2024 Capstone Projects
Our 2024 students are using their coursework to make a difference in their classrooms and the profession.
Yara Barbosa: Supporting Multilingual Learners
This project consists of the planning of a professional learning series created for educational staff and administrators at East Kentwood High School. In the most diverse district in the state of Michigan, teachers should be equipped to accommodate and support the learning of Multilingual Learners in every classroom. The project highlights the navigation of initial proposals to administration and the Multilingual Learner Department, a planning stage for facilitators, all-staff workshops to best support our Multilingual Learners, and post-facilitation feedback surveys. This project was designed with specific data in mind, taken from a survey of forty-nine Kentwood educators. Looking ahead, this facilitation will be discussed and worked on with a team for the school year 2024-2025, and will be launched for all-staff meetings for the school year 2025-2026. Data will be used to drive this professional learning series forward to ensure East Kentwood High School teachers have the best tools and skills to support student learning.
Jessica Boezeman: Restorative Practices and Circles in Advisory
This project offers concise professional development on restorative practices and circle facilitation, empowering teachers to build a cohesive community. Implementing these methods during advisory time fosters a strong school community. In order for the project to be a success teachers required fundamental restorative practice training.
These basics empower teachers to create a culture of empathy, respect, and accountability. Integrating restorative approaches aids conflict resolution, strengthens teacher-student bonds, and nurtures classroom belonging.
Circles within advisory time provided a structured space for students and educators to come together, share their experiences, and build meaningful connections. This daily practice not only enhanced individual social and emotional development but it cultivated a culture of respect, understanding, and collaboration.
The practice of circles involves the advisor/ teacher and students physically circling up within the classroom and responding to a set of questions, and actively listening to each other’s responses. Circles run from 5 - 10 minutes long. The created circle flows include a stock of 5 questions for teachers to use as starting points and teachers can create their own as they begin to gain more confidence in facilitating circles.
To extend the impact of professional development on restorative practices, a systematic approach is crucial. Initial pilot groups have become ambassadors, spreading positive experiences and buy-in. Technology aids asynchronous learning, supplemented with in-person follow-ups. Ongoing support and resources assist teachers in integrating practices. By repeating this process, the school will ultimately cultivate a culture of empathy, collaboration, and accountability.
The future vision is that the format of bite sized professional development creates entry points for busy teachers to gain empowerment to build equity, responsibility and community through the knowledge of restorative practices.
Eric Colwell: Teacher Pathways to Culturally Empowered Students
My capstone is a website designed to educate and inspire educators with the knowledge and tools to empower their students. Creating the project involved a deep dive into the field of culturally responsive teaching; this studying created a strong foundation for the website’s curated selection of current and quality resources. Some resources were created to fill a need after drawing on contemporary work in the field.
The website is organized around five “Teacher Pathways to Culturally Empowered Students”. They are a modern framework aimed at being highly accessible but also comprehensive. It is intended to be useful to people with both limited and extensive exposure to culturally responsive practices, serving as either a guided learning through the different pathways for new learners or a well-organized place to find specific resources for the more experienced. It can help inform less experienced teachers, and re-inform those who want to refresh and add to their practice.
The website’s pathways and resources are aimed at the widest swath of age and content areas possible. One of the things it tries to limit is the idea repeated by some that “this wouldn’t work in my classroom”. Instead, it shows the wide variety of ways to make a teaching practice more culturally responsive. It would be useful to those who are looking for more ideas to add to their teaching practice while maintaining or creating opportunities to be culturally responsive.
The project’s motivation stemmed from firsthand experiences witnessing the impact of culturally responsive practices in classrooms. Looking forward, the website is envisioned as a springboard for professional development opportunities. I plan to guide educators through utilizing the pathways in a reflective, iterative improvement of their teaching practices. This will encourage educators to not only gain knowledge about culturally responsive practices, but also translate that knowledge into actionable steps for their own classrooms to empower their students.
Oscar Fischer: Creating DLI: I Am A Scientist
This capstone project contributes to enhancing diversity and equity within the science curriculum at my school by leveraging existing competencies and developing a new course focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in science. Collaborating with colleagues, I designed a course aimed at better representing diverse scientists and identities in the field. Through self-reflection on my own experiences as a white male in science, I aimed to address the prevalent focus on white male scientists in the current science curriculum.
The significance of this capstone lies in its potential to broaden high school students’ perspectives on science by presenting a more inclusive narrative that reflects diverse identities. The course aims to empower students to see themselves as scientists and encourages them to pursue science-related careers as they transition to college.
Moving forward, I plan to continue refining and developing the course, drawing on resources such as mentorship, research, and professional development opportunities. I will complete my ongoing professional development, which shares the social justice competencies I have established, and present this information before the next academic year. By fostering curiosity and encouraging students to question existing norms, I aspire to facilitate meaningful engagement and break barriers within the science field.
Bette Imhoff: Supporting Black Faculty: An Independent School Guide
In recent years, the representation and retention of Black faculty members in independent schools have emerged as critical issues in fostering diverse and inclusive educational environments. Despite efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, challenges persist, leading to lower retention rates among Black educators compared to their counterparts.
Drawing on both personal experiences and empirical research, this guide seeks to offer practical solutions to the systemic barriers and biases that hinder the retention of Black educators. By synthesizing insights from surveys, and existing literature, we aim to provide administrators with a comprehensive toolkit to create environments where Black educators feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
In the following sections, we will delve into the historical context of Black faculty in independent schools, explore current research and trends, and present initiatives and programs to implement. Through collaborative efforts and a commitment to equity and inclusion, we can work towards building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive educational communities.
Eliza Statile: Indian Mountain: The Faculty Experience, An Internal Exploration
This capstone project delves into the intricate dynamics of the faculty experience at Indian Mountain School, a junior boarding school in Lakeville connecticut. Amongst other goals of supporting faculty on campus and improving their work experience, this project aims to support and retain talented and committed faculty members as this leads to more positive student experiences, better investment and enrollment, facilities, and more. Through qualitative research methodologies including an anonymous survey, faculty members shared their experiences and feelings based on many years on campus. By analyzing insights from faculty members, a proposal was created that focuses on various changes that could take place on campus and will be presented to the board of trustees and senior leadership team to create positive change on campus and further action. In addition, this framework of internal exploration will be shared with other National Association of Independent Schools to perform their own research and support faculty at their school. Specifically, this project hopes to support teachers to "lead without leaving" and to have a positive experience in the profession by providing a work life balance and fostering a collaborative culture.
