BY JOSHUA HAZLETT

Students in the ISD are all given an opportunity to apply for capstones dependent on their pathway throughout high school. These capstones give students real hands-on learning experiences preparing them for their desired career. From building houses from the ground up to running a clothing brand, the capstones offer a variety of different career experiences.

An example of one of these capstones is the Entrepreneurship Capstone. This capstone is available to students in the business pathway, and it consists of making clothing, selling clothing, advertising, etc. This capstone is very hands-on, and a different learning experience than one might get in the classroom. Although students may not want to own a clothing store in the future, learning how to run any type of business is beneficial to any students looking to own their own business as it gives them experiences which could be very beneficial for their future.

In a header on the ISD webpage, the district states, “The Academies of the ISD are personalized learning communities, guiding students toward college and career success.” Truman High School student Stuart Grotenhuis is an example of the benefits of this type learning environment. Instead of sitting in a desk and taking notes he “markets/promotes our high school sports teams” with things like gameday promotion on social media or helping produce hype videos for each sport. The type of learning available via capstone is closer to on the job training than traditional classrooms. Grotenhuis said, “My capstone is definitely teaching me more than a regular class at Truman, I’m learning real-world stuff and how to job shadow and what a real job in the real world looks like.” While this is only one perspective, it still describes the capstones very well and it should encourage underclassmen to enroll in a capstone that correlates with their future goals.