Senior Project as a High School Graduation Requirement

[ShyGuyInChicago]

In my high school, we needed to complete a senior project in order to graduate: these were the requirements.


Each student in the District is required to complete a mandatory Senior Project. The Senior Project is a graduation requirement that begins freshmen year and involves career research, evaluation, mentoring and presentation. The purpose of Senior Project is to allow each student an opportunity to explore career option, observe professional work through the mentoring process and provide students with a career path for their future. Senior Project is a required, independent project with instructional support.

The process will begin with an orientation for freshmen to the Senior Project. During the orientation, students will receive an overview of the Senior Project and have an opportunity to ask questions about project requirements.

Over the next four years students will complete the following:

1. Contract: Both parents and students will sign a contract that commits both parties to successful completion of the Senior Project.
2. Career Project: Students will research three possible career choices and create a brochure outlining specifications for each career.
3. Career Essay: A five paragraph essay expressing interest in a specific career.
4. Career Speech: Students will develop and deliver a speech on a specific career in their Speech class.
5. Letter of Intent: Students will compose a professional letter to their Senior Project Advisor expressing their career intentions.
6. Annotated Bibliography: Students will research and compose a career-based annotated bibliography within their English III class.
7. Mentor Application: An application filled out by the mentor, stating their agreement to mentor the student.
8. Mentor Log: A document of recorded dates and times spent observing and learning from their mentor.
9. Mentor Evaluation: A detailed student evaluation filled out by the mentor upon completion of required mentor hours.
10. Presentation: Students will deliver a final career presentation to advisors. Students must create a visual aid to accompany their presentation, (i.e. PowerPoint, tri-fold board, demonstration, etc).


In my opinion I think such a thing is a great idea because it can help students decided what they want to do with their lives. It does not seem unreasonable to me to make it a graduation requirement since choosing a career path is just as important as the other skills that people are required to learn in school

[Sage]

We do that at my school and nobody, myself included, takes it very seriously. It's a waste of time- when told 'you have to do so-and-so to graduate, nobody is going to think too deeply on the matter of the project. Everyone just bullshits some mild-mannered sounding career plan for something they're only half-interested in to get it over with.

[Sith Lord 13]

Meh. It's OK. There are better and worse out there. I didn't have to do one and I turned out OK.

[Limelight788]

Now here's the problem with requiring something like this. People are not going to take this seriously, they're going to pick something random and go with it (Copy paste with Sage said, except that it's not mandatory in my school). Having something like this as voluntary work or to make yourself look better on a college resume is good because it actually forces you to pick something you're interested in and explain why you're interested in it, making it mandatory just makes people feel it's an obligation of school.

Another thing is that it takes away valuable time that can be used for school work, which is more important then the project you're describing here.

[ShyGuyInChicago]

What if high schools required a class that existed for the sole purpose of helping students choose a career path?

[Iron Man]

I think it is a tremendous waste of time. That is the point of graduation: Freedom. You shouldn't have to slave away on something that is only going to have sentimental value to only your parents, but won't benefit you in anyway.

[Sage]

What if high schools required a class that existed for the sole purpose of helping students choose a career path?

We have that here in Canada actually and it's mandatory from 7th-10th grade. It's stupid and pointless and nobody learns anything valuable from it. The point remains that people who do take their future seriously do not need such a program and people who don't take their future seriously aren't going to benefit from it.