“This project allows students to apply their own interests, their own gifts, and their own knowledge to a social justice issue, which results in much higher engagement,” said Jessica Hanley, a science teacher at CJ. “What’s impressive is that the variety of social justice issues in our world is matched by the variety of interests and talents in our student body.”
The seniors work in small groups to complete the different phases of the project. The four phases are formal proposals, research, implementation, and reflection and presentation. Some of the issues this year include cyber-bullying, human trafficking, literacy and the environment. Two groups are specifically tackling the issue of body image and social media.
“One group will speak to girls on how to be confident in their values and following their own path and the other group will speak to the guys about false masculinity and what it really means to be a man in today’s world,” said Molly Bardine, senior capstone coordinator at CJ.
During the 2013-2014 school year, approximately 40 different topics were covered and this year there are 167 students involved in the project. The social issues involved with the capstone help students gain confidence while critically examining real life challenges, Hanley said.
“They know what it’s like to be saturated by the media and they know what it’s like to have body images issues,” shes said. “The fact that they want to help young girls work through these issues is admirable. I do believe that the message is more significant when coming from high school students.”
Students will present their capstone projects with the public April 30 at the Stang Symposium, which is named in honor of Dayton native Dorothy Stang.
“The greatest benefit I see in the project is providing students the opportunity to recognize they do have the ability to make a difference in the world and to never underestimate the impact they have on an issue,” Bardine said. “Our seniors gain confidence and courage to critically examine the challenges we face in the world and learn not to be overcome by them.”
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