Class of '25 Explores Arts, Sciences in Spring Capstone Projects

The Class of 2025 may have departed Mount Hermon for their next great adventure, but eight recent graduates left lasting gifts to the NMH community through their capstone projects, exploring a range of themes in the humanities, sciences, and arts.

The capstone is a unique option available to seniors. Interested students are invited to propose a  self-driven research project on a subject of their choice, with guidance from a faculty advisor.  The students present their projects to the community and a faculty grading panel at the end of the semester. Each capstone must result in a tangible product that will enrich the NMH community. 

This year’s capstones reflect the innovative, creative interests of the students.

Claire Melican 

Claire Melican combined her love of history with a longtime hobby to develop her capstone project. In “History Hidden in Woven Threads,” Melican explored the weaving traditions of several cultures by learning and replicating their patterns and processes on her own loom.

Melican produced six woven bands using traditional patterns and techniques from around the world. She used a variety of sources for her research, including books, YouTube tutorials, and in-person interviews.

“It was definitely tough because it's such a niche subject,” Melican said. “You can't really just pick a country and expect to find all that information. You need to let the research guide you.”

Through the course of her capstone project, Melican learned vital time management skills, as well as how much fun an independent research project can be. Spending the semester learning new weaving techniques allowed her to grow as a weaver and gave her the chance to share her love of history in a tangible way.

“I think sometimes when we talk about history, we never really connect to it,” said Melican. “I wanted to bring a little bit of color, art, and passion into it, so people would be able to look at history in a slightly different way.”

She credited NMH with providing the skills she needed to conduct independent research and sees her capstone work as an embodiment of the values she learned during her time at the school.

“I think this project is a really good example of what ‘head, heart, hands’ means and how broad that can be,” Melican said. “Being able to take this crafty thing that I've only really done for fun and make it academic was just such an incredible process.”

Lanie Blanton

Lanie Blanton delved into the history and cultural significance of the “Divine Nine” network of African-American sororities and fraternities in her capstone project. 

Formed in 1930, the Divine Nine collaborates to promote its member organizations, provide community service opportunities for students, and support scholarship in the African-American community.

Blanton’s project explored the history, achievements, and notable members of the nine partner organizations, with a focus on the experiences of Black women and their role in the advancement of American education, society, and business.

“I wanted to highlight historical and cultural aspects of the Black community that aren’t well known but have done so much for the advancement of Black people,” Blanton said. “I also wanted to start conversations about how this relates to students here.”

Blanton interviewed members of the Divine Nine member organizations, combining their personal experiences with historical research to illustrate the ongoing role they play in the lives of the African-American community and academic discourse.

“Something that I really sought out in my research is the emphasis on bettering and serving the Black community,” she said, “Because I looked at this project through Black women's perspective, you see the sisterhood and shared perspectives that develop.”

The capstone process taught her the value of resource allocation and the importance of developing networks of support, said Blanton.

“It taught me how to talk to people that I have never met and still develop a relationship,” she said. “I think NMH has taught me time management and how to be more open in the way I communicate with people.”

Keona Burch

For her capstone project, Keona Burch explored ways to organize and illustrate raw data sets from medical research in order to derive conclusions about the interactions of psychiatric medications on gene structures.

Using the Python and R computer programming languages, Burch created a series of visuals that illustrated the relationships indicated by the data sets, allowing viewers to see the links between data points.

“Basically, my capstone is analyzing a large set of biological data and seeing what conclusions I can draw from it,” Burch said. “I wanted to apply it specifically to psychiatric medication, because prescribing medication for mental health is often a process of trial and error.”

Over the course of the semester, Burch refined these graphs to improve their readability and illustrate the web of medication-gene relationships, using skills she learned in advanced computer programming at NMH to test the capabilities of coding languages in mapping out the data sets.

The project helped Burch learn new coding languages, understand how data is compiled and aggregated, and learn how to effectively parse large sets of information. She hopes the template she created will assist future students interested in exploring ways to categorize and examine raw data for scientific research.

“What I was able to do in this case is take complex data and create meaningful, simple figures that were understandable,” Burch said. “I structured it so it can be applicable to many different inputs. If there was another student that's very curious about this stuff, having this tool to be able to look at what's in a specific data set and how it relates to everything else is really cool.”

Lyric Thomas

Lyric Thomas applied her passion for illustration to a new medium in her capstone project, developing an original storyboard and short animated film.

Based on the song “Tomcat Disposables” by musician Will Wood, Thomas’ storyboard and film explore themes of perception, imagination, and animal cruelty through the eyes of a lab rat daydreaming about freedom in the last moments of its life. She used techniques she honed in her visual arts classes at NMH and information she learned in psychology class about the inhumane treatment of rats in lab-testing procedures. 

Thomas began by crafting a series of storyboards that convey the narrative of the lyrics, using the process to experiment and refine her illustrations and narrative structure.

“This was the biggest part of the whole process — getting my story into digestible storyboards to carry along the under-workings of the animation,” said Thomas. “This was a stage that was more about testing and learning the [animation] program I was using, going into the more basic parts of animation with anticipation and fluidity, trying to capture movement that's not only expressive because of the lack of dialogue but also able to be complete on its own.”

Thomas then translated her storyboard into a color animated film, using animation software. She drew heavily on her experiences in NMH visual arts classes, specifically those taught by her capstone adviser, Bill Roberts, who retired this spring.

“I really wanted to take what I had learned from my previous classes, such as pacing and story composition from my graphic design class, and interpret it into a short animation like this,” she said.

She encourages younger students to take advantage of the unique opportunity offered by the NMH capstone program.

"It's probably the most fun you'll have at NMH with coursework,” Thomas said. “Being able to decide what you want, what you're passionate about, and explore it further was the best part of this project for me.”

Izi Valdevit

In her capstone project, Izi Valdevit explored the fundamental aspects of human existence through dance, choreographing a series of multimedia performances based on academic research and interviews with fellow students and faculty members from across the curriculum.

The seeds for her project were planted during her junior year, when Valdevit was interviewed for a friend’s video project exploring similar themes.

“He interviewed me on the spot,” she recalled. “I was tired, so I gave him a bad answer, but it stuck in my head. Around that time, they were starting to ask us about capstones, so I decided to delve into that.”

Valdevit enlisted fellow students to help her with set design and cast fellow members of the NMH Dance Company to perform her choreography.

“I really struggle to communicate with words and language, so I tend to rely on art forms,” Valdevit said. “Dance is the one thing where I don't face as much artist block. I think part of that is you're working with other people — I can bounce ideas off of another person. That flow of ideas helps with the creative process.”

Participating in the capstone helped Valdevit hone her ability to translate academic content to the stage, manage her time, and oversee a team of collaborators.

“It was a new way of taking information and interpreting it [for me],” she said. “I think that taught me a lot about how I research and interpret things.”

Amy Vongvasin

Amy Vongvasin distilled her love of illustration, entomology, and environmental activism into an original children’s book for her capstone project. The result, “Are You Scared of Insects Too?,” combined Vongvasin’s text and images into a story about the importance of insects in our ecosystem and how people can coexist with them peacefully.

“I'm very passionate about making sure that people, especially in the climate activism world, recognize how important [insects] are,” Vongvasin said. “People view them as gross or ugly, but they're literally the foundation of ecosystems.”

Her decision to filter this message through a children’s book sprung from an idea she had while taking teacher Bill Roberts’ illustration class and her experiences teaching young children.

“I think if you want to educate someone, you need to start at the very early ages,” Vongvasin said. “My art style is very simple and cutesy, and the colors I use are mostly very bright. People have told me since middle school that my art style would be suitable for a webcomic or a children's book.”

She hopes her book will educate young readers on the integral role that insects play in our world, food systems, and the health of our ecosystem.

Vongvasin’s experience in the capstone class taught her a lot about her creative process and the value of having a close support network. She credits the extensive input of friends and faculty advisers with helping her complete such an ambitious project.

“I had so many great people that I could reach out to, with expertise in both art and English,” she said. “There was so much support for me through all of this.”

Stella Zhou

Stella Zhou shed light on the past, present, and future of solar technology in her capstone project, utilizing a piece of solar history donated to the school by alum Stephen Fuller ’58.

Her presentation featured a working solar cell designed by Fuller’s father, Calvin Fuller, who developed the first silicon solar cells while working for Bell Labs in 1954. Zhou used the donated solar cell as an example of the early efforts and ideas that drove solar energy innovation.

“I’m interested in this topic because solar energy is a renewable energy that has been used around the world,” she said. “It is practical and efficient compared to many other types of renewable energy.”

Zhou explained the science behind current solar technology with hands-on demonstrations illustrating the ways solar cells capture natural light and convert its energy into power for grids and batteries. She also highlighted several designs and concepts scientists are working toward in the near future and the impact they may have on our ability to harness the sun’s power.

Zhou said the support of Stephen Fuller, whom she interviewed about his father’s work, and NMH faculty was integral to her research. She believes her project is an excellent example of NMH’s commitment to “education for the head, heart, and hands.”

“By participating in the activities I designed, we can understand this topic better,” Zhou said. “We get to think about the science behind solar energy and how it impacts our life, and we take time to cherish and appreciate the efforts and ingenuity of scientists who invent these amazing products.”

Skylar Tian

Skylar Tian’s capstone project explored the link between music and mathematics, centering on the Discrete Fourier Transform principle of musical frequencies and its application in electronic music.

Utilizing the Fourier Series, which converts audio to functions by analyzing its frequency domain, Tian created an electronic version of a traditional Chinese bamboo flute.

“The bamboo flute is a very unique Chinese instrument, and I haven't found any digital instrument of it yet,” she said. “To let more people enjoy the beauty of the flute and play it more easily, I decided to create a synthesized G-major bamboo flute.”

Tian’s semester of research and experience crafting the electronic flute opened her eyes to the versatility of applications for using the Fourier Transform, as well as the limitations of digital technology in recreating traditional instruments.

“I believed that music is sound; sound is vibration; vibration is math at the beginning of the project, but trying to analyze the tones and replicate the instrument made me realize how much the player also matters in conveying music,” Tian said. “I want to continue to look into electronic music and explore how other digital instruments are created and hopefully use some of those techniques to continue to fine-tune my electronic bamboo flute.”

She credits her experiences in the classroom and NMH’s holistic approach to education for helping her pair her passions for music and mathematics in her capstone project.

“The capstone project allows students to think with our heads, feel and follow our hearts, and explore real-life applications with our hands,” Tian said. “I am so glad I had the opportunity to explore topics beyond the curriculum in my senior year, and I believe I've not only gained knowledge but also developed the discipline and quality of persistence.”

Franly Hernandez

Franly Hernandez sought to capture the lesser-known scenes and stories from his home in the Dominican Republic for his capstone project. Through a series of photos and interviews with friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances, Hernandez painted a picture of everyday life in the Dominican Republic that reflected the history, culture, and economic realities of a country in transition.

His project, which he compiled into a photojournalism book, drew on skills developed in the classroom at NMH, incorporating his passion for photography, history, and language.

In addition to guidance from faculty advisors, Hernandez connected with photographer Will Wilson ’87 during Wilson’s visit to campus in February as part of the NMH Alumni Fellows Initiative. Wilson reviewed Hernandez’s work and offered feedback on the art of storytelling through photography.

Photos by Aurora Song '26, Ben Rosenthal '27, Megan Latimer, Tim Relyea, and Max Hunt.