By Taylor Timinskas and Hope Ferris, ’18
As a part of the senior year English curriculum, all students complete a senior capstone English project on a topic they are passionate about. The guidelines were simple: a research-intensive project, five weeks of work broken down by weekly guidelines, and criteria for success that we wrote for ourselves. But other than that, the sky was the limit for what we could do – and our peers truly did follow their passions. From documentaries to blogs, Pride and Prejudice to epidemiology, some of our favorite projects are below – enjoy!
| Arman Kassam | Rhyme Sublime | Sublime rhymes here! | I dove into the sound of flow in Hip Hop, attempting to formulate a comprehensive answer to an overarching question: How has Hip Hop asserted itself as a lyrically complex art form? I chose to write an *informal* research paper, attend a local cypher (freestyle), listen to a handful of some of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, and take an innovative approach to the visual depiction of rhythmic intricacy. Enjoy! |
| Miriam Weathers | Food, Fitness, and Flavor | Fun, flavorful capstone here! | I took the opportunity in the Capstone project to combine my two favorite subjects: food and fitness. People will often tell me that the reasons that they do not enjoy eating healthy foods is because healthy food tends not to taste as good as unhealthy food—which presents problems for fitness. In my project, I proved that flavor and health do not need to be mutually exclusive. I substituted unhealthy ingredients for healthy ingredients in recipes, and conducted taste tests to see if these new recipes were successful with students. I was able to give healthy food a new image. No longer is healthy food a chore. Now it is nutritious and delicious! |
| Caroline Brewer and Chelsea Fang | Cary Academy Epidemiology | Sick capstone here! | Chelsea and I both have deeply rooted interests in public health, so we decided it would make a lot of sense to conduct our senior capstone on the epidemiology of Cary Academy. We kicked off our project interviewing Nurse Doyle about the diseases that affect our school the most and what current methods of prevention are in place. Based on the information she gave us, we launched an entire prevention campaign to promote vaccinations, wellness, and general knowledge of prominent diseases within our community. We created a three tiered approach, starting a blog, an Instagram, and a creating a poster to hang up around school with the intent to explore and promote not only disease prevention techniques, but also communication methods and health headlines in a world where that type of information can get swept under the rug. We approached this campaign from a local lens, tailoring all information to what we felt was most applicable to the Cary Academy community in hopes that it would foster health promotion behavior and wellness schoolwide. |
| Mohala Kaliebe | Candide in Stick Figures | Delve into philosophy and art here! | A full comic adaptation of Voltaire’s philosophical critique Candide, drawn out on paper in my signature stylized stick figure style. I hope that my comic fulfills Voltaire’s goal of underscoring the ridiculous nature of Optimism, while also simply entertaining as it follows Candide and his friends’ many, many antics. |
| Hope Ferris | Pemberly on Screen: The Film Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice | Discover Mr. Darcy here! | I really, really love Pride and Prejudice, both as a novel and as a film adaptation. To combat the stereotype of the Austen fan and track how a single story is adapted differently for new generations and different historical/political influences, I watched seven film adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and created an official ranking based on how the films illustrate, interpret, or transform the themes of Austen’s most popular novel. |
| Taylor Timinskas | The Human-Canine Bond | See some furry friends here! | The overall goal of this blog is to educate dog owners about their relationship with their pet through both psychological and biological research. The blog entries explore the “man’s best friend” phenomena, taking on different topics related to the mutually-beneficial relationship. The topic is explored through research pieces and accommodating news and advice entries that back up the information in an engaging way that is relatable for all dog owners. |
| AJ Boa | The World of E-Sports | Experience E-Sports here! | The goal of this project was to inform people about the world of e-sports. The video serves to inform the audience of the scale, professionalism, and passion found within the e-sports, and hopefully help one who has no clue what e-sports are understand how e-sports are relevant. |