Think back to when you were in your senior year of high school. You had just completed all of your college applications in addition to being ready to complete all required high school credits needed to graduate. As January and the second semester approached, your excitement, anticipation, and anxieties for the future intensified.
Had you ever thought about how fully prepared you were for your next endeavors? Had your high school given you the ‘flextime’ to have internship opportunities, expand on a senior Capstone project or even volunteer abroad? This last semester of your high school career could have been the best yet, spent acquiring so much more knowledge through real world experiences instead of in a classroom twiddling your thumbs.
I know of many students, especially those who have graduated from my high school, who wished they had had the opportunity to expand on a senior capstone project or even apply to an internship before attending college. However, do not get me wrong, my high school offers renowned college prep curriculum that sets its students up for greater successes in their respective futures.
As I look back and reflect on what has been offered to me and all that I have accomplished there, I cannot help but be grateful for the wide selection of courses, creative and performing arts, athletics, service opportunities, and academic support that have been resources at my fingertips. As many schools around the Washington DC Metro (DMV) area do not have the ability to offer their students such an array of resources, having a variety to choose from has only heightened my high school experience and intuitively has helped me identify where my interests lie.
My school recently launched the Entrepreneurial Center for Innovation and Leadership (ECIL). The Center’s mission is to “focus on social responsibility and our role in creating a positive impact in our communities and in the world” (“Entrepreneurial Center”). This encourages students like myself, who are interested in stepping outside the realm of the traditional classroom, take creative and critical thinking and turn it into bold action that positively impacts our diverse communities.
ECIL has allowed me to select a challenge and figure out a way to solve that challenge using the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. I am currently interested in attempting to tackle the lack of clean water and sanitation, and irresponsible consumption and production.
Water scarcity is real, as, for every ten persons, three do not have access to safe and potable drinking water. Especially in first world countries, the amount of water that is wasted on a daily basis is extremely concerning, considering more than 40% of the global population is impacted by water scarcity (“Goal 6”). Throughout this Capstone project, I am able to build upon this Sustainable Development Goal that will eventually result into a prototype that is pitched to a panel of judges, similar to the very popular business-related reality TV series Shark Tank.
However, the project ends there and we graduate high school. Yes, the experience of creating a beneficial product that could potentially be on the market one day is a riveting experience, but there is always room for growth, suggestion, and improvement. I wish there was more time to fully expand my project and see the reality of my prototype.
As an aspiring Civil and Environmental engineer who wants to concentrate on creating and maintaining sustainable water systems in developing countries, expanding my ECIL Capstone Project outside the walls of my school would have been one thing that wholeheartedly would have made my high school experience more relevant to my future. If given the opportunity to expand, I would create an advanced model of the prototype that I have designed: a water re-filtration system.
The prototype that I have designed efficiently collects wasted water and safely filters it so that it becomes potable again. This product could be sold to companies that work in places where water is seen to be wasted the most ;cafeterias, dining halls, restaurants, resorts, and even in one’s home.
As many companies are turning towards using more sustainable and environmentally friendly resources, this wasted water filtration system would hopefully be an economically and environmentally attractive product. Additionally, an incentive to draw companies in to buying this product is that all wasted water that is filtered would be repackaged and sent to those in need; therefore every gallon of wasted water that is filtered quenches one person’s minimum daily hydration needs.
If I had flextime during my last semester (term) of high school, I could have fleshed out the design created for my prototype, giving me the opportunity to connect with various companies in the region. Taking myself away from the classroom for a semester and into the streets of the greater Washington DC area would undoubtedly bring a new dimension to my project.
I would spend some time shadowing in the Office of Environmental Management at the U.S Department of Energy. Making visits to Capitol Hill would better acquaint me with government policies, politics, laws, and legislative acts in place that could later alter or prohibit the production of my re-filtration system. After being more informed about the policy making side, paying a visit to some centers who are completely devoted to sustainability would give me a better idea of potential companies that will buy and promote my product.
The Merrill Environmental Center in nearby Annapolis, Maryland is a perfect example of a building that is 100% environmentally friendly, housing the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Headquarters. Because that entity is devoted to energy efficient design, potentially interning there could bring great insight towards my knowledge of environmental conservation and preservation. Although these are just a few of the businesses that I could expose myself to, invariably, each would bring a unique angle to my Capstone.
Adding additional flex time to my schedule could make these incredible experiences happen, setting me up for greater success in my project and beyond. My school, St. Johns College High School, has taken a step in the right direction towards developing global leaders in today’s world. However if flex time was implemented into the senior schedule, Capstone students could really deepen their understanding of their projects through the experiential learning model. Furthermore, their projects could become real world products in the marketplace. In the grand scheme of things, all students could benefit greatly from flex time because of the open-ended structure.
There are many other schools that have innovated models that give students experiential off campus opportunities. So why not make it a part of everyone’s high school experience if it has all of these personal, professional, and societal benefits?
Sari graduated from St. John’s College High School in Washington, DC on June 8th. In August she will be heading to Boston to attend college and plans to study Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Here in Dominica – and many other places in the world – it is not just the last year in secondary school that needs re-evaluating but the whole concept of schooling from primary through to school leaving. Hands-on creative subjects need to be high on the agenda.