YHS Seniors finish projects
in time for graduation
BY EARLENE WARD - SPECIAL TO THE SIERRA STAR

Seniors at Yosemite High School have completed their senior projects which are required as part of their senior English class. A wide range of topics was covered this year by the Class of 2005.

After the projects are completed, the vast majority of students believe they are a good thing. Even those who had negative comments say they learned from them and were glad they had done them.

Kay Tarr, one of the senior English teachers at YHS, had each of her students write their thoughts about senior projects so these could be presented to the board of trustees. Overwhelmingly, the students wrote that they were glad they had done the projects.

They learned a variety of things and felt good about what they had done. Some students had a parent be their mentor and they commented about how this brought them closer; others were proud to have done something meaningful for the community or for other people; they learned organization and how to speak before strangers; they challenged themselves and were forced out of their comfort zone; they learned new skills and they learned about career opportunities.

“Some students become adults through this process,” Tarr commented. She says they derive great satisfaction from knowing they have made a difference.

The senior project includes a proposal letter to the English staff outlining what the student wants to do. Then they prepare a term paper on a topic related to their project before preparing a resume. They select a mentor, complete the project in at least 24 hours and make an oral presentation to a board of community members and high school staff. If their senior project is a community service, they do not have to do additional community service hours; if it is not community service then the student must perform 20 hours of community service besides doing the project.

Purpose of senior project

YHS Principal Steve Raupp notes that the senior project is designed so the students can demonstrate that they have attained all six of the Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLRs). Those expected learning results are that YHS will prepare all students to: Be critical and creative thinkers, be effective workers, be effective communicators, demonstrate essential technological skills, be community contributors and demonstrate basic living skills.

The process begins in September and the oral presentations are in May. Several students indicated that they had learned a lot about time management. Those who started early did not have the stress that others had when they were trying to do everything in a short period of time.

Students chose projects ranging from sewing to welding, from working in orphanages in another country to helping the homeless in San Francisco, from helping their neighbors to working with the Special Friends at YHS.

They helped with Every 15 Minutes, Sober Graduation and Relay For Life. They put up exhibits of their work in the Badger Art Gallery and they helped out at their respective churches. They trapped feral cats on the YHS campus and they took in a dog from the animal shelter as a foster pet. They learned to groom animals and they worked on cars.
Some found the senior project to be life-changing. “I liked my senior project because it helped me find myself. It made me realize a lot about what I had been searching for and what I wanted out of life. This is an awesome experience I will never forget. I’m so happy that I did it,” wrote one student.

Another student wrote that the senior project had made her a better person. “Instead of doing something for me, I did something for others,” she wrote.

Making a difference for others was important to many of the seniors. One wrote that the project she chose was a learning experience for students and staff. “I believe we touched a lot of people and made a difference,” the student wrote.

One student wrote of making scarves for the homeless and even though the project was stressful, it was more than worth the effort.
“For me it was very stressful,” the student wrote, “because it just seemed so overwhelming. On the other hand, even through all the stress and worry, when I gave those scarves to those unfortunate people, it permanently put a smile on my heart. It wasn’t much but it was something I made with my two hands and gave it to someone who needed it. So I guess, yes, I am glad I did the project because after all the overwhelming stress I went through, it was all worth it for that one moment of giving it to the unfortunate.”

Students created life-long memories for themselves through their projects. One called it “the most memorable experience of my life.” After spending time at an orphanage in Honduras, the student wrote that it “made me really appreciate the opportunities and advantages that I have.”

Some learned that what may seem like a small thing to the person doing something, is a big thing for the person receiving the service.
“In this experience I learned a lot. For example, it isn’t the amount of time and effort you put behind a project that makes it worthwhile but it is the joy that it brings to others that matters most.”

Another lesson for some students was that what you put into a project determines what you will get out of it. Senior projects are a lot of work, one student wrote, “but worth every part if you actually put effort into them. You get out what you put into them.”

Project pays off

At least one student was hired for a job based on the senior project. That student wrote “I have learned so much about loyalty and being tight-knit with a crew of people that your life depends on and vice versa.”

This year’s seniors offered advice to the class of 2006: Start early and find something that interests you. “If a student could find a way to make a senior project out of something they are interested in, they would have no problem following it through,” one senior wrote.
Some acknowledged that they really changed their opinion about the projects after they had finished.

“If you would have asked me a month ago if I was glad we had senior projects or if I enjoyed the idea of the senior project, I would have said ‘no way.’ I would have said I hated it but now that it is all over and done with my outlook is different. I do think it is a good project. It gets our community involved with our graduating seniors. Also, it gives them a chance to see that we aren’t just cocky teenagers who drive too fast. Plus it gives those who aren’t really taking any challenging classes a chance to be challenged.”

Tarr said every year the student response shows about one to two percent of the seniors in her classes remain negative about the projects after they are finished, but the rest are glad they have done them.

One student sums up what many said:
“I’m really glad that Yosemite High School has all seniors do a senior project because it teaches them different, important things about life.”

Yosemite Joint Union High School District News