGS?

    The pair investigated different aspects of documentary filmmaking and combined their prior experience and skillsets to storyboard, plan, and execute the film. They also used a combination of student interviews and shots from module excursions as the film’s backbone.

    By dividing roles and putting in a substantial amount of post-production editing, they achieved a high-quality final product which they presented at the THINK Beyond showcase.

  7. National Anthems

    by Noah D.

    Through many of the traditional cultural experiences we partook in during this module — a temazcal (sweat lodge), limpia( soul-cleansing ceremony), and meditation in the mountain forests of San Jose — I learned that connection with myself is an aspect of connecting with nature that is very important. I’m thankful for being given the opportunity to look inside myself.

    -Class of 2024 Student Noah D.

    For his first-ever personal project at TGS, CM1 Student Noah D. used his previous experience playing bassoon to answer the following driving question: “How can I convey knowledge of musical chords and national anthem history through a bassoon performance?”

    Noah’s final project includes an audio recording of him playing the French and United States national anthems on his bassoon and showing the chords presented in each anthem. He also studied and provided information about each song’s history, intent, and meaning.

  8. Using Music Therapy to Improve Emotional Wellness

    June 10, 2021 by Yeli K.

    Driving Question: How might I build an app that uses music therapy to improve the emotional wellness of teens?

    Module Summary: Music therapy is a unique form of rehabilitation that helps people of all ages deal with emotional, physical, and mental ailments by creating and listening to music. For her first TGS mastery project, CM1 Student Yeli K. coded an app that uses music therapy to help teens deal with emotional issues and created a corresponding pitch video to showcase the app.

    Student Reflection: “I am doing this project because mental illness has affected so many of my friends and me, and I believe that music therapy is an amazing non-invasive solution for adolescents. This project could bring about true change in our society. Additionally, this project introduced me to advanced coding concepts, which I would eventually like to pursue as a career.” -CM1 Student Yeli K.

  9. From Vansh to 1shh: Creating a Bilingual Album

    by Vansh Chugh

    Driving Question: How can I have a powerful impact on English and Hindi speakers through a bilingual album?

    Project Overview: For his mastery project, Vansh creating a bilingual hip-hop album. The lyrics, sung in English and Hindi, reflected the various personal experiences Vansh has had in his life. In the final tracks, the vocals and the instrumentals sit peacefully beside each other with neither fighting for center stage.

    What were your initial goals for this project? How did they change over time?

    Initially, I wanted to finish an album within two years, but the more I learned about the process, I realized that being a good singer/instrumentalist was a completely different set of skills than transferring that quality onto a laptop. Because I did everything on my own, musically, I had to produce, arrange, record, play, mix, and master the track all by myself. I also had to learn elements of photography and videography, such as cloning and color grading.

    Lastly, for marketing purposes, I also had to teach myself how to run an ad campaign and reach out to people kindly and ask them to listen to your music. I was not familiar with almost all of these processes, and learning all of them – at different levels – made me realize that I had to change my goals. I still ended up making many songs, but I didn’t finish any of them because mid-way through the project, my goal became to release a single before graduation. I definitely think I accomplished said goal.

    What are you most proud of?

    I’m really proud of the single I ended up creating because it’s a transition to a journey I’ve always wanted to embark on and marks the end of my impactful time here at TGS.

    What are the biggest lessons you learned through the process of your mastery project?

    I learned how much knowledge there is on the internet and the difference having a supportive community, like TGS, makes when one is pursuing a project of this magnitude.

  10. Crescendo: A Project on Music Theory

    June 7, 2021 by Diego M.

    Driving Question: How can I learn about music theory and teach others by analyzing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata?

    Module Overview: For this project, Diego learned about music theory by researching chords, scales, and sheet music elements like clefs, staff, accidentals, and dynamic markings. Diego then analyzed and played Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata to identify the elements used in this song.

    Project Reflection: “I didn’t feel this project was work. I thought it more like a hobby, just one more day doing what I like. I learned many things that I didn’t know about the theory, even though I have been playing the piano for several years now. It is the first time that I have shown many people what I can do or play, and that’s really exciting to finally share.”

Sign up if you would like to receive occasional news from us.

Subscribe