A student makes a presentation

Capstone Conference Gathered Students from across the GTA

RSGC’s AP Capstone Seminar course is a very popular elective in the Senior School, with more than a third of boys in Grade 11 taking part in the extremely difficult class with a large workload. One of their main tasks throughout the course is to conduct several months’ worth of research into a topic of their choosing, write a 2,000-word paper about it and then publicly present and defend the findings of that paper. 
On the evening of April 17, RSGC hosted the fourth annual AP Capstone conference that gathered young scholars from Bishop Strachan School, St. Andrew’s College, St. Clement’s, and Appleby College – alongside our own Capstone students. This group represented the most Capstone students in the GTA. 

The purpose of the conference is to allow students an opportunity to share their research, gain practice presenting their ideas and joining important conversations, and to receive feedback from a community of Capstone students. The event is similar to a university academic conference, with presenting students arranged into small groups. Each presenter had eight minutes to showcase his or her work.

Canadian and World Studies Head John Lambersky, who teaches the AP Seminar course, believes the conference is a great opportunity for students.  
“They get a chance to present and defend their work to some of the leading students in the GTA without a safety net – there’s no adult in the room. It’s the students who have to play a leadership role – they’re the chair in each room,” he said. “This is also a great chance for the boys to meet and share ideas with students who are without a doubt some of the brightest and most dynamic high school and university students in the country. It’s also nice that our boys get a chance to interact with girls, which is an experience we don’t always get at St. George’s.”

Grade 12 student Max Livingston took part in the conference last year and found it extremely beneficial to practice his presentation skills before his actual oral defense. He also found it interesting to hear what other schools were doing in the same program. 

“It was great to get some constructive feedback on my paper,” said Max. “Plus, it forced me to communicate my ideas more effectively.”
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