Soaring to new heights, senior project success

By Nathanael Demoranville
Posted 5/19/16

A project done by hundreds, yet each is done with a unique path. This is the Senior Project, a pass/fail assessment completed by every student in the Warwick Public School system in order to graduate.

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Soaring to new heights, senior project success

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A project done by hundreds, yet each is done with a unique path. This is the Senior Project, a pass/fail assessment completed by every student in the Warwick Public School system in order to graduate.

Sean Garrity, a young man at Pilgrim High School who recently earned distinction on his project, focused on aerodynamics and aeronautical engineering. Garrity explored a future career by researching one of his youthful interests: airplanes.

“I’ve always had an interest in airplanes since I was a kid,” Garrity said. It was through this project that he “learned how planes operate at a technical level.”

He chose the “searching for identity pathway,” one of two that every senior must choose from. The other is “making a difference.” Both involve a five- to eight-page research paper, work with a mentor, and a fove- to 12-minute presentation that includes a product as evidence of a learning stretch.

Enough work to make most nervous, the seniors pushed through with confidence. For the students she judged, Aldrich Junior High School English teacher Brenda Aspelund said, “They were really well prepared.”

In the first quarter, English teachers work with students in class to develop their research paper, but much of the Senior Project is independent. The students must be accountable for each step.

Senior Michael Parker did his project on home security systems. The research for his paper came mostly from online, but his mentor, Joe DeMarco, was an important resource. DeMarco is the owner of Northern Alarm & Monitoring Services, LLC.

Connections like these are common as seniors reach out to professionals in the field they’re interested in. Owen Kelly worked with Garrett McDonough, co-owner of Northeast Sports Training. Kelly’s project was to train a client with a workout regimen he designed as an alternative for people with shoulder injuries.

For those who choose to make a difference, their mentor often helps with their product. Senior Emma Thibodeau worked with Melissa Antone, a parishioner at her church. Her event planning experience helped Thibodeau organize a fundraising event for the Mustard Seed Community Orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Her product was a walk that raised more than $100 for the disabled orphans.

Regardless of the pathway, searching for identity or making a difference, most seniors experience a lot of growth during the process.

Benjamin Grenier, whose project was entitled “Teaching Music," said he learned to “understand the importance of acting as a leader.”

“It was hard, it was long,” he explained about the project, “but it was extremely valuable, cementing the fact that I want to be a teacher.”

Garrity, the engineer-to-be, ended up designing an aircraft using the information he acquired. He didn’t have programs to craft a working model, but his computer sketches supported his research in the sciences.

His judges, two of who had taught him previously, were surprised yet astounded by the work he put before them. Margaret Pouliot, an English teacher at Pilgrim, said, “That was as enthusiastic as I’ve ever seen Sean.” Melissa Reynolds, a science teacher at Pilgrim, said, “That was the most I’ve ever seen him talk.”

He earned distinction, an honor received by very few. Ms. Pouliot walked away from his presentation remarking that it was, “very impressive, [and] very professional.”

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