Oakland Tech, along with all high schools across OUSD, bears a graduation requirement: the Senior Capstone Project. OUSD boasts that the project “articulates a vision for student achievement, which we assess through a Graduate Capstone project.” At Tech, students write a research paper and complete various other tasks in relation to their particular academies.
In theory, it’s an impactful career preparatory project, and if it were as enriching as the OUSD website claims, it probably would be. However, with a lack of support and structure combined with little academic freedom, the project has proved to be more of a weight on seniors’ shoulders than a fulfilling project where they can explore their passions.
“If there [is] a class or a subject that I hate the most, it would probably be the Capstone Project,” said Kiam Alcantar-Blandon, a senior in the Computer Academy. For both semesters, he had substitute teachers in his Capstone class. Although he is passionate about computer science, the Capstone does not excite him.
“It felt robotic,” Alcantar-Blandon continued, because students are expected to follow specific guidelines. He believes students aren’t given the opportunity “to explore more.”
Ezra Juarez, a senior in the Health Academy, echoed this sentiment. They argued that the restriction of Capstone subjects by academy is unfair, as many students have been assigned academies they did not apply for. Although they are interested in their topic, they see their peers writing essays they have no interest in because of their academy.
“You are unable to have this opportunity to choose [from] multiple things. It has to be this one baseline of what you should do rather than what you want to do.”
Juarez doesn’t have a Capstone class and has to work on it during advisory, where they receive minimal support. Though they have started writing their essay, they feel behind, because they don’t have someone to help them “regulate things.”
Due to a lack of clear communication, Juarez feels lost and confused about what is expected from them. They don’t feel confident in completing their graduation requirements, describing the “imbalance” of working on their final project while juggling senior year responsibilities.
Similarly, FADA students in Paidea don’t have Capstone teachers in their English classes and are thus expected to complete the research paper entirely on their own, yet another academy-specific issue that hinders student success.
A lack of academic freedom and support reflects poorly on the academy system in the eyes of freshmen. I can imagine it feeling like a poor decision to base one’s academy on genuine interests if the academy has a poor reputation. If someone had told me in freshman year that I would have to write a 10-page research paper entirely on my own, there is a chance I wouldn’t be in my academy today.
Undoubtedly, this is harmful to students. It is harmful to have one’s choices constricted in such a way (by factors and issues out of their control) that they choose an academy with a better reputation over one they are truly interested in. Imagine the negative repercussions that will take on their entire high school academic experience, and thus, their future.
If Oakland Tech is going to have a senior Capstone (which I believe they should) it needs to be taken seriously. If our administration doesn’t take it seriously, who’s to say the students should take it seriously? Students don’t deserve a project that they feel unfulfilled taking part in. If the administration doesn’t intend to improve the project to serve its fullest potential, it has no place as an unnecessary weight on seniors’ shoulders.