Baby Fever
Da Vinci Design Juniors are currently being put to the ultimate test: being teen moms and dads… (at least for three weeks).
Biology students are learning how to bond with their 5 pound sugar baby and learning how to share the responsibility with their “partner” as part of the 11th grade Sugar Baby project. Digging deeper into the project, students are realizing that genetics play a huge role in their baby’s phenotypes (physical features) and that there are dominant and recessive genotypes (genes) that determine those features as well as possible hereditary diseases.
Students are caring for their “baby” 24/7. Safety is a number one concern. To ensure the safety of the sugar babies, fellow Design students and teachers are serving as eyes and ears and reporting any “neglect” to the children. In some accidental instances, sugar babies have been left at skate parks or on bike baskets, but other responsible “parents” nearby took the leadership of reporting it and making sure the babies were kept safe and sound.
“The project is supposed to teach students to be accountable and to be responsible for their baby and pay attention to them. At first the students were all excited, but as time has passed, the students are starting to realize that it is hard work to take care of a child.”
– Ms. Adabale
11th Grade Bio Teacher
Baby Giovannii
“The project has shown me that you can’t just leave the baby anywhere. It’s showing me that you have to be responsible to be a parent.”
– Joanna A.
Partner: Jazmine S.
Baby Antonio
“It’s a life learning experience. It shows me that I’m too young to have kids. I need to get my career and education first.”
– Genesis G.
“It’s been time consuming. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy. You can’t just leave it out of sight. It gives me another reason to wait.”
– Henry G.
Baby Melvin
“It’s showing me that I need to be aware because someone might harm him. I need to keep an eye on it at all times to keep him safe. Even so, I know it’s nearly not as hard as the actual thing.”
– Ivan N.
Partner: Allan G.
Reported By: Kassandra Castellanos, Class of 2013