The 2025-26 school year will make history for Bearden, as it enters into its first year of being an all-academy school.
Every student in every grade is a part of the Freshman, H2S2, BLC, or STEMA academy. For Bearden seniors, this new era means even more since they will be the first class at Bearden to have completed the academy system.
Along with completing the academy system, seniors will also participate in a capstone experience as a part of their graduation requirements this year.
“Each grade level has an experience, and so seniors will have an experience which is called capstone, and it’s like a culminating project that relates to their academy and what they’ve studied,” Bearden academy coach Mrs. Kelley Darnell said.
There are many options and ways for students to fulfill their capstone experience requirement, including participating in an experience that is specific to a student’s desired career. The academy system has helped students to participate in experiences that relate to their plans for their future by giving students academies and pathways to get a taste of what their future career might look like.
Senior Abigail Standifer, a member of the BLC Academy, had the opportunity to participate in an internship with the Public Policy and American Civics program at the University of Tennessee Knoxville over the summer as her capstone experience.
“I always wanted to do law,” Standifer said. “Going to the courthouse and talking to attorneys and stuff was cool for me to see them in their actual job setting.”
Students such as Standifer have implemented what they have learned from their time as a part of an academy and pathway and planted it into both their choice for their capstone experience and their visions for the future.
“As a person in high school, it makes you think about what you wanna do and makes you think about career choices,” Standifer said.
Over the summer, Julia Fawaz, a senior in the H2S2 academy, was able to participate in the Volunteen Program at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital as her capstone experience, and she was thankful for the opportunity to partake in real-world experiences surrounding her plans for a future career.
“It was really nice to have that hospital experience and seeing if I liked working in a hospital or if I like seeing patients and just kind of communicating more with a lot of those patients,” she said.
The academies system paired with the capstone experiences have helped seniors to find and grow their passions for their future career plans.
“It helps get a real view and perspective of the professional world,” Standifer said.
Senior Yejoon Ham, a member of the STEMA Academy, participated in the Next Generation Pathways to Computing program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as his capstone experience over the summer.
“It was focused on the computational side of science, so things like AI models or high performance computing, like super computers,” he said.
Ham’s time as a part of an academy has inspired his thoughts regarding his future, and his capstone experience was a way that he was able to expand upon those thoughts.
“This internship and this experience is fully involved in STEM areas, so it gives you a deeper dive into something really specific,” Ham said. “So instead of a more broader range, it allows me to dive deep into certain aspects that might be good when I am trying to figure out what I’m trying to do in the future.”
Seniors have paved the way for future Bearden students that will take on the academy system, and getting to see their successes will inspire generations to come. On advice for new classes entering into the academies system, seniors say that they advise freshmen to connect with others and participate in experiences within their academy, in hopes that these freshmen will someday find their passions through the people they meet and the opportunities they have.
“For freshmen, I would encourage them to find students in their academy and in their [45] classes and kind of just talk to them and see what they enjoy and find a sense of community and friends within that group and within that sphere,” Ham said.
Seniors looking for a full list of options to fulfill the capstone experience requirement should consult the Class of 2026 page on Canvas.