Sayonara, senior projects.

With the grading of senior projects complete, most of the class of 2018 has said goodbye to their senior projects.

This year the students have seen a brand new version of the senior projects. However, there are still a few problems to be addressed for next year’s senior class. The project for the most part has been beneficial overall.

The class of 2018 has seen a senior project that is vastly different from the one used in previous years. In past years students had to write a paper, conduct a job shadow, attend a college visit and give a presentation for their senior project. This year, students have created an interactive website to showcase the four years that they attended Bullitt East. This project is more personal and allows students room to be creative and showcase their personality. Megan Heller, English 4 teacher was the main creator of the new project. Heller said, “I loved that it was something [students] could take with them, it’s something that [provides] foundational skills in a technological era.”

Senior Ashlie Gauthier enjoyed the idea for a new senior project for the incoming classes but not the current classes. “I think for this year and the current underclassmen the previous project would have been more ideal but for incoming freshman starting the Charger Way website is a good choice,” said Gauthier.

The project grade was weighed on a scale of 0 to 4. Students scoring an average of 3.0 or above passed this project. Those who passed their senior project will be allowed to skip school on March 20. Students who did not pass their senior project on the website portion will have the opportunity to fix the problems with their website as long as their grade is fairly close to a 3.0. Then the students will have to show their project to Mrs. Pierce or Heller before March 20 to be rescored. If the students are still not passing this will give Heller and Pierce enough time to allow the students to make further changes. The students not close enough to the passing mark will need to come to school on March 20 and present the original project along with the changes that they have made.  

Much like any project there were both failures and successes. “The most successful part was having everyone take responsibility…the responsibility that came with the presentation really helped these students,” said Heller. One aspect that make this project different than years past was the personal reflection component. This project allows the student to delve into their high school experience and truly reflect on what they have learned. Heller said “You [students] get to actually absorb more of who you are and your growth, that’s always a huge thing for me. Personal reflection is really the only way that you can improve yourself as a person.”   

One of the biggest problems with this project for the students and teacher alike seemed to be rooted in miscommunication. Some students had a harder time than others receiving information. Senior William Smith said, “lack of communication and justification. We were lightly explained as to what it is that was going on, and when people questioned why, there was never any answer at all.”

Gauthier also agreed that communication could be something improved on for next year’s seniors. “Most of the problems were rooted in miscommunication. On top of being told incorrect due dates and not being informed that the rubric was posted, our very ‘personal’ projects were posted on the school website for everyone to see without our permission,” Gauthier continued, “In the future the rubric should be printed out and given to each student as well as posted on the website to eliminate confusion. Teachers also need to be given more information about the senior project so that it can be addressed in homerooms and the projects should not be visible to the entire graduating class but shared privately with teachers and staff.”

Heller hope that in the coming year that she can make this project more organized. She also hopes to make the requirements more concrete than this year. Heller hopes to send out a survey to the seniors later this year to get their input on the project. Next year Heller hopes to make a Google Classroom page where she can post all of the information about the senior project in one place so that it is easily accessible for all students.

Overall, this project was beneficial for some but not for all. This project could be a good tool in planning for the future. Smith said, “I’ve spent most of my high school career thinking about what’s coming next, so having to write it out on a website and tell a few folks doesn’t really do much besides soak up a bit of time. It could potentially be beneficial to kids who don’t have plans or resumes though.”