Senior Capstone 2020

Goals, Gifts, Gratitude

You are nearing the end of high school, and the end of mandatory schooling. The Senior
Capstone is an opportunity to reflect on 12 years of learning, learn a bit more about yourself,
and obtain and demonstrate new skills that will be crucial to your success in your future
education and career.

The Capstone focuses on three areas: goals, gifts, and gratitude. The “Goals” portion of the
unit begins with developing a greater understanding of the self through several different
personality and leadership assessments. As you develop a greater understanding of yourself,
you will identify a historical figure who shares similar values or leadership skills, research their
life, and create a biography project with an annotated bibliography. The “Gifts” portion of the
unit will give students the chance to demonstrate a skill, value, talent, or interest through
creation of their choice of project. The “Gratitude” portion of the unit will help students both
develop a practice of gratitude, which has been shown to rewire the brain to better combat
anxiety and depression, and to directly thank those who have had a positive influence in their
lives. Students will document the steps in this journey on their own website, which we will learn
to create together during class.

Each element of this unit will be broken into smaller assignments with specific directions,
guidelines, points values, and due dates. Many assignments will build upon prior work, so it is
essential that you complete all assignments on time.

In the words of Shakespeare: “We know what we are, but not what we may be.” (Ophelia in
Hamlet)