From May 19 to 21, Class I students in the Senior Capstone course gave their final presentations to the Boston Latin School student body. The class is made possible by the Wolk Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, funded by Dianna and Sidney Wolk ‘53 and family. This year, Ms. Kathleen Bateman and Ms. Paula Bowles taught a class of 28 hardworking seniors. In addition to their support, each student was paired with a faculty mentor to help them create outstanding research papers and projects.

Hanna Flynn
From the Hindu Kush Valleys to the Forests of Colombia: UNESCO-Inspired Recommendations for Endangered Culture
When glancing at the Boston Latin School cultural mosaic, people are greeted by a growing selection of cuisine, holidays, dances and traditions from an international selection of cultures, with topics ranging from cachupa, the national dish of Cape Verde, to kolo, a South Slavic circle dance. On this website, BLS students and faculty can submit cultural traditions and practices that are significant to them and see the submissions of their peers to help spread cultural awareness and preserve these cultures and traditions.
This website is part of Hanna Flynn’s (I) senior capstone project, which is aimed at highlighting the dangers of cultural destruction due to threats like systemic erasure and environmental changes. Through her project, she hopes to cultivate cultural blending and create connections.
Capstone serves as a great learning experience across the board by giving seniors access to specified research and development of their passion along with general experience in the research and design processes.
Flynn’s project, for example, consisted of the BLS cultural mosaic website as well as a research paper, which was published in the American Journal of Capstone Research. “It was kind of a learning curve,” Flynn says, “but I had a lot of help from Ms. Bowles and Ms. Bateman.”
Flynn aspires to use culture as a binding force to glue together communities that may be separated. The project served not only as a representation of her passion but also an extension of her studies. In the future, Flynn plans to study international relations and conflict resolution.

Alexander Demaio
The Best Medicine: On the Power of Comedy
For his senior capstone project, Alexander Demaio (I) explored the often- overlooked benefits of comedy. Over the course of a year, he researched the various ways in which comedic drama and humor can play a role in improving the quality of one’s life.
Demaio highlighted comedy’s versatility and its ability to uplift and empower people in his final product, a series of video essays which provided a thorough overview of the history of comedy and explored its role in improving areas such as mental health and political discourse. He says, “Comedy can be used to challenge stigmas and stereotypes, […] to deal with mental health issues […] [and] to make topics like politics and other important issues more accessible to a wider range of people.”
Demaio’s project was motivated by an interest in mental health and comedy, stemming from a variety of influences, including comedian Taylor Tomlinson, who talks candidly about her mental health, and YouTube creator Paul Platt, who analyzes comedy trends.
Demaio adds, “In general, we don’t focus enough on the happy things in life or the things that make us laugh, and often a school environment will be preparing us for a very serious world, but I wanted a way to encourage more fun and enjoyment.”
His final video essays can be found on YouTube.

Lucy Zhang
Voices of the Lower Neponset River: An Art Exhibit and Community Celebration
Lucy Zhang’s (I) senior capstone project was a fusion of art and environmental activism focused on depolluting the Lower Neponset River. This river is a national Superfund site, meaning it is highly polluted and requires extensive environmental clean-up. Zhang’s project aims to spread awareness of this issue through a gallery of 14 watercolor portraits, each representing an interview she had with a resident who lives near the Lower Neponset.
“My first interaction with the Lower Neponset River,” Zhang explains, “was actually through science fair, where I did studies on the air pollution at the Lower Neponset River, so that’s how I learned about the contamination myself.”
Zhang has had many experiences with the Lower Neponset River beyond her senior capstone project. In the past, she has volunteered in projects to clean up the river numerous times. Her volunteer work, science fair project and years of walking around near the Hyde Park side of the river had made her feel connected to it.
As for how she decided on this topic and format for her senior capstone project, Zhang notes, “I realized that I don’t want to do just science, because numbers, sure, they tell a story but they don’t create the same personal connection. […] This capstone is kind of my passion project, combining my passion for arts and my passion for science and advocacy all together.”
Zhang’s art was on display from April to June this year at the Milton Public Library, and she hopes it will encourage people to come together as a community to take action about the pollution in the Lower Neponset River.

Jalen Weatherhead
Rewriting the Soundtrack: Making Space for Contemporary Music at Boston Latin School
Jalen Weatherhead (I) centered his senior capstone project around a desire to create a place for contemporary music and student bands at Boston Latin School. While BLS contains a wide selection of bands, orchestras and choirs, Weatherhead recognized a lack of spaces for live contemporary music, noting, “[It] is something that we never really see being focused on at BLS.”
As a solution to this problem, Weatherhead created Wolfstock, a music festival at BLS which consisted of an acoustic show and a wired show. Both individual students and student-led bands performed.
For the full-band show in particular, Weatherhead adds, “I also really wanted to balance the feel of a genuine live contemporary music experience with the idea of ‘teenage band culture’ that is present in movies and television.”
Alongside Wolfstock, Weatherhead also wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered an EP titled Sleep when ur dead, which can be found on music streaming platforms and consists of five songs. He notes that while the record has no single inspiration, it is largely about the burnout and exhaustion that many high school seniors may face. Alongside Wolfstock, the record aims to encourage and promote the performance and creation of contemporary music at BLS.
Weatherhead is currently exploring the possibility of Wolfstock becoming an annual event, and he hopes that Wolfstock will continue to be a space for contemporary music lovers at BLS.