With college applications finished, post-grad plans made, and graduation gowns ordered, the word “capstone” has started to circulate among the seniors. Here is what to know about the end-of-year opportunity.
Capstone is a career development project that seniors can volunteer for to gain meaningful experience for their futures after high school. From May 21 to June 6, students will be excused from class to spend time at a non-profit organization, company, school, or other business of their choice. Past projects include Great Falls National Park Service, Fairfax Nursing Center, and Belmont Ridge Middle School.
“We wanted to give students the opportunity to explore careers and give back to the community,” Capstone sponsor Mrs. Mary Masi said. “A lot of people do them in schools, like helping an art teacher, music teacher, and also in the middle schools. Then [there are] a lot of health care fields…Some students have worked in wealth management and other students [have] worked with engineers…There’s such a variety.”
The project culminates in the Capstone Project Fair, where students prepare presentations to share in a gallery walk with teachers, parents, and peers.
“Over the years there’s been such a variety of projects that students have done, and it’s so rewarding and fulfilling to see them present their projects,” Mrs. Masi said.
Capstone, while being an opportunity that gives students liberty in exploring their field of interest, comes with many requirements. For one, students must dedicate at least 50 hours (25 hours for Academies of Loudoun students) to their Capstone projects and find community advisors or sponsors. Community advisors can be a teacher, leader, or other professional at the place one is interested in completing one’s Capstone project.
“I recommend that students pick something they’re passionate about [or] a career that they want to explore,” Mrs. Masi said. “There’s so many neat opportunities and this a great way to even look and see if you might want to be in a certain major or a job in our field. Reach out to industries that interest you.”
The community advisor will sign off on work hours, as well as your quality of participation during that time.The project must be outside of the school, pre-approved by the Capstone advisor, and have both a community advisor and a Stone Bridge faculty advisor before it can begin.
“It’s…the most beneficial if you can really connect with the community sponsor on your project,” Mrs. Masi said. “It seems like the most successful capstones are the ones where the student is really invested in it…and gives it their all. It’s kind of one of those things where you get out of it what you put in.”
All other information regarding capstone can be found in the Class of 2024 Schoology Group, under the Resources tab. There, the application for project approval, guidelines for contacting a faculty advisor, important deadlines, presentation requirements, and more can be found. To join the Schoology Group, click on “My Groups”, then “Join Group”, and type in the code Z6B8-TFGW-D6Q46.
