capstone projects for 8th graders

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EIGHTH GRADE CAPSTONE PROJECT

The 8th Grade Capstone project is the culmination of a student's academic work at Congressional School. The project is intentional in its overall objective, providing a purpose-based learning opportunity for our 8th grade students. It is a time for our students to find an area of interest, explore deeply, take action, and communicate with the broader Congressional School Community.

Project Objectives

Students will delve into an interest or passion, apply their knowledge for an authentic purpose, and showcase/share/present their experience with an audience.

Students will identify a topic of personal interest and importance, craft a central question and thesis, conduct research, and compose an essay in English class. Following winter break, students will work with a mentor to extend their learning experience. This application of their knowledge may take many forms and will be determined with and supported by the student’s mentor.

Possible applications may include: 

• Community Project
• Film or documentary
• Art installation
• Musical composition
• Dramatic performance
• Invention or innovation that meets a need

Skills for Capstone Success

A long-term, self-driven project requires proactive application of life skills. Effective execution of this project requires that the student is accountable to him or herself in its management. The following skills and actions will ensure success:

• Responsibility
• Communication
• Time Management
• Organization

The Process

• Generate list of topics of personal interest based on topics you’ve previously learned about at home or in school, a book, t.v. show, or movie, or which you or someone close to you has experienced.
• Determine what, specifically, you want to know about each topic.
• Choose several topics and create a basic outline.
• Finalize your topic: Determine what you want to know and where you will attain information.
• Goal-Setting: Determine what steps you need to take to write your essay.
• Research and Refine: As you research for your essay, the topic may need to be refined for clarity and size.
• Complete your essay.
• With your mentor, develop plan, milestones, and goals for project after completing the essay.
• Meet with mentor regularly to report on progress, seek guidance and resources, and refine project as necessary.
• Present your project.

PAUL: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MUSIC & COLOR

Paul ‘22 decided to pursue a Capstone topic he has been passionate about for quite some time now: music. Paul completed his music album Stripes&Sinewaves as part of his capstone project, in which he explored the relationship between color and texture to music. He also studied the phenomenon of synesthesia in music. The word “synesthesia” has Greek roots and is translated to “to perceive together.” Paul described the phenomenon as having a second sensory perception, such as seeing color when you hear sound. This is something Paul says he experiences when he listens to and plays music, and this is what Paul wanted to explore more deeply during his musical process.

“ In order to make this album successful, I had to put in full effort ,” Paul said. After completing his album, Paul had classmates listen to samples of his songs and draw what they saw as an example of how synesthesia works. Stripes&Sinewaves was released on April 29th to all major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube, and is available for listening now. Paul is very proud of his album and was so happy to be able to incorporate his love of music into his capstone project. “ It means a lot ,” Paul said. “I’ve finally found something that makes me happy .”

Capstone Presentation

Click the video above to watch Paul's Capstone Presentation on Relationships Between Music and Color .

Click the video above to watch Maddie's Capstone Presentation on Camera Imaging Technology and How They Promote Conservation.

MADDIE: CAMERA IMAGING TECHNOLOGY AND HOW THEY PROMOTE CONSERVATION

Maddie '23 decided to pursue a topic on Camera Imaging Technology and How They Promote Conservation. She researched various imaging technologies such as camera traps, ROVs, and Crittercams, and experimented with two of the technologies on campus.

"I've always been interested in photography and I was inspired after I read National Geographic's Explorer Academy books."

SAMPLE CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS

As a part of their project, students presented their research to members of the Congressional community. Enjoy a few sample presentations below:

Black Lives Matter

Presenter: Lauren '18

Why Did you Choose this Topic?

"I chose this topic because the lives of black people have been oppressed and neglected for too long, and I have decided to put it on myself to be our voice. Saying, "Black lives matter, too," does not mean that only black lives matter or that black lives matter more than others. It is saying that our lives matter as much as anyone else's and that we should be treated with equal regard."

Lack of Diversity in the Media

Lack of Diversity in the Media

Presenter: Olivia '18

"If I were to flip through a magazine, I would most likely not see a woman who I could relate to...

Imagine you’re sitting in a waiting room, flipping through Vogue magazine. As you flip through pages and pages, you question: where's the diversity? White. Skinny. Blonde. Size 0. That's all you see. All adjectives to describe “beautiful.” You may look like this, but me? I am not white. I do not have straight, blonde hair or perfect white teeth. But I do have a body. A common feature of a woman that's not as appreciated now, or was ever appreciated before. So let us think about the future. Let us think about the curly-haired. Let us think about the dark-skinned and the plump-bodied; the diversity. ”

The Plastic Problem

What is True Happiness?

Presenter: Ellie '18

"I've been inspired by the people in Chuburna, Mexico. Chuburna is a small fishing village in the state of Yucatan. Ever since I was young, my family and I have been traveling to Chuburna, and we've met some wonderful people. After knowing these people, I've come to learn that most live simply, or at least more simple lives than we do in the United States. Yet what impresses me most about the people of Yucatan was their happiness. My family and I have seen their happiness through their community, families, and traditions... I want to better understand sources of happiness."

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Middle School Maker Journey: Preparing for the Capstones

In part nine of his year-long series, Kevin Jarrett details four culminating, integrative, real-world design projects that will conclude the first year of his middle-school makerspace.

In architecture, a keystone (also known as a capstone) is the central stone in a rounded arch required for it to stand. In education, according to Wikipedia , a capstone course (or experience) "serves as the culminating and usually integrative experience of an educational program." In this post, I'll share our Digital Shop capstone experiences, what they'll entail for each grade level, why they matter, how they support our educational mission, and how to refine this approach for next year.

Why Capstones? Why All Grade Levels?

"What if you could bring back shop class, but orient the projects around things the community needed?" Emily Pilloton 's words hit me light a freight train when I heard them over a year ago, and they have informed our work ever since. To be sure, making and creating is great. Making and creating things that matter is even greater. This determined the ethos of our program well before our students first walked into Digital Shop. We wanted our kids -- in every grade -- to have an authentic maker experience, to be connected to our community, to make a difference in the world. Since restricting capstone experiences to the upper grades seemed unfair, we planned them for every grade.

I say "planned," but we had no idea how to plan a capstone project. We knew that we wanted each one to:

• Be a genuine design thinking experience
• Allow kids to showcase the skills and dispositions they worked to acquire all year
• Be based in and help people from the community and the world

And here's how the capstones came together in an unlikely combination of luck, professional networking, serendipity, and the power of our school community.

5th-Grade Capstone: Jake (and the Power of Social Media, Part 1)

Facebook is a powerful tool for building social connections. I've used it effectively for years as an educator. While I don't send unsolicited friend requests to parents in my school community, I always accept the ones that I get. Over the years, I've built a fairly substantial public Facebook presence and share frequently about my work and education-related topics. Accordingly, my feed was full of updates last summer as we built our makerspace and created our middle school's new Technology, Engineering, and Design program. I got many encouraging comments about the constant stream of updates.

One day, I received a message from Dori, a parent of two boys, one still in elementary, the other in fifth grade. She'd read my posts about our program's focus on human-centered design and our desire to give kids the chance of solving real-world problems. Her youngest son, Jake, has worn a hearing aid since he was very young. He loves sports, like most kids, but discovered that he couldn't wear his hearing aid while playing many of them because helmets generated loud and painful feedback. As a result, he had to leave his hearing aid out while playing, making it next to impossible to hear his coaches or his teammates. Understandably, this affected his playing experience quite significantly. His mom thought we might be able to help design a solution. She agreed to have Jake be the focus of the fifth-grade design study (his older brother Andrew is in fifth grade), and so a capstone was born!

6th-Grade Capstone: Miss Cindy (and the Power of Observation)

Miss Cindy, a teacher in our district, has for many years walked using crutches and with the aid of an assist dog. Though she works on the ground floor of our facility, she has quite a distance to cover from the parking lot to her desk and often needs to carry a lot of daily supplies. Though Miss Cindy never complains and is always smiling as she makes her way in, her struggle is evident -- so evident, in fact, that one of our sixth-grade teachers wondered if our students might come up with a few ideas to make it easier for her to get around school with her supplies. We approached Miss Cindy and offered the assistance of our student designers. She enthusiastically accepted, and the sixth-grade capstone was born!

7th-Grade Capstone: Making Hospitals Less Scary for Kids (and the Power of Social Media, Part 2)

Twitter is clearly a powerful tool to connect like-minded educational professionals. I've used it since 2007. Unlike my Facebook following, which is predominantly local and people that I know personally, my Twitter network is largely comprised of people who live far away, the majority of whom I've never met. As we built our program this past summer, my Twitter feed was full of photos, articles, and stories relating to the project (and our focus on design thinking). Something that I posted caught the attention of Dr. Pam Moran , Superintendent at Albemarle County (Virginia) Public Schools. She messaged me, suggesting we needed to connect with Bon Ku, MD, MPP , at Thomas Jefferson University in nearby Philadelphia. Bon teaches design to medical school students at Jefferson, and Pam thought we should talk. It took several months, but we eventually connected.

Bon and several of his colleagues visited our school in January 2016 , touring our makerspace and speaking with our students. They immediately expressed a desire to collaborate, but we weren't sure how. At a brainstorming meeting weeks later, we came upon the idea to have our middle school students advise Jefferson's medical students about how to make hospitals less scary for children, possibly incorporating a maker emphasis. Bon's team, led by Dr. Robert Pugliese, has created an incredible opportunity for our students. They'll bring a team of medical professionals to our school with specialized medical equipment, supplies, and two videos custom-produced for us -- all designed to help our students empathize with pediatric patients and generate ideas for making the hospital experience less scary for kids. Boom! It's the seventh-grade capstone!

8th-Grade Capstone: 3D-Printed Prosthetic Hands for Kids

3D printers went mainstream a while ago. While still undeniably cool, they're losing cachet in some K-12 circles due to the simplicity with which some schools implement them. The appeal of these devices is understandable -- they're fascinating to watch and can generate things born in the imagination. But a 3D printer doesn't make you a great designer any more than a laser printer makes you a great writer. School projects are often too simplistic, leading to complaints that the devices just produce expensive novelties. Well, not at our school!

I'd heard about 3D-printed prosthetic hands and was intrigued. I knew that many young children needed and were getting them. Thinking about a connection to our students, I did some research and learned about the Enable Community Foundation (ECF), a non-profit that matches individuals in need with a person or group of people who can produce the hands. We reached out to the ECF and are now being connected with recipients, for whom eighth-grade teams will size, customize, produce, assemble, pack, and ship over 25 prostheses to kids around the country and the world.

Each team of students will work with an assigned recipient, getting to know them via email and other means of correspondence, to find out all about them personally -- such as what they enjoy doing, their favorite music and movies -- and what life is like without a limb. We'll also note their wishes for color, style, and special features or enhancements that we might be able to integrate into the design. The hands will be sized precisely for the recipient, 3D printed, then assembled, tested, and packed with care before being shipped out. In the end, our kids will apply the design process in a powerfully meaningful way that will make an enormous difference in the life of another person. Even though the hard engineering part is already done, this is still human-centered design at its very best.

The Tragic Flaw With Our Capstones

Let me first say that our capstones this year are pretty darn fantastic. They align powerfully with our Manifesto -- mindful, purposeful, and authentic. They will allow the kids to show what they've learned this year about design thinking and technology. They'll challenge students to question, create, and communicate in ways and at a depth that they haven't before. Two of the four capstones directly impact our local community. And finally, the capstones will make a difference in people's lives. In short, they matter -- a lot! I'm really looking forward to reminding the kids how, at the beginning of the year, I told them they could change the world -- and they are about to.

There's just one problem that I didn’t realize until it was too late. The students didn't create the capstone projects. We provided them. How do we expect students to have genuine empathy for the people in these situations? I think they will, and I'll certainly do my best to make it happen, because they'll have plenty of agency when it comes to designing creative solutions to these problems. But there's a substantial risk that, for some kids, this will end up being just another assignment, a class project, perhaps a bit more interesting than most, but still something they were told to do in school.

Next year, I'm sure, things will be different. Will we be able to somehow, in some way, successfully channel and scale Emily Pilloton's vision so that 400 students in four grade levels are making things that the community needs? I'm mind-blown just trying to conceptualize it. But hey, I'm a sucker for a challenge!

By the time this post goes live, we'll be several weeks into the empathy-seeking and solution design Experience of our capstone projects. (The second capstone Experience will be prototyping and feedback.) Any questions about the process? Suggestions for us? We're all ears. Thanks for reading!

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Unlocking potential: the 8th grade capstone project.

In the 2022-2023 school year, we started a new 8th grade tradition at The Franciscan School: The Capstone Project.

In the final year of middle school, our 8th-grade students embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and academic exploration through their Capstone Project. This culminating endeavor serves as a bridge between their middle school experience and the exciting challenges that await them in high school.

The purpose of the 8th-grade Capstone Project is twofold: to cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving skills while fostering a deep sense of curiosity and passion. By selecting a topic of personal significance, students dive headfirst into research, analysis, and creativity. They are encouraged to think beyond the confines of textbooks and worksheets, seeking real-world applications for their knowledge.

Through this project, students learn to navigate the complexities of a long-term undertaking, from conducting extensive research and organizing their findings to developing persuasive arguments and honing their presentation skills. In doing so, they not only deepen their understanding of their chosen subject, but also develop crucial skills that will serve them well in high school and beyond.

Moreover, the Capstone Project provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate their unique talents and interests, allowing their individual voices to shine. Whether it's investigating environmental issues, exploring historical events, delving into scientific mysteries, or tackling societal challenges, this project empowers students to become confident, capable, and compassionate learners.

In essence, the 8th-grade Capstone Project is a rite of passage that prepares our students for the future, equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and self-assurance they need to excel in high school and beyond. It encourages them to embrace their passions, think critically, and make a meaningful impact on their community, setting the stage for a lifetime of intellectual growth and achievement.

“Our inaugural batch of students did a remarkable job tapping into their passions and hobbies to produce amazing finished products,” shares Kristen Dellasaga. Some of those products were  creating new soles of shoes for peak athletic performance, creating a portal for students to gain access to mental health services and research, and taking on the artistic styles of the masters of the Renaissance with modern day supplies. Patsy Thieken says, “Overall, we were happy about the enthusiasm that most students showed for their topics and how they embraced the project.”

This year, the 8th grade team aims to make the capstone project an even better experience for our 8th grade students. We will provide them with a teacher mentor for the duration of their project and give them a guide that will move them from generating an idea to the final oral presentation. Dellasaga shares, “We look forward to seeing the students' creativity, critical thinking, and passions ignite in this project.” 

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NURSERY - 8TH GRADE

• Apr 20, 2021

Watch: Grade 8 Capstone Projects

A defining feature of Waldorf Education is the 8th Grade Capstone Project. Eighth graders spend the entire year becoming experts in a subject of their choosing. They partner with an adult mentor in that area to help them understand and master that skill. The culmination of their yearlong pursuit is a capstone project presentation in front of the entire school and their friends and families.

We invite you to watch the presentations:

This year's projects covered a wide range of topics:

Architecture - William Patania

Baking - Hayes Kempt

Composition for piano & violin - Maslen L'Esperance

Herbal remedies & healing - Ida Schenck

Sewing - Sydnie Orgeron

Wilderness survival skills - Amelie Labbe (mentor Zoe Marquis, WSNO Alumna '17)

• What Is Waldorf?
• Inside the Classroom

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The covid 19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease. From its community of origin, the virus spread quickly and widely and soon reached the epidemic stage. By March 11, 2020, the disease had spread throughout our entire country and the world. The difference between pandemic and epidemic is fluid and changes as diseases or viruses become more or less prevalent over time. The whole world recognized that COVID-19 had reached pandemic proportions.  

   Coronavirus is the general name for a group of viruses that appear similar. The protein coating that surrounds the virus, called the virion, looks like a halo or a ‘corona’; which means crown in Spanish. 

   There are seven known kinds of coronavirus, some of them cause a common cold in people but aren’t dangerous to those who are healthy. Other coronaviruses infect animals such as bats, camels, and cattle. Some coronaviruses cause significant infection with viral pneumonia known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; MERS. Most patients who get this virus develop a severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever and shortness of breath. The MERS was caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome referred to as SARS, which is a respiratory illness.    

    A coronavirus similar to the one that causes SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) started as an epidemic in southern China in 2002. That virus quickly spread to 28 other countries. By July 2003 more than 8,000 people were infected, and 774 died. The virus died down by 2004 leaving a lesser amount of deaths anywhere it went. 

    Information from the  CDC  tells Americans that the Coronavirus causing our current pandemic, COVID-19, is one of these seven known Coronaviruses, similar to the one that caused SARS 2002-2004. SARS-Cov-2 is a disease that can cause a great threat to the upper respiratory tract (nose, throat, sinuses) and the lower respiratory tract (trachea and lungs). In the outbreak of 2002- 2004, it never reached the pandemic phase as COVID-19 has. 

    COVID-19 can cause lung complications such as  pneumonia  and, in the most severe cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. Sepsis, other possible complications of COVID-19 can also cause lasting harm to the lungs and other organs, ( Panagis Galiatsatos, M.D., M.H.S.  expert of pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from a John Hopkins Medical Center’s article,  “What Coronavirus Does to the Lungs” ).  

     The COVID-19 virus was first detected on Dec 31, 2019, in Wuhan, China when there was a cluster of pneumonia cases. With the help of epidemiologists (a person who studies or is an expert in medicine which deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases) Chinese officials gathered information about the virus by surveying the community in Wuhan where the first cases were detected. They took nose and mouth secretions for lab experiments. These tests helped them know who was infected and who was not. According to a  ‘WEB MD’  article, epidemiologists determined that the SARS-Cov-2 may have come from animals sold at ‘wet markets’. From these markets, people buy and eat fresh meat from fish and other animals that are slaughtered there.    

   One of the most crucial questions about an emerging infectious disease, such as the new coronavirus is how deadly it is. Researchers use a metric called Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) to calculate the severity of a disease. It is the proportion of infected people who will die as a result, including those who don’t get tested or show symptoms.     

   The fatality rate of the virus is hard to pinpoint considering the numbers of people with mild or no symptoms that go undetected. It is further complicated because the time between showing symptoms and death can be as long as two months. Many countries are struggling with calculating their death counts that are COVID-19 related and the ones that are not. ( Smriti Mallapaty ,  Nature Magazine ,  “How Deadly is the Coronavirus,”  June 16, 2020). An article written by  Shin Jie Yong , editor of  Microbial Instincts, Medium.com , estimated that the fatality rate of COVID-19 for those who show symptoms is 1%, ten times worse than the flu. The percentage of COVID-19 changed to 2-3% when taking into account people that don’t show symptoms (symptomless).     

   Scientists are working on more than one vaccine designed to end this virus. A Washington Post team has tracked 200 experimental vaccines. As of September 2020 scientists in the United States haven’t found a vaccine that can stop the virus. ( Gabriel Florit, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Aaron Steckelberg, and Chris Alcatraz , reporters of the  ‘THE WASHINGTON POST’ ,  “These Are the Top Coronavirus Vaccines to Watch,”).     

   All vaccines must pass through three phases and testing. Phase 1 vaccines are tried on people to see if the vaccine is safe. During Phase 2 scientists study whether the vaccine can stop the disease. During Phase 3 scientists make sure that the vaccine works on everyone. Vaccine development usually takes years and unfolds step by step.  Experimental vaccine candidates are created in the laboratory and tested in animals before moving into progressively large human clinical trials. ( Lydia Ramsey ,  Apple News ) . The United States has 170 and more pre-clinical vaccines that are being tested in animals and lab experiments. Ten Phase 1 vaccines are being tested in a small number of healthy, young people to assess the safety and the correct dose. Fourteen Phase 2 vaccines are being broadened to a large number of people, including people at higher risk of illness. Seven Phase 3 vaccines are being tested in thousands of people to check their effectiveness and safety. But zero vaccines have been determined to provide benefits that outweigh known and potential risks. ( The Washington Post,  September 23, 2020).           

     On July 16, 2020, a  Bloomberg  article, written by  James Paton  and  Suzi Ring  reported that AstraZeneca, a healthcare facility in Australia, has been working with the United Kingdom to find a vaccine for the virus. Their work was progressing at record speed just like in the US, but everything stopped when an unexpected illness attacked one of their workers. 

   AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, biopharmaceutical company. They are engaged in research, development, manufacture, and supply of medicines that aim to make a difference in the lives of Australians. Their first trial test of a working COVID-19 vaccine started in April. More than one hundred trials were given to adult volunteers. 

   On September 9, 2020,  Apple News  gave an update on AstraZeneca informing that this healthcare facility had to pause in their hunt for a vaccine because one of the facility members got sick. AstraZeneca did not specify the nature of the study participant’s “unexplained illness”. We only know that they halted their work while they figured out the source of this unexplained illness.  (L. Ramsey Apple News) . Three days later, the international medical community resumed its phase three clinical trials in the United Kingdom. ( Carlie Porterfield, Forbes staff).  

   More information about the coronavirus fills the news every day. The need for a vaccine occupies our minds every day. Scientists are working diligently to develop a cure. The pandemic has affected the entire world population. It has gradually been changing our lives as time passes by. As we wait for a vaccine the best we can do is to follow the coronavirus safety guidelines. A trusted source is the National Center for Disease Control.   CLICK HERE  to visit their website.

FOUR UNIQUE FATES

They were regular people. how did they react to the racism in america what can we do today.

As an African American from Colombia, I arrived in the United States recognizing prejudice and enduring it first hand. Racism in the United States is not as bad as what I experienced in Colombia, yet I have always wondered if there will be a time of equality for all races. I never did anything about the unfairness in our world because I assumed that regular people like me  couldn’t improve the inequity in the world. However, after the recent events in Louisville involving police brutality, I was inspired to consider… What happens if I do want to address prejudice in this world? Why was this ongoing discrimination passed down by my parents, teachers, and other adults? Was I destined to live with the tyranny that the African American race suffers? I don’t want to live in a world where racism is everywhere I turn.  I looked for people who inspired me to work for a change, who helped me understand why there needs to be a change. I did some research on the Civil Rights movement. My goal was to understand what it was about and what it represented for African American history. I discovered four Civil Rights participators and was able to personally interview one of them. These four people were not famous Civil Rights leaders. They were regular people like me and probably you. They were good people and lived by the law of justice and compassion. They blessed their communities with their small but courageous acts. For me, they have shown me that a regular person like me and you do have the power to speak and act as our way of reflecting that a future charged with prejudice and ignorance is not what we want. 

Septima Poinsette Clark

“The air has finally gotten to the place where we can breathe it together.”

Septima Clark was a black American educator. Septima saw that African Americans were not able to vote or enter voting polls because they could not read or write, so she made it her responsibility to guide illiterate people on how to exercise their voting rights to engage themselves in the act of empowering African Americans. To vote, a voter had to be able to read the ballot and write their signature themselves, which was a barrier for many African Americans who were sometimes former slaves and had been forbidden to learn to read and write.  Clark was born on May 3, 1898, in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1916, she graduated from secondary school and taught as a teacher throughout South Carolina for more than thirty years, including eighteen years in Columbia, and nine in Charleston. Around the 1930s’, Clark studied under W.E.B.Du Bois, an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and civil rights activist who taught economics at Atlanta University. In 1946, Clark received a Master of Arts degree from the Benedict College in Columbia, SC. 

 Throughout the 1940s, Clark worked as an educator but was also associated with the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), which is one of the largest, non-profit, multicultural organizations dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and fighting for justice ( https://www.ywca.org/about/ ) . Clark also participated in a class-action lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) that influenced equal wages between black and white educators. Clark participated by attending their meetings and leading her students to protest along with her. In 1956, South Carolina established a law forbidding city and state employees from working with Civil Rights associations or else they could be fired from their jobs. Unfortunately for Clark, after forty years of teaching, she lost her job as an educator because she refused to leave the NAACP. 

 By the time of her firing in 1956, Clark had begun to lead classes during the summer at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, a grassroots education center dedicated to social justice. In 1954, Myles Horton, founder of Highlander Folk School, hired Clark full-time as Highlander’s director of workshops. Clark believed that “knowledge could empower marginalized groups in ways that formal legal equality couldn’t”- (Wikipedia) . Clark taught people basic literacy skills, as well as their rights and responsibilities as US citizens. She also taught African Americans how to fill out voter registration forms, acknowledging that many black people didn’t know how to write. 

 Clark worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to coordinate and support nonviolent protests. Clark continued to serve as an educator and leader of civil rights until she died in 1987. She left a life-long legacy as both a civil rights activist and admired educator. Clark’s way of addressing racism was through education. She taught people how to use their voices to participate in the ongoing fight against racism. 

Bayard Rustin

“Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it.”

Bayard Rustin was an American leader in the civil rights movement, an adviser to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the main organizer of the March on Washington in 1963. He also participated in marches that supported socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. 

Bayard Rustin was born on March 17, 1912, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, Julia and Janifer Rustin. Growing up, he was led to believe his mother to be his sister to shield his family from the embarrassment of a young, unwed mother. His grandparents were local caterers who raised Rustin in a large house. Rustin’s grandmother, Julia, was a member of the Quakers, now known as the Religious Society of Friends or Friends’ Church. Julia was also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and she was well connected to leaders of the NAACP, such as W.E.B. Du Bois. She often brought them to visit her household. Rustin grew up surrounded by people who were fighting for equality and justice. 

 Bayard Rustin began opposing racial segregation in high school through peaceful, nonviolent protests organized by different civil rights organizations. He was jailed in 1944 as a conscientious objector to World War II, which meant that for personal reasons, he refused to serve in the military. During his two years of prison time, he protested against the segregated facilities. Even from inside the walls of the prison he continued the fight for justice and equality.  In 1948, after his release from prison, Rustin traveled to India to learn the peaceful strategies of civil disobedience that Mahatma Gandhi so effectively used. However, Gandhi had been recently killed so Rustin used his time in India to visit other independent leaders from Ghana and Nigeria still hoping to have a deep understanding of the nonviolent tactics Gandhi taught the people in India. 

 Rustin started working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1955. He shared his ideas of peaceful protest with him. Eventually, Rustin became King’s advisor, as well as a key strategist in the broader civil rights movement. Rustin was sought out by many throughout the Civil Rights Era because of his high degree of knowledge about pacific protests. However, his biggest contribution to the movement was on August 28th, 1963, when all that he learned about peaceful protest came together and formed itself into the March on Washington. All the violence that could enfold this day concerned Bayard, hence he worked with the hospital and police to prepare everything at the March in case of any brutality (TEDTalks). He was successful and the March on Washington was a peaceful, non-violent event. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous, ‘I have a dream’ speech. That day nearly a million people gathered in front of the National Mall demanding an end to prejudice, segregation, violence, and the economic boycott that black people faced. None of this would have been possible without the guidance of Bayard Rustin.  Despite all his knowledge, insights, and utility as an advisor to King other organizers of the movement did not like the idea of Rustin at the forefront of The Civil Rights Movement because he was homosexual (though many outside the inner circle did not know). In the 1980s, Rustin publicly came out as homosexual and was effective at drawing attention to the AIDS crisis. Rustin continued to speak out and organize protests that fought against injustice until he died in 1987.

In 2013, President Obama posthumously awarded Bayard Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award given by the president to someone who has contributed to the security or national interest of the United States, world peace, and other public or private things performed out of generosity for the interest of America. Bayard Rustin’s life’s commitment was fighting for equality through peaceful means, persistence in the face of resistance, and learning the non-violent ways of others who also fought for equality helped move the Civil Rights Movement forward. His reaction towards racism reminds us today to take action, to learn, and to peacefully fight for what we believe is right. 

John Robert Lewis

“One person with a dream, with a vision, can change things.”

John Lewis was an American statesman and civil rights leader who fought for African American equality and justice until his death in 2020. Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, in a rural area of Troy, Alabama. As a child, he picked cotton on his family’s farm. He hated working on the farm, enduring the long hours under the sun and he didn’t want that future. Lewis aspired to go to school and become a minister. 

 Lewis had hopes that he would be able to attend Troy State College (now Troy State University) which was close to his home but where only white students could attend. Although this meant that Lewis couldn’t work on the family farm, his mother encouraged him to apply. Lewis submitted his high school application but never heard back from the school. Frustrated but not defeated, he wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King asking for his help to desegregate Troy University. 

 While waiting for King’s reply, he was accepted to a small college in Nashville, Tennessee, where he went to school. To Lewis’s surprise, King later invited him to Montgomery, Alabama to meet in person. When he met up with King, he was advised to return home and ask his parents for approval to join Martin Luther King in filing a suit against Troy State to allow him to be admitted to the school. Lewis’s parents disapproved of this lawsuit so he continued to study in Nashville, TN. 

 In Nashville, John Lewis got involved in many movements whose goals were to desegregate places around the South. As he protested he was able to see Martin Luther King many times. King taught him the discipline of non-violent, peaceful protesting, that every human being is valued, and to love your enemies as your friends (TEDTalks) In Montgomery, listening to Dr. Kings’ speeches, hearing about Rosa Parks’ actions, and working with other leaders in the movements Lewis was inspired to do what he called ‘good trouble’. 

 John Lewis accompanied Dr. King to many places where they could make people aware of the injustices towards black people. In an interview with Bryan Stevenson (founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, fighting poverty and challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system ) Lewis explained how he was the youngest speaker at the Washington, DC Freedom Riders protest on May 4, 1964. This was the massive political protest where people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to advocate for the civil, economic rights of African Americans.

“I was determined to inspire young people, another generation. And, when I looked out and saw that sea of humanity, I said to myself, this is it. I must go forward.” 

When Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, Lewis was despondent but moved forward. John Lewis first ran for public office in the 1970s because he thought that this was the best way to advocate for black people and work for change. He also became the director of the Voter Education Project (VEP), which was an organization throughout the Southern states that administered voter education programs and voter registration drives . ​ Lewis held his position as director of the VEP until 1977. In 1986 Lewis was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Georgia’s fifth congressional district and served with distinction until his death. 

 “How do you want to be thought of? How do you want to be talked about?” asked Bryan Stevenson. Lewis replied, “I don’t think I would have much to say about it; but it would be– He tried to make a better society, a better world, helping to liberate and free people, helping to save people, to move people to a different and better sense of humanity.” 

 John Robert Lewis died on July 17, 2020, in Atlanta, at the age of 80, from pancreatic cancer. Throughout his life, Lewis demonstrated how to fight for equity through nonviolent protest. His actions were portrayed by his powerful ethical code: Love unreservedly. A few weeks before his  death, mustering all his strength, Lewis was able to walk with protestors as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, his last walk for racial justice. He was proud and very hopeful that they would continue to make ‘good trouble’. 

 John Lewis’s way of protesting against racism was to acknowledge every person’s worth, to respect all people, to never give up on anyone b ecause you are trying to teach them what love and kindness are with your actions. H is forgiving soul reminds us today that love and mercy are possible, just like he forgave those who physically and mentally hurt him because of his race. Despite everything he had witnessed and experienced Lewis was capable of anticipating a brighter future. 

“I’m very hopeful. I’m very optimistic about the future.” - John Lewis

Dallas Thornton

“If you believe in something and you see it going on then you participate.”

I had the opportunity to interview Dallas Thornton and gained many insights from our conversation. Thornton is one of the few Civil Rights fighters who are still with us today. He was one of the many Civil Rights fighters whose participation and devotion to the movement opened the world’s eyes to the ongoing discrimination and apathetic attitude toward the suffering of African Americans. 

 Dallas Thornton was born on September 1, 1946, in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Male High School in Louisville, Kentucky. He recalls that schools in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were segregated, meaning that black and white students could not attend the same schools. 

 Thornton cherishes the memory of the countless times when the people who joined the Civil Rights Movement marched in front of his house, demanding justice and equality. Around 1960, when he was in ninth grade, his family got involved in the movement. At that age, Thornton thought it was all scary but he continued protesting for what believed to be right. 

“It was a hard decision. Me and all my friends were out there together, we were all going to march together and protest together.” - Dallas Thornton

By 1968, the movement was able to end racial segregation. Although the continuing bias did not end, Thornton felt triumphant and proud of the power and influence a mass of people could bring to the country. Thornton never thought that there would be a time where there wasn’t racism because there would always be people with different opinions of how the world and its inhabitants should look. He is hopeful that racism can be eradicated in the future.  When Thornton graduated from Male High School he played basketball at Kentucky Wesleyan College. In 1968, Thornton was chosen by the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA basketball draft. He was also selected in the 1968 draft by the Miami Floridians, another professional basketball league called the American Basketball Association (ABA). 

 From 1969-1970, Thornton played for the Harlem Globetrotters, an American exhibition basketball team. They used comedy and basketball to entertain crowds. The Harlem Globetrotters have played more than 26,000 games in 124 countries. 

 When asked about what it is like to be judged by the color of your skin, Thorton said, “You have to overcome it. Dr. Martin Luther King taught us and preached to us that people will always think that you are not as good as other people, but you are. So you have to believe in yourself, and the color of your skin shouldn’t have anything to do with your beliefs.”

Today, Dallas Thornton at the age of 74, is recently retired from his job as a Career Planner for the Kentucky Youth Career Center, a program that provides educational and career opportunities, as well as job-search assistance for young people, ages 16- 24. Growing up, Thornton felt he was judged inferior and prevented from doing things because of his race but he overcame it by 

ignoring other people’s malicious words directed towards his race. After all, he knew he deserved respect because he doesn’t view people as black and white. He views people as humans who are all equal. Thornton was one of the many people whose way to fight against racism was to join the Civil Rights Movement and demand equity for all. Thornton’s courageous move of joining the movement during those scary times reminds us today that “if you believe in something and see it going on then you participate” just like Dallas Thornton has throughout his life. 

 There are numerous African Americans who freed their lives from the resentment, the brutality, and the hypocrisy that their race lived through for decades. Dallas Thorton, John Lewis, Bayard Rustin, and Septima Poinsette Clark are just four of the many courageous men and women who have fought for equality and the civil rights of African Americans from the early 1900s to now. These four African Americans all took unique paths as their way of reacting to the prejudice in America. 

 When I was done interviewing Dallas Thornton I asked him if he saw a future without racism. He said, “Well, tell you the truth, I never thought that there wouldn’t be any racism. I wish there wouldn’t be. But there will be racism because there will always be people that are going to say that you are less because of the color of your skin. And, that’s not a white thing, racism is something that is practiced by many races.” 

 A day later I thought about what he said to me and noticed that I agreed with him. I know this ongoing prejudice is awful and something I don’t want anyone experiencing anymore. But, the hatred towards African American’s has been going on for so long that I do not know if we can change it. Septima, Bayard, John, and Dallas taught me about compassion, dreams, and the power of simple acts. With this article, I hope you remember everything these four people said and did in the name of their community’s benefit and maybe discover how you can take action against the discrimination and racism in America.

THE LIFE OF ZITKALA-SA

A while ago I became aware of my Native American heritage. I have never encountered discrimination aimed at me for being a Native. However, I know that there are people that do. I know that there was a time when Natives were thought of as “savages”. I wasn’t aware of the cruelty that Natives endured through history until I heard of Zitkala- Sa. Then once again I questioned people’s behavior. What is the rationality in this belief? How do I learn from it so I can take action? Is it ever going to change? 

There are many other things I need to learn about the injustice in our world before I can decide what to do about it. My teacher introduced me to Zitkala- Sa, a Native American woman. Although she was taught to be ashamed of her heritage, Zitkala- Sa spent her life attempting to show that natives aren’t savages because their skin is different as well as their beliefs. 

Zitkala- Sa (Red Bird), also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin was a Native American educator, justice fighter, and artist. She worked to improve education, health care, and legal recognition of Natives until her death. Zitkala-Sa was born on February 22, 1876, on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. The Yankton Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe. Their name is Ihanktonwto an Dakota Oyate, meaning “People of the End Village.”(Wikipedia.org) 

She was born to a Native American woman and a Frenchman who soon left after Zitkala-Sa was born. As a child, Zitkala-Sa spent her time hearing legends from the tribe members and fearing nothing but intruding on others as her mother taught her.

In early Spring, when she was eight years old, she was lured by Quaker missionaries to attend White’s Indiana Manual Labor school. Zitkala- Sa wanted to go to the school with the missionaries but her mom didn’t want her to go. After much beseeching and crying Zitkala- Sa’s mom reluctantly relented. 

The school was founded in 1852 in Wabash, Indiana. The school’s purpose was to strip the natives of their “animal ways” and educate them by making them blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers, cooks, and housekeepers. (newspaper.com). At the school, she was introduced to Christianity. She was forbidden to speak her language and she was set a schedule for manual labor. She was given the missionary name Gertrude Simmons. 

Zitkala-Sa attended the school until 1887 when she dropped out. She returned home to live with her mother. Upon her return, she felt conflicted about her feelings. A part of her had enjoyed learning how to read and write at the school. The other part of her felt deep grief when she was stripped of her heritage by being forced to pray as a Quaker and cut her hair. She felt like she had betrayed her people and culture. Later on, when she began writing, she revealed the deep sadness she felt when she returned home. She didn’t fit in anymore. The Institute had changed her. In 1891, at the age of fifteen Zitkala-Sa returned to White’s Indian Manual Labor school. 

At school, she planned to become more than a housekeeper which was what was expected of her. She studied piano and violin and occasionally taught music to children. The decision she made to leave her mother was a big step towards independence. This was the turn in her life. She graduated in 1895. When she received her diploma she gave a speech about the necessity of granting equal rights to women. “Half of humanity cannot rise while the other half is in subjugation.” Her speech was thought of as a “masterpiece, never surpassed in eloquence or literary perfection by any girl in the country”. While her ability to write and the literary perfection of her speech were acknowledged the profound meaning was ignored. 

Deciding not to return home Zitkala-Sa accepted a scholarship at Earlham College in Richmond Indiana. Here she was one of few Native Americans. During college, she began to accumulate stories from Native tribes. She collected stories to show white people what the Native culture was about. She wanted them to see the virtue and merit of native beliefs. She translated the stories into Latin and English. 

While she was at Earlham her ability for literacy didn’t go unnoticed. She was chosen to represent the school at the statewide oratory competition held at one of Indianapolis’s grandest structures, the English Hotel and Opera House. The people she competed against were not impressed. They held banners to explain why she was a humiliation to the competition. Many of the signs displayed rude words intending to hurt her. However, they did nothing but fan the flame of her desire to share her opinions. She delivered her speech and with it, she revealed to the public her profound rage at the prejudice towards natives. She also shared her deep commitment to her people’s safety. She spoke of the life natives had before Europeans arrived in America. She referred to the horror of American slavery. “She asked the wardens of religion and civilization why they attacked, instead of aided, Indian peoples, and whether more violence was all that would follow.”(-Tadeusz Lewandowski) People were awed by her speech. She had captured her audience like no other person had that day. However, a judge from the south, outraged by her audacity to say such things about the white people, prevented her from winning. It was the opinion of the Indianapolis News and others that she was the true winner of the oratory. Her speech was published in newspapers and shared across America although it was edited to the press’s liking. Similar to her previous oratory, people focused on how beautiful she was, how pleasing her voice was, and how much different she was from other savages, rather than her message. 

Unfortunately, Zitkala-Sa wasn’t able to finish her college degree due to sickness. She had six weeks left before she graduated. In 1899 she began teaching a music class at Carlisle Industrial Training School in Pennsylvania, a school for native children. “It is this nature in our red brother that is better dead than alive, and when we agree with the oft-repeated sentiment that the only good Indian is a dead one, we mean this characteristic of the Indian. Carlisle’s mission is to kill this Indian as we build up the better man.”- (Carlisle’s school narrative). The school’s goal was to eradicate all empathy native children had for their culture by ridiculing it. Zitkala-Sa enjoyed teaching kids how to play piano and violin but she strongly believed that Carlisle was teaching Indian children the wrong thing, hence she began to write. 

She started writing about her life as a Native American. She wrote about what it felt like to be stripped of her mother’s culture. “In this fashion, many have passed idly through the Indian school during the last decade, afterward to boast of their charity to the North American Indian. But few there are who have paused to question whether real life or long-lasting death lies beneath this semblance of civilization.” In 1900 her work was published in the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Monthly, and other English magazines. 

Many people, including Carlisle, believed that Zitkala-Sa was ungrateful for not treasuring how the white people led her out of a life of poverty and pettiness to a world full of opportunities. Captain Richard Henry Pratt considered Zitkala-Sa’s stories “trash” and her as “worse than Pagan”. Pratt’s commentary was supposed to stop her from writing but Zitkala-Sa felt more convicted to continue. She was fired from her position as a teacher. 

Zitkala-Sa went back home and continued gathering stories from her people. She interviewed the elders of her reservation for what would later become one of the articles for the Atlantic Monthly, “Old Indian Stories”. 

She also started working with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA is a government office whose mission is to promote economic opportunity and to improve the trust assets of Native American tribes in the USA. While working at the BIA she met Captain Raymond Talefase Bonnin who she later married in 1902. Raymond was a native who had been working with the BIA since 1898. The couple moved to Uintah- Ouray Reservation in Utah where they lived and worked as teachers and participants of Indian Services for the next fourteen years. The Uintah- Ouray Reservation is one of the three largest Indian reservations inhabited by members of the Ute tribe. However, many of the native Utes lived in poverty because the U.S government pushed many of them to give up their lands to white settlers. “The BIA punished those who refused to adopt white lifestyles or send their children to school by withholding rations.”  (- Tadeusz Lewandowski) . 

On May 28, 1903, she gave birth to her first and only child who she named Raymond Ohiya Bonnin. Soon after she sought work as a music teacher at the Uintah Boarding School of Whiterocks run by the government. However, the school was reluctant to accept her because of her published criticism of Native American schools in the Atlantic Monthly. In 1905, she was a substitute teacher. In 1906 the school hired her as a music teacher because they were out of teachers and needed new ones. 

Many times Zitkala-Sa attended to the younger and older public by giving lectures on sanitation. She also taught children who wanted to learn music and formed a children’s band. “Zitkala-Sa’s stay in Uintah was a difficult trial.” Her family had a hard time keeping jobs and keeping their land because of the U.S government. The payment Zitkala-Sa received from the government wasn’t as much as other teachers received because she was native. Zitkala-Sa quit her job in 1909. 

Zitkala-Sa and her family moved to Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota. Here she became involved with the Benedictine Catholic Mission. Participating with the church changed Zitkala-Sa’s view of Christianity. She started to see that not all Christians were bad. She believed that the light of spirit that Christianity talked about wasn’t much different from what the natives believed. Therefore, she converted. After six months at Standing Rock, she went back to Utah. It was the Spring of 1910. To restore the spiritual light the Utes and whites had lost she sought to convert people she worked with to Catholicism. “The Utes show no interest in spiritual life. They are largely governed by superstitions. They are immoral. They waste all their time gambling. Some drink intoxicants. Even the school children, who should know better, after leaving school, are living lives of immorality.”(Quote from Zitkala-Sa). She prayed for the conversion of the Utes. She believed that they needed salvation and rescuing from the spiritual darkness plaguing them. 

While in Utah they met William F. Hanson, an opera composer. Together he and Zitkala-Sa created an opera which they named “The Sun Dance Opera”. With this opera Zitkala- Sa wanted to show the power and spirituality of nature that white and native people had forgotten. She wanted to change what the white people thought as heathen and savage into western high art. The opera featured twenty-three musical numbers in three acts. Many people admired her work and her music. As the Opera became widely known people started practicing the dance to strengthen their spiritual light and power. Today this is what she is most remembered for. The music has outlived her articles and speeches. 

In 1914 Zitkala-Sa joined the Society of American Indians (SAI), a group founded in 1911 with the purpose “to encourage Indian leadership, promote self-help, and foster the assimilation of Indians while encouraging them to exhibit pride in their race.” The society promoted traditional Native American culture while also lobbying for full American citizenship for Native Americans.

Zitkala-Sa continued to write. She advocated for things she felt needed to change. She wrote an article named “America, Home of the Red Man” in which she called for natives to be considered citizens of the United States. “America. Home of the Red Man, who has the preeminent right to the nation. But like his fellow Americans, the Red Man loves democracy and hates mutilated treaties.” She challenged her audience to regard the irony when white people call natives “foreigners” in the land where they were born. 

Zitkala-Sa became increasingly vocal in her criticism of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). She and the rest of the SAI believed that the BIA did the exact opposite of what they were supposed to do. Wanting to work more actively for the rights of natives, Zitkala-Sa and her family moved to Washington, DC. From 1918 to 1919 Zitkala-SA edited the American Indian Magazine. “She lectured across the country promoting the preservation of Native American cultural and tribal identities.” -(https://www.nps.gov/people/zitkala-sa.htm) She also gave speeches on why natives should be American citizens. On June 2, 1924, the Federal Native Citizenship Act was passed. It granted US citizenship to all Native Americans. However, their ability to vote relied on the state’s voting laws. Some states prevented natives from voting until 1957. 

After Congress granted citizenship to Native Americans, Zitkala-Sa continued her association with organizations that strived to improve the lives of the Natives. In 1926, Zitkala-Sa and her husband formed the National Council of American Indians (NCAI). Zitkala-Sa was president and her husband was the secretary. “The NCAI attempted to establish political power through voting blocs,” The couple held their positions as “president, fundraiser, and speaker” until they died. 

Zitkala-Sa died peacefully of old age in Washington DC. on January 26, 1928. She is now remembered as a Native American woman who worked to improve education, healthcare, and legal recognition of Native Americans. She was a woman who devoted her life to promoting her culture and demonstrating to white people that natives weren’t savages. She opened American eyes to the injustice natives were living. She showed us that because someone is not Christian, white, doesn’t have guns, that doesn’t mean he or she is a savage. 

A few months ago when people mentioned racism. I thought of African Americans as the only ones who had to go through that. I knew something about the injustice towards natives. Then I heard of ZItkala-Sa and her struggle to shield her culture from the spiritual darkness coming from her oppressors. Is it just because we weren’t white? Was it fear or hatred? Zitkala-Sa life’s story has taught me that small acts like a speech or a story can make a difference. She has taught us to not forget what makes us who we are today. She has taught us to fight for what is right and for what we love. Zitkala-Sa has shown us that the prejudice we hold against other races can change. Sometimes your attempts at resolution won’t be welcomed but we can all continue to try like she did.

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8th grade capstone preview 2024.

One special feature of our 8th grade experience is the Capstone research project, designed to give students an opportunity to explore a topic of interest, as well as contribute to their communities.

What is the 8th Grade Capstone Project?

Our 8th-graders spend the whole year exploring independent inquiry questions and creating projects that aim to improve their communities. Past 8th Grade Capstone projects have addresses conservation, mental health, education, art, sports, service, equity, and more. This culminating experience — for which groundwork is laid in 7th grade — gives students a chance to deeply explore an area of interest, plan and implement longterm goals, and become change agents, giving them confidence as they embark on their high school careers.

Capstone Project Timeline

Students share their ideas at the Capstone Proposal Fair and are matched up with High Meadow advisors and mentors from the broader community.

Students begin their projects and begin drafting their research paper.

Students put finishing touches on their projects and paper.

High Meadow students, faculty, families, and friends gather to watch the 8th-graders march across campus and officially turn in their final capstone papers. They then make their way to the PAC for the Capstone Fair where they share their findings with the community.

2024 Capstone Preview

This year's 8th Grade Capstone projects include:

An investigation of the animal shelter system and approaches to improving it, including a fundraiser and public awareness campaign.

A scientific study of the impact of music on human emotions, including original music composition and application of the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affects Schedule) scale.

A study of how humans impact monarch butterflies, exploring topics such as pesticides, climate change, and suburban sprawl, including planting a monarch habitat at High Meadow.

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Six Photos of Mitchell Eighth Grader's Capstone Projects

Photos from Mitchell's eighth grade students presenting their capstone projects.

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Grade 8 Curriculum

Eighth grade is the culminating year at Belmont Day when students take pride in being the leaders of our school and consolidating all they have learned. The curriculum focuses on critical thinking, abstract reasoning, creativity, and core foundational skills. All eighth graders complete a Capstone project—a year-long investigation of a unique topic that interests them. Through this project, students write a substantive research paper, create hands-on work, and present their work to an audience of peers, parents, and faculty. Outside of class, eighth graders are mentors (and rock stars!) to their pre-kindergarten buddies. They captain our teams, take leads in the seventh and eighth grade play, and, in the spring, travel together to a destination related to a curricular area. They come to know themselves as learners and manage their own academics by effectively using resource periods when all teachers are free for support, questions, corrections, and enrichment. They write graduation speeches reflecting on their journey at Belmont Day and they head off to high school poised to make the most of their secondary education.

Program Highlights

• Arts electives
• Seventh and eighth grade play
• Interscholastic athletics program
• Advisor program
• Pre-kindergarten buddies

Specialist Time

• World language four times a week for 50 minutes
• Arts electives four times a week for 60 minutes (music, visual art, theater arts, woodworking, and technology)
• Athletics four times a week for 60 minutes
• Clubs, advisory, and resource time

Grade 8 Subjects

Eighth graders are ready to tackle complex material. The language arts curriculum focuses on active and critical reading, reflective and creative writing, and thoughtful and substantive discussion. Skill development is considered equally as important as effective and respectful classroom participation. Reading books such as  To Kill a Mockingbird, The 57 Bus, House on Mango Street, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,  poems, short stories and Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet , we challenge our students to answer the following essential questions:

• Where does prejudice come from?
• How do gender and culture impact other’s impressions of us?
• How do race and class impact responsibility, identity, and privilege?
• how does an author clearly show character growth?
• How is a short story or novel most effectively structured?
• What are the best practices of successful writers?

In writing, students experiment with a variety of genres: creative (poetry, vignette), essays and responses, journal, research paper, short fiction, and speech, and learn how to revise work after receiving feedback.

Eighth grade students will:

• read actively, closely, and critically
• be introduced to a variety of literary genres and structures (historical and realistic fiction, vignette, poetry, speech, essay, short story, non-fiction, and drama)
• learn and correctly use increasingly complex and precise vocabulary
• compose meaningful discussion questions related to reading
• engage confidently and sensitively in a variety of discussion formats
• write reflectively, analytically, and creatively
• use direct evidence from texts to support ideas
• learn, practice, and employ effective essay structure
• develop ability to smoothly integrate quotes into writing
• fully understand literary terms: tone, symbol, characterization, theme, author intent, and plot structure

Eighth graders engage in a rigorous Algebra I curriculum. This is accomplished by ensuring facility with graphing, graph interpretation, algebraic expressions, functions, and other representations leading to an increase in flexibility and the development of multiple forms of reasoning. A variety of techniques such as direct instruction, collaborative learning, and project work are used, placing the focus on both the process and the product. Students are generally prepared for Geometry or Algebra II in ninth grade.

Topics of study include:

• Relationships
• Linear equations
• Linear systems
• Linear inequalities
• Polynomials
• Quadratic functions
• Radical functions
• Data analysis
• think clearly, use logical reasoning, and communicate effectively about their understandings and solutions
• identify relationships, sketch, and interpret graphs
• write, evaluate, and solve equations
• graph linear equations and understand slope as a rate of change
• solve systems of equations
• compute and reason with real numbers
• solve and graph inequalities
• explore exponential functions
• write and solve polynomial equations
• solve and graph quadratic equations
• simplify, solve, and graph radical equations
• Analyze sets of data and create and interpret data displays
• work neatly, check work, attend to precision, select efficient approaches, and have a repertoire of strategies
• use data as a context for algebraic thinking
• develop facility with proportional reasoning and other real world applications of algebraic concepts

The eighth grade social studies curriculum supports the research related to the Capstone project and teaches students to make an effective outline, take useful notes, make use of critical feedback, generate a thesis, use evidence to support assertions, and write a formal research paper. The curriculum is informed heavily by Facing History and Ourselves, The Choices Program, and the Zinn Education Project. The first unit is the individual in society asking “Who am I?” and “How do others see me?” followed by units that address the question of “Who are we?” Students study the origins of American Democracy and the American Revolution. They become very familiar with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and see how these documents impacted the subsequent Civil War and Reconstruction. Students use the history of the United States to understand World War I and II, and the Holocaust. The program includes regular reading assignments, non-fiction writing projects, debate, and classroom presentations.

• develop effective note-taking skills
• learn to summarize important information from primary sources, nonfiction, and the web
• effectively curate and use evidence and rhetoric in debate
• learn to connect information from multiple sources
• identify and understand multiple perspectives and points of view
• vigorously participate in class discussions
• provide evidence to support opinions
• plan, organize, and deliver effective class presentations
• respond thoughtfully to questions through active participation

The eighth grade science program is a course in introductory physical science that includes a focus on basic chemistry. In addition, students complete the topics of meiosis and genetics. They use the scientific method as a valuable tool for posing important questions, creating hypotheses, and improving observation skills. They hone their abilities to collect, organize, and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data as well as determine appropriate conclusions by conducting more complex laboratory experiments. Students develop their ability to communicate scientific ideas both orally and in written form using appropriate terminology.

Topics of study:

• Cell division: meiosis
• Genetics and DNA
• Lab safety and equipment
• Properties of matter
• The periodic table
• Properties of elements
• Atomic structure and bonding
• Chemical reactions
• understand the concepts of basic genetics and heredity
• appreciate the intersection with mathematics through using scientific notation, metric measurement, significant digits, and solving equations
• be introduced to the particle theory of matter
• observe changes in the states of matter and analyze changes in temperature, mass, and weight
• appreciate the genesis, organization, and utility of the periodic table
• construct formal lab reports
• understand the combination of elements to make compounds through ionic and covalent bonding
• balance equations
• work safely and effectively in a laboratory setting

The middle school world language program develops general language skills, intellectual discipline, and the vocabulary, grammar, and basics that allow students to continue language studies at an advanced level in high school. We support the development of our students as citizens in the diverse community of Belmont Day and in the world. Exposure to broad cultural experiences nurtures curiosity and joy.

Students use textbooks and also learn through varied experiences including projects, interviews, videotaping, using auxiliary technology, presentations, research, pen pals, partner and small group work, and games. For French and Spanish, classes are taught almost exclusively in the target language. The curriculum generally prepares students to take French II, Spanish I, or Latin II in high school.

• learn to understand, speak, read, and write in French or Spanish on an expanding number of topics
• continue to expand grammar concepts
• become more independent in their language learning through the use of class notes, the text, and resources outside the classroom (dictionaries, online resources, internet research, etc.)
• develop good study habits, including effective vocabulary acquisition, note-taking, and using a language textbook
• increase awareness and appreciation of cultural practices in French or Spanish-speaking countries
• become aware of cultural bias when reviewing materials and information

During the sixth through eighth grade program, topics of study may include:

• likes/dislikes
• descriptions
• hobbies and sports
• weekend and vacation activities

During the sixth through eighth grade program, the development of grammar includes:​

• sentence structure
• verb conjugation
• adverbs and adjectives
• pronouns (subject, object, reflexive)
• prepositions
• present, past, and future tense

Seventh and eighth grade students are invited to make choices about what artistic areas they would like to explore and will experience opportunities to experiment across the domains. They choose from among nearly 30 elective arts courses in music, theater arts, technology, visual art, and woodworking, offered during four eight-week sessions throughout the year. At the end of each session students gather to share their completed pieces and reflect on the artistic process. Seventh and eighth grade students who are passionate about theater arts present a play each spring.

Arts electives vary from year to year. A sampling of recent options includes: Acapella, Drawing Explorations, Painting Explorations, Books as Art, Architecture in Clay, Kinetic Sculpture, Sewing and Fashion Design, Film, Game Programming, Mobiles, Pottery Wheel, Digital Photography, Digital Soundscapes, Comedy Through the Ages, Fiber Explosion, Global Goals Intensive, Latinos Making Music in the U.S., Improv, A Half-Cubic Foot of Wood, Print Shop Processes, Costume Design, Collage, Composer’s Forum, Hip-Hop Artists and Their Legacy, Public Speaking, Ukelele 101, Wooden Mechanical Mechanisms, Build a Table, Carving, Clock-making, Telling Our Stories, Shakespeare, Advanced Acting, Makeup Design, Prop Creation, Musical Intensive.

• Design and create projects and activities determined by the particular course
• Use various references for project and performance ideas
• Incorporate planning for ideas and designs for projects and modify as needed
• Recognize and use various materials, tools, and musical instruments appropriately
• Explore and refine advanced techniques according to the individual’s abilities
• Recognize, develop, and use an appropriate art and music vocabulary
• Develop an understanding of the work of various artists, musicians, composers, and cultures
• Perform and compose based on their understanding of musical concept, instrumental technique, and genre
• Collaborate with others to create a collectively satisfying studio and performance experience

Eighth grade students participate in the interscholastic athletics program, which allows athletes to focus on their passions while encouraging a committed approach and strong leadership. Following the middle school model of independence, choice, and responsibility, students are given the opportunity to select which three sports they would like to participate in over the course of the school year. During each season, students further their sport-specific skills, learn in-depth game strategies, and compete against other schools. To round out their athletic experience, students also participate in cooperative games, team-building activities, and fitness challenges in between interscholastic seasons.

Sports offered:

• Fall: soccer, field hockey, flag football, cross country
• Winter: basketball, volleyball, fencing, wrestling, P.E.A.K.: physical exercise, adventures, knowledge
• Spring: lacrosse, tennis, track and field, ultimate frisbee, mountain biking

Eighth grade athletes will:

• compete actively and extend their personal limits
• increase their strength, stamina, and agility
• acquire sport-specific skills and knowledge
• learn how to work within a team setting
• appreciate the school’s six core values

The comprehensive social competency and health and wellness curriculum provides an opportunity for students to learn about structures and importance of community, personal relationships, and healthy individual choices. In the middle school, the curriculum aims to help students confront and understand many complex issues. The Choices curriculum for seventh and eighth graders centers on making good choices in life and putting your best self forward. Students work with a team of four faculty members to explore such issues as: friendship, inclusiveness, LGBTQ topics, drugs, and adolescence. Interviewing and preparing for high school and on-demand writing are also covered.

Eighth grade students will learn:

• the elements of positive social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, self-control, and empathy
• that there are similarities and differences in people in terms of needs, emotions, and cultures
• to respect and care for your body
• to respect all community members through the use of respectful language, actions, and attitudes
• Personal and digital identity
• ​Family life
• Emotional health
• Physical health
• Self-care, including healthy choices
• Sexual health, including identity
• Navigating interpersonal relationships

Advisory Program, Resource Time, and Learning Support

Of utmost importance are the relationships that students develop with their teachers and each other. The advisory program is designed to develop a strong group dynamic, extend the student adult relationship beyond the academic classroom, identify a trusted adult who knows and can advocate for all facets of a student, and to teach the social skills necessary for students to build positive relationships with peers and adults

Resource time is a time when all faculty and students are free. Students have the time seek help from peers or adults, meet with teachers, and correct, extend, and complete work. This time teaches students to advocate for themselves, identify their strengths and challenges, and manage their academic work load.

In addition, the learning specialist works with students as a whole group, in small groups, and individually. In conjunction with the learning specialist, teachers strive to help students with explicit strategies for writing, for studying, and for tackling assessments.

The Capstone Project is a culminating work of independent study, completed by each eighth grade student under the guidance of a dedicated faculty mentor. It demonstrates each student’s unique interests and his or her written oral, organizational, and production skills.

• identify a major interest or area of new discovery
• do preliminary research and take notes using technology
• create a cohesive outline that addresses the question they seek to answer and that relates directly to the thesis statement
• write and edit a formal eight to ten page paper complete with standard citations and bibliography
• create a project that complements the study
• meet weekly with a faculty or staff mentor and lead the meeting to ensure that work is timely, complete, and excellent
• arrange for components of the project: interviews, videos, construction, etc.
• prepare a twenty-minute presentation that will be given to peers, parents, faculty, and guests
• be ready to field questions from their audience
• reflect on the experience in order to build on it in high school

At Belmont Day, technology learning tools are available in each classroom. Students have access to Apple laptops, iPads, and Chromebooks, exposing them to different platforms and applications. In seventh and eighth grades, students are provided with 1:1 Chromebooks, allowing for seamless integration of technology across all subject areas. Google Apps for Education provides valuable, interactive tools for faculty and allow students to access their work anytime, anywhere.

Belmont Day’s middle school technology curriculum is centered in the IMPACT Lab, a collaborative workspace tailored to serve students as they embark on a wide range of learning experiences, including designing and printing 3D objects; programming with Scratch or JavaScript; developing game apps; linking computers to objects in the physical world using Makey Makeys; building and programming Lego robots; and individual and collaborative problem solving and brainstorming.

Our Teachers

Anne Armstrong

Visual arts teacher and arts coordinator.

Grade 8 English Teacher

Kassie Bettinelli

Music and ensembles teacher.

Nicole Buck

Middle school latin teacher; grade 7 coordinator.

Grade 8 Social Studies Teacher; Middle School Social Studies Department Chair; Grade 8 Coordinator

Brittany Conroy

Innovation coach.

Tyler Cotner

Music and chorus teacher; ensembles coordinator.

Susan Dempsey

Theater arts teacher.

Devan FitzPatrick

Middle school learning specialist; focus teacher.

Jennifer Friborg

Grade 5 language, community, and culture teacher; grades 7 & 8 french teacher; capstone coordinator.

Sarah Merrill

Director of high school placement.

Jade Morris

Assistant director of athletics; grade 5 pe teacher.

John O’Neill

Director of athletics.

Christopher Parsons

Theater arts teacher; assembly coordinator.

Ana Maria Restrepo

Grade 5 language, community, and culture teacher; middle school spanish teacher.

Timur Rubinshteyn

World percussion ensemble teacher.

Woodworking Teacher

Kathy Jo Solomon

Visual arts teacher and sustainability coordinator.

Dean Spencer

Capstone support.

Rachel Starks Chaves, Ed.D.

Grade 8 math teacher.

Sandra Trentowsky

Grade 8 science teacher; middle school science department chair.

Alex Tzelnic

Physical education teacher; mindfulness director.

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Fieldston Middle’s 8th Grade Capstone Project Tackles Community Change

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June 14, 2023

By Kristen Perrone, Communications Manager

Over the course of their three years at Fieldston Middle, students experience an ethics-based curriculum that will grow more complex throughout high school. Engaging with these topics often entails applying their growing knowledge to real-world scenarios both within and outside of their School community. While 7th Graders recently explored their place in the Fieldston Middle community for their capstone project , 8th Graders were tasked with learning how to effect change in the broader community of New York City.

“In 6th Grade, the students focus on who they are as a learner, and as 7th Graders, they investigate who they are as a community,” says Science Teacher and Grade Level Coordinator Stephanie Behrens, who oversaw the 8th Graders’ project alongside History Teacher and 8th Grade Dean Savi Tuber. “In 8th Grade, we are looking beyond Fieldston and giving back to our community at large by partnering with alumni organizations to give back in a meaningful way.”

Each 8th Grade advisory was assigned to research and partner with an organization in the New York metropolitan area that Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni are currently involved with. After learning more about the organization’s purpose and team members with their advisors’ guidance, the students collaborated to create a short documentary film capturing this process and determining how to give back to the organization meaningfully. Over several weeks, alumni representatives met with advisories both in-person and virtually to discuss their work and participate in documentary filming. As Tuber told the 8th Grade when alumni visited the Fieldston campus, these graduates are now “doing cool stuff out in the world.”

Advisories’ organizations included Plan A Advisors (Pillier advisory), Healthy Humor and Red Nose Day (Behrens and Klausz advisories), The Clean Fight (Lapsley advisory), East Harlem Scholars (Gill advisory), StreetSquash (Wyman advisory), Hear Your Song (Watson advisory), the Japan ICU Foundation (Kurtz advisory), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Tuber advisory), the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (Wright/Elwood advisory), New York Cares (Cantarella advisory), and the Robin Hood Foundation (Garcia-Lopez advisory). At the start of the project, all students contributed to group research, learning more about their organization and its mission statement and then crafting questions and observations for upcoming interviews. Next, each advisory assigned individuals the roles of interviewers, writers, film/music/sound editors, photographers/cinematographers, graphic designers, and managers. Behrens and Tuber emphasized selecting jobs based on students’ interests and talents, and each group also pledged that they would do their best to complete their assignments and acknowledge the importance of everyone’s contributions and perspectives. 

“I have been able to work on my team-building skills, and it is cool to see the uniqueness that each of us brings to the table to bring the project together as a whole,” says Sarah J. ’27. “I also got to learn about how such a small organization can have such a big and mighty impact that supports the group.”

Students’ research was piqued when many of their alumni partners visited campus for tours and filming sessions. As Behrens and Tuber explained to students beforehand, some alumni had attended the School before there was a separate Fieldston Middle building, and others hadn’t visited the campus in several years. This warranted enthusiastic tours of the Fieldston Middle building, during which 8th Graders took alumni to visit their former advisors, snapped photos of their experience, and picked their favorite spots on campus to film their interviews. 

“It is great being with the alumni on campus, watching them talk to the students about their experiences, and having them point out memories along their tour,” Behrens says. “Watching one of the alumni connect with his former teacher and coach, Bob Montera, was heartwarming and amazing to see.”

“As a student, Fieldston’s teachers inspired my curiosity and nurtured my values,” says Adam Gaynor ’92, who oversees Green-Wood Cemetery’s strategic planning process as a partner at Plan A Advisors. “Arguably, it is because of Fieldston that I pursued a career in the nonprofit sector. And what a treat it was to run into one of my favorite teachers on my tour with the students!”

One advisory brought Jennifer Gonzalez Goldschein ’95, P’27, P’29, Chief Development Officer of New York Cares, to the park on the outskirts of campus for their interview. Student cinematographers and photographers determined their best camera angles before others began to ask their guest questions. As she explained her organization’s goals, Gonzalez Goldschein asked the 8th Graders, “When you hear the word ‘volunteer,’ what do you think of?” 

“I am continuously impressed by the maturity, poise, and intellectual curiosity of the Fieldston Middle students,” Gonzalez Goldschein says. “From their project management skills to their diverse set of questions, the students were prepared, professional, and ready to work!”

“I was really impressed by their level of engagement and thoughtfulness, and by how they worked together as a group,” Kate Frucher ’88, Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Clean Fight, shares. “Their questions built on each other so that, together, they delved deeper into understanding what The Clean Fight does and how business innovation can be a tool in combating the climate crisis.”

During their meetings, students also identified connections to alumni that went beyond attending the same School. 

“One student asked how my Fieldston experience helps me support youth at Hear Your Song, and then another student asked whether my Fieldston experience ever made it more difficult for me to connect with some of the youth I work with who come from different educational backgrounds,” says Dan Rubins ’12, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Hear Your Song. “I love that students are already thinking critically about how the privileges of Fieldston could potentially create hurdles as we grow as alumni towards other communities. It’s the kind of question I didn’t start pondering until I was a senior — I’m so glad for the students and grateful to their teachers that they’re already thinking this way.”

This observation is apparent in other alumni’s perception of the School’s influence. “ECFS played a crucial role in helping me understand the importance of being involved in one’s community and how we as citizens must work to level the playing field for those who have fewer resources,” adds Executive Director of StreetSquash George Polsky ’87, P’20, P’21, P’25. 

The project also encouraged students to explore their creativity while creating their final documentaries. Inspired by a social media trend, a group filmed a small portion of their assignment in the visual style of famed filmmaker Wes Anderson. Others mimicked common documentary styles to format their work. By fulfilling the various project roles related to filmmaking, students could also pursue budding interests in this field before high school will present more opportunities to develop those skills. 

The capstone project culminated on the last day of school, hours before the 8th Grade attended their moving up celebration. After the rest of the Fieldston Middle community applauded the 8th Grade as they left their final Town Hall, 6th and 7th Graders watched two standout capstone videos before being dismissed. 8th Graders then returned to the auditorium to watch more documentaries during their very own “Oscars” ceremony, complete with popcorn and a red carpet. Behrens and Tuber served as hosts, awarding advisories in categories such as Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Directing, and Best Picture.

Demonstrating both the ethical and creative knowledge they’ve honed over the last three years, the 8th Graders ultimately created documentaries reflecting a key ECFS lesson they’ll revisit in the years to come. “The project taught me that even if you’re one person, you can still have such an impact on others to form a larger community,” Sarah says. 

“The students understood the importance and the weight of an ECFS education in today’s world,” says Chair of the Board of Trustees Kimberly Smith Spacek ’91, P’27, P’33, who regularly partners with the Robin Hood Foundation. “It’s not only important to talk about making the world a more empathetic place but to do the work to get us there.”

Celebrating Bridge to Bridge

Fieldston middle literary lunch inspires students, esperanza caño’s love of teaching spanish fueled her 36-year career at ecfs, ecfs faculty challenge themselves with the new york city marathon.

Ridgefield, CT

Making the world a better place: St. Mary 8th graders launch Capstone projects

Eighth-grade students at Saint Mary School (SMS) are currently immersed in the culminating endeavor of their middle school journey: the Capstone Projects. These projects serve as the pinnacle of their educational experience, requiring dedication, creativity, and a deep dive into their individual interests.

Under the expert guidance of SMS faculty members Jeanette Campo, Beth O’Brien, and Elizabeth Nesbitt, each student is currently crafting a unique project tailored to their passions and curiosities. This week marks a significant milestone as students present their project proposals to the Capstone Advisory Board and SMS faculty.

Campo, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Saint Mary School, expresses her excitement for the opportunity to mentor the 8th-grade Capstone class. She highlights the students' diligent efforts in developing their ideas and preparing for their presentations.

These Capstone Projects serve as a testament to each student's individuality and drive to make a positive impact. From Elena's heartfelt initiative to bring joy to seniors at Prospect Ridge to Ryan's innovative approach to education through Minecraft, each project is a manifestation of the student's commitment to problem-solving and societal betterment.

Lyla's dedication to the Ridgefield Thrift Shop exemplifies the intersection of passion and skill. Using the software Canva to enhance the nonprofit’s marketing initiatives and creativity to enhance donated items, she furthers the shop's mission. Ryan's exploration of Electric Vehicles (EVs) underscores the students' engagement with pressing global issues and their desire to seek solutions through research and inquiry.

These are just a glimpse of the diverse and inspiring Capstone Projects undertaken by SMS eighth graders. Congratulations to all students for confidently presenting their proposals, showcasing their ingenuity, and demonstrating their commitment to creating a better world.

Saint Mary School is located at 183 High Ridge Ave. Learn more here.

Submitted by KA

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Six photos of Mitchell eighth graders' capstone presentations

Ryan patterson.

• Jan 19, 2024

Dozens of eighth graders presented their first semester capstone projects Thursday evening at Mitchell, 2701 Drexel Ave.

Donald Gillespie Jr.

Donald Gillespie Jr. was one of dozens of eighth graders who presented their first semester capstone projects Thursday at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave. He initially thought the course would be boring, but he said it was fun and helped him and his classmates grow into more caring and thoughtful community members.

McGee and Trujillo

Brandon McGee, left, and Angelino Trujillo presented their capstone class project, a school free throw contest that raised more than $300 for the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization, on Thursday at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave. McGee said the course helped his organization skills and made him realize he can be productive and have fun.

Presenting information

Eighth grader Donald Gillespie Jr. talks about his capstone project Thursday at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave. The project focused on homelessness, which helped Gillespie realize the importance of gratitude and service.

A display highlights the work of eighth grade students Thursday at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave. As part of a capstone class, students made and donated about a dozen fleece blankets to the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization a few days before Christmas.

Armando Santiago

Eighth grader Armando Santiago presents information about his group capstone project Thursday at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave. Eighth grade capstone classes are new this school year at the Racine Unified School District. They are part of middle school academy models that began last school year at Mitchell, Gifford and Jerstad-Agerholm schools.

Santiago and Roushia

Eighth graders Armando Santiago, right, and Brooke Roushia present their capstone project Thursday at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave.

Mitchell capstone presentations

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Global Capstone 2024: Armenia

Global capstone in armenia.

This program will be led by Professor Jennifer Brass and the client will be the  United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Armenia . Students will study innovative and participatory policymaking in Armenia, working with one of the UNDP's cutting-edge programs, the Armenia National SDG Innovation Lab , which is a joint venture with the Government of Armenia (GOAM) to mainstream evidence-based policymaking and contribute to the progress toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

There will be an opportunity for students to travel to Armenia during Thanksgiving Break 2024 to work directly with SDG Innovation Lab team, interact with Armenian students, and visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. Travel is not required for enrollment in the Capstone and is pending IU approval.

Application closes April 28

Course Information

Course title:  SPEA-V 600 Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs: Innovative and Participatory Policymaking in Armenia

Course information:  With the support of OECD’s Observatory for Public Sector Innovation (OECD OPSI) the project aims to support GOAM with a systemic approach to public sector innovation and participatory processes in general in government, as well as in selected sectoral policy areas and participatory budgeting. To date, OECD OPSI, along with SDG Innovation Lab, has conducted a scoping mission in Armenia to identify the main players of the public sector innovation ecosystem. OECD, with support from the Lab, is in the process of completing an innovation capacity assessment identifying the most feasible models of enhancing national innovation capacity in the country. When O’Neill students join the process in August 2024, these models will have been enacted in several areas. Students will work with the Innovation Lab team members on several aspects of the project, including such things as creating and analyzing monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) metrics, helping to conceptualize the design of additional Lab interventions in the medium term, and conducting research on behavioral interventions as the program unfolds. The exact contours of student involvement will be determined during Summer 2024, based on the needs of the Lab.

About the Client

UNDP in Armenia

UNDP Armenia, established in March 1993, plays a vital role in advancing the country's development agenda in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Operating at both policy and grassroots levels, UNDP advises on legal and policy frameworks while implementing initiatives that translate into impactful actions. Leveraging its extensive network across rural and urban areas, as well as engaging youth, innovators, and social entrepreneurs, UNDP fosters inclusive growth and resilience in Armenia.

The vision for the country program is for Armenia to become a more cohesive, inclusive, just, and resilient society supported by governance systems that use evidence, citizen-centered innovation, and partnerships to ensure social, economic, and environmental sustainability and prosperity for all.

In the previous program cycle, UNDP's activities in Armenia were closely aligned with the government's agenda, and UNDP was acknowledged as a key partner in various areas including local economic development, community mobilization, natural resource management, legal and institutional frameworks in the environmental sector, disaster risk reduction, transparent parliamentary elections, infrastructure investment management, customs and agency technical capacities, issue-based coalition coordination, women and youth empowerment, and citizen engagement.

UNDP plays an important role in joint programming and implementation in Armenia. In the period 2021-2025, UNDP will work to create an integrated innovation platform as part of shifting to the next-generation UNDP, using its innovation platforms as internal service providers to United Nations agencies and for exploratory and catalytic joint programming with the Government and other partners.

UNDP Armenia’s projects prioritize the following key areas, each led by dedicated portfolios:

• Socio-Economic Development
• Democratic Governance
• Climate, Environment and Resilience
• Innovation and SDG Finance
• Gender Equality

Learn more about the UNDP in Armenia: UNDP in Armenia

SDG Innovation Lab

The Government of Armenia signed on to Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. The complexity and interconnectedness of SDGs require novel approaches, methodologies, strong data systems, and institutions that would have the capacity to provide ‘out of the box’ solutions that bring about transformative impact. The Armenia National SDG Innovation Lab, thus, is a pilot model for accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the country level, which, if successful can be replicated across the region and beyond. The Lab is an attempt to formulate a new wave of policy solutions that empower governments to engage in evidence-based decision-making for sustainable progress. Its proven success has inspired the establishing of a new breed of UNDP Accelerator Labs, which aim to propel their respective host countries forward, enabling them to "leapfrog" rather than merely "catch up" in their development pursuits. We aspire for the Lab's model to serve as a blueprint for replication across the region and beyond. SDG Innovation Lab is dedicated to fostering a culture of innovation and experimentation within policy-making processes for sustainable development. As a collaborative effort between the Government of Armenia and the United Nations, with support from UNDP in Armenia, the Lab strives to catalyze Armenia's development trajectory and expedite the realization of Agenda 2030 goals.

To cultivate a "culture of experimentation" within public services and pave the way for sustainable development in Armenia, the Lab incorporates and implements the following service lines:

• Design Thinking
• Institutional Transformation
• Behavioral Insights
• Digital Transformation
• Data Science

Our team of innovators merges academic research and evidence with policy-making, producing prototypes of sustainable development solutions. Through experimentation, we try to yield policy-relevant insights and actively contribute to policy crafting. Our diverse portfolio encompasses a wide array of innovation projects aimed at tackling complex societal, environmental, and economic challenges head-on.

To learn more about our Service lines and the projects visit our website : SDG Innovation Lab  

Travel Component

The international travel portion of the course will take place in Yerevan, Armenia over Thanksgiving break - Saturday, November 23 to Saturday, November 30, 2024. 

The international travel portion of the course will include the following items:

• Comprehensive pre-departure training covering country-specific health and safety information
• Ground transportation in-country
• Welcome and farewell dinners as a group
• Professional meetings with client
• Site-visits to organizations relevant to client
• Professional development activities
• Cultural excursions

The travel portion is tentative and pending IU approval.

Estimated program fee: $550-$650 (to participate in travel portion of Global Capstone course)

To secure their spot, students will accept their offer with a $250 deposit towards the program fee. The remaining program fee amount will be charged to students’ bursars prior to the travel portion of the course.

In addition to the program fee, students will be responsible for covering their flight to Armenia and personal expenses while on the ground overseas, as well as paying tuition for the V600 Capstone course (3 credits).

Scholarships

We have ample scholarships available for students seeking financial assistance to participate in this course. Scholarship applications are due by April 28 (the same deadline as program applications) . Please visit our   scholarship   page for eligibility requirements and application deadlines. .  Please note that these are study abroad scholarships, and therefore are only applicable to students participating in the travel portion of the course.

We invite applications from O’Neill graduate students across all degree programs who are in good academic and disciplinary standing. Course capacity is 25 students. 

Applications will open on Monday, April 8th. We will take applications until Sunday, April 28th. Admission decisions will be sent to students by Friday, May 3. 

The application is very simple. Everyone who wants to enroll in this course must complete the application. You will need the following to complete the application:

• Personal information (name, degree, GPA, etc.)
• Intention to participate in the travel portion of the course (yes/no)

More detail on who can enroll + priority registration

MPA, MSES, dual (MPA-MAAA, MSES-MPA), and online MPA students may enroll in this course to satisfy their capstone requirement. MAAA, MIA, and MIA-MPA students may take this course as an elective. Consult your academic advisor for further information or ways to take this course for credit.

Students who require this course for Dec ’24 graduation will receive priority enrollment, regardless of their intention to travel or not. After that – enrollment decisions will be first come, first serve with priority for students who plan to participate the travel portion of the course.

Pre-Departure Support

The O’Neill International Office will administer a pre-departure training and preparation process covering health, safety, security, and cultural information for students doing this program. A pre-departure group meeting covering these topics will take place in the Fall semester preceding departure for the international travel portion of the course.

O’Neill International resources

• O’Neill School: Bloomington