Right from the get-go, Lily Hodges ’25 knew she wanted to focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for her 8th grade capstone. “I have always been a huge advocate for equality and inclusion in schools as well as out in the community,” says Lily, who has been at HPA since second grade, when she and her family relocated from Georgia. Anxious to start at a new school, Lily recalls that she was embraced with open arms by the HPA ‘ohana. Seven years later, as she considered a capstone theme, she was inspired in part by that early experience at HPA. “I wanted to pull out the kindness I knew in Lower School,” she explains.
After surveying her Middle School peers, Lily identified a need to educate students about transphobia, homophobia, and racism (as well as how those intersect with identity). “My research confirmed that these things unfortunately do exist to varying degrees within our community,” she says. In order to make her subject matter as accessible as possible to the widest audience, Lily decided on a two-pronged approach for her capstone. “I created an educational video, and then together with Mrs. Jim, my capstone coach, I planned a DEI Day for the Middle School that focused on microaggressions, identity, and team building.”
Both projects took extraordinary effort and patience to execute. “For the video I created on transphobia, homophobia, and racism, I had to learn Final Cut Pro, and I definitely found editing to be the hardest part about that piece of my capstone,” Lily says. “It took me over 100 tries to come out with good commentary audio.”
DEI Day, on the other hand, presented logistical challenges. “I created three 45-minute activities that all students rotated through, in small teams of two or three,” Lily says. “Mrs. Jim was instrumental in helping me organize this. She and I spent around 24 hours together leading up to DEI Day, both in person and remotely, where we were creating schedules, lists of activities and student helpers, groupings for the workshops, and so much more.”
Lily’s focus and discipline paid off in spades, garnering praise from peers, teachers, administrators, and trustees. Equally important, though, was the self-transformation she experienced via her capstone: “I have grown a lot in my social aspect and gotten to know new students and adults. I am also much stronger and much more confident as a presenter,” she says. “And I am a more thoughtful communicator who better understands how to gather and interpret data and think critically. My capstone gave me yet another reason to push here at HPA, and I hope to carry forward this work when I get to the Upper School.”