Former Assistant Director of Student Programs Fred Capestany has returned to teach at Highline after nearly 14 years away.

Capestany is back teaching in Highline’s bachelor of applied science in Youth Development program after leaving when he was working in student programs in 2006. While he was gone, he volunteered at Powerful Voices and also worked for Rainier Scholars prior to returning.

Capestany said he’s worked with the youth for the majority of his career, starting out as a bilingual community educator at Planned Parenthood prior to coming to Highline.

“I love working with youth because they are at a very important developmental time, trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. It’s fun to play even a small role in helping them discern what path they should be on in life,” Capestany said.

After graduating from Whitman College, Capestany said he did specialized outreach to Spanish speaking communities through Planned Parenthood where he provided families with sexuality education.

“I visited many of the middle schools and high schools in Seattle to do presentations on different topics related to sexuality education. I did a lot of talks on birth control, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS,” Capestany said.

After Planned Parenthood, Capestany said he took on a position as an admissions counselor at University of Puget Sound. Following that, he found a position at Highline.

Capestany began his journey at Highline in 1999 where he was the multicultural student programs adviser. As the adviser he said he guided campus events with a group of students and staff known as Team Highline.

“The seven student leaders on Team Highline created and implemented social and educational events for the campus. … I advised Team Highline as they planned these events and supervised our student clubs and organizations,” Capestany said.

As a liaison for multicultural services he provided programming for multicultural issues such as helping plan Unity Through Diversity Week and Martin Luther King Jr. Week. Eventually, he was promoted to assistant director where he supervised the new multicultural student programs adviser and student graphic designers in the office.

“Each year I also taught a two-credit College 100 course, which helped students in learning how to be successful in college,” said Capestany. 

Despite fulfilling all of his duties at Highline and then some, Capestany found that he had another duty to fulfill at home.

“I honestly loved my job and would’ve liked to have stayed at Highline; however, at that time I had two young kids and needed to leave Highline so I could be a full-time stay-at-home dad. My wife took care of the kids for the first five years and then it was my turn,” Capestany said.

“I loved being a ‘house husband’ and did that job full-time for five years, and then for another three years part-time after returning to the workplace,” Capestany said. 

Returning to the workplace consisted of training and supervising over 100 volunteers for providing religious education to children. During his last years of being a house husband, Capestany said he took the position of director of religious education at University Unitarian Church.

“My job was to oversee our Sunday school for kids—infant through high school students. … I also reviewed the curriculum and designed new educational programs as needed,” Capestany said.

Capestany said one of his favorite parts of the job was helping put together Sunday worship services, as he said he recognized the music program at University Unitarian Church was lacking in diversity.

“The music program at UUC has always been pretty formal and focused on European style chorale music. In other words, classical music,” Capestany said.

In efforts to diversify the music they included in services, Capestany said he got together with the choir director to bring in various musicians, instruments, and voices.

“One Sunday we did gospel music and another one featured bluegrass music. The music was beautiful and moving and I think many in the congregation appreciated the efforts to infuse diversity into our worship,” Capestany said.

“I had a lot of fun in that position,” Capestany said.

In addition to working at University Unitarian Church, Capestany said he became a community volunteer spending five years serving on the board of Powerful Voices, an organization that serves young women of color. Here, he said he learned how to be a more effective leader and how to fundraise for important causes.

“Their mission is to help girls tap into their leadership potential and to help them cultivate their power and their voice to make a difference in their lives and in their communities,” Capestany said.

“Being on the PV board was an amazing experience. … During that time I took on a number of leadership roles, including being the board chair for two years,” Capestany said.

Capestany said that despite being one of two men in an organization focused on empowering young women, he was asked to be board chair which allowed him to recognize the privilege he held as a man in the workplace.

“A big part of the learning experience was being aware of and minimizing the impact of my privilege as a man in an organization dedicated to serving girls and women. Though I had the formal hierarchical power of being the chair, I worked hard to center the voices and experiences of the women on the board,” Capestany said.

Capestany said he paid close attention to how he communicated to make sure everyone’s voices were heard. He also said he made an effort to ensure he wasn’t behaving in a privileged or biased way.

“It wasn’t easy but I believe I did a pretty good job and I grew a lot in my understanding of sexism and male privilege. Of course, you should ask the women I served with if you want an objective opinion of how I did,” Capestany said with a smile.

Capestany eventually moved on to a group called Rainier Scholars which assists students who are first in their families’ to attend college or university. They’re a non-profit organization that focuses on low-income students of color helping them get into a good college or university, while also guiding them as they work towards obtaining their degrees.

“It was a lot of fun but sadly, over a year ago Rainier Scholars went through a major re-organization and I was laid off. As I looked around for a new gig, one of the things I was excited about doing was teaching,” Capestany said.

Capestany said he applied at a few high schools, then saw an opening for Highline.

“I was super excited about this opportunity because it would be a chance to teach full-time and a chance to return to a school that I loved. Also, I was hyped about teaching youth development because I would be preparing folks to do the type of work I love doing, which is advising/guiding youth,” Capestany said.

“The best part of my job is working directly with young people and helping advise or guide them,” Capestany said.

Capestany started teaching classes in Youth Development this quarter.

“The point of the BAS in Youth Development is to prepare students to work in youth-serving organizations. People with this degree can work in many different settings and types of agencies, such as the YMCA, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, or Rainier Scholars,” Capestany said.

“Some people want to work with little kids; others want to work with adults. But, if you like working with middle school and high school aged kids, then youth development might be the fit for you,” Capestany said.

Capestany also spoke of changes within the human services field, mentioning what he considers “a long overdue focus on social justice and issues of equality,”.

“More and more, agencies are asking communities what they want in terms of services, rather than having the agencies decide what’s best for the community,” Capestany said.

Capestany said he believes his mission in his professional career is to assist the youth in reaching their full potential.

“My job is to help them determine their path and then do what I can to help them on the journey. In the end, it doesn’t matter to me what destination they choose because it’s their life; I simply want to help them get to where they want to go,” Capestany said.

“Young people are capable and powerful. … I’m not here to do things for youth, but rather to teach them how to do it for themselves,” Capestany said.

“They often have the wisdom, knowledge and abilities they need to be successful and they need adults in their lives that help them tap into that power. Yes, they also need boundaries and expectations to be successful, but they’re more competent than adults often realize,” Capestany said.

Capestany advises students interested in Youth Development to begin accumulating “as much practical experience as you can,” that way potential employers might find your resume more appealing than others without.

“A big mistake that college students make—whatever their major—is to focus only on their academic development and not enough on their career development. Yes, it’s important to have the degree and to do well in your classes, but at the same time, you need to be looking to the future and gaining experiences that will show employers you have the skills they want in an employee.” Capestany said.

“When employers interview candidates they want to hear specific, detailed examples of the kinds of projects you’ve done, whether as an employee or volunteer. They want to see evidence of leadership skills, effective communication, the ability to work well on a team, and they want to know if you can get things done,” Capestany said.

Capestany suggests taking on more of a leadership role when joining an organization or student club. He emphasizes not joining and only being a member, but being proactive so you have examples to reference to when discussing your resume, such as planning a workshop on campus.

“Get an internship at a local company or agency. Volunteer at a social service agency, etc. These kinds of experiences will make you a much more attractive job candidate,” Capestany said.

Capestany noted how Highline hasn’t changed all that much.

“In many ways, Highline is a lot like I remember it,” Capestany said.

“One thing that I’m glad to see has not changed is the warm, friendly culture of the faculty and staff. Everyone has been so welcoming of me and I’m glad to be back,” Capestany said.