Unveiling Grade 12 Capstones

Photo Credit: Serena Wang

Walking through the Hamber hallways, you may have heard grade 12s discussing their Capstone project. The Capstone project is part of the required Career Life Connections (CLC) course and a big part of students’ last year in high school.

“The Capstone project is a requirement from the Ministry of Education that every grade 12 has to complete to graduate,” Mr. N. Francis (Music), who has taught many Hamber CLC classes, said. “It’s like a passion project in which you explore something you’re interested in or a question that you have.”

With the large amount of freedom given by this project, students came up with some unique ideas. Mr. Francis explained that students can connect it to what they may do career-wise, their relationship with their community, and more.  

Arlyn Gilmour (12) created an art magazine featuring her own art as well as work from others. “I’ve been passionate about art and design for my whole life and I’m thinking about going into branding or design, so I thought it would be a really neat way to practice those skills and gain more experience,” she said.

“My Capstone question was ‘How can I make a positive impact on the Bantam Girls basketball team?’” Mackenzie Paemoller-Amisano (12) said. “I really enjoy basketball myself, and I’ve gotten a lot out of it. I wanted to share my love of basketball with the younger grades by coaching them!”

Though the experience of creating a Capstone project may vary from student to student, many students talked about the creativity the project allowed.

“If I hadn't had a requirement to do it, I don't know if I would have. It’s cool that they make it a requirement because it forces you to do something you might not have done before,” said Cohen Milisavljevic (12), who made a fingerboard park out of concrete.

Elise Redivo-Salvador (12) made a baking cookbook. “I liked coming up with my own creative recipes. I would take ideas from other recipes, but then I would substitute some things and do different measurements.”

“I like the freedom that it gives our students to think creatively. It’s always entertaining to watch what they come up with!” Mr. Francis said.

According to Mr. Francis, the Capstone project is the highlight of CLC. “Depending on the teacher, there are a few other steps that may be present, but they’re mostly related to the Capstone anyways,” he explained.

For this reason, students had to think long and hard before picking a project to make sure it was something they were interested in and that was important to them. 

“It’s really important for young girls to have more women’s representation in sports. To this day, there’s still a lot of stigma regarding women in sports, and I think just being there as a coach and mentor is essential,” Paemoller-Amisano said about her coaching experience.

“[In my magazine], I was able to share artwork from friends, family and community members. That was something meaningful to me!” Gilmour said. “I really enjoyed how relaxing it was. It wasn't a really stressful project, even though it was a pretty big undertaking.” 

She added, “I liked that I got to explore different types of art or design that I hadn’t really done before.”

Milisavljevic explained that he liked working with his hands on his fingerboard park, as well as “just getting to see something start from nothing and become something.”

Lea Branov (12) decided to make a book list and create a display for the library. “I enjoyed making the display and coming up with ideas,” she said. “When people see a display, they’re like ‘Oh, that's interesting!’” 

Along with the aspects of the project they enjoyed, students encountered various challenges. Redivo-Salvador recalled how some of her recipes didn’t go as expected. “For my process, sometimes I would try out recipes, and they wouldn’t turn out how I wanted. I would waste all those ingredients,” she said.

Paemoller-Amisano commented on how it was a challenge planning practices. “I found it difficult to find drills that weren’t only educational but also fun for them. I really just wanted it to be an enjoyable experience for them!” 

“Some of the recipes intimidated me, but just trying something new, [and] taking a risk to bake something I haven’t done before,” Redivo-Salvador said about what she learned in the process. “That’s the takeaway; always take risks!”

“I learned a lot about the designing process and problem-solving,” Milisavljevic said. “I’d have an idea, and then when I’d go to do it, I’d realize it may not work out the way I thought it would. I’d learn how to adapt.”

The Capstone project is as much about the process as it is about the result. Mr. Francis concluded, “I think it helps to teach [students] something about themselves that maybe they didn’t know.”