Baton Rouge Magnet High School will hold its first ever Senior Project event in mid April, and they need many volunteers to act as judges – 200 judge slots to fill, in fact, represented by community organizations, industry and the university and community college system leaders serving on several panels.
Senior Project is a nationally acclaimed program which originated in Oregon through the work of Carleen Osher, who now serves as executive director of the Senior Project Center. It is the culminating independent activity for graduating seniors and it involves four parts: a research paper on a topic selected by the student and approved by a panel of teachers, a product related to the research, a portfolio of the learning journey and a presentation to a panel of judges from the community. Each student must complete work representing a learning stretch that is nurtured by a mentor who has expertise in the chosen area.
Baton Rouge Magnet High School is the only school in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System participating in the project this year. The school’s entire faculty has participated in some aspect in the development of the program spearheaded by the English faculty. Judges are needed 3-7 p.m. Monday, April 12, and Wednesday, April 14, as seniors deliver their presentations. Judges can serve on more than one panel, and dinner will be provided.
The expectations for each panel of judges are to: examine the portfolios for six students, view the presentations, ask follow-up questions and complete the scoring rubric for those same six students. The broad categories are: Math, Science, Business, Fashion, Humanities, Teaching (Music, Dance, Foreign Language, etc.), Photography, Computers, The Arts, Contemporary Issues and Miscellaneous.
Senior Project is Differentiated Instruction at its best: teachers direct the process, students select the areas of interest and learn to be independent managers of time, teachers and students work together to develop connections to the outside world and all participants support and benefit from their individual learning styles while meeting the expectations set forth at the beginning.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Principal Nanette McCann or Assistant Principal Dianne Talbot at (225) 383-0520.
