As you prepare for your senior year of high school, one of the most important things you will do is your senior project. Senior projects are a way for you to explore an idea, job, or passion you want to learn more about and to meet people and get experience in that area. It is also a way for you to show the skills you have learned throughout your educational experience. In addition, this is a State and local requirement for graduation.
There are three major components to the project. The first is a research paper. This is the piece you will spend the most time doing, so be sure to make it a priority as you make your plans. The research paper will cover a topic of your choosing. Topics generally come from one of three areas:
- Jobs, careers, or majors you are interested in learning more about or pursuing.
- Hobbies or interests you want to engage in with more depth.
- Problems you see for yourself, your family, or your community that you want to do something about.
After choosing a topic, you will choose a research question. Make sure it is a question without a definite answer. In other words, it needs to be an issue with multiple sides or perspectives. It also needs to be something about which you can form your own opinion.
The second component is the community experience. This is an opportunity to expand upon what you researched in your paper in an out-of-class opportunity. Projects generally fall into three categories:
- Create something: Build something, design something, write something, etc.
- Try something out: Set up a job shadow, internship, practice, etc.
- Raise awareness: Start a campaign, teach a group of people, participate in a fair, etc.
Projects require a minimum of 10 hours of work. You will log those hours and get them signed off by an adult who can verify it happened. You will also document the experience with photos to help in your presentation later.
You will generally do this second semester through your advisory class. You don’t necessarily need to have this planned before you start your paper. Oftentimes, the best projects are organic offshoots of the research students do for their papers. If there is something that you want to do that you can not do during the school year, you may do it before hand. However, remember that you will be tied to that topic for your senior paper as well.
The third component is your senior presentation. This presentation will take place toward the end of the second semester and will cover the entire process of your project from the paper through the community experience. Presentations are given to a group of adults who will evaluate you on the impact of your project and your presentation skills.
Senior Project Due Dates (2024-25)
1st Semester (Research Paper)
Oct 7th and 8th: "Letter of Intent" is due
Oct 17th and 21st: “What I Want to Know” and “What I Know” are due
Oct 24th and 25th: Two source notes are due
Nov 4th and 5th: All source notes are due
Nov 14th and 15th: Annotated bibliography is due
Nov 3rd and Dec 4th: First draft of paper is due
Dec 11th-13th : Final paper is due during scheduled appointments
2nd Semester (Project and Hours) *Assignments due in advisory class
TBA-Project proposal due
TBA-Poster due
TBA-Reflection due
May 2nd: Senior Presentations
Contact Mr. Darrington for any questions. bdarrington@kimberly.edu