Senior Seminar

Welcome!

Welcome to Senior Seminar – a course designed specifically for senior students, soon to assume full adult responsibility. We at New Albany High School believe students should be offered varied, authentic educational opportunities as well as increased responsibilities.

The Senior Project is the core component of the Senior Seminar curriculum and must be successfully completed to graduate. Senior Seminar was established during the 1993-94 school year and became a graduation requirement for the Class of 1995. The only senior students exempted from the program are those enrolled in a full day certificated vocational center program or other pre-approved program.

Senior Seminar is offered to students in a variety of formats. Students scheduling Senior Seminar during the 2021-22 school year will be required to be in attendance daily until permission is granted by the primary advisor to opt out. Opting out is a privilege that can be revoked at any time during the school year.

The Senior Team is excited to meet all of the incoming seniors. Beyond the class work that is required, we are planning activities that we hope will help make your senior year a memorable one. With the leadership roles many of you carry and the school wide activities you are involved with, you will find that this year goes quickly. Important college and vocational decisions must be made as well. We are always available to help or direct you to someone who can help – please ask for assistance.

The Philosophy

We believe that New Albany High School seniors, soon to assume full adult responsibility, should be offered varied, authentic educational opportunities as well as increased responsibility. Students are encouraged to go beyond the school setting, to draw upon a much larger resource base and to both extend and apply their knowledge as participants in a greater community. Through self-directed learning opportunities, students can experience the freedom and challenge to exhibit integration and synthesis of acquired knowledge by way of pragmatic demonstration. These multiple experiences, both inside the traditional school setting and outside the classroom boundaries generate benefits for an orderly and systematic transition to the world beyond secondary education. We believe that the collaborative alliances among school, community, businesses, and other resources help seniors become articulate critical thinkers, thoughtfully focused citizens, academically competitive learners and reflective problem solvers.

The Course

The Senior Project is intended as a personally defined project that will lead the student through an intensive study of a particular area of interest. Beginning with the proposal, the student will clearly define the intent of the self-chosen project. After the project proposal is approved by the Senior Team, the student then begins planning the project by establishing a timeline and management plan for the project, and documenting all project-related activities in a shared Google Drive folder.

Required written research components in the form of literature and interview reviews will directly enhance the path to completion of the project. Students must record a minimum of 100 hours of work directly related to the completion of the project.

At the conclusion of the project, the student will make a public presentation of the process, job shadowing/product, and findings of the project. Revised coursework and other materials relating to the project will be documented in a final digital portfolio.