Housy seniors put finishing touches on Capstone projects

FALLS VILLAGE — Seniors at Housatonic Valley Regional High School discussed their “Capstone” projects with The Lakeville Journal Friday, Feb. 14.

Lou Haemmerle of Salisbury will attend New York University in the fall. Interested in music production, Haemmerle’s Capstone project started off by releasing music to online platforms such as Spotify.

“But I did that early.”

So the scope of the project was widened to answer the question “How do I implement myself in the creative industries?”

Asked for more details, Haemmerle said she did a number of internships, which required some travel — to Los Angeles. The internships included set design, soundproofing music studios and videography. Haemmerle was aided in this by a grant from the 21st Century Fund for HVRHS.

Haemmerle said the result was “a lot more learning and information on the industry that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.”

There was some pressure involved. “I had to be on site, and put on my big girl pants.”

HVRHS senior Jake Bosio is finalizing work on his Capstone.Patrick L. Sullivan

Jake Bosio of North Canaan, with the help of a grant from the Region One Athletic Fund, installed a golf simulator in the Hewatt-Mahoney Science and Technology Center.

He explained how this works. There is a 10 foot screen and a projector. The player boots a golf ball into the screen, and a “launch monitor” provides club and ball data.

Plus the device shows the golfer where the ball wound up on the virtual course.

Bosio said he is the captain of the HVRHS golf team and wants to be a golf pro, so his Capstone was truly a “passion project.” He added his handicap is 13.

He will attend the University of Hawaii.

Ellie Wolgemuth is a senior at HVRHS who has recently completed her Capstone project.Patrick L. Sullivan

Ellie Wolgemuth of Salisbury’s Capstone revolves around her four years as being the primary student intern working for the Kearcher-Monsell Gallery, located in the HVRHS library.

Ellie saw a need for the job’s requirements to be spelled out clearly, for whoever takes over.

Things like “how to hang a show, host an opening, make sure things run smoothly.”

Ellie wound up with a “60,000 word Google document” that can be accessed and modified by future interns.

Ellie was not sure what the next step was — possibly Princeton, maybe the Rhode Island School of Design and/or Brown University.

Diana Portillo is a senior at HVRHS who has recently completed her Capstone project.Patrick L. Sullivan

Diana Portillo of North Canaan, a volleyball and softball player, made friendship bracelets, some adorned with the mascots of other Berkshire League schools, some without, and gave them to players on opposing teams.

The idea was to promote sportsmanship among the league schools, and to foster a sense of community among student athletes.

The first bracelet was given to a Gilbert player.

Each bracelet came with a QR code that took the recipient to a Google form, where the recipients could enter their personal information.

It took a little while to catch on, but it worked.

“From 75 bracelets I got 75 responses.”

Daniela Brennan researched theology for her Capstone.Patrick L. Sullivan

Daniela Brennan of North Canaan was unsure where she would attend college, with Worcester Polytechnic Institute a strong possibility. She plans to study mechanical engineering.

Her Capstone project headed in a different direction.

A Roman Catholic, she was curious about other faiths, and acquired first-hand experiences with Judaism, Muslim and Hindu congregations.

She kept track of her observations and thoughts in a journal.

She said that “in monotheistic faiths, the core beliefs are similar.”

“The way they show it makes them seem different, and that’s where biases and misassumptions come from.”

Asked how she decided on this course of inquiry, she said “I get it from my dad, he loves philosophy and religion.”

“And learning about it helps me learn my own faith.”

Jassim Mohydin “reverse engineered last year’s robot.” Patrick L. Sullivan

Jassim Mohydin of Lakeville, who will attend Florida Institute of Technology to train as an airline pilot, turned his attention to computer aided design, or CAD, for his Capstone project.

Specifically, he used CAD in conjunction with his activities with the HVRHS Robotics team.

“I reverse-engineered last year’s robot,” he said. He identified deficiencies and came up with solutions.

Because robotics is a collaborative effort, his work will inform future Robotics team members.

“You have to think about the whole robot, not just your bit.”

All six students agreed that the Capstone projects required them to get out of their comfort zones and provided opportunities to do things that they might not have attempted otherwise.