I cautiously took a sip of the warm homemade concoction I had been handed in a dixie cup. The solution had been whipped up before my eyes only minutes before by an ambitious 14-year-old student named Chad. I prepared to wince.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t even bad. I took another sip then went ahead and downed what was left of the yellowish liquid that Chad had prepared for me and an audience of peers and adults.

I could feel Chad’s eyes on me as he eagerly awaited my reaction. I swallowed and said, “Yup. That tastes like Gatorade. Well done.” Chad exhaled loudly and his classmates clapped their approval. 

I could see the relief on his face. This was the culmination of what he had been working on for months. His Capstone project presentation had finally come to a successful and tasty conclusion. The research, writing, fieldwork, and public speaking. It was all over, and Chad could breathe easy. 

Capstone is a process. Baby steps. Big steps. Backward steps. Deep breaths. Deadlines. Ask any high school or college student who has been through a Capstone project, and you will likely hear the same assessment. It was a long process, but it was worth it. 

For Chad, it began in the winter of his eighth grade year at The Independence School when he accepted my challenge to think outside the proverbial box. He heard me repeatedly tell the class that this project was not a report or an essay. A Capstone project is a culminating experience. It spans different disciplines and serves as an example of the many skills a student has acquired over months and even years. So make it interesting. Make it enjoyable. 

Chad, a standout student-athlete, chose Gatorade. Specifically, he wanted to know why Gatorade had gone from being a beverage served to football players at the University of Florida, to being an all-encompassing name brand that had become synonymous with athletics and fitness. Over several weeks, he had done the work, written his paper, and put together his presentation. When it came time to create his product, a necessary step in the Capstone process, he realized that he knew the subject well enough to make lemon-lime Gatorade from scratch. He had become an expert.

Before mixing it up and serving it, he treated the audience to a brief history of the drink, a mini science lesson on how hydration relates to athletic performance and a crash course in mass marketing. He presented his findings using a Powerpoint slideshow embedded with videos and enhanced with powerful images. It was a masterpiece. Chad had just demonstrated how to use all of the skills he had been learning and fine-tuning to be both entertaining and informative. And that sigh and smile at the end of his presentation did not only signify his relief. It told me he was ready for anything. He was ready for high school. 

That is what the middle school Capstone project at Independence is about. Eighth graders who know how to research and report on a topic (in MLA format), complete fieldwork, create a product and make an informative presentation are already steps ahead of their future high school classmates. 

Tyler, a high school freshman who as an eighth grader researched the process of creating and publishing his own video game, refers to high school as “Capstone 2.0, but you have to do it for every assignment.” He says that more than anything, the Capstone project helped him prepare for all of the writing he would have in high school. It also taught him the value of peer editing and proofreading. 

Another high school student named Brinton, who researched the role of artillery in the D-Day invasion of Normandy for her Capstone project, enjoyed the freedom of being able to choose a topic that interested and motivated her. “The experience was so challenging and rewarding that I may even consider expanding upon it in high school and college,” she says. “Having to incorporate research, writing, public speaking, and my artistic abilities was the best preparation I could have had.”

Preparation for high school is a sentiment that is echoed by many who experience the Capstone during their eighth grade year. Chad, who has since been through high school and college, recalls that after he transferred to Independence in middle school, the Capstone was the first time he had to make a formal presentation to a live audience, something Independence students start doing in the early grades.  “I gained a new level of confidence from that experience,” he says. “Preparation and time management. I still look back on those Capstone days as the ones that prepared me so well. I had never experienced anything like that.”

Since the Capstone project became part of the eighth grade curriculum at The Independence School l a decade ago, I have seen students construct miniature self-driving cars, historically accurate early chess sets, life-size mockups of Guantanamo Bay prison cells, and countless other amazing products. Every year, I am amazed by what these students are able to accomplish. However, it also fills me with joy to see what the process has taught them and prepared them for, which is far more important.

Kevin McDonald has been an Independence Middle School English teacher since 2011 and taught high school before then. He is also a published author of young adult novels as well as one for grownups (writing under a pen name).