As most students are aware, Capstone is a year-long senior class project that includes in-school and out-of-school opportunities like internships, mentorships with ACC teachers, or taking a level III CTE or Early Online College (EOC) courses.

An Educational Capstone was just introduced this year to allow seniors to take level III CTEs, which they wouldn’t have time for if they were taking a Work-based Capstone. The Educational Capstone also gives seniors time to complete EOC courses, which are necessary to earn an Associate’s or General Education degree.

A Hybrid Capstone is a full Capstone, but instead of being both 5th periods, it is only one and requires around 100 hours or about half of a full Capstone. This Capstone allows students to still get work-based experience but gives them time to complete other courses that might be more important to them.

Lastly, a Work-based Capstone. The Work-Based Capstone is the most popular Capstone—two thirds of the class of ‘24 selected it—and requires the student to work for 280 hours at a company or non-profit. While this might seem like a lot of work (it averages out to 7-10 hours a week), both of a senior’s fifth period is spent working at their internship instead of attending a class at Tech. The internship also doesn’t have to be related to a subject the student learned about at school. For example, it may focus on juvenile justice while another might be in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security.

Overall, Capstone is a great experience, but it requires a lot of dedication and having an open mind. Capstone won’t be like any class you’ve taken.