Volunteers sought to help judge senior projects May 14

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 4/14/15

It is that time of year when the weather warms up and high school seniors are on their final stretch towards graduation, but before the celebrating students have to pass their senior …

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Volunteers sought to help judge senior projects May 14

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It is that time of year when the weather warms up and high school seniors are on their final stretch towards graduation, but before the celebrating students have to pass their senior projects.

This year, senior project presentation day is May 14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the three Warwick high schools, Toll Gate, Vets and Pilgrim, are recruiting judges to volunteer their time.

Chip McGair, graduation by proficiency coordinator for Vets, said a good judge is someone who really cares about their community and wants to see the schools do well. He said that public schools don’t have the positive reputation they often deserve, but when the community comes in to judge senior projects they are “amazed” at everything Warwick students are capable of.

“These kids learn so much from pre-K to 12th grade and this combines all of their knowledge and allows them to apply it to something they are passionate or interested in.”

McGair thinks this year’s judges are in for a treat.

This year students could choose between Searching for Identity, similar to the typical senior project, and Making a Difference, where students can volunteer their time and have to show the difference they made in lieu of a “product.” Around 40 percent of students opted for making a difference this year.

“I think things have ramped back up again with senior projects,” McGair said. “Students understand what’s being asked of them and they are putting in the effort. We had a problem with the new BCI check law and we had to rethink senior project a bit, but I think senior project is actually better because of it.”

Some of the projects this year include students who have rebuilt cars; are creating a video game or an app; learning how to make a health vegan or gluten free five-course meal or fly fishing or volunteering their time with various charities.

Community judges are just as important to the senior students as well.

“These students have had their work graded and scored in their classroom, but to have someone come in from the community, someone who hasn’t seen their project before say what a good job they’ve done, is great validation for them,” McGair said.

Senior project, he said, can be a source of pride for students and judges.

For seniors it’s a way to demonstrate their capabilities “beyond just test scores” and for judges they get to see nervous presenters become excited students when they find out they passed their senior project.

“I think senior project day is nice because everyone is so excited for an academic event. You have sports and clubs, but this is something unique in that we are celebrating scholastic achievements,” McGair said.

Warwick needs 30 to 50 community judges per school. Each room has three to five judges and will see on average four presentations during the day. Lunch will be provided for judges at all three schools by the Career and Technical Center. For more information or to volunteer reach out to any of the three GBP coordinators by email, Chip McGair at mcgairc@warwickschools.com for Vets, Sue Cranston at cranstons@warwickschools.com for Pilgrim and Frederick Schweitzer at schweizerf@warwickschools.com for Toll Gate.

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