Thoreau once said that, “A truly good book teaches me better than to
read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What
I began by reading, I must finish by acting.” The Senior Project
Program has been a tradition at The Community School for nearly 30
years. It is one of the most important opportunities offered to TCS
students, exemplifying the idea that, what one begins by reading, one
must finish by acting.
The mission of TCS is to “engage students of diverse talents
in an intellectually challenging and supportive school culture… to
foster in our students self-confidence, integrity, responsibility to
their community and environment, and a life-long passion for
learning.” The Senior Project Program allows students of all
socio-economic backgrounds conceive of, shape, and then execute a three
week (or in some cases, a month) long study in a field of interest.
The Senior Project Program gives students an opportunity to pursue a
topic of personal interest as a culminating project of their Upper
School experience. Seniors enrolled in the program take their academic
final exams in early April, and then spend the latter part of the month
working with experts in their field of choice, completing an extended
project and gaining real world experience. The experience should
provide a smoother transition from their more structured school
experience to the freedoms and demands of college and life ahead. When
the students return to campus, each senior creates an exhibition that
demonstrates what he or she has learned in the course of the project.
The entire project is evaluated and graded on a letter basis and Honors
credit is awarded to seniors who demonstrate exceptional work. These
presentations are open to the community.
For more information about the program or to become a community
sponsor, please contact Ryan Waterfield. Download the current senior project pamphlet.
Testimonials from the Class of 2008
For my Senior Project, I studied yoga locally in the Wood River Valley.
My desire to study yoga stemmed from my desire to slow-down and relax
after four grueling years of non-stop High School. I also focused my
project on personal "yoga journeys" and spoke to many local yoga
teachers as well as famous yoga gurus (such as, Judith Lasater and
Elise Miller).
While the school encourages every senior to complete a Senior Project,
participation in the program is not required for graduation. In order
to participate, seniors must have completed first semester of the
senior year at TCS, have a cumulative GPA of better than 2.0 as well as
have proven their capability to work in an independent fashion. Seniors
on Project must have a Project Advisor (US Faculty Mentor and
Evaluator) and a Community Sponsor (On-Site Supervisor and Evaluator).
My project was spent in the south and Chicago, and most of the time I
was travelling to and from restaurants: pig pits, smoke houses, catfish
dives, farms (for downhome cookin'), chicken shacks, taco joints and
the home of deep dish pizza. It comes down to this; I searched for
some of the best, most unique food in America and I'm pretty sure I
found it. Homestyle eating is immersed with laid back southern culture
blends for an experience second to none.
The significance of this whole project was the ability to travel and
find new things within our own country. They speak differently, smile
more, are more affectionate, don't know what strawberry rhubarb pie is
and they fry everything. My stomach hasn't completely recovered yet,
but oh how I miss fried creamed corn and bourbon carrots. ~ Mac
Whittington
Primarily I focused all my energy on literary research, but realized
that yoga is about the personal practice. Personally I found the true
essence of yoga through practicing yoga and listening to different
teachers during the yoga classes. Yoga is not about group drill; it's
about individual people and their personal practice. As Sri Krishna
Pattabhi Jois explains, "yoga is 99% practice and 1% knowledge."~Taylor
Strayley
For this project, I made a 6” f/8 Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian
mount. The tube and mount are made out of plywood and bearings are made
from cookie tins. With the exception of the mirrors and eyepieces, I
assembled the entire telescope myself.Besides learning about how this kind of telescope operates, this
project gave me a chance to develop my carpentry and problem solving
skills. I now have a working telescope that is comparable to
commercial models, and it will last for many years.~Ian Ingram