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Students become filmmakers, craftsmen,
experts
In South
Dakota, 67 schools have participated in senior project training
offered bythe Department of Education. Emery High School took
the plunge into senior projects in November 2003, before
training was offered at the state level. The school received
approval from its Board of Education, trained staff and sent a
letter to parents in short order.
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Bryson Winsky, a senior at Kimball High School, shows
off the canoe he built out of 1-inch wooden planks.
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It was the
students who proved to be the hardest sell. With a little bit of
coaxing, however, the students became excited about the process.
In the end, “the pride of those students – and their parents –
was one of the neatest experiences I have witnessed,” Schultz
said.
Seniors choose
their own project topics. Under the model promoted by the
Department of Education, students are encouraged to choose a
topic based on a particular career cluster. For example, in the
Information Technology cluster, a student might do his research
paper on the World Wide Web, and for his project, design a Web
site for the school or a community organization.
In Emery, one
student researched domestic violence and raised money to
purchase supplies to decorate a room at a safe house in
Mitchell. The student also oversaw the decorating process,
enlisting the help of elementary school children to create
artwork for the walls.
In the Kimball
School District, which is in its first year of requiring senior
projects, one student has produced a 15-minute film that will be
shown at this year’s graduation ceremony. The film recounts the
senior class’s final year. Another student’s product was to
develop and implement activities for the residents of a local
assisted living facility. Another student has spent more than
100 hours making a 16-foot canoe, by hand, out of 1-inch planks.
“What we would
really like, when we interview these seniors next year, is for
them to say ‘This was the best thing about senior year,’” said
Kamden Miller, a social studies teacher in Kimball, who has
helped to coordinate senior project implementation in that
district.
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