As our 8th graders take action with their Capstone Projects this month, they are reaching out to the community for help. Please check out the following projects that need your support. Thanks in advance for your support of our 8th graders and their drive to take local action that has global significance!

8th Grade Service Capstone Black Tie Event
Wednesday, April 12, McAuliffe hosted a Black Tie event honoring those individuals or groups whose projects went above and beyond the basic project of educating and advocating; these students also took action ACTION! All presenters were nominated by their supervisor or were so memorable in their presentations to 6th and 7th graders that they deserved a second look. Please enjoy some pictures from the evening HERE. Photo Credits to Chloe George and Sophia Zafra. Below is a list of presenters and their topic and/or community partners. Please click HERE to read more about their projects. 

A special thank you goes to Michelle Moore and the McAuliffe at Smiley Foundation for providing decorations and snacks.

• Ethan Parker–Ghose Bikes with outreach to the mayor and city council

• Makenna Manns, Chloe Brown, and Emma Haney–World Hunger-Metro Caring

• Simone James-Human Effects on Aquatic Life–Colorado Parks and Wildlife

• Josslyn Ross-Mahoney, Amaya Bryant, and Juliette Eckle–Supplies for the Denver Dumb Friends League

• Bri Pinther, Nick Martino-Rivera, and Vezia Menetrier–Drug Addiction–The Daniel Copersino Foundation

• Sophia Zafra and Layla Sutton–Moms and Mutts–MAMCO

• Makaii Lindsay and Jaden Barrios-Pablo-Dog Homelessness-Denver Dumb Friends League

• Oriah Owens, Josie Weinstein, and Arianna Almaraz–Domestic Violence–The Gathering Place

•  Arden Dever, Chloe George, and Gabriela Federico–The Staff Wellness Challenge–McAuliffe International School

• Laila Lavizzo, Skylar Kirsten, Stella Cooper, and Chloe Vause–Homelessness–The Delores Project

Nominated students who were nominated but not able to attend the event:

• Zyree Washington and Milaina Gurule–Male Sexual Assault–1 in 6

• Bella Jefferson, Devyn Bischoff, and Miriam Scarbeary–Hunger–Metro Caring

• Kenzie Robertson–Food availability–Project Angel Heart

Capstone Groups Presenting to the National Park Service

As part of the Capstone project, students had an opportunity to research and present solutions to the National Park Service in order to help solve some of its real world issues, issues such as transportation, human/wildlife interactions and human waste. On Wednesday, April 19, Zoey Rosen, Emmy Carranza, and Lily Lopez, and Zivi Shiroff presented their solutions to three members of the National Parks Service via GoogleMeets. After the presentations, the NPS staff gave the groups valuable feedback.

Check out Past 8th Grade Capstone Projects!