Every year around May Day, Potomac’s seniors end their “normal” school year and spend a little over a month working on their senior projects. While many other schools no longer maintain this part of their high school experience for seniors, Potomac has continued to offer students the opportunity to gain real-world experience outside of the classroom.
The Current sat down with Mr. von Glahn, the Grade 12 Dean, to hear about the breadth of different approaches seniors take. The projects generally focus on encouraging students to contribute beyond themselves and serve outside of the Potomac classrooms. Potomac hopes that the projects will provide valuable experience in making a difference in the community, which they can apply to their college experiences, careers, and beyond. However, this does not have to come in any one form, and students are also encouraged to follow their interests when choosing a topic.
Students’ projects fell into a wide variety of different categories this year, which we’ve listed below, along with some ways projects materialized in each category.
- Athletics – students shadow physical therapists, trainers, and more
- Art – students install public art installations or work on various different art projects
- Medicine – students often shadow health professionals and specialists
- Business – students take on internships at a variety of different businesses
- Education – students work at education centers nearby, or within other divisions at Potomac
- Politics – students pursue internships public policy firms, government departments, and more
- Documentary/film/podcast – students make media with narrative, research, and other focuses
- Music & Theatre – students shadow music professionals, collaborate with Potomac’s musicians, and more
- Volunteering & Service – students choose to volunteer with Potomac’s many community service partners and organization in the area
- The Environment – students pursue several opportunities to serve by means of environmental sustainability initiatives, many of which involve helping Potomac’s own local environment
One of the most challenging aspects of the project is developing an idea that meets the project guidelines and timeline, as creating one that is feasible can be difficult. Students have to advocate and problem solve on their own.
Additionally, one of the requirements for seniors is meeting with faculty members in small groups each week to check in on progress. These meetings culminate in 10-minute presentations to an audience about their projects.
We spoke with a few members of the graduating class to hear about how their projects went. Cecilia Woods worked at a preschool for children with learning differences called the Lab School. She said, “A teacher asked me to lead a lesson which involved writing on the board, and I told her I am dyslexic and struggle to spell. She then asked the class, ‘It’s okay if we spell some things wrong, right?’ And said if I was still comfortable, I could lead the lesson. That was the first time I was ever the scribe. To me that is the perfect summary of my time at Lab.”
Tami Aje, another senior, worked at the Children’s Science Center and had similarly optimistic feedback to share about her experience. She said, “So far, volunteering at the Children’s Science Center has been amazing! As a volunteer, I help with setting up and cleaning up, but most of my time is actually spent talking to the kids and encouraging them as they tinker and learn!”
As they approach graduation, the seniors are finding meaningful ways to apply their passions and make a positive impact on others, and the projects seemed to achieve that on a large scale. Only a few days left!
