My name is Camille Koosman, 
I'm a senior Criminal Justice 
major at Champlain. 
 My capstone is about 
restorative justice in 
the educational setting,
specifically looking at the 
Winooski school district. 
I got involved I would say with
my advisor my freshman year. 
I had a class with him,
and building that relationship
has really helped me 
get my internship,
help me with my capstone, 
help me really get what I need
out of my college career. 
 I was actually given 
a great opportunity through 
my capstone with 
 doing my internship
and reaching out to the
Winooski school district.
I got to meet with the principal
of the middle and high schools
and talk to him about his vision
for the school;
and through doing that,
my internship advisor invited
me on to help him do 
his research on his 
 side of things 
 for  the partnership 
 between the
justice center and 
the school district.
I think Champlain's great 
because in the 
criminal justice major, 
all of the adjunct faculty
work in the field.
We've got state troopers,
police officers and lawyers,
public defenders, 
the state's attorney,
all working here, teaching us.
So to get that 
valuable experience
So to get that 
valuable experience
here from people in the field
who know what's going on 
like no one else does,
it's more valuable than
any information I can
get through our textbooks. 
I think the best thing
that I've gotten out of this
is the relationships 
with the faculty,  
who are in the criminal justice field
who know what they're doing,
who know what 
they're talking about
more then anyone else.
Those relationships 
 have been invaluable 
for me during my time here.  
I would like to start working
 with a community justice center
or restorative justice center 
in Vermont or back in
Minnesota where I'm from.
So I think having my capstone
be focused on researching 
the principles of 
restorative justice
and the work that 
restorative justice centers
are doing,
the work that people in my field
are passionate about,
has helped me a lot,
and I think it will help me 
when I graduate;
being able to go into 
job interviews confident 
that I know what I'm doing 
and that I'm doing work 
that is consistent with 
 what they're doing. 
