2018 CAPS Cohort

SENIOR SHOWCASE 2018

Anushka Shah (Ted Talks 2018)

Tom Rockwell (2017)

Seniors showcase their talents, projects

• By Kelsey Bode kbode@andovertownsman.com
• Jun 14, 2018

Directing a film, rebuilding a motorcycle and analyzing gender inequality in foreign countries are just a few of the projects Andover students undertook this year and then put on display during the second annual "Senior Showcase" at the Cormier Youth Center late last month.

Hundreds of students, administrators, faculty, family, friends and community members attended the May 21 event, which was sponsored by the Andover Coalition for Education (ACE). Approximately 70 student projects were presented.

"This is such an exciting community event," said President of ACE Lenore Price. "It's a really special way to honor the work our students have done. All the work has been based on a passion. When you see the work again, you want to be in high school again. ACE is thrilled to showcase our student work."

Projects at the showcase ranged from senior capstone projects, global pathway scholar capstone presentations, fine art portfolios, and capstone projects from elementary and middle school students as well.

According to Price, the event was organized largely by Selectman Annie Gilbert, Digital Learning Coach Shelagh St. Laurent, and English Language Arts teacher Rebecca D'Alise.

Cassandra Ferreira, 17, wrote, directed, and produced "Addicted," a film about a teen struggling with addiction who realizes the impact his condition has on those around him.

"It was definitely very fun, especially because this is what I want to do," Ferreira said. "It was a very eye-opening experience for me to see what is behind the camera."

Matthew Davidsen, 18, studied the uses of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) planes, and built his own, small prototype.

"I've been in the RC plane community and I'm interested in engineering," Davidsen said. "With VTOL, planes can take off vertically. It makes planes a lot faster and more efficient."

Director of Strategic Innovation at Andover Public Schools Stephen Chinosi said the showcase was everything he envisioned when he first came to Andover.

"The resources we are offering, the support from faculty, is really going to make a difference for our kids," Chinosi said.

According to Chinosi, the goal behind the Global Scholars program is to encourage students to do real world research at a professional level. Students in the program must take a certain courseload at Andover High including a significant foreign language requirement along with travel abroad. Then they must research a topic based on their experiences.

Chinosi said scholarship funds are available at Andover High on both a need- and merit-based basis so that no student is discouraged from the program due to a lack of funding.

Sophie Bardetti, 18, traveled to the Dominican Republic for her Global Scholars experience. While in the Dominican, she helped build a home out of recycled water bottles, planted trees and participated in other service work. While there she noticed that students attending a one-room classroom on a mountain struggled academically from an inconsistent string of teachers who would sometimes not show up to teach at all. Bardetti was inspired to research why schools in the Dominican Republic struggle.

"It helped me realize I didn't know what I want to study," Bardetti said of the project. "It helped me consolidate what I did in high school, and realize how I can use it in the future."

Bardetti will study International and Global Studies at Middlebury College in the fall.

For Aurash Bozorgzadeh, 18, his senior capstone project was an opportunity to teach younger students the basics of robotics and engineering. He created a curriculum and taught students this spring through Derive Robotics, a one-week course spearheaded by his friend Aum Trivedi, also an Andover High senior.

"It was amazing," Bozorgzadeh said. "In a lot of ways it was really painful, but really fun. I think it's just a good way to give back to the community."

Dhruv Srivastava, 18, had a similar experience. Srivastava created a water transportation device to help pump filtered water from a well in countries where clean water is scarce.

"It taught me a lot about how many problems there can be," Srivastava said. "I never knew before how many challenges an engineering project can have."

Superintendent Sheldon Berman said the showcase had grown significantly from the year prior.

"When you give students the opportunity to research something important to them you see the quality of their work move to another level," Berman said. "So many projects here show students care about the world."

Follow Kelsey Bode on Twitter @Kelsey_Bode.

|

FEATURED

Senior Capstone program to continue

• By Gabriella Cruz gcruz@andovertownsman.com
• Jun 2, 2016

Courtesy photoSenior Henry Gilbert discusses how the culture of the ‘70s influenced singer Patti Smith.

Courtesy photo Andover senior Leigh Burte presents her Senior Capstone project, which compared different kinds of event planning.

Courtesy photo Senior Sara Clark presents her Senior Capstone project which researched the actresses in silent films.

Courtesy photoSenior Abby White presents her Senior Capstone project that researched how she can help people below the poverty line eat healthier.

As another class of Andover High School seniors prepares to graduate, five seniors have projects under their belts that set them apart from the pack.

As part of the high school’s pilot Senior Capstone program, Daniel Combs, Emma Plourde, Leigh Burte, Sara Clark and Henry Gilbert conducted individual research projects outside of the classroom and on their own time.

Under the direction of the district’s Director of Strategic Innovation Steve Chinosi, the students explored topics ranging from women in silent film to healthy cooking for those below the poverty line.

“What’s really remarkable about this pioneering cohort is that we’re really doing offline, off the grid,” Chinosi said. “We met at lunch, we met after school. These kids are opting in to a pilot program on their own volition just for the glory of being senior scholars.”

Autism research

Emma Plourde said that through the Capstone program, she was able to explore autism research, which she said wouldn’t have been possible through traditional learning.

“I don’t think my passion for pursuing autism research would be able to fit in the confines of a classroom, so I think Capstone has been very valuable in that sense,” Plourde said. “I didn’t realize the research would be so personal. When it’s going really well, you’re really excited about it. But when you hit a road block, you’re really down about it.”

Through blog posts, Plourde and the other students documented their research and reflected on what it was like to conduct a research experiment. Plourde said her blog showed “how humbling the experience has been” for her.

“The students were responsible, in a sense, for generating data sets through experiments, observations, interviews and surveys,” Chinosi said. “The distinction between research as creation, rather than research as regurgitation, is the big difference.”

Low-income obesity

Abby White researched healthy, cost-effective cooking in underprivileged communities. She said that unhealthy eating is common in families that live below the poverty line.

“Obesity is at a rate much higher than it should be in communities that are underprivileged,” White said. “So a lot of the research I did was on what the government does to help, where the gaps are, and how a cookbook can help fill those gaps.”

White spoke to people at the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club to find out “about the issues they face and how I can address those.” The cookbook, she said, would be publicly displayed so that anyone who needed it could have access to it.

“The cookbook would tell people where to buy the ingredients and how much it’s going to cost,” White said. “It would be something that’s publicly displayed and people would have access to recipes that are healthy, and that will hopefully taste good.”

‘Ted Talk’ style

Last week, the students presented their projects in TedTalk-style oral defenses that highlighted their findings and explained how their projects translate in the real world. Chinosi said the oral presentations were one of three “deliverables” that students will have to show future employers and cite as experience as college students.

“Their three big deliverables will be a formal academic paper, an online digital portfolio that documents all of their research, and finally their Ted-style talks,” Chinosi said. “These students got to dig deeper into a topic that they’re passionate about.”

Not only can this year’s group of students look back on their senior year and be proud of the work they did outside of the classroom, but they can also take credit for the school’s decision to offer the Senior Capstone program as a formal course for next year’s seniors.

||||