These skills – ranging from writing, photography, designing, to film-making – are compiled into a marketable product that not only reflectes the interests of the individual student, but that also retains relevance to the needs and interests of today’s millennial generation as well as older readers and viewers.
Three of the nine capstones were magazines: Lessenitt Campos created De Vie, a minimalistic sports magazine tailored to women. Gabriella Indart and Ana Mijares partnered up to create PetLifestyle Magazine, a humanitarian publication devoted to informing readers about issues regarding animals. Elizabeth Martinez produced Circa Magazine, a news and culture magazine targeted at a millennial audience.
The judges had the opportunity to judge two photo books. Nicole Perez created Mi Isla, a photo book that portrays the Cuban way of life on the island. Angelie Yglesias combined photography and writing in A Writer’s Town, an anthology of short stories and poems written by local authors.
Two film-centered capstones were also presented. Nathalie Mairena and Daniel Saiz created Illumination, a business that produces educational documentaries. Marissa Echeverria and Christian Steiner created a short film, Nodus Tollens, that follows the tale of a young male lead character.
Vivian Bermudez took the role of a marketing freelancer and walked the judges through a female empowerment campaign with her hypothetical client, Disney. Lastly, Stephanie Brito and Maria Vasquez co-founded FloresCo, a public relations company that mainly works with small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
At MLEC, it is not enough to present a final project; these projects must be presented to a panel of professionals.
"It is important for students to get honest feedback from people who are currently working in the media," said Borges. “So each year, I invite journalists, photographers and media professionals from a variety of backgrounds, and I tell them to be tough."
These capstones were presented in front of a panel of judges with diverse backgrounds in media-related fields. This year's judges included Associated Press political reporter, Sergio Bustos, who was previously an editor at The Miami Herald; Glenna Milberg, the co-host of This Week in South Florida and a political reporter for WPLG, Local 10; Paradise Afahar, a web editor for Local 10; Michael Spears, a reporter for NBC6; Daniella Romero, who works in Marketing for Telemundo/NBC Universal; and Miami Herald tourism reporter Chabeli Herrera.
Both Milberg and Bustos have judged capstones in previous years.
"I am always impressed with the quality of work and professionalism that Mrs. Borges's students display. I love to see the talent that will soon be in our newsrooms," said Bustos.
Students received constructive criticism that could be used to further improve and expand their projects beyond high school.
“The capstone presentations featured a range of creative media options that were both professionally put together as well as indicative of the passion the students had for their projects,” said Herrera, “ I was impressed with the level of thought that went into formulating each project and the attention to detail employed by each student.”
This year’s seniors were met with the challenge of having to produce their capstones in the absence of Borges who was on maternity leave at the time. Although they maintained contact through email, skype, and phone calls, the seniors were, for the most part, on their own. Despite this, they managed to excel on their projects and impress the judges.