In recent years, two teachers have taken over the AP Capstone program at THHS: AP Seminar teacher Frank McCaughey and AP Research teacher Eleni Sardiña. They spoke to The Classic about how they see the program evolving and growing through things like an end of year celebration and a newly expanded role for senior mentors.
“Ms. Sardiña and I were brought on to take over the program [when Mr. Franco Scardino and Mr. Chris Hackney retired],” said Mr. McCaughey. “So, since taking it over, we’ve tried to build it out more, using some things that already existed.”
This past June, the two hosted a ‘colloquium’ event to celebrate the end of the year for Capstone students, where those who have completed one or both classes pass down their knowledge to the next class of Capstone learners to create a meaningful experience for both grades.
“When it ended, we did a potluck for over 200 people last year. It was awesome. And I think it speaks to the idea of how we really try to make it a community because it’s a very different type of class,” Mr. McCaughey said.
They are also working on strengthening the research mentor system between upperclassmen and underclassmen. This year, seniors who take on the role of “research mentor” can earn pass/fail credit on their transcripts for an “AP Research Mentorship” course.
Research mentor Jenna Abdelhamid said it was fulfilling to pass down the same knowledge to the underclassmen that her own mentor once did and to help her mentees through the same challenges she faced. “I love being a source of encouragement, sharing my advice and experiences to help others grow,” she said.
Around 15 seniors signed up to be research mentors this year, Ms. Sardiña said. She said she wants to further involve seniors by making a program where seniors can be honored for their achievements in AP Seminar and Research and be credited for their work through membership to a Capstone graduate program.
During sophomore year, students may choose to join the AP Capstone program and take AP Seminar, a year-long college-level course that teaches students to analyze information, evaluate evidence, and develop evidence-based arguments in preparation for academic research.
In Junior year, if they wish, students progress to AP Research, where the program culminates in a 4,000–5,000-word paper and a 15–20 minute presentation with an oral defense. It helps students build research skills, critical thinking, and improve their public speaking in high-pressure settings.
Junior Elena Molina said, “Capstone, especially AP Seminar, changed the way I approach school and learning. It gave me valuable skills that I know I’ll use in my future, like critical thinking, presenting, collaborating, and researching. It also helped me grow more confident while giving presentations.”
“The Capstone program truly transformed my high school experience by equipping me with valuable skills I would not have gained otherwise. I had such a unique opportunity to reach out to expert researchers and learn directly from their studies, while also researching my own topic that deeply mattered to me,” Jenna said.
“[The course teaches] the most directly attributable skills to what students are going to experience in college, in terms of the writing they’ll do, the research they’ll do, the readings they’ll do,” said Mr. McCaughey. “And we’ve had alumni come back, and they pretty consistently say that taking these classes was the most preparation that they got for college.”
