As the May 11 and 12 final deadlines quickly approach, seniors are starting to gather their required paperwork and volunteer hours for their presentations. As the due dates come closer, the confusion gradually is growing among the senior class as to what exactly is due and when. Also, as the class of 2016 is the final class with this Senior Project format, future classes are curious as to what their Senior Projects will entail.

For the class of 2016, there is a singular deadline; May 11 or 12, depending on the day and time that the senior will be assigned to present. On that deadline, the senior is expected to arrive punctually for their presentation in professional attire with a portfolio containing all of their necessary paperwork. The portfolio, which should be a professional-looking and organized binder, must contain the hours log, government meeting review, summary of service and a copy of their thank you letter. Also, students should have some form of visual aid to accompany their presentation, such as a PowerPoint or Prezi. The slides should maintain the interest of the viewer as well as correspond with your different talking points during the 10-15 minute presentation.

“I think that the best advice I could give to seniors when they are giving their presentation is to remember that the people there are trying help you, not to intimidate you,” Principal Mr. William Deal said.

For the class of 2017, unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of concrete information as to what the senior project will entail. As it currently stands, the upcoming seniors will have community-service based projects. It will be based off of the one the seniors are currently doing, but it will be slightly different.

The classes of 2018 and 2019 have already began to work on their projects by researching possible career paths, and the current sophomores have also visited local colleges to learn more about higher education. Their project is much more future goal based than the current one, which is based on community service and volunteering.

On Sept. 12, 2013, the Pennsylvania State Department of Education adopted new graduation requirements based off of Keystone testing, and eliminated the necessity of a Senior Project to graduate. After that decision, many schools cancelled their Senior Project policies, Freedom, however, didn’t. As for the future, Deal plans on talking to other local schools to see their policies for their senior projects, or lack thereof, and compare them to our own.
“If other schools have made the decision to do away with their projects, we will probably consider that option as well,” Deal said.

The only classes that could be affected by that potential decision would be current sophomores or freshman. It is obviously a time of transition and refocusing of our school’s senior projects, and during this time of change it is important for seniors to focus on completing theirs in order to graduate, and for juniors, sophomores and freshmen to pay close attention to the status of their projects as well.