Bailey Ashley, Edwards Maliya Capstone

Maliya Edwards and I have two similar obstacles in common, but yet we share such different stories. Unlike some of our other peers, Maliya and I are both young mothers in high school. Therefore, we both had a lot to manage and we had to grow up very fast. In this Senior Capstone project you will see memories and actual lifestyle moments from both of our children and our everyday lives. The purpose was to share our story, send a message, educate young people who were thinking about or already young mothers.

In this film, you will see the fun, the games, the tears, the laughter, the experience, and many other things along the way of our lives. We made sure to touch on the hardships, responsibilities, and the reality of our living. There was no script or any written documentation behind this film. We hoped that this video would encourage women who are afraid or feel alone to know that they have support, we hoped this video would teach and educate, and we hope that people understand how how we have worked to get to where we are today. We both have a passion and love for our children, but if this film could change other teenagers lives than we are all for it.


What I did for my capstone I worked with another student name Ashley Bailey. Our mentor for this project is Melissa Lawson. What we did for our capstone was we based this project around our kids and how hard it is to be a teen parent. We did this project because we wanted to get our stories out there to young girls and send a message that it's far from easy to raise a child, go to school and work at the same time every single day. The goal was to do a project that we could enjoy and relate too and to also touch a few young girls to make the correct decision during their teenage years.

It would definitely help if it touches a few girls out there, thats our goal. We do know that it's not going to touch every person out there but this project was definitely worth it. This project was very enjoyable just because Ashley and I love our kids so much it was so nice to put this project together with her. I feel like it came out better than I thought it would in my opinion it was very nice. It meant a lot to me personally to do this project because a lot of people never looked at the hardships of what I have to go through on a daily basis just to try to be the best mother that I can be and also succeed in life it’s really hard. Everyone just look at the cuteness of it all but tend to overlook what we both go through as teen mothers. It's a blessing to be a mother I do know that because it's a lot of women out here who cannot have their own children so I am forever grateful for that. But i just think being a parent for anyone is hard especially a first time parent at that. But as a teen I just think it's even more harder because at that age you are not fully on your own or fully stable. This was by far the most enjoyable project I've had to do all year and I hope that people appreciate our hard work and our story.



213"Teen Parenting." Philadelphia. N.p., 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2017. <http://cap4kids.org/philadelphia/parent-handouts/pregnancy-resources-and-infants/teen-parenting-pregnancy-resources-and-infants/>.


ELECT (Education Leading to Employment Career Training) is a teen parenting classroom that helps pregnant or already parenting teens finish their point in life. It is generated for high school kids to graduate and plan for college. There are steps that are granted for employment after high school as well. The ELECT staff offers academic and social service support, case management, home visits, group activities and more. This article can be used for the talk of resources and other ways to make young women provided with as much help as possible.



Lawson, Michelle. "Grants for Young Moms." LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2017

<http://www.livestrong.com/article/251732-grants-for-young-moms/>.


Carol Ochs writes a strong supportive message in her, “Resources for Teen Mothers” article. She expresses the hardships of what it is like when becoming a teen mom. The challenge is facing the fact that you have to be a caregiver and a provider for another human being. The challenge is tough and it can be difficult for young women to face. She introduces where young women can seek out for help who can provide moral support as well as babysitting resources, etc. I would like to use this article to spread the positive message that the author of this article gave off and keep the motivation in mind when working with others.



"Home." – PathWays PA - Helping women, teens, children and families achieve economic independence and family well-being since 1978. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.pathwayspa.org/index.php/programs/residential-programs/>.


PathWays PA is an organization that offers a variety of programs and services to help families, teens, and children stabilize their lives. The website’s homepage has every program and service listed. The programs are located throughout PA including Philadelphia as one of their primary locations. This organization will just help me state in my documentary of the possible resources that people can use in Philadelphia or throughout Pennsylvania for that matter.




"Juvenile Law Center." Resources for Pregnant and Parenting Teens in Pennsylvania | Juvenile Law Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.

<http://jlc.org/resources/fact-sheets/resources-pregnant-and-parenting-teens-pennsylvania>.


The Juvenile Law Center has a very resourceful homepage website that offers resources, fact sheets, and answers to most questions about your rights according to law. This source lets you know that you qualify for certain benefits and offers automatically from the government for being a teen mom. All in all, the website can be beneficial to anyone who takes advantage of this opportunity of advancing the rights of well-being children that are in jeopardy. The JLC will allow me to state facts and rights that pregnant mothers or teen moms are granted or eligible for.




Company, Inc. Great Valley Publishing. "Keeping Teen Moms in School - A School Social Work Challenge." Keeping Teen Moms in School - A School Social Work Challenge. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/031912p24.shtml>.


A Social Work Today describes the benefits and beneficial statistics that comes from within having a social worker in school. The dedicated school members for teen mothers give opportunities for students to engage with motivating and positive role models and mentoring opportunities. A social worker’s help could be the difference of a young lady dropping out of school or not in some cases. I would use this article to talk about the goal and finding a role model that is in their best interest for personal reasons, emotional support, parental support, academic integrity, and post secondary preparation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFJfqlU7jF0

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