Academics

To do a Profile Project one needs to be passionate about something and have the drive to pursue that passion. They do not need to know every detail on how they are going to dive deeper into their passion, rather a basic idea and the open mindedness to sign up for the Profile Project half-year elective. Once one is signed up for the class, the process to starting one’s project begins over the summer by writing a Letter of Intent. This letter expresses the basic idea of what one might want to do for their project and is the defining moment of a students decision if they really want to take the class or not. Personally (this is Carolyn) this letter helped me lay out what I thought I wanted to do as my project and reaffirmed that I wanted to take this class to challenge myself and see if I could really do something about my passion.

Danielle DiPalma, Class of 2020 | My profile project is a video parody of NBC’s hit show The Office with the cast of Ramsey High School’s staff. I love shooting video and editing everything I capture that I wanted to expand my passion beyond filming and editing Ram Jams music videos. I wanted to experiment in the field of directing, script writing, and filming actors rather than a capella. I thought about what I loved to watch (The Office) and I combined it with my passion for videography. I did not obtain rights to the show so I made it my own while still capturing the original characters and storyline of the show, which creates the Parody.

Carolyn Coletti, Class of 2020 | For my Profile Project, I am educating Ramsey residents on the topic of backyard composting, and will hopefully provide a means for town goers to compost food waste that they create in their homes. The idea for my project stemmed from my Girl Scout Gold Award which was bringing a food waste composting program to John Y. Dater School in town. Due to the amount of knowledge I had on composting and the lack of the practice within Ramsey, I thought it would be cool to expand upon my Gold Award and attempt to make composting food waste a more well-known and practical option for Ramsey residents to do their part and help the environment.

Warren Cho, Class of 2020 | For my project, I wrote a research abstract, as well as a research paper, on the notions of democracy in Athenian theater. This idea for my project stemmed from my love for classical literature, which I would frequent the New York Public Library on weekends to read pieces like the Oresteia, Ajax, etc. As I read these literary works, I realized that I was curious as to how these plays were created. And so, I began researching Athenian history, particularly on the political shift from tyranny to democracy. From there, I just decided that I was so immersed in this topic that I wanted to share my ideas with other people who enjoy classics, which made me apply for the SWPACA program.

Julia Dakwar, Class of 2020 | For my profile project, I designed a training plan for the winter track and field pole vaulters. My goal is to provide them with both effective strength and conditioning exercises and techniques that will hopefully help to improve their jumps. As both a pole vaulter and assistant coach at Apex Vaulting, I believe that the knowledge that I have gained throughout my four years of high school will be of value to these upcoming athletes. I chose this project because of my enthusiasm for the sport and excitement to watch the athletes progressions from the beginning to the end of the season.