The history of cursive writing. The role of photojournalism in the Yellow Vests movement. The importance of Flamenco dance in Spanish culture. The foster care system in Italy. The list goes on.

Each of these recent SYA Capstone projects is a testament to the curiosity, creativity and passion of the students across our three campuses. Designed to provide SYAers with an opportunity to showcase their evolving skills, the capstone is a comprehensive project on a topic that captures their imagination and interest. Guided by their Experiential Language class teacher, each student delves deeply into a subject area that allows them to demonstrate knowledge by doing.

As explained by Rocio Alejo Rodriguez, SYA Spain’s Resident Director, “Over the course of their projects, students dialogue with experts and encounter social, educational and political institutions. Moreover, they explore parts of the city that were previously unknown to them, thus achieving a deeper understanding of the environment that has been their home for all of these months.”

Whether it’s Ellison’s project on incorporating elements of places around Italy into a fashion design, or Lila's search for a disappearing language, capstone projects are as diverse as each student’s experience. Here’s a sampling of this year’s capstones, each one as rich and insightful as the next.

SYA France

Rogue S. FR’23, Head-Royce School
Capstone Topic: How Children in Rennes Learn English in Elementary School

What was your motivation for selecting this topic?
I am very interested in languages and very aware of the opinion of European countries of America’s system of foreign language education. I feel that it is widely perceived that Americans have no interest or have no talent when learning foreign languages, so I wanted to witness a foreign language class in Europe to see what these opinions were being based on. I chose to focus on elementary schools because often in public American schools, foreign language instruction starts at an older age (my own French education started in middle school), so being in a class of young children learning languages was an experience that I haven’t had.

How did you approach research for your capstone?
I first wanted to get myself caught up with the general knowledge that every French person had, like the levels of elementary education and generally how elementary school works in France. I then went to government websites to learn more about my subject specifically. I came up with multiple lists of questions to use in my interviews, and started contacting different schools. I had a few responses and I scheduled interviews (we needed three in total). I sat through several English classes at different schools, and at the end interviewed the teacher personally.

What have you learned through this process?
I have learned to be less scared of talking to strangers! Of course, I became more comfortable after the beginning of the year, as I was expected to speak French to my host family, at school, and to people around town. After several months I got so comfortable in those environments and even as my French improved drastically, I still hesitated to speak with strangers beyond shops or restaurants. The capstone was a good way to push myself to discuss more challenging topics with strangers, and it was also a milestone for me as I can easily communicate now.

How do you see your capstone experience impacting your life beyond high school?
The capstone gave me some insight into the lives of French children, and the culture of learning here in France. Almost every day, I see or learn about something that is different from the US, which I would not know about if I hadn’t researched it for my project. It also made me think about where I would want my own children to grow up and how I would want their education system to be organized.

SYA Italy

Ellison D. IT’23, Charlotte Latin School
Capstone Topic: Creating Clothing in Italy

SYA Italy Experiential Language teacher Erika Nuccio said “It was exciting to watch Ellison's project come to life. I believe she was learning without even realizing it because I could see her progress and witness how engaged she was. She faithfully and fully embraced the spirit of the project.”

What was your motivation for selecting this topic?
I love doing art and hands-on things, which pointed me in the direction of fashion. For my project, I created one piece of clothing that incorporates different elements of places around Italy, for example the color and texture from Rome and details from Sicily. The piece I made is modern because I still wanted it to fit my taste, but I was mindful of what would have been appropriate at that time in history. So I created very gooey pants, which still match with my style but don’t take away from the dresses or skirts that they wore then. I had been wanting to pursue this for a while, but just needed a push to get started. I also really love the sense of expression fashion encompasses because it’s so different everywhere you go and with every designer you see.

How did you go about the research for your capstone?
I first tried to find a general history of fashion in a particular region or city, then I narrowed my focus on finding traditional clothing or fabrics that carry significance in said history. Once I gathered the general information, I found places like fabric stores, markets, museums, etc. that had what I needed. After that, I got to work. Though my project was to make pants (which ended up being the final design after many) I’m also in the process of making a top from the extra fabric I have!

What have you learned from going through this process?
I have learned how to sew really well. I had some experience already, but nothing could have prepared me for how much I would learn in the course I take now. I love it! I also loved learning about the differences in the history of fashion between, say, Venice and Rome. It is fascinating to me.

SYA Spain

Lila G. ES’23, Choate Rosemary Hall
Capstone Topic: The Disappearing Language of Aragonese

Lila G.’s capstone project about the future of the Aragonian language has allowed her to indulge her profound interest in the culture of the surrounding region and particularly the oral traditions that are being lost. Her love for learning languages — and her curiosity for the different languages spoken in Spain — brought her to investigate why this language is different from the others and why it is disappearing.

What was your motivation for selecting this topic?
Investigating the ways in which Aragonese could be spoken more in Zaragoza became a perfect chance to blend my passion for language and the unique part of studying abroad that makes foreign language immersion impossible in the United States. For most of my life, I have been fascinated by languages. When I have free time, I dedicate it to learning new ones or strengthening my Spanish outside of class. I chose to come to Spain to not only learn about the culture and jump into a new experience, but with a seal placed around Spanish study, I knew my world of new languages would open greatly. Despite this affinity, upon arrival to Spain I had no idea that there were so many languages unique to every autonomous community.

I had taken up learning Catalan in September, thinking that if I stumbled upon Catalonia I could indulge in the opportunity to speak it, but I did not know that Aragon had its own language, too. In fact, it took two and a half months in Zaragoza for me to discover Aragonese; I knew instantly I needed to dedicate my final project to it. I saw a chance to dive into a disappearing language, maybe learn a few phrases along the way, and understand the culture that comes with it.

How did you approach research for your capstone?
Knowing little to nothing about Aragonese, I decided to research the basic facts and history of the language before connecting with any experts. Unfortunately, finding information on a dying language with only about 12,000 speakers is difficult, not to mention the most accurate sources are written in Aragonese, which I can only understand to an extent. I was able to locate a book related to my question, El futuro del aragonés: un análisis prospectivo y social, and set up interviews with its two authors, Antonio Eito Mateo and Chaime Marcuello Servós. I also emailed three associations dedicated to the protection and restoration of Aragonese.

What have you learned from going through this process?
It had never occurred to me in January that I would be able to speak face to face with successful writers in March, when upon arrival I could barely participate in class. My capstone doesn’t exactly make any large impacts on society, but I have come to learn how simple even the most daunting of tasks might be. Finding an expert requires no more than dedication to one’s research and with that, the possibilities are endless. If I had more time, I very well could have reached individuals even higher up in the Aragonese world; all I needed to do was put aside my false preconceived notion.

Regarding Aragonese itself, unfortunately, one project as small as mine will not make a huge impact on the growth of the language. The issues it faces are rooted within the Spanish political and educational systems that discriminate against minority dialects. It also has shrunk substantially because of the disappearance of rural Spain where the majority of Aragonese speakers live. It was difficult to hear during my interviews how this dissolution has affected speakers, and the limited impact I would be able to make on its growth. All three of the experts I connected with mentioned that although the future depends on societal change, it also depends on confidence within the speaker population. Outsiders like me can instigate that confidence by showing interest in Aragonese.

How do you see your capstone experience impacting your life beyond high school?
At the end of my interview with a man named Antonio, he paused for a moment and thanked me for the interview. This struck me as odd, so I asked him why. He said with emotion that having someone from the United States who worried and cared about the future of Aragonese, his language, come to Spain meant so much to him and the community. To me, writing emails to important individuals for a school project as a sophomore had always felt like bothering busy individuals; I hadn’t seen the symbiotic relationship of the interview where one would appreciate a student’s interest in their struggles as much as the student would appreciate their help. I don’t believe I will ever forget what he said to me.

People like me may not be able to change the educational, political or social systems of a foreign country, but we can make those struggling feel heard. So many other languages, as well as minority groups that often correlate to dialects, struggle in the same manner as Aragonese, and though it is impossible to help everyone at once, we can start by sharing the story of one group.