Fauquier High School has a lot of class options and with only 17 students this semester, History teacher Ronald Pfeiffer’s Senior Capstone class is extremely captivating but not well known. Senior Georgia Grady, a student in the class, describes the class as “intriguing because he draws connections between different events and different [events] going on in society that aren’t really obvious, and it makes them…make a lot more sense.” The class material ranges from after World War II to the present. The class highlights the past while also bringing information and news from today into the lessons. “I love the class. It’s very informative and you get to learn about a lot of new things that you typically don’t learn in a [regular] history class,” says senior Madelynne Martin, a student in Pfeiffer’s class. Students who have participated in this class have an infinite amount of positive feedback. Many students enjoy the teaching style and material that is covered in class.“It goes in-depth on a lot of subjects that are prevalent, like the modern world,” senior Brody Adamec, who also participates in this class, commented.
The class consists mainly of lectures focusing on physical and human geography. Students can ask questions and take a deep dive into the answers. It is project-based, with a few readings here and there. Eventually, once the world has been established in physical and human terms, the class pivots a bit to then look at the historical aspects. The class starts the history portion with the Cold War, which has important information and background for some of today’s world.
“Pfeiffer [is] an awesome teacher and his lectures are always really fun,” stated Martin. Adamec also shared, “It opens you up to new subjects of study…I personally like human geography, the study of just how humans move throughout the modern world and trade.” Grady says her favorite thing they have learned is “how the environment in different places affects the history and culture of different countries.”
The Senior Capstone class is an underground but interesting class that captivates students. Freshman Jehan-Luc Porchia plans to take the class, saying, “I really like history, and I thought that it might be really fun to recap on all the things that I learned so that I could get in my brain better. Also because I just think that it would really be in my interest.” Overall, this class is not well known but highly enjoyable.
