Alex Alvarez stood very still as she took a deep breath, letting the moment sink in: after months of hard work, she was ready to present her Senior Capstone to her peers.
For her Capstone, Alex dove into her Latina roots, exploring how they intertwined with her love of music. As part of her presentation, she filmed and presented a duet she sang in Spanish with her grandfather.
“I wanted to do something close to home,” said Alex, who is headed to the Berklee College of Music in the fall. “It was not only interesting to learn more about my family, but it felt super sentimental and important to me.”
Capstones are a longstanding tradition at OVS.
Seniors are tasked with creating projects that combine their talents and passions with values they have learned and have been fostered at OVS.
This is the first year since the Covid pandemic that the Senior Capstones have been presented in person.
When Covid hit, Capstones were shifted to small presentations for only seniors and teachers, with others being able to watch them through a live-stream. This year they are being presented in the new Littlefield Student Commons on the big screen.
Every year, there are a large variety of Capstone projects. This year is no different, with projects ranging from the use of the new buildings to solo camping trips, to environmentally friendly clothing design.
“I enjoyed the process of doing it,” senior Erik Hately said. “It was really cool to be able to make a project out of something I’m passionate about.”
Erik, who made his own clothes out of recycled and/or thrifted clothing, has been at OVS since his freshman year. He has learned sustainability for much of his high school career and wanted to show how simple it was to make clothes for yourself out of recycled materials.
“Sustainability is a big part of OVS,” Erik explained. “And the fashion industry has done some pretty horrible things for the environment, so I want to do my part to help reverse that.”
Sustainability and the environment have been a part of the OVS philosophy from the beginning. And for her Capstone, CatieJo Larkin took this to heart.
“My Capstone was about the importance of nature, trees specifically,” CatieJo said. “We have had a massive decline in overall tree population in the last few years. And that is a massive contribution to negative climate change.”
CatieJo began her Capstone by delving into research on the negative impacts of climate change on the environment. She then began a six-month endeavor with the Green Valley project to plant 50 native Oak trees in Ojai.
“I wanted to do this for my Capstone because environmental conservation has always been a huge passion of mine,” CatieJo said. “I’m proud of the contribution that the Green Valley project and I have made, and I hope this can be a good precursor for a career in environmental science.”
Alex Alvarez’s also hopes her Senior Capstone is a preview to her career in music. Her Capstone explored her and her family’s passion for music Spanish-language music, a subject Alex knew little about until high school.
Alex, who has an endless devotion to music, chose to learn more about her heritage and her family’s long standing bond with music and art. She wanted to further develop the knowledge of music and her Latina roots.
“I researched a lot about Mexican music and music theory,” Alex explained. “I got to perform alongside my grandfather which was amazing, and I got to really connect with my family and culture.”