Reflection Paper

Jack Doole

This year in English Four, we were given the task to create our own journey. We
were allowed to choose a topic or problem we were passionate about. With this topic or
problem, we then worked to find a product to deliver. This inquiry was to be the
capstone of our learning experience at Platte County High school. First semester was a
large majority of the research stage. I actually pivoted my inquiry at semester because I
would not be able to go forward with what I had planned. I was working on researching
and promoting the development of solar panel roadways. While I was passionate about
this amazing topic, I realized it was out of my reach for both technological and monetary
reasons. I pivoted to something I was very passionate about. Last year, I was the State
President Missouri State Society Children of the American Revolution. I chose to work
on making my term in office a success. For my term, I chose to have my state members
support the Honor Flight. This is an organization that takes veterans to Washington D.C.
for a day of honor. I am personally very involved in this organization. My father has been
a board member for many years and has been the President of the Heartland Honor
flight for about half of his time on the board. I have seen peoples lives affected in ways
never imaginable. I have been on the Honor Flight as a volunteer and have seen the
effect it has on the veterans. They are overwhelmed by emotions of joy, sadness,
nostalgia, and gratefulness for their monuments and memorials. I love this organization
and hope to always remain as a part of it.

As I mentioned earlier, at the beginning of the school year we were given a task.
Create a inquiry that would be the capstone of our high school experience and the
journey we would follow. This inquiry was able to be anything we wanted to change or
make happen. My beginning thoughts were vague. I brainstormed about what I could do
that would actually make a difference. An idea came to me that I had seen a video
about, Solar panel roads. I jumped on the idea of changing our roads and parking lots,
full of empty space, into self paying energy producers. They are interlocking pieces that
form a web of solar panels that are safe for all types of traffic. Amazing functions are
built into every piece. An example would be to melt snow and ice, or light up the lanes
so paint isnt needed. These panels could have the potential to support all of our
nation's power problems. The two main problems I had with this idea were money and
technology. The money problem is always real. The panels were thousands of dollars to
produce and not even available for purchase. I researched all of the technologies that
go into these panels and they are truly functional and safe. I showed others what this
technology could really do. I pointed out three major points that these roads benefitted.
They were the structure of roads, the roadside corridors, and the benefits for electric
vehicles. Even with all of the benefits I couldnt continue my research, so I chose a new
path. I chose to pivot my project to my State Presidents Project, Honoring Heartland
Heroes. I am part of a patriotic youth service organization outside of school. I was
Elected state President of Missouri for the 2015-2016 term. My project was to support
four different Honor flight hubs throughout Missouri.

I began my senior year by choosing an inquiry I would work on the whole year.
This capstone project was supposed to be the culmination of what I learned in high

school. I chose the topic of solar panel roadways. This topic interested me because it
was a new way to produce clean energy and an efficient plan for the vast amount of
wasted space that parking lots, and roads are. I immediately found the company
producing these panels. They are based in Idaho and have been working on this project
for about two years. Their website, http://www.solarroadways.com/, was my best
resource. They had put all of the information that I needed on it. The information that
was on this site led me to research different components that went into the panels. I
found out how the solar panels actually work and how they become more efficient. The
basic structure of the panels allows for the solar cells to be fully functional and
protected. The glass they use to cover their panels is tempered glass. People say that
this is dangerous to cars if it breaks. The tempered glass can withstand anything thrown
at it, and even if it did break, it actually breaks into small pebbles that arent sharp. The
LED system for lane lines allows for no use of paint. The lights are a higher intensity
that can be seen through daylight. The road itself will drain water into it and that water
will be drained to a channel to transport it. The other side of the road will be a corridor to
house all types of cables. It would be able to house phone lines, high speed fiber optics,
and cable television. Road construction and repair would be simple because the panels
come in a modular design.

Technology is webbed through the panels as well. The panels themselves are
smart. They have LED lane lines that work during the day. Intensity of the lights allow for
the driver to see them during the day. They have pressure sensors that can alert drivers
of upcoming hazards on the road. They can alert the administrator if they are broken or
stolen. The panels have the capability to charge electric vehicles while they are driving

over them. This will allow for basically infinite miles if the car is being driven over these
panels. There are many more technologies included as well.

If all the roads and parking lots were covered, it could support a nationwide
electric vehicle fleet, and still power houses, businesses, and factories. The panels will
entirely change the way that energy is collected. With this new project, our country's
energy problem and vehicle emissions problem can be solved.

At semester I changed my inquiry. For my second semester project I changed to

a project I was currently working on outside of school. As I stated earlier, I am a state
president of C.A.R. (Children of the American Revolution). I chose to support four
different Honor Flight organizations around the state. I used the national Honor Flight
organization website page in order to find the hubs in Missouri. The hubs we
supported were, Central Missouri Honor Flight in Columbia, Greater St. Louis Honor
Flight in Chesterfield, Heartland Honor Flight in Kansas City, and Honor Flight of the
Ozarks in Springfield. I have contacted all of these groups with the information off of the
national site. The groups all have their own sites as well. With the research I collected
from these site I was able to support four different groups and spread awareness for this
organization.
With my inquiry I did not get a mentor until second semester. I tried to contact the
owners of the company first semester, but they would not return any calls or emails. I
decided to go on my researching without one. As soon as I changed my capstone
project, I basically had two automatic mentors. As State President, I was voted in and
had a Senior State President. My senior was Mrs. Cathy Owens. She was Senior State

President from 2014-2016. We started the year by going to Washington D.C. so that I
could be inducted and sworn in as president. One good thing about her being my
mentor was that we both lived in Kansas City. We didnt just have to email and call each
other, we could actually meet up and talk about my project. Many times when I would
forget to do something I was always reminded by her to stay on track. She understood
my busy schedule and was able to work around it with me. She helped me submit all of
my work to the national society and made sure I knew what I was doing at all times. My
other mentor was my dad. He is the current president of the Heartland Honor Flight. He
has always supported me and told me how I can be a better person. Anytime I had a
question he could always answer it or point me in the right direction. He provided me
with shirts, buttons, hats, and stickers to sell and raise money for my state project. He
also allowed me to go on the Honor Flight many times. This was a very inspiring trip.
Second semester I chose to work on my M.S.S.C.A.R. (Missouri State Society
Children of the American Revolution) presidents program. For my state project chose to
support Missouri Honor Flight Organizations. Honor Flight Network is a non-profit
organization created solely to honor Americas veterans for all their sacrifices. We
transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top
priority is given to the senior veterans World War II survivors, along with those other
veterans who may be terminally ill. (www.honorflight.org) This is the National Honor
Flights mission statement. As State President for the 2015-2016 term I chose to support
Missouri Honor Flights. The hubs we supported were, Central Missouri Honor Flight in
Columbia, Greater St. Louis Honor Flight in Chesterfield, Heartland Honor Flight in
Kansas City, and Honor Flight of the Ozarks in Springfield. We raised money in many

ways. We would go to our parent organizations, Daughters of the American Revolution

and Sons of the American Revolution. We would go to their meetings and present my
project, collect donations, and sell t-shirts, pins, or raffle tickets for a painting. The
ppainting was donated to us by a veteran who went on the Honor Flight. His guardian
from the flight painted the plane that the veteran was shot down in, the Jersey Mosquito.
At our state conference in Columbia, Missouri, in March, I presented what we had done
for the groups. We had raised just a little over $4000. We evenly split this up into $1000
per organization. We had a presentation of a check to a veteran and member of the
Central Missouri Honor Flight. I also went to the C.A.R. National Conference where I
presented about the success my project had. Our state actually won the Gold merit
award, which is based off overall success of the state.

This has been a wonderful journey for me. Using what I learned in my
high-school career, I put together a successful capstone. I learned a lot about
managing my work and finishing the job at hand. I believe that I did a few things
well in my inquiry. I persevered well and found new roads to follow. I had some
trouble at the end of last semester but I found a new and better way to do the
inquiry. I learned how time management is important. I wish I had found a more
reasonable topic first semester. It was a great topic but it was just not possible for
me to deliver anything. I have eight suggestions for a great Inquiry. The first is to
be passionate about your project. An inquiry can be a long process, so if you are
not passionate you have a much greater chance of giving up before you achieve
your goal. The second is to find a feasible project. You can have all the passion
but it wont be good for anything if your project is impossible for you to finish. The

third is time management. No slacking or procrastination, and setting time aside

for the project are key. The fourth is finding a good mentor. The fifth is to build
yourself a portfolio. The sixth is to reach out to others doing the same thing as
you. The seventh is to attack the project head on. The eighth is to realize when
you have failed and use that failure to learn. Only from falling can we learn to get
back up. Ive learned many things on the wonderful journey I had in my inquiry.

References

1.
Brusaw,Scott Solarroadways.com,. (2015).
Solar Roadways - Introduction. Retrieved 7 December 2015, from
http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
2.
George, Patrick
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How Solar Panel Highways Work
(HowStuffWorks)
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-panel-highway1.htm
3.
George, Patrick, Disadvantages of Solar Panel Highways
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-panel-highway2.htm
4.

Honor Flight Network. (n.d.). Retrieved May 04, 2016, from

https://www.honorflight.org/
5.
Lendino, Jamie, Tesla targets March 2016 for $35K Tesla Model 3 unveiling
ExtremeTech (ExtremeTech)

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/205252-tesla-targets-march-2016-for-35k-tesla-model-3unveiling
6.
Roads D (2013 Report Card for Americas Infrastructure)
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/roads/
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Shoemaker, N. (2015). Solar Roadways: Efficient, Cost-Effective, Scalable | Big Think. Big
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utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook
8.
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http://pureenergies.com/us/how-solar-works/solar-panel-efficiency/

9.
Teo Kermeliotis, f.c (2015). Solar-powered roads: Coming to a highway near you?.CNN.
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SUBSTANTIVE Texts
1.
Abkemeier, K., Appels, D., & Barnes, J. (2011). Hybrid and Electric Vehicles The Electric Drive
Plugs In
http://www.ieahev.org/assets/1/7/IA-HEV_2010_annual_report_6MB.pdf

2.
Barr, Jonathan (n.d.).
The Glass Tempering Handbook,
Retrieved from
http://www.lambertgtservices.co.uk/book/TheGlassTemperingHandbook.pdf

3.

Jger, Klaus, Solar Energy,

Courses.edx.org,. (2015).
19 November 2015, from
https://courses.edx.org/c4x/DelftX/ET.3034TU/asset/solar_energy_v1.1.pdf

4.
Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications Volume 23, Issue 1,
Article first published online: 20 DEC 2014
(Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 45))
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pip.2573/pdf