Student Outlook -- Kellie Brownell

In 1999, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District mandated that all

seniors complete a senior project in order to graduate. The idea for the

project -- composed of an essay, oral presentation and portfolio -- was

originally created by an educational company, FarWest EDGE. Corona del

Mar, Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools quickly adopted the new

requirement into their senior English classes, joining hundreds of

schools across the nation that have followed suit according to district

orders.

Newport Harbor High School, however, sat on the project and is now

scrambling to find a way to integrate this requirement for the graduating

class of 2003.

Earlier this year, the social studies department proposed a solution

-- the Graduation Development Program -- intended to make the senior

project the culmination of four years of personal exploration and

development.

From freshman year, students would be assorted into classes of 25

students each and would be under the guidance of one of the school’s many

teachers. The program was designed not only to alleviate the burden of

the senior project from one department, but also to give the project a

deeper meaning and relevance to the students’ lives.

A committee of juniors was organized by the program designers with the

philosophy that the best way to do the senior project right for our

student body was to have students contribute to its development.

Unfortunately, the program was voted down by the rest of the faculty,

leaving the senior project to wallow some more in the administration’s

office before being tossed to the English teachers.

However, many of the students who were on the original Graduation

Development Program committee are not willing to give up their voice in

the development of the senior project.

Junior Lucas Parker quickly organized the Senior Project Awareness

club in hopes of communicating to the administration and the district

what the students feel is necessary in creating a meaningful project.

Although perhaps contrary to our stereotype, the members of the club

are not against the extra work that will naturally accompany the senior

project. In fact, the majority of us look forward to the opportunity to

research an area of interest in a college thesis format.

We feel strongly that our experiences as students at Newport Harbor

High could greatly contribute to making the senior project beneficial for

all levels of the academic spectrum. Although decisions of this sort are

typically solidified without the input of students, we hope that

accommodations will be made to a highly concerned group of juniors who

are taking action before the administration even has answers to our

questions.

We are going to have our share of graduation requirements in the

upcoming year, and now is the opportunity to transform one of them into a

meaningful experience that will influence students’ lives even after they

leave high school.

* KELLIE BROWNELL is a junior at Newport Harbor High School, where she

is editor-in-chief of the Beacon. Her columns will appear occasionally in

the Community Forum section.