Every year, Loudoun Valley High School provides a sense of relief for Valley seniors by giving them an opportunity to partake in an internship or community service to be able to straighten their college resumes and gain experience for life after highschool, and college. 

Capstone allows seniors to participate in either community service or some type of internship during the last month of school, it is made clear that Capstone is a privilege for seniors in the very beginning of the year, because with capstone comes class exemption. This year, Capstone starts May 18th, and it ends June 3rd. 

To be able to participate in Capstone, you have to be in good academic standing, and get approval of your idea through the teachers on the Capstone board. This year, the teacher mentors are Michael Skvarch, Shea Finny, Jackie Garbe, Violet Dube, Scott Schwarz, Dan Loper, and Cassie Smink. 

Each mentor is able to answer any questions that you may have about Capstone, and what process you need to take to be able to join Capstone. Since the start of the pandemic, everything had to be altered in a way that was able to accommodate Covid. 

With Covid being in the way of Capstone, students were provided with help sessions on the Capstone page to help explain everything that you need to know when it comes to Capstone. 

To begin applying for Capstone, you have to pitch your idea to one of the teacher mentors, to see if they are able to mentor you, and if they approve of the ideas that you pitch to them. 

When your idea is approved by your teacher mentor, you then have to get a community mentor, for example, if you wanted to do a community service Capstone, you would have to talk to the person in charge of that area; like a park leader or someone similar to that job position. 

Once you have both of your mentors, you’re finally ready to start filling out the rest of paperwork that you need to complete before the proposal deadline. 

Senior Izzy Gracias, and her partner Josee Gregoire, are going to Blue Ridge Middle school to teach middle schoolers about stress relief, 

“With the deadline being extended, it was a lot easier to really flush out our plan for what we really wanted to do for Capstone and gave us more time to fill out our forms.” Explains Gracias. 

The paperwork that you need to fill out includes a plan for how exactly you want to execute your Capstone and how long you think it will take, then you have to fill out medical forms in case of an emergency. 

This whole process can take a few months to complete, and it’s important to be patient throughout the beginning stages of Capstone so your mentors are able to work out your ideas with you, and are able to help you in whatever way that they can to make sure you are successful in your particular Capstone. 

Start thinking about Capstone as soon as possible, your senior year will approach faster than you think it will, and it’s always better to be prepared, especially when it comes to getting out of school early.