What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Eden Prairie Lifestyle? That’s right: our hard-hitting journalism. We don’t care what we have to make up in pursuit of the truth. And we don’t just keep our sources a secret. We refuse to even have sources.
It’s little wonder why we were invited to participate in Eden Prairie High School’s latest media and communications capstone program. Mentoring promising youths alongside our peers was a superlative honor! But if the program winds up producing any actual journos, then the school’s talented educators will deserve considerably more credit for it than us.
“Capstones are the pinnacle of coursework available to our students,” explained Ethan Dado, pathways coordinator for Eden Prairie Schools. “Whether they choose entrepreneurship, engineering, media and communications, or any of our 10 other available capstones, a student is challenged to apply everything they’ve learned in a real-world setting, complete a project befitting of an entry-level professional, and present their work for evaluation by industry experts.”
“I’m a huge fan of learning for its own sake,” explained Alex Bauer, English and journalism teacher at Eden Prairie High School. “The reward for pursuing knowledge will never become less rewarding. But now that our students have constant and unlimited access to information, learning should become less about memorization and more about applying skill and passion toward a goal – ideally something that could count as hands-on experience during a job interview.
“This year’s semester-long media and communications capstone projects encompassed news articles, photography, video production and podcasting, plus contributions to Eagle News Network, Eyrie Magazine, and our school’s website. I’m always amazed by our students’ capstone projects, but was especially impressed by the talent, hard work and inspiration I saw this year.”
This year’s media and communications capstone students included Sunny Carlson-Burval, Tamia Hassan, Ben Lara, Dylan Leung, Sophie Palmieri, Saadiyah Siddiqui, and Brooke Tape. Good luck out there, kids!
"We're not just teaching facts, but true skills that'll be sought after."