As early as her sophomore year, senior Anh Nguyen dreaded the Capstone senior project and even considered transferring to a different high school to avoid it. However, she said her project exploring firefighting has helped her learn key skills and, ultimately, she has decided to train to be an EMT.

“It teaches you time management,” Nguyen said. “It also teaches you how to communicate with someone professionally.”

According to Secondary Instructional Literacy Coach Ashley Swander, who is the Capstone coordinator, the purpose of Capstone Showcase is to display the top projects of the year. It also allows the underclassmen to have a say in which projects receive awards, while simultaneously exposing them to the process.

“It shows the diversity of the students,” said sophomore English teacher Lesley Russo.“It’s an opportunity for students and teachers to see the talents these kids have that aren’t always visible or able to be developed in a regular classroom.”

Attending Showcase as an underclassman didn’t impact senior Donald Jackson immediately; later, his project, creating a documentary on homelessness, gave him a greater awareness of the situations of others.

“I’ve learned how many families are out there who don’t have much, and how we complain about the smallest things,” Jackson said.

Showcase also gets underclassmen thinking about their own potential project ideas.

“It gives me a lot of ideas of what I can do for my project, and it shows the creative minds of Oviedo,” said junior Keely DeSouza.

It also provides confidence in their ability to succeed in this extensive project, according to junior Isaiah Pineda.

“Capstone is a little intimidating,” Pineda said. “Seeing all the people who have done it makes a bit relieving, you feel like you can do it.”

Russo loves seeing the results of the students’ hard work.

“It’s a chance for every kid to be successful, and that’s important,” Russo said.