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SENIOR PROJECT
Submitted by: Prosser Creek Charter School, Truckee, CA
The Senior Project allows students at Prosser Creek Charter School to immerse themselves in, and fully understand, a professional field or career. The intention is to promote student creativity and insight in relation to career choices. Reasons for Practice The initial motivations for adopting the Senior Project program requirement were to:
The Senior Project encompasses the ideals found in the school's mission statement and embodies the original vision of the Prosser Creek Charter School founders, Jayna Gaskell, Marion Shill, and Gail Alderson, i.e., "to create individual pathways leading to success in learning and living." In the four years that Prosser Creek has been educating students, the senior classes and alumni have affirmed the value of this program. As of January 2003, this program had been in place for four and a half years. THE SENIOR PROJECT is required of all students at Prosser Creek Charter High School (PCCS). In order to satisfy the requirements of this course, each student creates a project that reflects his or her understanding of a chosen career. In this manner, the Senior Project helps each student gain a better understanding of a career, profession, or vocation-preferably one that he or she may be interested in pursuing. Students complete five credits toward the Senior Project in their senior or final year as part of their graduation requirements. The components of the Senior Project are a project plan, career-related
research, a portfolio documenting student work, and a final paper or
finished product. Listed below are overall project guidelines as well
as suggestions for career choices, research topics and resources, and
work samples. Project Guidelines Process Outline
Form of Project The final, completed Senior Project may take the form of a research
paper (minimum of seven pages of text with bibliography and in an appropriate
format), an oral presentation with written documentation and audiovisual
aids, a scrapbook, a video, an audiocassette, a CD, a mural, a flyer,
or some other finished product that is appropriate to the chosen profession.
Other examples: Students may build an engine, create a computer program,
create a sculpture, put on a play, or design and sew a dress or other
item. Project Suggestions Career choice: Examples of careers that students may choose to research include, but are not limited to: pediatrician, auto mechanic, business owner, comedian, actor, construction worker, cosmetologist, dentist, computer programmer, business owner, nurse, principal, writer/author, computer, horticulturist, farmer, cattle rancher, horse trainer, jockey, sports star, marketer, reporter, photographer, anesthesiologist, x-ray technician, child care worker, accountant, teacher, bus driver, or chef. Students can find additional ideas by researching links located on the PCCS Web site (http://www. prosser.net). Research topics/resources: Research topics and tools vary depending on the career chosen and the student's interests. Typically, research on a career will involve the following information: education or training required for entry level, salary range of the job, employment skills necessary, advancement opportunities, computer/technology skills needed, demographics of job opportunities, benefits, etc. Research methods: The student may research the career by choosing from the following options: job shadowing, mentoring, researching via the Internet, interviewing career professionals, accessing library resources, or referring to books, encyclopedias, newspapers, TV, and other media. Work samples: As with all other PCCS courses, a minimum of five work samples must be collected by the educational coordinator, on an ongoing basis, for the student portfolio (a state of California requirement). The work samples that support the Senior Project reflect the ongoing research the student conducts as he or she creates a final project. The samples used to support the creation of the Senior Project always should be appropriate for the career chosen and the student's interest in that career. (Variations of the suggestions listed below are encouraged.) Some options are:
Some students have a clear idea of what they want to do from the start and take full advantage of this project. For students who do not have a vision, it is very important to help them early in their senior year to identify a project that will be meaningful to them-and to monitor them carefully until they feel a sense of ownership. Sometimes students who are undecided do not realize how their current interests translate into careers. Sensitive counseling can help them overcome this hurdle. Students often become very enthusiastic when they realize that their interests can direct them to a relevant application.
Prosser Creek Charter School URL: http://www.prosser.net
Anna Toso Telephone: 530-550-2305
The following examples of senior projects are provided
courtesy of Prosser Creek Charter High School:
Forensics Anyone? One Prosser Creek Charter School (PCCS) student wanted to be a Criminal Scientific Investigator. As part of her Senior Project, she watched the show CSI very carefully and took notes. She contacted the State Police Office in Sacramento and interviewed crime scene investigators. For another component of the project, she read books and conducted research on the Internet. When she felt she had enough information to do her own investigation, she decided to investigate the (pseudo) murder of a six-year-old child. To do so, she covered her six-year-old sister's face and took pictures of her posing as a victim in a ravine near a stream. The student created footprints using Plaster of Paris, and she obtained hair and blood samples of the perpetrator from the body. The student took photographs at many angles and checked DNA from the crime scene. Finally, she made a huge board display of all her evidence and a map of the time it took to find the evidence and arrest the perpetrator. She followed this detailed visual display with a research paper that included her interviews, her research results, and a complex daily diary of what she did, how she did it, and the hours it took to complete this investigation. This was a most thorough and exciting senior project. [Yuba City/Sutter Resource Center]
Watch Out Julia Childs! One former PCCS student wanted to be a chef. She did some research about various options for culinary schools, such as: what they might cost, entrance requirements, time requirements, levels of certification, etc. The student then interviewed local chefs. Finally, she gave a short oral presentation regarding all she had learned, accompanied by a meal she prepared for her educational coordinator and the site administrator. The student reported that there were many different types of chefs and that cooking was not the only skill involved. Other necessary aspects of the profession included: presentation, restaurant management, dining etiquette, color balance, nutrition balance, etc. The student had fun and learned a great deal, as did the Educational Coordinator and the Site Administrator. [South Sacramento Resource Center] STILL MORE ACTION AHEAD - Don't Turn That Page! Currently a Prosser Creek senior is creating a Japanese comic book for his required senior project. Ironically, the plot of the comic will be about someone who is trying to get his comic published! As part of his initial research, he has been learning about this art form, finding contacts in order to get his comic book published, etc. His project will include the final comic, some written research results, interviews, etc. By the time he is done, he will have gained much information about the numerous aspects of the field of comic book creation and publication. He should also have a nice portfolio project for future job reference in this field. [South Lake Tahoe Resource Center]
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