As we approach the winter break, a mere 2 weeks away, students are beginning to feel the intensity of our 1st semester projects. The sophomores are currently working on their family history digital stories. This project gives the students a chance to create a memorable project in which they share some part of their family’s history. It asks them to explore how their family got to be where it is. For most of us having some understanding of our family helps us to have a better understanding of ourselves. The students have been collecting photographs to include in their story and they have written their story. Now the students are recording their story and putting the finishing touches on their digital story, including composing the music. Originally the students were going to present these stories to their families this month. However, that has been changed to January. Once a date has been decided we will post it.
The juniors are working on their IDentity projects. In this project we ask students to explore their own identity. As part of that exploration, they are creating a history scrapbook. The scrapbook has them display images of their own history, while at the same time researching and presenting images of what was going on in American history during their lifetime. They also need to do a written reflection of their scrapbook. They have been turning in parts of the scrapbook throughout the semester. The final draft of it will be due in January. In addition to the scrapbook, they wrote a personal memoir in English. To help prepare them to write this memoir, they read and discussed different memoirs, such as The Bell Jar, Always Running, & The Color of Water. Reading these memoirs helped prepare them to write their own. Finally, students wrote a monologue that they will be performing. Some wrote songs to sing, some wrote poems, and some wrote spoken word. Currently, the students are working on composing the music to go with their monologue and recording them. They will also be filming a video to go with their monologue. A showcase of these monologues will be in February. It is a wonderful celebration of all the hard work students did this semester.
The seniors have been hard at work on GreenBizz. In this project students are asked to develop an idea for a product (it can’t currently exist on the market) and build a company around that project. They needed to research the opportunities available for their product to be successful in the market, their potential competitors and their target customers. They have been writing various parts of their business plan and developing their marketing materials. Additionally, they have met with mentors several times to discuss their product and business plan. This project culminates with a competition. On the morning of January 21 they will be presenting to potential investors. Those investors will assess the students and rank the students. Then, in the evening of January 21, at Centre Concord, students participate in the Innovation Fair. They will set up booths displaying their products and business plan. Families and friends will have an opportunity to “invest” in the companies as well. Based on the morning competitions and the Innovation Fair, the top five groups will present again, before a new panel of judges. Those judges will make final determinations and choose the ultimate winner of the competition. This year we are lucky to have students from the International Hospitality and Tourism Academy and the Arts and Humanities Academy joining in our competition. It adds another level of excitement to the project. This evening is great fun so put it on your calendar!
