<p>Our h.s. started a new program last year, and this year D is participating. It's a Senior Project. It works like this:</p>
<p>When signing up for classes for Senior year, students choose "Senior Project" as a one-semester elective. By the end of Junior year, they must submit a proposal for their project (basically, just where they'd like to do an internship and why) and a topic for a research paper. By October Senior year they have to have secured a faculty mentor, a site to work at and a site advisor. They can also revise their proposal and research paper topic. When third quarter comes around, they have Senior Project as a class one period per day. That's when they're supposed to research and write their 10-12 page paper. At the beginning of 4th quarter (early April in our neck of the woods), the Senior Project kids leave the building to work/intern at their sites. Classroom teachers can no longer require Sr Project students to do any work for their classes, and they are exempt from finals. (Basically, they learn in those classes for 3 quarters of the year and skip the 4th quarter). The exception to this is AP classes. Students can return to the building for AP classes until the AP exam. Students have to work/intern a minimum of 60 hours in April and early-mid May, then in late May they have to make a presentation of their project and paper before a committee of faculty and community members.</p>
<p>Despite the advantage of getting OUT of the high school early, only about 10% of the senior class is doing a project this year. There is a minimum GPA and behavior/citizenship requirement that must be satisfied in order to qualify to do a project, and most of the kids who love the idea at first later change their minds when they find out how involved the whole thing is. It's actually a lot of work, probably more work than staying at school would be.</p>
<p>At first I hated the idea, but D was very enthusiastic and now I am too. Senioritis is so rampant by April of Senior year I kind of doubt the kids are learning a lot in their classes at that point anyway. It took quite a while to find a site for D to intern, but she's finally got one and she's really excited about it. She's going to be working with a friend's mom who is an Occupational Therapist, and the mom is really excited about it too!</p>
<p>Do your schools do Senior Projects? What do you think of them? I know a private/Catholic school near here that requires all seniors to do them, but it's more of a Community Service type thing.</p>
<p>Son’s private school initiated optional senior projects when he was a Soph. By his Sr year it was required of all Sr’s. The difference was that the projects weren’t started until AP tests were over at the end of May. At that point seniors were released from regular classes, but they were required to keep close track of time spent on their projects, the progress they were making, and meet in with their mentor weekly. I think all the seniors had fun doing the projects, which they designed, and which ranged from preparing for a 1/2 hr musical presentations, to learning how to cook, to putting on a fashion show, to presentations of advanced math and linguistic research projects, and on and on. Most projects did not have an academic theme. About half were joint projects with friends and half individual. All were judged by 3 teachers/ faculty members at public presentations.</p>
<p>Senior Project is a terrific part of our kid’s education. Among other things, the course requires a 5,000 word research paper. 7,000 words for honors.
Must include interviews with 3 experts in the field of interest (S hated that part).
Bibliography of at least 50 sources.
15 minute oral presentation with powerpoint. This reminds me of a master’s defense. (The honors presentations are longer and have an expert on the panel.)
It is a lot of work, and the kids that have already done it say it was the best preparation for university.</p>
<p>Every senior in our system has to do the Senior Project. It starts in Jr. yr. with every kid picking a topic and doing a research paper (minimum 8 pages or something like that). They are supposed to have an expert advisor or someone very knowledgeable about their topic. They have a semester to get it done. The grade counts as a big part of jr. Eng. final grade.</p>
<p>Then in the senior yr. they have to develop some sort of model /display product sort of thing that supports the points made in the research paper. Finally, they have to do a presentation (using the product they came up with) in front of judges, usually one faculty member and two random community volunteers. The presentation lasts 8-10 minutes.<br>
The kids absolutely hate it and so do most parensts. The preparation is so uneven. In a sch. of almost 3000 kids, the Eng. teachers are rarely on the same page. S2’s jr. Eng. teacher ( a football coach)quit just before the semester was over when they were about to turn their papers in. Then when Sr. yr. started S2’s honors Eng. class did not have a teacher (random subs) for the first 7 weeks of sch. Finally, the sch. dragged a French teacher (who knew nothing about senior exit project) over to fill the spot. She was of little help and was continually giving them misinformation.</p>
<p>The grading process of the presentation is not good. The community members who volunteer to judge are given a quick briefing on the process and turned loose (DH volunteered one yr. so we have first hand knowledge). It turns out to be very subjective. Many kids are extemely nervous. There are always several girls who dissolve into tears. S2 said they all got good marks because the judges felt so sorry for them! I think this part counted something like 50 or 60% of final Sr. Eng. grade. </p>
<p>In theory, it could be a good learning experience but in practice, it’s just a big pain that must be endured and hope for kindly old ladies as your presentation judges!</p>
<p>It’s been a grad req for years here and is presented before a panel of judges. They made the mentor optional now because of the difficulty acquiring one</p>
<p>Happykid’s school district offers Senior Projects, Internships, and Teacher Assistant options. This year she is enrolled in all three options. Each program has different requirements, and each awards a regular course credit. These are elective courses.</p>
<p>Teaching Assistants help manage a class for one period each day, including a lot of the routine grading and lab set-up grunt work. Internships can be multiple periods, and some students spend two or three hours each day in an off-site internship related to a career interest. Others intern at the school. Happykid is in her second year of Theater/TV production internship which allows her to get at least some of her tech work done on school time.</p>
<p>Senior Projects require a more formal proposal, bi-weekly reports on activities and progress, and a final product. Some students only spend one semester completing projects, but others enroll both semesters and complete two short projects or one long one. It’s my understanding that a substantial mid-year report is required if the overall project will take a full year to complete. Senior Projects can be individual, or group efforts. Typical Theater/TV projects include original theatrical works and tech instruction manuals for new equipment.</p>
<p>Senior Project is a graduation requirement at our public HS. Students choose a faculty member mentor that they work with beginning in October and the project culminates with a 20 minute presentation followed by a Q&A, in late May before a 3 person faculty panel, peers (seniors are required to attend a set number), family and community members (schedule published in newspaper listing topics and times). They are required to consult with outside experts and to also prepare an applied piece to demonstrate mastery of the topic. A week after the presentation, the kids submit a written reflection on the process and what they have taken away from it. The topic can be anything and kids are encouraged to think outside the box. It is P/F and kids have been denied diplomas if it is not completed. At our school, Sr Project is a big deal.</p>
<p>Our school definitely has its faults and students and parents bemoan the process but like Karen Colleges stated, this has been great preparation for university work and life in the grown up world. We were very worried about my shy child presenting his Sr Project but he made it through and went on to ace his required public speaking course in college. Our school is very big on empowering kids to interact, present and defend their positions and there are many steps taken throughout a student’s 4 years to prepare them for Sr Project.</p>