Graduation projects culminate a CHS career
Students are given the graduation project overview early on in their junior year at CHS.
Thirteen years—that’s the amount of time that most people have to spend in school before they graduate. In addition to maintaining good grades and attendance, students must complete a graduation project.
Graduation projects are a requirement in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and students that wish to graduate must complete them.
Graduation projects have a purpose; they’re not there to make a student’s busy, hectic life harder.
According to the graduation project overview, the purpose of the graduation project is “for students to demonstrate they are able to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate information and to communicate significant knowledge and understanding.”
At CHS, students are given the graduation project during their junior year instead of their senior year.
Graduation projects culminate a CHS career
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11th grade principal, Dr. Lesli Shuman, said, “a lot of students do the community service hours that concede with Civics. We also offer it during junior year in case the student does not complete it; they have another shot as a senior.”
The graduation project is here to help students show that they understand everything they have learned over the course of their school career.
The good news is that there is a long list of graduation project topics to choose from, some considered easier to complete than others. For example, if a student chooses the chemistry laboratory portfolio, all he/she has to do is save all of their lab reports from the school year and keep them in a notebook to give to their teacher on the due date of the project. For more examples, refer to the graduation project overview.
What happens if a student doesn’t complete his/her project during his/her junior year?
The Graduation Handbook said the student can either, “elect to take the summer school course between their junior/senior years in order to complete a research paper or elect to submit a graduation project from the approved list of projects in the appropriate 12th grade course.”
There are significantly less options for students who don’t complete their project in their junior year. This is why most students complete their project during their junior year, when they have more options.
Though some people may not think it’s fair to have the graduation project be a requirement, senior John Morton, who just moved to Carlisle this year, said he had a graduation project at his last school and that it is a “reasonable” expectation for CHS students.
The deadline always comes fast—and the graduation project is due in April, so juniors, don’t delay!
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Zack Loudon • Nov 4, 2013 at 11:28 pm
I think that the graduation projects at CHS are pointless. For my graduation project I did a National History Project on the Hienz company. Although I got an “A” on the project, I fail to see how this is going to help me recall my years of highschool looking back on it. Graduation projects are a waste of time, and should be substituted out for a more relevant project.