As the school year came to a close, the seniors who chose to participate in the Capstone program presented their projects and learnings at a showcase. The Capstone program is an opportunity given to seniors where student can spend dedicated time at the end of their senior year with off-campus exploration. This can include a career field, volunteering or another project of interest, all while working with a mentor. This experience is designed to give students the chance to extend their learning beyond the school campus so they may dive into a project tailored to their curiosity and passion.

Throughout Capstone, students recorded their experiences in a blog dedicated to their projects. Either detailing their progress or reflecting on the highlights of the day, the seniors wrote an introduction to their progress, daily updates, and a final reflection through their blogs. 

“This Capstone experience was the first time I ever had the chance to truly grasp the day-to-day life of an architect, and how a firm operates,” shared one student, who elected to shadow an architect for the project. “Whereas I had only seen the design phases of architecture before, I grew to appreciate the creation of detailing and construction documents. The entire process of creating a residence was more collaborative, creative, and challenging than I ever imagined. Most importantly, I learned that architecture is a profession I would enjoy.”

These experiences of learning and affirming where one's interests lie is one of the main goals for Capstone. Another senior, who had an interest in fashion, was able to strengthen career path ideas with the program. This student chose to shadow three different people in the fashion industry, on three different days, all of whom play very different roles.

“After spending a week shadowing three amazing people with very different fashion design occupations, I have learned so much,” the student reflected. “For one, I have confirmed to myself that fashion design is the field that I want to go into and is an area that I will be able to have a job that I enjoy. Each day of this experience showed me the vast range of opportunities fashion design has to offer and how ready-to-wear, bridal and theatre  industries differ from one another.”

A third student worked on reprogramming a taekwondo studio’s website for the entirety of the capstone week. Working alongside a mentor, the student was able to explore the world of being a freelance website designer, while also connecting it back to taekwondo, another interest.

“While this method was somewhat unconventional for a job shadowing in that I largely did my own project under the guidance of a mentor rather than simply following a mentor with their projects, I think I appreciate that this gave me a more hands-on and practical way of learning about what the job is like,” shared the student. “I also appreciate that I got to contribute to the remake of my taekwondo club's website, which was of large personal significance to me. While the job has some pros and cons, I could see myself becoming a freelance web designer in the future and am incredibly grateful for this experience.”

Through a variety of different careers and projects, the twelve students who participated in the program this year were able to learn a lot about both themselves and their areas of interest. Congratulations to all for your hard work!