Capstone
The Capstone Project at Science Leadership Academy is an opportunity for students to show the scholars they have become. It represents the culmination of four years of intellectual growth towards an independent and self-directed learner who can contribute meaningfully to his or her community, whatever that means to the individual. It will enable the student to focus his interests and curiosity into a coherent representation of how he thinks and what he believes as he leave high school. The capstone represents a synthesis of the SLA mission and vision as students attempt to answer the questions: “How do we learn?” “What can we create?” and “What does it mean to lead” through a self-selected and designed independent project. As with everything we do, it should embody the core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. The final product will look different for each student, just as each student has a unique perspective and approach to learning.
General Description:
For this project, students will work with a committee of individuals both in the school and outside of the school. In addition to a student's advisor, they will also be paired with an SLA mentor (one teacher in the building selected depending on their interests) as well as be connected with an out-of-school mentor with some specialty that is relevant to their project with whom they will communicate for feedback and collaboration. Underclassmen will also join the committee for periodic feedback and the final review. Rather than doing an ILP, the Wednesday afternoon time will be allotted to working on your Capstone, subject to planning in conjunction with your advisors (and thus will count as a half-credit class). In addition to “turning in” the project, students will also give a verbal Defense in which they present their projects and the process of developing it to their committee and anyone else who wishes to attend.
Timeline:
• Middle of junior year: begin brainstorming topics, themes, projects of interest select in-house advisor
• End of junior year: select in-house advisor, submit statement of intent to advisor for collaborative feedback
• First semester of senior year: collaborative development of expanded proposal, including outside advisor, timeline for research, and Wednesday afternoon plan
• First AND second semester of senior year (if not sooner!!!): project execution
• Due: Beginning of May senior year.
• Defense: Middle of May senior year
There is no length or format requirement for this project. Students should look for opportunities to adopt an interdisciplinary approach and demonstrate a complexity of thought about your chosen topic, both during the proposal phase and as they begin to execute the project. This is more than a benchmark, not simply in that students are designing it but also in terms of the quality and extent of the final product they submit. As with many of the benchmark projects, it could be in a written format (creative, analytic), audio, video, a physical product with supporting documentation, or anything else students develop with their advisors that demonstrates their capacity for independent thought and creativity.
Examples of projects could include: a science project, a research paper about a historical/literary/economic/political/etc. topic, a creative work (written, artistic), a performance piece, a practical program for a particular community, an outreach/publicity project, or something else that we have not even been able to think of yet.
If you can dream it, you can become it."
–William Arthur Ward
Interested in being a mentor for one of our students? Please see the information about mentoring a student for their Capstone Project.
EMcAninch_Capstone
Submitted by emcaninch on Thu, 06/10/2010 - 14:55.
Here is my Capstone.
The Senior Capstone Project at Science
Leadership Academy is an opportunity for students to demonstrate what
they have become over the course of high school as scholars and
individuals. It represents the culmination of four years of
intellectual growth towards an independent and self-directed learner
who can contribute meaningfully to his or her community. As such an
ambitious intellectual project, we are looking for mentors in all
fields interested in working with students to develop their own ideas
and facilitate their progress toward a meaningful product that truly
demonstrates our core values of inquiry, research, collaboration,
presentation, and reflection. While students are working to develop
their own vision of what it means to lead, your participation as a role
model of leadership and creativity will be hugely beneficial to them.
As a Capstone mentor, your role would be of an advisory nature, in
conjunction with two teachers at the school, providing guidance,
feedback, and your wealth of knowledge and experience in a mutual
relationship designed by the student and yourself.
For more information about what it means to be a mentor, click here.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Capstone Project Coordinator at rechols@scienceleadership.org
The Capstone Project at Science Leadership Academy is an opportunity for students to show the scholars they have become. It represents the culmination of four years of intellectual growth towards an independent and self-directed learner who can contribute meaningfully to his or her community, whatever that means to the individual. It will enable the student to focus his interests and curiosity into a coherent representation of how he thinks and what he believes as he leave high school. The capstone represents a synthesis of the SLA mission and vision as students attempt to answer the questions: “How do we learn?” “What can we create?” and “What does it mean to lead” through a self-selected and designed independent project. As with everything we do, it should embody the core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. The final product will look different for each student, just as each student has a unique perspective and approach to learning.
General Description:
For this project, students will work with a committee of individuals both in the school and outside of the school. In addition to a student's advisor, they will also be paired with an SLA mentor (one teacher in the building selected depending on their interests) as well as be connected with an out-of-school mentor with some specialty that is relevant to their project with whom they will communicate for feedback and collaboration. Underclassmen will also join the committee for periodic feedback and the final review. Rather than doing an ILP, the Wednesday afternoon time will be allotted to working on your Capstone, subject to planning in conjunction with your advisors (and thus will count as a half-credit class). In addition to “turning in” the project, students will also give a verbal Defense in which they present their projects and the process of developing it to their committee and anyone else who wishes to attend.
Timeline:
• Middle of junior year: begin brainstorming topics, themes, projects of interest select in-house advisor
• End of junior year: select in-house advisor, submit statement of intent to advisor for collaborative feedback
• First semester of senior year: collaborative development of expanded proposal, including outside advisor, timeline for research, and Wednesday afternoon plan
• First AND second semester of senior year (if not sooner!!!): project execution
• Due: Beginning of May senior year.
• Defense: Middle of May senior year
There is no length or format requirement for this project. Students should look for opportunities to adopt an interdisciplinary approach and demonstrate a complexity of thought about your chosen topic, both during the proposal phase and as they begin to execute the project. This is more than a benchmark, not simply in that students are designing it but also in terms of the quality and extent of the final product they submit. As with many of the benchmark projects, it could be in a written format (creative, analytic), audio, video, a physical product with supporting documentation, or anything else students develop with their advisors that demonstrates their capacity for independent thought and creativity.
Examples of projects could include: a science project, a research paper about a historical/literary/economic/political/etc. topic, a creative work (written, artistic), a performance piece, a practical program for a particular community, an outreach/publicity project, or something else that we have not even been able to think of yet.
If you can dream it, you can become it."
–William Arthur Ward
Interested in being a mentor for one of our students? Please see the information about mentoring a student for their Capstone Project.
