Senior Project? More like Senior Reject.

1/16/2022

I am so sorry everyone! With senior project this week I completely spaced the blog post. Please forgive me.

Speaking of senior project, is it worth it? How do you feel about senior project? We are told that this singular project will determine whether or not we graduate. With the stress it brings and the frustration we feel towards it, it is quite common to hear seniors express their hatred for the deadlines, the project itself, and the school system. But if we take a step back, are we benefitting from going through senior project? Do our efforts in senior project really display all that we have learned in our school years and the capabilities we have as students and young adults? To get all of your angst out, please list all of the things you hate about senior project. But afterwards, ask yourself if there is anything you have positively gained because of it, and the effects it has on students in our school.

I'll go first. I strongly dislike that much of senior project is just following protocol. I value the idea of choosing a personalized project and explaining the growth that comes from it, but I disagree with the way that we are told to explain our growth. I don't think our diplomas should depend on whether or not we use Times New Roman font in single space. The only way to pass, however, is to follow these rules. I understand that these rules might make things more efficient for the judges, but to me, I feel more like an experimental lab rat or a trained dog instructed to follow orders than a 17-year-old graduating senior about to enter college.

41 Comments

Kendra

1/16/2022 02:37:48 pm

One thing that I didn’t really like about senior project was some of the busy work that they required us to do. For example, I think that the proof of progresses were a little overboard. I think that most of us easily talked about the same things in our final paper as we did in each of the proof of progresses. I also think that the whole graduation riding on it is crazy. Obviously, it scares the kids into doing it, but I think that the strictness of it is not ideal. But, regardless of that, I think that senior project is super beneficial for us as well. I was able to explore a potential career path, that I would not have, if I was not assigned to.

Hailey

1/16/2022 02:50:25 pm

I agree that certain aspects are redundant. After completing all of the prior paperwork, it is difficult to rephrase that content to make an interesting final paper.

Carson Mildon

1/16/2022 02:55:17 pm

I completely agree that some of senior project is just busywork. I think that they needed enough material to keep students busy for a whole semester class. I also think that it being required to graduate is not fair.

Dakota James

1/16/2022 03:30:58 pm

As I said in my response, there are plenty of classes that we are required to pass in order to graduate. Just like senior project, if I fail my English class, I will not graduate. Also, in my experience, the proof of progresses helped me construct ideas for my final paper and remind me exactly what I did and learned. I felt like due dates were fairly reasonable as well.

Ele

1/16/2022 04:41:09 pm

Yes, I also believe that I would not have done this project if I wasn’t pushed to. I am glad ended up on doing it because I learned a lot through the process.

Hailey

1/16/2022 02:49:00 pm

Ironically, what I dislike most about senior project is how simple the paperwork is. After taking AP English, the assignments in senior project are exceptionally easy to complete. However, because of this, I have found the paperwork to be exceptionally easy to procrastinate. Overall, I have had a very positive experience with senior project. I chose a project that will greatly benefit my future endeavors and has taught me many things about my character. Yes, it has been stressful, but only because I chose to prioritize other aspects of my academic, athletic, and personal lives over top of it. Now that I have completed my portfolio and we are on the final stretch of this process, I am very grateful that I was challenged by our school system to commit myself to a senior project.

Jonah

1/16/2022 03:36:40 pm

But if we did not have senior projects, wouldn’t you just naturally prioritize these more important activities of yours, anyways? As seniors, shouldn’t our time be more pointed towards like helping the underclass men in our same activities or something?

Hailey

1/16/2022 04:32:27 pm

I believe that senior projects should benefit more than just the one conducting the project. I wish that there was a heavier requirement that influenced students to choose a project that betters the community to instill a value of others over self. However, I do not think senior project should be eliminated. I have gained an abundance of knowledge and experience throughout mine.

Carson Mildon

1/16/2022 04:16:13 pm

Do you mean to say that they are graded too easily? Or that the criteria should be more demanding? Either way, you must remember that for a project that every senior must complete, it has to be fair that other students that are not as gifted in English are able to do it.

Hailey

1/16/2022 04:30:26 pm

I do not think that any changes should be made to the criteria, not do I have any suggestions for what senior project teachers should change in regards to the paperwork portion of the process. The paperwork’s simplicity, in my opinion, was one of the things that caused me to procrastinate since I did not see it as difficult or demanding. However, this was a personal issue, and like you said, some may have found the paperwork more difficult.

Carson Mildon

1/16/2022 02:53:37 pm

Personally, I think senior project gets a lot of hate it does not deserve. However, I hate that all the rules vary depending on the teacher you have. Also, I'm not too fond of the amount of paperwork due to pass senior project; I think most of it is unnecessary. But, senior projects can be beneficial to students and can help students to explore career options. Therefore, I am not against it but I would argue it needs slightly reworked.

Hailey

1/16/2022 03:05:21 pm

You bring up a good point regarding teachers. The three different senior project teachers all grade differently and have classes that vary in structure, which can be troublesome for the students.

Boaz Oswald

1/16/2022 03:26:06 pm

Reworking the system is probably the best way to go. The system really does have potential to benefit students greatly.

Dakota James

1/16/2022 03:28:03 pm

I think you make reasonable claims about senior project. I wonder if a similar class concerning job shadowing would be more beneficial in helping students explore career paths. Ultimately, it comes down to the person completing the project and how hard they want to push themselves and learn.

Kendra

1/16/2022 03:53:55 pm

I think with some modifications, this program is super beneficial to students.

Erik

1/16/2022 04:07:56 pm

I agree that the project can be used to for future job implications and I agree senior project could use a rework in terms of paperwork.

Robyn Chaffin

1/16/2022 04:48:16 pm

I wish that all of the teachers and judges were in the same page. That way the students wouldn’t be as confused as they are low.

Boaz Oswald

1/16/2022 03:23:59 pm

I found that the project itself was very flexible to fit the needs of each student, however the paperwork only works with one set of students: us. One of the weaknesses of public education is that naturally favors those that are more accomplished in objective thinking. Speaking personally, school plays perfectly into my interest, however there are people close to me that don't naturally think in quantitative ways. This has made me realize that our society equates worth to intelligence. This has really hurt people that I care about. It is also easy to see how backwards it is. For example, The Beatles are likely the most influential band to exist. There work influenced music in the future greatly, they invented the genre of heavy metal in fact, and by the nature of there music, the influenced many peoples lives. However, objectively, they were a bunch of idiots. I know more music theory than they did. There thinking, however, wasn't in objectivity, in essays or proofs of progress, in data or graphs, in patters in history, it was in emotion. Something that cannot be taught in High school, yet the most influential facet of human existence. Senior project was close to teaching that emotion. Finding something to work at and feeling the satisfaction of completion is part of that emotional experience. And it does succeed in that to a point. However, it has been drowned in objective proofs. It, as everything in school eventually does, except for maybe one or two classes, benefits, and elevates, us. Those that think objectively enough to be in honors classes, AP classes, and DC classes.

Jonah

1/16/2022 03:49:51 pm

I agree with what you said. We have definitely seen our education system change over the years. It is now very highly encouraged to go off to college and get a very expensive degree, which you’ll probably never even use. Whereas, the talk about trade work doesn’t really exist much anymore. I don’t hate the idea of college, but the trades should be advertised with just as much valor. Anymore, people do not appreciate the value of work.

Dakota James

1/16/2022 03:25:57 pm

Personally, I think senior project is more about learning social skills, exploring career choices, and completing something that we can be proud of after. Although we compiled all of the skills we have learned throughout school, I don't think it's necessarily an accurate display of those skills. Some students already know what they want to do in their future, so completing a project like this seems irrelevant and troublesome. For me, it wasn't nearly as stressful as most people say it is and I am thankful for the experience. Maybe this is easier to say now that it is over, but I can confidently say that our teachers and instructors make our senior project processes a feasible achievement. I didn't really not like anything about my senior project and I am proud of what I have to show for it. Lastly, the emphasis that we need senior project to pass high school seems a little excessive. We need all of the core classes that we are assigned to get our diploma. Perhaps it is more important because it is an independent project that requires self determination.

Jonah

1/16/2022 03:46:11 pm

I enjoyed the portion of my senior project where I was doing the actual, feasible, project. But, after finishing it, I did not like the very redundant paperwork that followed. I understand the proofs of progress to display our progression and make sure we are actually progressing. However, I think 6 pages minimum for a final report is a bit much. There’s always going to be those kids who ask what the minimum is, but I feel like not having minimum requirements would benefit the judges, by being able to grade more on the quality of the content, rather than the quantity. Something else I dislike about senior project is the fact that even if I had a 4.0 GPA all high school, I still couldn’t graduate if I didn’t pass senior project. It’s not like all other schools do a senior project, so it’s not like colleges look at or even know what we did. So then what’s the point? If after we finish it we just never do anything with it again? So if we did something like job shadowing, that we can actually potentially use, then it is benefiting both ourselves, as well as the community by filling jobs.

Kendra

1/16/2022 03:56:21 pm

I know that other schools do have a senior project that is required to graduate, but on a much smaller scale. Instead, the students do a 20 hour job shadow and tell the administrator about their experience. Something on a similar scale would probably work well for our school.

Erik

1/16/2022 04:03:26 pm

I do agree that it seems pointless because not many schools either do it or look at it as something nessisary.

Erik

1/16/2022 04:02:05 pm

I enjoyed the freedom of being able to choose my project and learn from it. Imagine how frustrating it would be if everyone was randomly assigned a project. I also like being able to lean and grow from my project. Besides the physical project my project seemed tip consist of writing which felt like busy work which made it easy to procrastinate. Senior project was always something that scared me because it is required to pass high school. I am glad I was able to learn from my project, but I am also glad to have it done.

Micah Tolman

1/16/2022 04:50:23 pm

If there was a teacher who was involved in teaching senior project stuff over the summer, I might have liked it better. It has caused me a lot of unnecessary stress that is quite damaging and concerning.

Micah Tolman

1/16/2022 04:13:01 pm

I have heard from many adults that senior project in Salmon is quite excessive. It is required in all schools by the state government, but for example, West Jefferson’s is more relaxed. They just do like a job shadow for twenty hours, no paperwork, no presentation. I think that is where the stress comes from with Salmon kids is all the extra conditions. I understand that learning to present can be healthy, but most Salmon High school kids will not need presentation skills in their futures because they will have jobs like truck drivers, fast food workers, or librarians. The paperwork is healthy in small amounts. Ours was overwhelming and unnecessary. I found it easy to do, but frustrating. One thing I love about senior projects is it teaches kids new abilities such as welding, sewing, and wood working. These can prepare us for the future as well as enrich the present. It is also helpful if somebody tries something they thought they would like but then realize it’s not the best for them. I write this because it may prevent someone from going to college for four years just to figure out they hate their degree.your very comment about forgetting the blog post is an example of why senior projects need to be simpler in Salmon. Kids are so focused on their senior project that their GoA drops, they screw up at work, their basketball games go bad, they yell at friends and family, etc. For the students who take courses such as Physics, Chemistry, and Calculus their senior year, the problem is only magnified. If all the parents got together and protested about senior project paperwork and presentations, we can promote change.

Ele

1/16/2022 04:37:46 pm

I agree with what you had to say. I believe that senior project in Salmon, Idaho is much more strict than any schools that I know of. Talking to my aunt about my senior project, she was shocked at how much we had to do. She is a school counselor at Firth High School and has had kids in school for multiple years, she said that for their senior project they would have to do some form of community service or internship for 20 then write a paper about it and that was it. They would actually work on their paper in their English classes and their teachers would help them, which made it easy for them to do. They also have been given a longer period of time to complete their senior project too. I too believe that the loads of paperwork on top of honor classes and other courses was very overwhelming.

Robyn Chaffin

1/16/2022 04:47:17 pm

Sewing, welding, and wood working are really cool projects! And I like that people enjoyed what they did. However, those are all classes that are taught in most schools. If we didn’t have senior project I think the school should offer classes that teach a skill.

Ele

1/16/2022 04:27:56 pm

Senior project has helped me realize many things about my future, myself, and many other factors. Now with senior project coming to a close, throughout all the time, stress, and work, the outcome of the main project was very beneficial. I am so glad I took on the project that I did because it took time and hard work, it was one of the biggest projects I took on, and doing it by myself definitely showed me what I am capable of. The busy work as we would call it, including proof of progresses and things of that sort, were some of the things that I disliked. Mainly because we had to explain the same thing over and over. It was also stressful to constantly think about how this project and presentation would determine if we even graduate.

Micah Tolman

1/16/2022 04:46:43 pm

I viewed senior project as pointless for a while, and it made me anxious just to get through it all, which caused my product to be less nice when I was done. I feel like I could have spent my time so much better than on paperwork and a presentation.

Lizzie Nelson

1/16/2022 06:14:13 pm

I think that our projects definitely taught us about ourselves. It has allowed for us to push ourselves in ways that we didn't even think were possible to begin with. However, it would be nice to dial the project back.

Robyn Chaffin

1/16/2022 04:44:35 pm

I do not think that senior project should judge whether or not someone graduates. I really liked what I did for my project. I would’ve never done something like that if I hadn’t had to be forced for senior project. I really enjoy the fact that senior project gets people to try something new. But I don’t think it should be the deciding factor in whether or not a student graduates.

Lizzie Nelson

1/16/2022 06:07:47 pm

I think that the main amount of stress of senior project comes from the fact that it determines whether or not we graduate. Sometimes we need to remember to take a step back. If we could only see how much it will benefit us by the end, we may be more encouraged to do it.

Adyson

1/16/2022 06:50:35 pm

I agree one hundred percent that a senior project should not dictate who graduates. Especially when we have to rely so much on other people for the projects success.

Jonah

1/16/2022 09:06:58 pm

Facts

Lizzie Nelson

1/16/2022 06:01:24 pm

From the beginning of high school, we hear about the daunting task of senior project. Every senior tells you how much it sucks and how hard it is. However, senior project isn't nearly as difficult as people have made it sound over the years. The main part that I dislike about senior project is how much paperwork goes along with it. They give some paperwork that is pointless and repetitive simply to keep us busy. I think they should eliminate some of it to help us seem less stressed. All together though I am actually super grateful that I was able to do my project. I think it has helped me in a countless number of ways.

Adyson

1/16/2022 06:54:50 pm

I think that the only benefit to a senior project is the learning of new skills. Or for most of us how to use time management to get everything done. Personally I didn’t struggle with the paperwork until the very end when I became to stressed to function.

Nathan

1/16/2022 08:08:16 pm

The fact that there is a class and people prep you for it years in advance, saying “what are you going to do for your senior project”, makes it seem that it is much more than it is. It should be toned down a lot because added stress is not helpful.

Adyson

1/16/2022 06:45:49 pm

I think that the idea of senior project is good, however I believe that the requirements of what can be a senior project are very messed up. It was wild to see how vast the difficulties of the different projects were. This made me think it my senior project was even worth the time it took when I could’ve done something easier. I think the hardest part was just trying to combat the pressure our teachers put on us to not fail.

Nathan

1/16/2022 08:05:38 pm

I agree teachers make it such a big deal. They make it sound like it needs to be something amazing in order to pass. With mine I spent about 60 hours and barley scratched the surface. 20 hours is not that much.

Nathan

1/16/2022 08:03:10 pm

Personally I think that the idea of senior projects are a good way to represent our growth as students. A personalized project is a much better way for each individual to show growth in there own creative way. It is a lot better than a test, because they are very limited to one learning type. Senior projects are good, but should be more relaxed on the details, and more on the growth as a person.

Senior Project? More like Senior Reject.

Leave a Reply.

Archives