For countless years, the eighth grade 20% time project has been a staple assignment for the graduating students of North Star, but can this project even be considered 20% of students’ times anymore? In years prior, this project took up 20% of one subject’s class time, meaning that eighth grade students got one class period per week to work on it throughout the year. Now students are spending 45 minutes, 4 days of a week for one trimester to complete this project, conceivably why it is now referred to as the “Capstone Project”.
Because the project was turned into an enrichment this year, 8th grade teachers are alternating who teaches it each trimester. For example, for trimester one, seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher, Mr. Flint is leading it. “The purpose of the Capstone project is really for students to take what they’ve learned here at North Star and turn it into something they can look back on and be proud of.” says Mr. Flint, who is experienced in teaching this specific part of the curriculum.
So why did the project have to be changed at all? While the original structure of the project seemed to be efficient, every week, students had to recollect where they left off and what progress they needed to make, which took away from their work time. Additionally, these periods also deprived teachers 20% of their teaching time, and they weren’t always able to complete their main curriculums.
According to Mr. Flint, “It’s not that the project itself has changed very much this year, the timeline has just been condensed more, which actually gives me more time to speak one on one with the students to see how their work is coming along.” This enrichment also allows for more consistent productivity, as the same expectations of the project are maintained even through all the changes.
However, teachers aren’t the only ones being affected by these newfound changes. 8th grade students are the main focus of this assignment, and many have different takes on the enrichment. 8th grader A states that the enrichment is not very engaging, but does indeed provide lots of work time, as expected. Collaborations of 2 or 3 students are allowed to each project, but teams of multiple students are required to take more notes. As far as brainstorming goes, A believes that “students may have more overall freedom doing this project outside of the enrichment, whether that’s for the better or worse.”
And it is true, many enrichment teachers have been making exceptions for 8th graders asking to do their Capstone projects within their different enrichments. For example, 8th grader Libby L. is currently doing her project on top of the leadership enrichment. She says, “Because my project is based on an existing project within the enrichment, it shouldn’t be too hard to manage it along with leadership, which is an arguably engaging class.” As for reasons for doing it this way, an entire trimester is a long time to spend working on one project, and more specifically, she was interested in leadership and wanted to express that through this big project. However, leadership is not taught by an eight grade teacher, to which Libby responded, “As long as there are clear instructions and rubrics, it should be fine not having an 8th grade teacher in the classroom.”
Attitudes surrounding the Capstone Project remain controversial and many students who aren’t working on theirs this first trimester are left wondering what the best way to complete it is.
