Student’s Capstone Project focuses on self-sufficiency that benefits others

Windham High School senior Dillon Foley
who has Emery Derifuss Limb-Girdle
Type-4 muscular dystrophy, demonstrates
his mechanical hand-controlled prototype
for those who drive vehicles with disabilities
at WHS' Capstone Project Fair on April 27.
PHOTO BY LORRAINE GLOWCZAK  

By Lorraine Glowczak

A mechanical hand-controlled prototype for those who drive vehicles with disabilities is considered an impressive feat for almost anyone, but even more so for a high school senior who designs a model for his Capstone Project. As a result, students and staff at Windham High School were impressed with senior Dillon Foley’s hand-controlled model at the WHS’ Capstone Fair held last Thursday morning in the school gymnasium.

Briefly, Capstone Projects are self-directed assignments that “caps” a student’s academic and intellectual experiences, usually during their final year of high school and/or college. The Capstone Project is designed to encourage students to think critically, solve challenging problems and develop everyday life skills that one will use as an adult. This includes connecting their projects to community issues or challenges by serving a specific need through volunteerism or providing a service.

“This project is important to me because I have a form of muscular dystrophy, and if there was an affordable form of hand controls readily available, I wouldn't have to constantly worry if it's going to be safe for me to drive,” Foley said. “My goal is to make the hand controls extremely affordable and to donate this invention so others like me can drive safely too.”

Foley was diagnosed with Emery Dreifuss, Limb-Girdle Type-4 muscular dystrophy (MD) when he was in the seventh grade at the age of 14, although he began noticing changes in his body after playing sports when he was in the sixth grade. He states that MD affects his muscles in various ways and with different levels of severity.

“Each day is different. I could either just have a limp and walk funny, have a hard time with stairs, have bad balance, struggle with getting up and down, or my legs just may not work at all.”

Foley explained that the leading cause of his flare-ups is from sitting too long. As a result, it concerns him when he travels for long periods of time.

“I am constantly worrying about how my legs will be and if they will get bad enough while I'm driving, causing it to be unsafe,” he said. “If I travel to visit family who live a couple of hours away, the whole time I'm worried about my legs. Then once I get to my destination, I continue to worry because I don’t know if my legs will get worse before I have to drive home and then be stuck wherever I am. If hand controls were affordable and readily available, I would be free of all this worrying.”

These concerns motivated Foley to solve a personal challenge by choosing a hand-controlled prototype as his Capstone Project. As soon as his proposal was approved this past fall, Foley quickly began his research.

“I watched a couple of videos of existing mechanical hand controls on YouTube, and that helped me develop a basic design,” he said. “After I came up with my basic design, I started taking measurements of my truck and making more in-depth blueprints.”

Foley said that he is very grateful to the organization, MobilityWorks located in Gray, for their help and guidance when he met specific challenges with his design.

Although his prototype is still in the early design phases that continuously require changes and improvements, he will not stop until he finds success. Foley plans to continue production on this prototype while attending the University of Maine - Orono this fall as he works toward his degree in mechanical engineering.

“I plan on bringing this design with me to college, and after four years, I hope the knowledge and experience I gain there will help me build something a little more complicated,” he said. “For my senior year of college, I have to do a capstone project, and I plan on creating another form of hand control that can be used in manuals, whether it be a vehicle or a tractor. I plan on creating an electronic shifting mechanism with a paddle switch to shift like in sports cars - it will be the same basic model that I have now – only improved.”

Foley hopes to patent his design to protect the product he has created, but his desire for a patent has even greater meaning.

“My end goal is to be able to donate the hand controls I create to the Veteran Association (VA), AgrAbility (USDA-funded program that assists and supports farmers and ranchers with disabilities), and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).”

As with all students and their Capstone Projects, Foley has learned more than he anticipated due to his experience and research.

“Since doing this project, I have learned of many different forms of adaptive technology and how different types focus on different effects of disabilities,” he said. “Learning this has helped me adapt my plan for the hand controls in certain ways to try and fit everyone's needs. I hope to provide self-sufficiency to those who have disabilities so they can drive themselves and not have to rely on others to help them constantly.” <

Two WHS students share excitement and learning experiences with Capstone project

DJ Hayley with student, Hailey Gilbert

By Lorraine Glowczak

Poet, Mary Oliver, captured one of life’s most important questions very eloquently, “Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This is a question we all ask ourselves at one time or another; especially when graduation from high school is upon us and we set out into the great unknown.

Exploration and discovery are ways to help us find our way and the Capstone project may be one step

in the right direction.

Capstone is an innovative program put forth this year at Windham High School. It is a part of a new graduation requirement with a mission to help students not only discover their true calling but to show that whatever their endeavor, they can do it right here in Maine.

In a previous interview with Windham Eagle reporter, Elizabeth Richards, Lanet Hane who is the Director of Community Connections for RSU#14, said the district discovered that the school was missing an opportunity to help students be better prepared for their careers. Instead of simply doing 40 hours of service at random, students have to put together a project, complete with a final presentation, that better connects them to the community. “The Capstone project is intended to take the same amount of time in a more coordinated and intentional way,” Hane said.

Two seniors, Samuel Nemeroff and Hailey Gilbert, are both nearing the end of their Capstone projects and have very intentional plans for exciting career possibilities. They both took time out of
their busy school schedules to share their discoveries and what they have learned thus far.

For Nemeroff, that is owning a PC gaming café. His intention is to create an affordable gaming venue for those who have a passion in creating, maintaining or building games for personal computers. However, his innovative and entrepreneurial spirit doesn’t end there. “It is my plan that when I open my cafe, I will use renewable energy to support the electricity it takes to run this type of business. I plan to do that through the use of solar energy and natural gases,” he said. “I’m also studying ways to convert non-renewable energy into a sustainable energy alternative.”

To gain knowledge and learn more about renewable energy, Nemeroff interviewed representatives from Central Maine Power (CMP). They have guided him in his study along the way, including the cost effective calculations to alternative electricity.

Nemeroff is also working with Acadia University in Novia Scotia, Canada where he plans to attend after graduation. While there, he will work towards a major in entrepreneurship with a focus on innovation. He also has plans to reach out to Governor Mills, working with her office on energy efficiency in Maine. “I would like to participate in planning public policies on environmental issues,” Nemeroff said. “It is my hope that whatever I choose to do, I will not be a detriment to the environmental issues we face. I want to be a part of the solution.”

Samuel Nemeroff, Lanet Hane, Hailey Gilbert

Although going in a different direction that came with a slight curveball, Gilbert is as focused as her classmate. “Initially, I was looking into the medical profession as a possibility for my Capstone project,” she explained. “I wrote to and reached out to a number of professionals but when I never heard back from any of them, I decided to rethink what I might do. One day, I was listening to my favorite radio station, 104.7, and it dawned on me.”

Gilbert stated that she had always enjoy listening to the radio and decided to see if the radio industry might be in her future. “I sent a message to 104.7 on Facebook to see if I could come into the studio and learn what it takes to be a DJ,” she began. “Within a few hours, I received a message inviting me to join them.”

In the course of a couple of months, Gilbert has learned the ins and outs of studio/radio broadcasting that includes the logistics of using a soundboard, content the industry deems important, the process of interviewing people on live radio, as well as being on top of current trends, music and news. “I have had so much fun learning about this industry,” Gilbert stated. “I have to admit, I’m glad the medical experts didn’t respond to my requests.”

At the advice she has learned from her mentors at 104.7, she will obtain a degree in communications with a focus on networking.

Although both Nermeroof and Gilbert are still coordinating their volunteer efforts as it relates to their individual projects, they both have decided that their presentations will include a slide show presentation of their experiences, what they have learned through their process and how they will apply that to their future goals – to live fully their one wild and precious life.

There will be a Capstone Information Night for parents and their seniors on Tuesday, February 12th at 7 p.m. in the High School auditorium. For more information, contact Hane at lhane@rsu14.org.