Senior Project=Less People Graduating? by Sarah Draz 3/5/2008 1:07 PM Senior Project=Less People Graduating? By: Sarah Draz Everyone knows about it. From your freshmen focus paper to the proposal letter you write in frameworks, it all leads to one thing: the senior project. The senior project is not only a requirement to pass finale, but to graduate. The project consists of a paper, product, and a presentation. The paper must be 5 pages long with an annotated bibliography and a product that was made over the course of 15 hours. You are also required to do 3 presentations (8-12 minutes long): in your finale class, in your advisory, and in front of a panel of teachers. Although you get to choose your topic in all of this, you feel pressured to get it done. That’s when students feel unmotivated. “I was in finale first quarter, then I thought I should just do an independent study, but where am I now? In third quarter finale.” Says Liz Hedesh. Sure, having a whole class devoted to the senior project is helpful, but a lot of students fail finale simply because they don’t need the credit. When asked about the subject Andrew Ellis said “I failed finale first quarter, but I got my project done so I’m still graduating.” If teachers claim this project is so beneficial to us (the students) then why are Johnson’s graduation rates going down? According to Mrs. Lynch, 71 people have already failed finale and 54 are currently failing. In the senior class only 230 out of 290 seniors are on track to graduate. So who is the senior project benefiting? You decide…