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Ellington High AP Capstone students honored for published research
Summary
The Ellington School District recognized AP Capstone students who earned capstone diplomas and published research; students presented studies on belonging, cognitive dissonance, bacterial persistence and boarding‑school trauma, and teachers praised their scholarly rigor.
The Ellington School District on Monday recognized a group of Ellington High School AP Capstone research students whose projects led to publication and national recognition. Miss Hartley, the students' AP Capstone instructor, said every student in the group earned a capstone diploma and many had work published — accomplishments she described as reflecting “true academic grit.”
Students presented summaries of their yearlong independent research. Keisha Burris described a quantitative study of 633 students comparing instrumental ensemble participants with non‑musicians and reported no statistically significant difference in overall school‑belonging scores, though musicians showed lower measures of social exclusion. Nicholas summarized his work on cognitive dissonance and reported findings that episodes of dissonance correlated with dips in self‑esteem, reinforcing self‑consistency theory. Aditi Parakoli described laboratory research on bacterial persistence in E. coli and its metabolic markers. Caitlin Powers presented qualitative work on Native American boarding schools using oral histories, examining historical trauma and resilience among Lakota and Ottawa communities.
Teachers and board members praised the students' work and presentation skills, and the board committed to sharing students' videos and publications with the wider community. The recognitions were offered as part of the meeting's special‑recognition agenda; no board action was required.
