Starting yesterday and ending today, seniors are finally finishing up their long awaited Senior Capstone projects as they present to the Senior Capstone Board. If earning passing grades, seniors will ring the bell outside of the office, signaling being one step closer to graduation.
The project has a variety of ways that students can present their employability skills to the judges. Shadowing and volunteer work are some of the most common.
“There are three types of Capstones that students can have: a traditional Capstone with shadowing and a product, volunteering, and then a professional job shadow opportunity,” Mrs. Alison Bonham, English Department chairman, said.
Seniors wrote proposal letters for their projects in April to the Capstone board. When approved, the student had to follow the guidelines for the project, which included 15 hours of shadowing. Many students based their choices of topics and mentors on their personal interests or what they plan on doing after graduation.
“I chose to shadow a tattoo artist because my dad was a tattoo artist. He taught me little things about tattooing, he critiqued my way of drawing, and he explained to me the actual attaching process of tattoo art,” senior Caitlyn Carey said.
Mentors qualifications include separation from Greenwood Community Schools and no familial relations.
“I had two mentors: Amanda Stevenson, the county chair from the Johnson County Democratic Party, and Andrea Humbley who is a state senator. I had a lot of difficulties with communication and scheduling, but it turned out to be a good thing because now I know how to work through those professionally,” senior Eliana Anderson said.
Some students knew little to nothing about their chosen topics; others chose something that had been passions for a long time.
“I chose my topic because I’ve always been interested in politics, and it is something I want to pursue post college so I was interested in getting more information about that. I learn how to talk to constituents and get ready for an election. I also learned how to create policy and legislation through hearing about people’s problems,” Anderson said.
Many students got to experience opportunities that would have later required a degree, or a job.
“I shadowed a car salesman at Hubler Chevy. I wanted to learn more about car sales and how they come up with the prices. I am really interested in cars so it was cool to be able to test drive the cars,” senior Braylin Donenfeld said.
Senior teachers encouraged students to complete their shadowing hours before they returned for their senior year of high school. If they did so, they only needed to complete the required paper work during first semester.
“I shadowed a naturalist at Garfield Park Conservatory. I got to help with animal care and watering plants as well as planning programs for the public. My favorite part was being able to interact with the animals because they had tortoises, chickens, snakes, geckos, and lots of other animals as well. It was a summer day and super hot out when I shadowed, so that was one of the more difficult parts,” senior Lily Allen said.
Another part of the project was putting together a product that displayed what was learned during the shadowing portion.
“I chose to do volunteer work because I know that in the future I want to help people and it was the best option for me. For my product, I put together my own event and do a donation drive where the community could come and donate diapers and wipes for those in need,” senior Ellie Hockersmith said.
Capstone projects can be time consuming and average more than 25 hours for students who chose to shadow.
“It is definitely relieving to be done with the project. I am not as stressed as I was, and I will have more time to focus on other things with it out of the way now,” Hockersmith said.
