Ossining Students Showcase Multi-Year Capstone Projects

From a video on making Patois Jamaica’s second official language and an animal cruelty presentation to a panel discussion on race and law enforcement, Ossining High School seniors covered a lot of ground during the first-ever Capstone Showcase.

The event, which took place Jan. 10 and 11, was the culmination of four years of preparation and research on a passion topic. The second Capstone Showcase for the rest of the seniors will take place in the spring.

Nadine Zeidan looked at generational views on technology and how they affect communities and news distribution. She sought to find ways to reduce the generational divide and bring communities closer together using technology. She became the social media editor of “The Current,” the school newspaper, to expand the publication’s reach and get news and information to more people.

“Communities really need to come together in order to thrive,” Nadine said.

The Capstone Project started students’ freshman year, when they studied research techniques and resources. The following year, they identified a passion, question or frustration they had, or a need they saw, and created a research project based on it. They used their data to present an argument on their topic in English 11. This year, they have been finalizing their research and developing and implementing their projects in the Capstone 4 class.

OHS began formally planning for the Capstone curriculum six years ago and later ran a pilot program, said teacher Tina Occhigrossi Fink, a member of the Capstone Instructional Team. The Class of 2019 is the first full grade to complete the four-year Capstone sequence. Josh Mandel, who was principal when Capstone was being developed, attended the Capstone Showcase.

“We’re crazy proud of you,” Ms. Fink told students at the event. “We thank the district for giving us the opportunity to have Capstone.”

Andrew Thompson turned his love of basketball into a research project on changes in the NBA and their impact on the game. Among the changes are more teams taking 3-point shots and a greater emphasis on player development. The latter has led to the tallest men becoming better ball-handlers and passers, he said.

“Overall, the changes have been good,” Andrew said.

Shanecia Flemmings spent time in Jamaica – where she grew up – interviewing children and adults about Jamaican Patois. Many of the people she spoke with said it should become the second official language. But all the teachers she interviewed said it shouldn’t be taught in school.

Claudia Bueno did her project on the goals and impacts of implementing Common Core Standards in schools. She is creating a flyer about Common Core that she will distribute to parents. “It was shown that the standards increased the rates of college readiness,” she said.

Claudia’s project is one that involved community work, meaning it called for working with other schools, community centers and local organizations. Other projects in the community work category included giving a presentation to sixth-graders about the negative effects of social media and raising awareness about heart health. Several students created artwork for their projects. Others wrote articles that appeared in the school newspaper.

Students Richard Cordero and Michael Quintuna did a presentation on managing soccer teams. Richard is the coach of the Legacy Football Club, a soccer team in Ossining that plays in an informal league. Communication and working together are critical in the game, Richard said. You can’t have one person hogging the ball. Players have to love soccer too.

“It’s not about winning or losing. It’s about your passion for the game,” Richard said.

The other members of the Capstone Instructional Team are teachers Katie Helly; Lauren SooHoo Adamo; Craig Bach; Nora Callagy; Artie Carlucci; Mirla Puello, director of student academics; and OHS Principal Stephen Hancock.