Capstone Project

When I first began my internship with Provo Parks and Recreation, I thought our big event for the summer would be for the Fourth of July. However, I quickly learned that the big events for the summer would be the Utah Lake Festival and Pioneer Day. I soon figured out that several large props would be needed for these events. I'm good with my hands and really enjoy building things so I decided to do this for my Capstone Project.

The Utah Lake Festival:

Provo Parks and Recreation had several booths at the Utah Lake Festival, but I focused on the fish game booth. I constructed two large pieces of wood, drilled several holes in each, and painted the boards with ocean scenes. I then helped run these booths at the Utah Lake Festival.


Pioneer Day:

This holiday is huge for Provo Parks and Recreation. There were tons of activities and games and we had an amazing turn out.

For this activity I was able to build many things...

I built a jail out of PVC pipe, which I spray painted black:


I built a mine shaft:



I also cut large boards and painted buffalo on them for a buffalo hunt game:

I applied material for the arrows to stick to:


I really enjoyed developing these props and pieces for the different activities for Provo Parks and Recreations big events. I learned how to work with others to accomplish big projects for major recreation events. I had to get creative and come up with efficient ways to accomplish the tasks at hand.

Here's the description for the requirements for this project from the manual:

You will complete a major capstone project for your internship. Examples of this project include a special event or a new training manual—anything that the agency could not do without your involvement. It should be above and beyond your day-to-day duties. Once you have visited with you supervisor and settled on an idea, send an e-mail to the internship coordinator (Dr. Hill) to receive approval for your project before you begin. You should have settled on a project after just a few weeks at your internship. Once your project is completed, prepare a report for your portfolio. This report should show what you have done more than tell about it. For example, it might be a scrapbook of a special event you organized, the actual training manual you produced, or copies of the weekly newsletter you developed. The report will be included in the internship portfolio.