Rosa Nanini 1

Isabella Rosa Nanini

Mr. Speice

Independent Study and Mentorship- 3A

26 March 2017

Product Progress Assessment

Overview:

My final product has been quite unexpected. With a quick change of plans and with a

new mentorship I went from planning to create a publication to leading a fundraiser for the

Hearts of Fire team at the Dallas Childrens Hospital Red Balloon Run and Ride. When deciding

what to do for my final product I had planned to do something scientific. I thought that

something scientific would allow me to dig deeper into the field of pediatric cardiothoracic

surgery and better prepare me for a future in medicine; however, with such a busy school year

and when gaining a mentorship so late in my ISM journey, I chose to run a fundraiser instead.

My Original Idea:

When assessing my progress in ISM I cannot forget about the work I had put in for my

original final product idea. Although I had not found a mentor, I did spend time researching the

process of writing a publication, and I interviewed several professionals. Before beginning to

write a publication I wanted to better understand the process of writing a publication; however,

the more I researched the more I found that writing a publication in the time frame I had was

unreasonable. Here are the interview assessments I had that assisted in my writing of a

publication and the articles I had read as research in writing a publication:

Isabella Rosa Nanini

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Mr. Speice

Independent Study and Mentorship- 3A

23 February 2017

Interview Assessment 5

Name of Professional: Dr. Robert Jaquiss

Profession: Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Dallas Childrens Hospitals

Date of Interview: February 22, 2017 at 4pm

Assessment:

My first interview with a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. I had been waiting for this for

my entire Independent Study and Mentorship journey, and I finally had the once in a lifetime

opportunity to speaking with an experience pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Robert Jaquiss.

I began this interview by explaining what ISM was and why I chose to become a part of this

program. I followed by asking why Dr. Jaquiss decided to pursue the career of pediatric

cardiothoracic surgery. He said he became inspired to become a surgeon when one of his high

school teachers had asked him to read The Making of a Surgeon. After that Dr. Jaquiss became

fixed on becoming a neurosurgeon, but after his 3rd year of medical schools clinical rotations he

had become specifically interested in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Jaquiss said pediatric

cardiothoracic surgery is variable, and that children are stronger and heal a lot quicker. I

followed by asking about his journey to become a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Jaquiss

took the more traditional way into this field beginning with undergrad, grad school, medical

school, a general surgical residency, a cardiothoracic residency, and a pediatric cardiothoracic

residency. He also spent some time in research. I also learned that an alternative journey towards
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the education to become a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, the I-6 program, where general

residency and cardiothoracic surgical residency are combined into 6 years.

Part of my interest in this career the ability for me as a health professional to impact less

privileged countries, and I asked Dr Jaquiss if this is something he has had the opportunity to

experience. Dr. Jaquiss said that providing congenital heart surgery to less privileged can

become complicated due to its great cost. With this money an organization could instead provide

infrastructure, structures of need, and save millions. This is something that I had not opened my

mind to think of, but that has allowed me to better understand the idea of my impact as a

pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. After this I followed to begin to speak of my final product idea,

a publication on tissue engineering with the use of decellularized matrices. Dr. Jaquiss said we

are on the lookout for the holy grail material. Structural congenital heart disease varies, but the

goal for most reconstructive materials inside the heart it to be thin, strong, flexible, grow, and

become biocompatible. People first chose to use tissue from a patients own pericardium, but

found that this material does not allow for growth. Decellularized matrices are frameworks for

recellularization, and a new use of these is intestinal submucosa. This again is unsuccessful. Dr.

Jaquiss said that although there are many unsuccessful ideas, it is still important to write. This

truly made me think about my proposed publication idea, should I search for a more innovative

area of tissue engineering in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery? Is there a point in researching a

topic that has become unsuccessful? These are all questions that had not came to mind before

this interview, but that will lead to a more successful publication.

Overall, I am beyond thankful for this interview. It really was a once in a lifetime

opportunity I will never get. An interview like this is truly what Independent Study and
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Mentorship is all about, and why I chose to become a part of Reedy High Schools first ISM

class. Dr. Jaquiss has opened my mind and eyes to the field of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery,

and has given me the great opportunity to have a mentorship with his colleague Dr. Timothy

Pirolli.

Notes:
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A Change of Plans:

The moment I decided to change my final product was on my first mentor visit, where

my mentor and I discussed how the writing of a publication would have been unsuccessful.

Instead of becoming upset about my inability to create a publication, I chose to adapt to this

situation, and work on making sure that my new proposed final product idea came out

successful. With the assistance of my mentor, we chose to become involved with the Red

Balloon Run and Ride with the assistance of Mellissa Myers, a nurse practitioner. Mellissa

Myers contacted me with Karen and Becki, Outreach Managers for the Heart Center at Dallas

Childrens Hospital. With the help of Karen and Becki I was able to become involved with the

Red Balloon Run and Ride and have a clear plan on to what my final product will look like. With

my past experience with fundraiser and this new opportunity to become involved with the Heart

Center. I was now able to create a new product proposal with a new calendar that I hope. to

follow to complete a successful fundraiser. I am hopeful that this will be a successful final

product that will allow me to enter the world of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery.

Assessment:

Isabella Rosa Nanini

Mr. Speice

Independent Study and Mentorship - 3A

24 March 2017

Interview Assessment 7

Name of professionals: Becki Girouard and Karen Norton

Profession: Outreach Manager for the Heart Center at Dallas Childrens Hospital
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Date of Interview: March 21, 2017 at 1pm

Assessment:

The goal of my meeting with Mrs. Girouard and Mrs. Norton was to share my

experiences of fundraising, plans for fundraising for the Hearts of Fire team, and for better

understanding the plans for the Hearts of Fire booth at the Red Balloon Run and Ride 5K. We

began our meeting by first going over my past fundraiser experience. Although I have had many

small fundraiser experiences, I spent most of the time speaking of the HOSA led Make-A-Wish

Wish Reveal last year to inspire them to assist me in creating a unique and eventful fundraiser

like the Wish Reveal and I shared with her my plans for a Wish Week this school year. By

building credibility through my past successful fundraisers I was able to create a better bond and

trust with Mrs. Girouard and Mrs. Norton, and begin sharing my ideas for the Hearts of Fire.

I shared with Mrs. Girouard and Mrs. Norton my plans for the Hearts of Fire fundraiser,

which is to create a competition within two middle schools or elementary schools on who could

fundraise the most money for the Hearts of Fire team. I would create two pages within my own

fundraising page under the Hearts of Fire page on the Red Balloon Run and Ride fundraiser.

Students will fundraise under those pages and throughout the week at their school where I hope

to communicate with the administration staff at the school and create a fun fundraising week. A

couple ideas are raffles, DJ during lunch, a game, and many more. Becki and Karen loved these

ideas and asked that once I am able to communicate with the two middle schools that I contact

them for updates.

A second part of this meeting was my involvement at the Red Balloon Run and Ride

Hearts of Fire booth. I learned that most of this booth is designed by Studio Movie Grill and I
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was invited to join their next meeting to assist in the booth design, volunteer services, and share

my own unique ideas from experience with theatrical design and fundraising. I was very grateful

to have the opportunity to join this meeting and become part of the team and assist in the success

of the Hearts of Fire team and create more variety to my ISM final product. I was also invited to

join in a picnic held for past Heart Center patients. These opportunities really excited me to

begin working on this fundraiser and become a part of very rewarding programs from the Heart

Center.

This interview although quick was very productive and gave me a clear idea of the future

of my final product, and allowed me to become involved in events that without the fundraiser I

would have never had a chance to. I cannot wait to begin fundraising and follow through this

challenge and next step in my ISM journey.

Product Log:
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Updated Product Proposal and Calendar:

Isabella Rosa Nanini

Mr. Speice

Independent Study and Mentorship- 3A

19 March 2017

Final Product Proposal and Calendar

Introduction and Statement of Purpose

With nearly 13,000 outpatient clinic encounters and over 900 inpatient admissions in

2014 alone, the Heart Center of Dallas Childrens Hospital has become a leader in all aspects of

pediatric cardiac care. With a highly nationally ranked program comes a costly heart center

always in need of money and it is my goal with this proposed product to raise money for the

Dallas Childrens Hospital Heart Center. The Red Balloon Run and Ride is a friendly run, walk,

and cycling event held Saturday, April 22, 2017. The Red Balloon Run and Ride raises money

towards Dallas Childrens Hospital and creates a fun and friendly environment for patients, staff,

and those involved with Dallas Childrens Hospital. The Heart Centers team is called Hearts of

Fire and I was invited to join in their team to fundraise money during the Red Balloon Run and

Ride and with this responsibility would come assisting in developing the booth, running part of

the booth, and finally finding volunteers to assist on run day. I hope that this fundraiser will

assist children undergoing heart care at Dallas Childrens Hospital and that I will build a better

bond with the Heart Center team.

Review of Skills and Research

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I have had the opportunity to run fundraisers in the past, so my experience will come to

my advantage when running this fundraiser in the short amount of time that is two months. There

is still a lot to learn on how a Dallas Childrens Hospital fundraising works, and on building the

best fundraising plan for this specific situation.

Methodology

To fundraise money for the Hearts of Fire team I will create a competition with either two

middle schools or elementary schools. This will require communicating with different middle

school administration; which will put to the test my professionalism skills learned in ISM. I will

be creating a fundraising page within the Hearts of Fire team, in there people will have the

opportunity to fundraise money. Students will also be able to fundraise cash which will be added

to the fundraising page. Each school will donate on a page within my fundraising page; this way

I will accurately know which school is winning. The winning school will win a prize that has yet

to be decided, possibly a raffle, DJ during lunch, an ice cream party, or etc. I will be in charge

volunteer services for the Hearts of Fire booth, which will include successful organization and a

search for volunteers from Reedy High School. I will also be looking for special talents to

become involved with our booth, like a face painter. This all requires that I am constantly

communicating with the Hearts of Fire team.

Materials
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Materials needed for my fundraiser will be dependent on the prize for the winning middle

school; however, I am readily available with materials for fundraising events. Anything needed

for the booth will be provided by the Hearts of Fire team and Studio Movie Grill.

Calendar

Week of March 20th

Contact Karen and Becki

Speak to middle schools

Week of March 27th

Find a face painter

Begin making a fundraising page

Find two middle schools/elementary schools to work with

Update Karen and Becki

Week of April 3rd

Create sign up for volunteers and begin recruiting volunteers

Begin planning with two middle schools, choosing a prize, contacting parents, and

promoting

Share fundraising page with Reedy High School and social media

Update Karen and Becki

Week of April 10th

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Continue to work with middle schools and Karen and Becki to prepare for the Red

Balloon run and ride and receive funds

Begin fundraiser at the middle schools

Continue to organize volunteer services for the booth

Continue to share fundraising page

Update Karen and Becki

Week of April 17th (week of Red Balloon Run and Ride)

Continue and finish fundraising

Finalize volunteer services

Communicate with Karen and Becki

Assist in preparing booth

Red Balloon Run and Ride day!