The ninth generation of Evolutions, the high school’s project-based learning program for juniors and seniors, held its Capstone Expo in the cafeteria on May 23, showcasing projects that students have worked on over the school year.
The Capstone Expo, which happens at the end of every school year, is an opportunity for students to synthesize their skills from the classroom in a nontraditional environment, with the aim to get them more well-rounded.
“It is really about giving them that sort of way to exert those academic and school muscles that may not be present in the classrooms,” said Mr. Thom Henes, one of the Evolutions advisors.
In the Capstone’s design process, students identify and explore a curiosity over five milestones: learning synthesis, a vision board, a model, a final product, and a “mini-expo”, in which students practice presenting to their peers.
Over the spring, they delved into a topic of choice from an interdisciplinary perspective. To gain more insight into their inquiry, the project encouraged students to reach out to expert voices in their field, in addition to guidance from their advisors.
“We tend to try to figure out more strategies we can pass on to students, so they can be self empowered,” said Henes.
After defining their vision for a product, students drafted models and prototypes in order to try out different ideas and forms, while receiving peer-to-peer feedback in order to get closer to a final design.
Oliver Knight’s ’25 and Sevi McAdams’ ’25 Capstone, The Green Pill: The Prescription for a Healthier Body and Mind, evaluated the benefits of nature on humans in a video essay.
Knight’s (left) and McAdams’ (right) video related both of their personal journeys to the ways in which nature impacted people. Photo by Joanne Zhang.
The two took on special focuses to craft a comprehensive video, with Knight focusing on the environment’s physical effects, and McAdams focusing on its mental effects.
Without full-time communication and having to working on two different computers, Knight and McAdams were challenged to make a seamless product; one that “looked like one video, rather than two separate videos,” said McAdams.
“It was definitely a struggle,” said Knight. “But near the end, we got through it.”
Beauty Without Cruelty, Jessica Marmer’s ’25 Capstone, was a constructed model of an animal testing cage that served as a statement against animal testing in cosmetics.
Marmer’s design was a half-size version of the scales of actual cages used for animal testing, replicating the limited space that bunnies, for one, had. Photo by Joanne Zhang.
On the bars of the cage, Marmer included the logos of companies that tested animals in red boxes, and companies that did not on the other side.
“Even though there are a lot of cosmetics that you think might not use animal testing that do, there are alternatives,” she said.
Starting from scratch, Marmer had to go hands-on for her project, from obtaining the materials from Home Depot to going to the woodworking shop for the assembly of her piece.
“I had done a lot of research on how to use the materials, the different types of saws, and the different types of drill presses,” said Marmer. “Actually doing it was kind of scary, but it turned out how I wanted.”
In Sticks & Stones, James Berger ’25 and Nate Schwartz ’25 delved into the history of Evolutions itself, storytelling from the perspectives of teachers and students, past and present, in a TED Talk and a film.
Berger (left) worked on the TED Talk component of the Capstone, and Schwartz (right) produced the accompanying documentary. Photo by Joanne Zhang.
In order to investigate the origin and evolution of Evolutions itself, the pair conducted over forty interviews, including with program alumni, current students, the superintendent, the principal, and the director of career development.
“We really wanted to learn more about what we were doing, and why we were doing it,” said Berger. “From all their stories, we created a project about the benefits of Evolutions and why it was created in the first place.”
Evolutions’ primary skills, which culminate in the Expo, target self-directed curiosity, management, research, and presentation. The exhibition featured 22 different projects in total, showcasing not only the content, but the process of each student inquiry across many media.
The Capstone Expo invites families of students, the school community, and past members to show up in one place, and hold conversations with Evolutions members about their work.
“It’s always nice to be able to step back on that night and really just pay attention to the audience,” said Henes. “It’s actually seeing their interactions with the students, witnessing the conversations, their learning with students. That’s the part that’s most gratifying.”
Henes’ hope for his students is that they are able to confidently interact and show their work to wider audiences. He believes that anyone can make an impact on the world around them if that expectation is set for them.
“The community members go, ‘Wow, this is what your students can do.’ Like yeah, this is what they can do; when we give them that space and support to pursue what they really care about,” he said.