Most of us have learned the hard way that planning, preparing
for contingencies and growing from our failures are
important.
ThunderRidge High School’s senior projects bring that home to
its graduating students. The only high school in the district to
require a senior project, ThunderRidge seniors must examine a
topic, write a research paper, and develop connections to a
service, such as teaching or volunteer work.
As part of the project, students created a portfolio that
included plans for a field experience, a journal of their
experiences and their reflection afterward.
About 423 seniors presented their projects Friday to nearly 300
judges. They gave oral presentations and talked about what they
learned.
Judges were members of the community, teachers and parents, with
one teacher as the lead. I was honored to be one of those judges.
Each panel had six judges and was responsible for about nine
student presentations.
Most students in my group worked to the best of their ability. A
few tried to slide through, and one failed.
The student who failed was given reasons for his score and will
have an opportunity to make corrections and try again.
One student, who taught the Pledge of Allegiance in American
Sign Language to a first-grade class, did stunning work. But she
was so overcome with nerves, she stumbled and burst into tears
during her speech.
I could see her lose confidence. But she pulled herself together
and struggled to do her best. I commended her for her courage and
strength to continue.
Another student rebuilt a Jeep CJT and planned on doing his
presentation in the parking lot. The snow didn’t allow for that.
But instead of falling apart, he pulled his Jeep as close to the
school as he could, set up an area by the windows and made his
presentation through all the distractions.
One senior learned how to choreograph a martial arts fight with
weapons. He completed his project, but not before he sliced his
hand, and his sparring partner stabbed himself in the leg with a
sword.
One thing this student learned, he said, was that choreographing
martial arts isn’t easy and “you should be very careful handling
these weapons.”
He wanted to give his demonstration to a school, but was unable
to do so because of scheduling conflicts. However, he presented his
routine at a martial arts information seminar in Castle Rock. By
doing it then, he was able to do so in front of a larger
audience.
From organizing a community drive for Ronald McDonald House to
learning how to paint like Bob Ross – the late painter on PBS –
these students all walked away with some new learning.
But they left with more than that. They passed their first of
many tests in coping with stressful situations where their best is
required.
Susan Dage-Ruby is a News-Press staff writer.