Highlights & Annual Report 2017-2018
Eighth Graders Present Capstone Projects
In the weeks leading up to graduation on June 6, eighth graders finished capstone projects to combine learning across several disciplines. Instead of traditional finals, students studied the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and identified problems they are interested in learning more about. These goals relate to bettering the world by ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring peace and prosperity for all the world’s populations.
The capstone project included research, activism and a live presentation for an assessment panel of community members and peers. Teachers say the idea for the capstone was developed to keep students motivated through the end of the school year.
Anna Scott Arnold ‘18 chose to focus on gender equality, saying “There’s been a lot of news about women’s rights and I believe we should all be allowed the same opportunities.” As part of her capstone, Anna Scott organized an activity on the steps of the state capitol to visually and symbolically show the differences between how men and women are treated in the workplace.
At first, Anna Scott says she was intimidated by the assignment. She thought, “We’re eighth graders. How can we fix the world’s problems?” But as she began to research gender equality and talk to other students about their capstone projects, she now believes that anyone who is passionate about a cause can make a difference.
That approach is exactly the goal of the assignment -- to empower eighth graders to recognize their ability to impact the world. “My hope was that students would choose a goal that they are truly curious about and interested in,” said history teacher Jane Maslanka. “Being intrinsically motivated is the best and most authentic way to learn.”
After sitting in on and assessing the presentations, faculty and staff from around campus were moved. Head of School Josh Cobb said, “I was proud that our school’s culminating learning experience used an appropriate balance of structure and autonomy to foster student agency while also reinforcing mastery of fundamental competencies—research, writing, and presentation skills. More importantly, it wasn’t just mastery for the sake of mastery, it relied on mastery for meaning’s sake. The element of choice gave them agency, the current nature of the goal gave the project relevance, and both the relevance and the agency helped the students find authentic purpose in the activity.”
Science teacher Dan Barklund, math teacher Jorge Chavez and English teacher Katy Cooper were also closely involved as students tackled complex political, environmental and economic issues around the world.
“What I love about Graland is how students are so strategically guided to learn about these issues and about how they can be engaged in finding creative solutions to global problems,” shares Graland parent, Liz Arnold. “The level of intellectual understanding they obtain from these kind of student-directed assignments is beyond impressive.”
Graland Country Day School
55 CLERMONT STREET DENVER, CO 80220 303.399.0390
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1924, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.