Project Spotlight: High School Capstone

Khan Lab School
April 19, 2021 / 5 mins read

This year, our first “senior” class is initiatingKLS's first High School Capstone projects. The purpose of High School Capstone is twofold: first, to design and execute a project that demonstrates the skills and knowledge students have gained throughout their time as a high school student; second, to learn about and engage with issues pertinent to the local community in a deep and meaningful way.

In the Fall Term, our "seniors" focused first on researching topics of interest, as well as local individuals and organizations that work on the topic, and then on applying to either intern or volunteer with those individuals/organizations. This Spring Term, students are using that experience to conduct either research or applied projects in their fields of choice.

Perhaps not surprisingly, our "senior" class's background as the first graduating class of a new lab school, as well as the experience of a global pandemic, heavily influenced the internships and projects. One of the major themes running through several projects isredesigning education and addressing students' needs both inside and outside the classroom. Another theme in this year's projects is a focus onhow technology can improve people's lives, whether that be economically, academically, socially, or even emotionally. Finally, our students used their Capstone projects to try to tacklelong-standing social and environmental problemsat the local level.

Below is the list of students and their projects:

  • Jane B.& Bella T. -Equity, Inclusion, and Justice at KLS
  • Caleb C. -Inspiring STEM Education amid a Pandemic
  • Parth I. -CS Curriculum Design Using Software-Hardware Integration
  • Dilan K. - Post-Fire Environmental Restoration in the Bay Area
  • Anjeli M.- Tracking Emotional Well-Being in Adolescents during the Pandemic
  • Laker N. -Teaching Linear Algebra at KLS
  • Abhi V.-Student Engagement in Online Education through Schoolhouse.world
  • Nick V. -Applying Machine Learning to the Economics of Small Businesses

Our High School Capstone Exhibition will take place virtually onTuesday, May 25. We look forward to sharing more about these Exhibition presentations on our News page in the future!