The Roaring Fork School District hosted a symposium in Glenwood Springs Tuesday, presenting the success of the district’s capstone project initiative. More than 100 teachers and administrators from around Colorado attended the event at CMC’s Morgridge Commons.

“We are proud to be leaders in the statewide effort to provide these kinds of learning experiences for our students and are enthusiastic to have so many capstones colleagues with whom to share and learn,” Rob Stein, district superintendent, said in a statement.

RFSD schools recently added capstone projects as a graduation requirement for all high school seniors, and the previous academic year was the first time each graduate completed a project.

Capstone projects are one way to fulfill the Colorado Department of Education’s guidelines for demonstrating graduation readiness. Beginning with the class of 2021, every Colorado high school must implement the guidelines, which are designed to measure student achievement beyond formal test scores.

Though the graduating class of 2018 was the first year in which all RFSD students were required to complete capstone projects, the Colorado Department of Education asked the district to present its experience for the state.

Local teachers and administrators shared how the RFSD structured the capstone programs, and a panel students presented spoke about what they learned from the process.