SCH Academy High School entrepreneurs
What is CAPSTONE?
All SCH sophomores engage in the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) Capstone—a unique, self-directed project-design experience. With the support of dedicated faculty mentors and access to specialized studios, students bring ideas inspired by their personal passions to life using the business, design, and technology skills learned in previous CEL classes.
Students may elect to continue their work in their junior and senior years through Venture Accelerator.
Read, watch, and learn about the products, media and design projects, nonprofits, services, and apps our students have worked so hard to develop. Scroll down to view winning projects from previous years.
read about our sophomore
STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS
Taco 'Bout It
Chuck '22
His Challenge: Giving kids the opportunity to initiate vulnerable conversations with their parents about mental health.
His Solution: Taco 'Bout It, a fun family card game that encourages conversation about mental health and wellness using real-life teenage situations and experiences.
One thing I've learned through the CEL Capstone class is how to have meaningful discussions with professional adults and the ways I can apply their advice to my ideas. With their expertise, I felt empowered and supported to create a well-rounded project.
PACE
Layla '25 and zarin '25
Their Challenge: To provide help for students struggling with time management and getting school work done.
Their Solution: An app has a calendar for organizing assignments and due dates, and a study timer that uses the Pomodoro method to help create effective studying while encouraging users to stay off their phones. Their hope is to create positive academic habits that students can use through high school and beyond.
Zarin crafted an elegant U/X design while Layla learned how to implement a variety of advanced coding techniques toward the creation of a time management app to help students learn how to balance academics, extracurricular activities, personal time and more.
Dr. Day | Pace was the App Studio & People's Choice Winner in 2023
Golf-a-Lot
Josh '25
His Challenge: To create unique mini-golf spaces across vacant lots in Philadelphia that hold no purpose.
His Solution: Josh's idea, Golf-a-Lot, converts Philadelphia infill lots into something more useful, fun, and innovative: a multi-level mini-golf course.
Josh dreamed up such a fun, innovative, and unique idea for his project, Golf-a-Lot. He merged his passion for golf and his desire to design together in this innovative venture of identifying vacant infill lots in Philadelphia, and building multi-level outdoor/indoor miniature golf centers with up to 18 holes on them. He learned SketchUp and became very proficient with the 3D Modeling Program and designed a digital prototype of Golf-a-Lot, fit out with a glass lobby and stairs and all 18 holes.
Mrs. Fajardo | Golf-a-Lot won the DaVinci Award for Creativity in 2023
PlasTEKK
CarolinE '21
Her Challenge: Eliminate the presence of single-use plastics in the ocean.
Her Solution: PlasTEKK, a creative workspace that inspires earth-friendly innovation by transforming used plastic bottles into 3d-printer filament. For every bottle collected, consumers receive PlanIT store credits that they can spend on digital design classes, spools of filament, and other recycled retail products.
The CEL program gave me much more than a curriculum in which I could explore an idea.CEL taught me lifelong lessons through a hands-on approach. It taught me patience, perseverance, responsibility, and much more about myself.
MidiGuitar
Tony '22
His Challenge: To simplify the control of guitar effects without the need for a large array of effects pedals.
His Solution: MidiGuitar is a custom-built guitar with an X/Y MIDI touchpad built into the face, which can provide a MIDI output to connect to any MIDI device. This can connect to software, or other hardware, and alter the guitar sound in any number of ways, such as applying low- and high-pass filters, or adding fuzz and distortion. The touchpad can also connect to any MIDI device, such as a virtual synthesizer to replicate the sound of other instruments that aren't a guitar.
CEL has given me an opportunity to combine my interests in music and engineering. Through designing the body, I was able to learn about computer-aided design and manufacturing, along with woodworking skills that I never would have learned otherwise.
Virtual capstone Showcase Projects
from over the years
ALL
Diva Denim is an early 2000s-inspired clothing brand based on making anyone & everyone feel like a DIVA.
- Media & Design
A monthly paid problem-solving service app that provides full customer service help.
- Apps
- Services
A series of cookbooks, featuring historically accurate recipes and information about the time period.
- Media & Design
- Products
An innovative and portable fan that allows someone to change the fan's fragrance to whatever the user wants.
- Products
A broadcasting company with a mission to spotlight amateur athletics.
- Media & Design
- Services
A trolley-car turned mobile greenhouse to help alleviate food insecurity in Philadelphia.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Products
- Services
A hand-tied fishing fly company - with unique flies to imitate bugs, frogs, baitfish, rodents, and crustaceans.
- Products
Original animal keychains with all proceeds donated to the World Wildlife Fund. Shop here today.
- Products
An innovative medication dispensing and reminding system designed to help elderly individuals and those with cognitive impairments manage their pills effectively.
- Products
MoodMatch is your intelligent music companion, bringing you the perfect soundtrack for any moment.
- Media & Design
A portable filtration system that uses a reverse osmosis system to take dirty water from any source and purify it.
- Nonprofits
- Services
A short film that aims to teach viewers that communication, an open mind, and understanding are fundamental concepts to maintain or create strong relationships.
- Media & Design
Pollinator Playground is an innovative product that spreads awareness about the roles of pollinators in our ecosystem.
- Products
A company that helps build tiny houses for the homeless is partnering with Sanctuary Village, a homeless housing company, to model one of their houses for them.
- Services
A drone designed and developed with the purpose of exploring underwater through the use of sensors, cameras, and lights.
- Products
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s student newspaper is back!
- Media & Design
- Services
Shanxi LifeSpark aims to support Black Lung Disease patients in Shanxi, China by raising public awareness and providing essential medical equipment.
- Nonprofits
A subscription box non-profit featuring products from local businesses in the Philadelphia area.
- Nonprofits
- Products
A trash can with embedded technology that helps users easily separate recyclables from waste.
- Products
A "foldable furniture" business that creates unique pieces that are easy to store and move around one's space.
- Media & Design
- Products
A fun family card game that destigmatizes the conversation surrounding mental health.
- Products
Personal and commercial photography for hire.
- Services
TradePoint is a trading simulation app designed to teach beginners how to trade responsibly.
- Apps
A website that teaches senior citizens about the internet and how to use it safely.
- Apps
- Services
Wishlist is an app that allows users to shop online and easily add items to personal wish lists for convenient shopping during the holiday season.
- Apps
Charity art exhibitions and auctions to help with the post-Yushu Earthquake reconstruction in Tibet.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Services
Apps
A monthly paid problem-solving service app that provides full customer service help.
- Apps
- Services
TradePoint is a trading simulation app designed to teach beginners how to trade responsibly.
- Apps
A website that teaches senior citizens about the internet and how to use it safely.
- Apps
- Services
Wishlist is an app that allows users to shop online and easily add items to personal wish lists for convenient shopping during the holiday season.
- Apps
Media & Design
Diva Denim is an early 2000s-inspired clothing brand based on making anyone & everyone feel like a DIVA.
- Media & Design
A series of cookbooks, featuring historically accurate recipes and information about the time period.
- Media & Design
- Products
A broadcasting company with a mission to spotlight amateur athletics.
- Media & Design
- Services
A trolley-car turned mobile greenhouse to help alleviate food insecurity in Philadelphia.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Products
- Services
MoodMatch is your intelligent music companion, bringing you the perfect soundtrack for any moment.
- Media & Design
A short film that aims to teach viewers that communication, an open mind, and understanding are fundamental concepts to maintain or create strong relationships.
- Media & Design
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s student newspaper is back!
- Media & Design
- Services
A "foldable furniture" business that creates unique pieces that are easy to store and move around one's space.
- Media & Design
- Products
Charity art exhibitions and auctions to help with the post-Yushu Earthquake reconstruction in Tibet.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Services
Nonprofits
A trolley-car turned mobile greenhouse to help alleviate food insecurity in Philadelphia.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Products
- Services
A portable filtration system that uses a reverse osmosis system to take dirty water from any source and purify it.
- Nonprofits
- Services
Shanxi LifeSpark aims to support Black Lung Disease patients in Shanxi, China by raising public awareness and providing essential medical equipment.
- Nonprofits
A subscription box non-profit featuring products from local businesses in the Philadelphia area.
- Nonprofits
- Products
Charity art exhibitions and auctions to help with the post-Yushu Earthquake reconstruction in Tibet.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Services
Products
A series of cookbooks, featuring historically accurate recipes and information about the time period.
- Media & Design
- Products
An innovative and portable fan that allows someone to change the fan's fragrance to whatever the user wants.
- Products
A trolley-car turned mobile greenhouse to help alleviate food insecurity in Philadelphia.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Products
- Services
A hand-tied fishing fly company - with unique flies to imitate bugs, frogs, baitfish, rodents, and crustaceans.
- Products
Original animal keychains with all proceeds donated to the World Wildlife Fund. Shop here today.
- Products
An innovative medication dispensing and reminding system designed to help elderly individuals and those with cognitive impairments manage their pills effectively.
- Products
Pollinator Playground is an innovative product that spreads awareness about the roles of pollinators in our ecosystem.
- Products
A drone designed and developed with the purpose of exploring underwater through the use of sensors, cameras, and lights.
- Products
A subscription box non-profit featuring products from local businesses in the Philadelphia area.
- Nonprofits
- Products
A trash can with embedded technology that helps users easily separate recyclables from waste.
- Products
A "foldable furniture" business that creates unique pieces that are easy to store and move around one's space.
- Media & Design
- Products
A fun family card game that destigmatizes the conversation surrounding mental health.
- Products
Services
A monthly paid problem-solving service app that provides full customer service help.
- Apps
- Services
A broadcasting company with a mission to spotlight amateur athletics.
- Media & Design
- Services
A trolley-car turned mobile greenhouse to help alleviate food insecurity in Philadelphia.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Products
- Services
A portable filtration system that uses a reverse osmosis system to take dirty water from any source and purify it.
- Nonprofits
- Services
A company that helps build tiny houses for the homeless is partnering with Sanctuary Village, a homeless housing company, to model one of their houses for them.
- Services
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s student newspaper is back!
- Media & Design
- Services
Personal and commercial photography for hire.
- Services
A website that teaches senior citizens about the internet and how to use it safely.
- Apps
- Services
Charity art exhibitions and auctions to help with the post-Yushu Earthquake reconstruction in Tibet.
- Media & Design
- Nonprofits
- Services