Durham Academy Magazine 

Beyond the Classroom

Five Years of Cavalier Capstones at Durham Academy

By Kelly Teagarden ’04, Program Director for Applied Civic Engagement and Public Purpose

At the end of each school year, something shifts at Durham Academy. Classrooms empty, but learning does not stop — it expands. Students board buses and planes, lace up hiking boots, step into community partnerships and immerse themselves in experiences that cannot be contained within a traditional schedule. This is the Cavalier Capstone Program: a week of immersive, hands-on, joy-filled learning designed to close out the year with discovery, connection and celebration.

And this year marks a meaningful moment — five years into the program (with a pause during COVID-19), offering a chance to reflect on where the program came from, how it has evolved and why it has become such a defining part of the DA experience.

How Capstones Came to Be: Honoring the Past, Evolving for the Future

For decades, Durham Academy’s grade-level trips were a signature part of the Upper School experience. The school was a pioneer in outdoor education, offering transformative and ambitious programming long before such experiences were common. Generations of students hiked, camped, climbed and learned to lead in the outdoors. In 2008, the 11th grade Civil Rights Tour was woven into the program, creating a consistent rhythm of shared class experiences.

These trips were beloved, meaningful and foundational. And yet, as DA entered a period of thoughtful reflection, the school recognized that the world, and our students, were changing.

Our school had grown. The Civil Rights Tour to Atlanta, Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham — once totaling two busloads of students and faculty — no longer fit within the constraints of a large-group travel model. Meanwhile, many students were now participating in outdoor education through summer camps, travel programs and other extracurricular experiences; school was no longer the only place they encountered this type of challenge and growth. At the same time, DA itself had become a more diverse community, with a broader array of interests, lived experiences and aspirations.

These changes didn’t diminish the past; instead, they illuminated the opportunity for the future. And so, beginning in 2019, DA shifted from grade-level trips to a new model: the Cavalier Capstone Program. 

Students could now choose from a menu of experiences designed by faculty around six core dimensions of learning:

• Global Citizenship
• Career Exploration
• Community Engagement
• Academic Immersion
• Craft or Skill Development
• Personal Challenge

This shift allowed DA to preserve the pillars of its past — most importantly, the Civil Rights Tour and the culminating Senior Challenge — while expanding opportunities for students whose interests, curiosities and identities that a single annual trip couldn’t always meet.

As an alumna who cherished my own DA outdoor education experiences, I understood firsthand how powerful those trips were. I also saw the potential for an even richer, more diverse landscape of learning. Capstones gave us both: a way to honor beloved traditions and keep our deep partnership with Black Mountain Expeditions alive, while embracing student and faculty passions, new directions in experiential learning and the evolving needs of our community. 

The program also solved a longstanding challenge in the school calendar. For years, the Upper School ended with exams — a necessary academic milestone, but not a particularly joyful conclusion. By moving exams earlier and situating Capstones during May’s final week, DA created a culminating experience filled with connection, curiosity and community. 

Today’s Capstone Program is both a continuation of what DA has always valued and a bold step forward. It reflects a belief that meaningful learning can take many forms, and that students benefit from experiences that challenge, stretch, inspire and surprise them. And just as importantly, it reflects a belief that education should end each year with joy.

Capstones: A Vision Rooted in Mission

The Cavalier Capstone Program was created with a clear purpose: to extend Durham Academy’s mission beyond the classroom and into lived experience. 

At its core, the program reflects a belief that students learn best not only by studying the world, but also by engaging directly with it. Capstones are designed to cultivate the qualities DA values most in its graduates: empathy, curiosity, courage, resilience and a sense of responsibility through experiences that are immersive, challenging and meaningful.

From the beginning, the program has been driven by two essential forces: student choice and faculty passion. 

Each year, faculty members design Capstones shaped by their expertise and passions, while students choose experiences that align with their interests, whether that means exploring something entirely new or diving more deeply into an area they already love. The result is a program that is both structured and dynamic, grounded in shared goals yet constantly evolving — and a program beautifully aligned with the mission of helping each student live a moral, happy and productive life.

Where Learning Takes Many Forms

What makes Capstones distinctive is not just their intent, but also their range — and the way that range translates into experiences that stay with students long after the week ends.

The Capstone Catalog reflects a remarkable breadth: global travel programs that immerse students in different cultures and perspectives; community engagement experiences with local partners and service initiatives; career exploration opportunities that bring students into real professional spaces; academic immersion courses that dive deeply into a single topic or discipline; and creative or skill-based Capstones where students build, design, perform or create. No two students experience Capstones in exactly the same way — and that is by design.

Some students travel across the South on the Civil Rights Tour, moving through Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery and Atlanta while standing in places such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the 16th Street Baptist Church, and visiting the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice. These experiences bring students face to face with the history of the Civil Rights Movement and its ongoing impact, often challenging them to reflect deeply on history, identity and responsibility.

Others step into outdoor expeditions that push physical and mental boundaries. Removed from daily routines and digital distractions, students develop resilience, independence and a deeper connection to both nature and one another.

For others, Capstones open the door to academic and professional exploration that extends far beyond the classroom. In Documenting Durham, students tell local stories through documentary film. In D.C. Art and Architecture, they trace the evolution of the nation’s capital through its buildings and public spaces. Foreign Affairs examines global policy and diplomacy in real-world context, while Page to Stage brings Shakespeare to life through rehearsal and performance at the Blackfriars Playhouse. 

Capstones built on community partnerships deepen that same sense of connection with the larger community. In Elevating Others and Lattes, a collaboration with 321 Coffee, students explore accessibility, entrepreneurship and social impact through the coffee industry while working alongside employees and learning about inclusive employment practices. In Immigrant Kitchen, students cook alongside families in the Triangle, learning about migration stories and the ways food carries identity and tradition; the week culminates in a shared meal that blends family and student stories. Participants in the Outdoor Service Expedition contributed to recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. In partnership with Black Mountain Expeditions, students took on the challenge of clearing damaged trails and assisted with ongoing trail maintenance.

And through a partnership with Hope Creek Academy, students design and lead an inclusive field day for neurodivergent children — blending service, event planning and education in a shared experience of learning and joy.

“Hope Creek could not be more grateful for the partnership that has developed with Durham Academy over the past two years,” reflected a representative of the school. “Hope Creek students benefit from rich and engaging opportunities through the time and energy invested by DA Capstone students, while DA students also gain valuable experience learning how to design an end-of-year field day that is as fun, inclusive and accessible as possible.”

In every setting, whether on a mountain trail, in a museum, in a kitchen, on a service site or in a professional workplace, students are engaging directly with the world beyond school. They are learning by doing, observing, participating and reflecting.

Other Capstones focus on developing crafts and skills through hands-on making. In Sustainable Sewing and Hands-on Woodworking, students learn design and problem-solving through creation. In the woodworking Capstone, students build a table while learning to use tools such as miter saws, drills and sanders, along with finishes like stains and varnishes. The experience emphasizes craftsmanship, creativity and the satisfaction of producing a functional piece to take home.

Several Capstones extend learning globally. In Peru, students took on physical challenges alongside cultural exploration by hiking the Inca Trail. In Korea and Poland, they studied history and memory through place-based learning. In Iceland, students embarked on a STEM-focused adventure, studying volcanic landscapes and geysers while experiencing a dynamic blend of science, outdoor exploration and Icelandic history.

And while the settings vary widely, the outcomes often echo one another. Students return with stories not only about what they did, but about how they were changed. They describe moments that pushed them outside their comfort zones, conversations that shifted their thinking and relationships that formed in unexpected ways. They also talk about new friendships, often across grade levels, and the people they met along the way who shaped the experience just as much as the places they visited. Capstones are intentionally designed to support that reflection, asking students to consider what they learned about the world, about themselves and about what might come next.

More Than a Week: A Defining Experience

Over time, Capstones have become more than a single week at the end of the year. For many students, they form a thread that stretches through their Upper School experience — a series of moments that build on one another, expanding perspectives and deepening understanding.

For seniors, this often becomes clearest in retrospect. What begins as a single choice in ninth or 10th grade evolves into a collection of experiences that shape how they see themselves and their place in the world.

Connections to Future Studies

“I’ve always been interested in technology, so the Breaking the Code Capstone my freshman year really stood out to me,” reflected a student. “Visiting the NSA and the National Cryptologic Museum and seeing a replica of the Bombe used to break the Enigma machine was an incredible way to connect history with coding. The experience reinforced my interest in technology and inspired me to continue that path through DARC SIDE and the Pathway Scholars Program.”

One Pathway Scholar traveled to Muhuru Bay as part of the Kenya Capstone to visit WISER (The Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research), meet students and continue her community-based research in person. This student was inspired after meeting Dr. Sherryl Broverman, co-founder of WISER, during her ADV Community-Based Research class. Learning about the barriers WISER girls face in managing their menstrual cycles — such as limited access to dependable products, heightened health risks and missed school days — moved her to focus her Community-Based Research project on menstrual health equity. Her project partners with WISER and AFRIpads to help secure a more sustainable supply of menstrual products.

As the Cavalier Capstone Program grows, its core purpose is unchanged: to create space for meaningful, student-driven learning that extends beyond the classroom.

In doing so, it not only enriches the Upper School curriculum, but it also helps define what it means to be a Durham Academy student.

Because sometimes, the most important learning doesn’t happen at a desk. It happens when students step beyond what is familiar,
engage with the world around them and discover what they are capable of becoming.