English teachers Becky Timberlake and Tim Laner adjusted the senior project before school started, lengthening the time-frame from just one semester to a full year.
Prior to this year, the senior English project was packed into one semester, which was stressful for both students and teachers.
To relieve some of the stress, Timberlake and Laner knew they needed to expand the project to two semesters. This meant English classes needed to change from a semester-long composition class and a semester-long literature class to a year-long English class.
“Last year, seniors were really really stressed out trying to balance eight full classes,” Timberlake said.
High is excited to take on the challenge of the year-long senior project with there being more flexibility while still having an ample amount of time to finish.
“It gives us a lot more time to figure out and really understand our topic,” senior Jill High said, “I also like how we can choose our own topic.”
High, and the senior class will take on new responsibility, and ownership while building and completing the project
“Not only are [seniors] learning some sort of skill, they’re creating something, they’re building something, it’s our project,” High said.
Creativity is required for the project giving seniors the freedom to go out and build their own project and gain a sense of accomplishment.
“They have to use creativity, and figure out how to complete it by talking to adults outside of the school system,” Timberlake said.
With the introduction of the ‘science fair’ like event, Timberlake and Laner plan to move it from the commons to the gym to accommodate more people and larger projects.
“There’s just one presentation night where all of the seniors will be together and so that’ll be a really cool atmosphere,” Timberlake said.
