Capstone 2020

Valley Catholic Middle School

Valley Catholic School is located on the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon's beautiful 43-acre campus in Beaverton, Oregon. Valley Catholic is Oregon's only Catholic school serving children and young adults from infancy through high school. This website features the final projects of 8th graders as they transition from middle school to high school.

Capstone is an intensive, year-end, independent project at Valley Catholic Middle School (VCMS). During the third quarter, students explore their interests and narrow their focus to one topic about which they are passionate. By the end of the quarter, students submit a project proposal and adjust their plans with feedback from teachers and parents. After spring break, students conduct research, write a 5-10 page cited paper, and interview a professional in the field before embarking on their project. During the final weeks of school, students create projects and share their learning through a website and oral presentation.

Through Capstone, students refine academic skills learned over three years at VCMS—research, writing and presentation. Students learn time management and planning, self-advocacy and communication--skills that will benefit them in high school, college, and their professional lives. Students direct their own learning and advance their personal and academic growth.

2020 was not a normal year. COVID-19 spread rapidly in early March. When schools and businesses started shutting down a week before spring break, 8th graders at Valley Catholic Middle School were left wondering if they would be able to carry out the projects they had been planning for several months. Students who hoped to photograph in state parks, review restaurants, take stained glass classes, or get access to large-scale 3D printers had to rethink their projects. With help from teachers and support from parents, these 84 bright, creative, and resilient kids adapted and made the best out of a difficult situation.

Pages on this website are organized alphabetically by students’ last names and house four parts of their Capstone:

Project: this is evidence of three weeks’ work by students under the supervision of a cohort teacher. Students composed music, drew comic books, made paintings and video games, wrote novels, cooked, and sculpted. This work is shared on slide shows, in videos, and other digital media.
Presentation: restricted by social distancing, students shared their work digitally. Some posted videos on Flipgrid and received feedback from peers and teachers, others presented on Zoom with accompanying slideshows. Those videos and slideshows can be found on each student page.
Progress Log: This log records students’ daily work through three weeks of project creation. Students documented three hours of productive time every work day, with descriptive text and visual evidence. Logs were used by cohort teachers to give feedback remotely and to track student progress.
Research Paper: These were written in English classes early in quarantine and gave students the background needed to finalize their projects.