C R E E K V I E W H I G H S C H O O L

2017-2018Creekview High School Senior Career Capstone

Senior Career Capstoneis the concluding phase of the Cherokee County School District’s Career Pathway model initiated to better prepare you, the student, to meet the needs of employers, technical schools, colleges, or universities. This initiative provides you with a capstone to showcase the skills you have acquired over the past eleven years of public school. It combines both academic as well as career requirements intended to challenge your ability, stretch your limitations, and celebrate your individuality. In addition to completing the requirements for your senior English curriculum, you will also complete each of the four components of Senior Capstone:

  • Product (1st and 2nd semester)
  • Research Paper (1st semester)
  • Electronic Portfolio (1st and 2nd semester)
  • Senior Boards Presentation (2nd semester)

1. The Product

The most successful Senior Capstone ventures and subsequent Products are the ones that tap into an area of interest for the student; one he or she is passionate about pursuing. By tapping into this individual resource, the student innately receives the motivation necessary to face the challenges, overcome the obstacles, and excel in the completion of his/her Productand ultimately Senior Career Capstone.

With this in mind, choose a capstonethat taps into your passion, extends your learning, stretches your potential, and challenges your abilities. What that may be is up to you. The goal is to go beyond your current knowledge to create a higher level of learning. Just remember the requirements. Your selection must have a career connection and must provideyou with a “learning stretch,” one that will take you at least 15 hours outside of class to complete.

Because Senior Capstone will be one of the most important assignments of your high school career, not to mention the fact that it will take up much of your time in the coming months, you need to consider your choice for the Productvery carefully.

Think about all of the things you are passionate about or interested in—things you would like to fix, do, learn, understand, see, improve, create, experience, or own. Brainstorm your ideas as they come to you: don’t edit yourself at this point. After you create your list, narrow your ideas down to three or four which are “do-able” and prioritize them. In deciding whether or not a particular Productidea will work, take into consideration whether or not research information will be available and whether the Productis one which you can financially afford to undertake. Also, consider if it will maintain your interest for eight months, take you at least fifteen hours to complete, stretch your abilities, challenge your limitations, and provide you with a learning stretch.

Considerations in choosing your product:

  • Cost:Your grade is NOT based on how much you spend on your Product.
  • Time:Your Product must be completed by the due date, no extensions.
  • Product: Tangible evidence of the skills you acquired in satisfying your learning stretch must be presented in class when the Product is due for Stand and Deliver as well as for Senior Boards. Think carefully and creatively about how you will present your Product: a demonstration,performance, or portfolio displaying your skills, or physical evidence and explanation of skills required to complete the Product. Your Product must be completely generated by YOU and take a minimum of 15 hours to complete.
  • Transportation: Accessibility to and from lessons or meetings with your CapstoneFacilitator must be taken into consideration.
  • Special Permission: Remember that visiting or observing at many sites requires special permission. Call ahead to make arrangements.
  • Possible Types of Products: physical, written, performance, leadership experience, physical experience, career-related, community service.
  • Ineligible Products: No purchased or ready-made models or kits will be accepted.
  • Capstone Approval: The capstone must be tied to a career, and the chosen product must reflect the learning process within that field in order to receive approval.
  • Movability: If your Product is movable (no matter how large or how heavy), it must be brought to school for both Stand & Deliver (or on the determined date if your class does not do Stand & Deliver) and for Senior Boards.
  • Your product must be approved before you will be allowed to proceed.

What is the Role of a Capstone Facilitator?

The role of the Capstone Facilitator(s)will vary depending on each student’s Product. The expertise of the Capstone Facilitator (CF)makes it possible for students to complete the second component of their Senior Capstone: theProduct.

  • Sustained Instruction: The CF’s role may be to give sustainedinstruction in the form of a progression of lessons where the student might learn how to design a webpage or how to communicate through the use of Sign Language. In this case, the student will meet with his/her CFon a regular basis in completing most of the 15 required hours. To satisfy the remaining hours required for the “learning stretch,” the student will then decide how to reveal his/her new skill(s) as a tangible Product: create a demonstration, a portfolio/scrapbook/cookbook, make a video and/or a portfolio, separate from your Senior CapstonePortfolio.
  • Periodic Instruction: On the other hand, the CF’s role may be to provide periodic instruction with the student. The student meets with CF for step-by-step instruction, but the student completes each task on his/her own without the CF present. Most of the required 15 hrs. is completed away from the CF, yet the CF still provides the student with the expertise necessary to create a challenging yet achievableProduct. Once again, to satisfy the remaining hours required for the “learning stretch,” the student will then decide how to reveal his/her new skill(s) as a tangible Product: create a demonstration, a portfolio/scrapbook/ cookbook, make a video and/or a portfolio, separate from your Senior CapstonePortfolio.
  • Fundamentally the role of the CF is to . . .
  • enable the student to create a challenging yet achievable tangible Product
  • guide, encourage, and oversee the student’s progress
  • verify the time student spends on his/her fieldwork (minimum of 15 hrs.) The student must share the docs collection with the facilitator.
  • It is possible to have more than one Capstone Facilitator. In fact, you may need more than one. For example, if you want to learn how to use a manual camera and acquire the skills for taking pictures with different subjects and backgrounds, you will have one CF. However, if you decide to mat and frame your photos, you may need to seek help from anotherCF.
  • Your Capstone Facilitator cannot be a member of your immediate family group.
  • Your Capstone Facilitator cannot be a Creekview High School teacher.
  • Your Capstone Facilitator must be someone local and someone that you meet with face to face.
  • Your Capstone Facilitator must be 24 years of age or older.

Use Of Campus Facilities

For some Senior Capstone participants, finding a facility in which to hold performances, demonstrations, meetings, fund raisers, etc. is an important consideration. The campus facilities will not be available for your use. You must find an alternate location.

2. The Paper

After you have decided upon a Product, you will need to know more about it. This is where the Research Paper comes in. For the past three years, you have researched a topic and written a paper. This paper only builds on those skills. More information will be forthcoming from your English teacher.

3. The Electronic Portfolio

The purpose of the Portfoliois to document your entire Senior Capstone process, from inception to completion. Your portfolio must be in electronic format. All Creekview seniors will create a site to use as the portfolio. No exceptions! It is graded by your teacher, but it will be viewed by your judges for Senior Boards as an introduction to you and to your Senior Capstone. With this in mind, you will want to create a Portfoliothat celebrates your individuality and creativity as well as one that conveys the time and effort you put forth in completing your Senior Capstone! You will be trained during first semester on creating the portfolio.

Contents:

  • Resume
  • Letter to the Judges
  • Log/Portfolio
  • Senior Capstone Proposal Form
  • Product Work Log with 15 pictures (15 Hour Minimum)
  • Research Paper

Product Work Log

Since much of the work on your Senior Capstone will be done outside of class, you will need to keep accurate records of the time you devoted to completing your Product, the expenses you incurred, where you went, who you talked to, what you learned, what obstacles you overcame, and how you overcame those obstacles. You will also record your experiences in a minimum of 15 photos. All pictures must be time/date stamped and the majority of the photos must include you. You will document and record this in the form of a work log using Microsoft Word. A sufficient log entry should contain a description of the activity, commentary (What did you do? How did it go? What did you learn? Etc.), and at least one photo. Be sure to title the entry and log the hours (time spent). See separate document for example.

Note: In order for your facilitator to complete the evaluations forms, you must have your docs collection shared with your facilitator!!

4. The Presentation (April 17th and 18th 2018,4:15pm-8:30pm)

The culminating component of Senior Capstone is the Presentation: Senior Boards. Your formal Presentationwill be given before a panel of judges comprised of teachers and community members. You will tell them about your Senior Capstone: the thesis you supported in your Research Paper, how your Productrelates to your Paper, and the process you followed in the completion of your Product. You will end your Presentationby explaining to the judges what you have learned about yourself, how you have grown as an individual, and how it has prepared you to accomplish your future goals. This is the time to celebrate the passion that went into your Senior Capstone as you proudly present your accomplishments.

Presentation requirements

  • Prepare an 8- 12 minute Presentation (timed: no less than 8 minutes, no more than 12 minutes, but aim for a maximum of 10 minutes)
  • Create at least two visuals: Remember that visuals are important not only to show the judges what you have accomplished but also to provide you with a pictorial progression of what you want to say. The visuals will enable you to keep your Presentation focused and organized as well as lessen any apprehension you may have about talking in front of people.
  • Prepare to answer questions from the judges about yourSenior Capstone journey including your product.

FINAL NOTES

  • All rooms will be furnished with a SmartBoard, a table, and a presentation remote. You must inform your English teacher twoweeks before Senior Boards of any other technology needed for your Presentation. You must bring in any disc, video, etc. you plan to use during your presentation during Stand and Deliver to ensure compatibility with the school’s technology.
  • Students may NOT bring in their own computers to present. They MUST use the computer provided by the school; a flashdrive is mandatory.
  • The Product must be completed by March 2, 2018. You will receive a separate grade from your English teacher for your completed Product.
  • Video clips are limited to two minutes if sound is included in the video. You may use a fourminute video if you are narrating the video rather than using the sound.

QUESTIONS

  • If you have any questions, please feel free to email Mrs. Hollers, , and Mrs. Torbert,, or your Senior English teacher.