Capstone
At Green Mountain High School, seniors have an opportunity to pursue a passion, provide a service to others or explore potential careers through our capstone programs. As part of our Academy program, these projects are designed to be the pinnacle of a student's academic journey and provide an authentic learning experience that prepares them for college and career in the 21st century.
We have two types of capstones at Green Mountain: the Academy Capstone and STEM Capstone. Both are independent projects but have different requirements. Click on the links below to learn more.
Green Mountain High School is spotlighted on the Colorado Department of Education's website under Promising Practices for our Academy and Capstone program. Read the article and watch the video.
Academy Capstone
As a culmination of each student’s educational experience at Green Mountain High School, seniors are provided the opportunity to participate in a capstone project to demonstrate that they are college and career-ready.
The capstone project is designed to showcase each student’s academic achievement, enduring knowledge and unique talents. The capstone must be successfully completed in order to earn an Academy Pathway Endorsement with Honors or Renaissance Scholar Endorsement, and it is also a requirement to earn the valedictorian or salutatorian recognition at graduation.
The purpose of the capstone project is to give students a chance to choose an area of study, to combine different disciplines and to explore new avenues, while helping others and contributing to the community. Each student will stretch their intellectual and personal growth by going above and beyond what they already know. In essence, the project will provide a significant learning stretch. Students can choose to dive deeper into a passion, explore a possible career field by doing an extended job shadow or internship, or provide a service to their community and society.
Once graduating seniors have completed the capstone project, they will have completed a multi-faceted task that has brought maturity, organization, service learning and public speaking skills to fruition.
It is also important to note that students will be creating and completing these types of projects in their post-high school careers as well. Any student planning to attend a college or university will have to complete major projects like this as a part of the university experience. Most careers also require employees to complete projects like this. Students will have experience in real-world tasks.
Requirements
- A project topic selection that demonstrates a significant learning stretch
- Fieldwork outside of school resulting in a tangible end product
- Work with a mentor that is not a GMHS staff member or family member
- Digital portfolio
- Process paper
- Final presentation to a panel of four to five community members, industry partners and staff
STEM Capstone
The STEM Capstone is a year-long, independent project with in-depth learning and exploration into engineering, mathematics, science and/or computer science. Upon successful completion of the STEM Capstone, students receive a stamped diploma recognized by the Colorado Department of Education. Students also have the opportunity to pass out of Cornerstone Design 1 at Colorado School of Mines.
Requirements
- 4.0 STEM-related credits beyond graduation requirements
- Work with an industry mentor
- Must address a known problem and align to the STEM field
- End product will be a prototype or scientific article
- Digital portfolio
- Presentation to a panel of STEM professionals