Senior Projects, Graduation Portfolios, and End of Year Celebrations

     While the end of the school year can drag for students throughout the country, at Compass School this is often the most vibrant time of the year. With all school trips, Junior and Senior Projects, Project Week, and Graduation Portfolio Roundtables, this is a period of great energy and learning. And this year this is augmented by the Compass 10th Anniversary Celebration Dinner on Sunday, May 31st.

     As Compass School seniors prepare for graduation, they complete their high school years with a flourish, facing two big challenges—Senior Project and Graduation Portfolio Roundtables.

     Senior Project asks students to apply knowledge and skills they have developed in their years of high school to a significant independent learning experience. Throughout the year, seniors plan this project, developing essential research questions and making contacts to pursue an interest beyond the typical confines of school. And then, for three weeks in April, when many other seniors around the country are plodding along to the end of high school, Compass students are out in the world seeing what they can do with all their school learning when they get outside the walls of the school.

     Senior project gives students a taste of the field they may pursue in college or for a career. Some of this year’s projects include Rebecca Ruskin studying “Faces of Poverty” through volunteering at various shelters and outreach programs in Boston, Hannah Venman-Clay working on “Teens and HIV” through a two week internship at Metro Teen Aids in DC, Alex Swanson exploring “Social Injustice and Photojournalism” with creation of a photo-journal website to tell the story of poverty in Vermont, Soo Mi Park creating “Art Against Racism” by studying public art and creating pieces that speak out against injustice and racism, and Jamie Hargreaves following his passion for “Rally Racing” with a job shadow at a Driving School in NH.

     Seniors return to school in May with renewed energy and great stories of discovery to share with each other and the rest of the school. From this work, students learn that they can shape their own direction. Between the planning and carrying out the project, senior advisor Julia Taylor observes, “students realize they can make things happen.” Senior Project culminates with public presentations on Friday, May 15, from 10:30-2:00.

     Compass seniors will also be hard at work readying themselves for their Graduation Portfolio Roundtables scheduled for May 27, 28, 29. To graduate, each senior must present a collection of their work to a panel made up of their parents, teachers, a student peer, and an outside community member. This is the final process for seniors to show their readiness to graduate and move on to the world beyond the school walls.

     It is hard to believe Compass has been in existence for 10 years! It seems just yesterday when the idea of providing a high school and middle school option where every child could find success was being presented at a school board meeting. After beginning with 47 students in grades 7-9, Compass is proud of its many successes, with its 7th graduating class this June, with over 90% of its students going on to college. Colleges recognize the power of a Compass education, with this year’s seniors being awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars of merit based scholarships for academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement. The community is invited to celebrate this important anniversary at Compass with a dinner and open mike at the school on Sunday, May 31st starting at 5:00 p.m.

     Compass invites interested community members to contact the school about attending Senior Projects, serving as a community member evaluating at portfolio roundtables, or joining for the 10th anniversary celebration.