OK, so I promised this site would document MY learning journey, from being offered this position to actually making it work.
Principia School has been doing Senior Projects for some time now. I was a student here in the 80s, and while we did have Senior Projects, called at the time Senior Capstones, not everyone did them. Essentially it was reserved for the best and brightest students, the high flyers, the rock stars, and it was a gift of sorts. You do well throughout high school, you get to do something independently and for fun the last three weeks. I was not among them.
At some point, the school began to see the value of giving all seniors the opportunity to tackle a project and create their own learning opportunities. But however well-intentioned it began, it devolved into three weeks of sleeping late and Starbucks, followed by a 20 min presentation during which students explained if they had it to do over, they would work on time management. Some were really good, but most were "meh" at best.
Last year they were ready to try something new. About mid-way through the year, they decided that "service", specifically 10 hours, needed to be a component of the project. Needless to say, there was much grumbling and groaning. The students were told it could be anything, but it wasn't optional. In any case, the projects never happened due to the dramatic shift to on-line learning during the COVID quarantine of 2020. But, the seed had been planted - service was a must.
Early in the summer, just after the lock-down, I was asked if I was interested in taking on the management of the Senior Projects. I had actually been chomping at the bit for a few years to be given the opportunity. Now was my moment! We began with the question, "how can we make the Senior Projects more impactful?"
Principia's founder, Mary Kimball Morgan had the foresight to establish a set of policies that would enable Principia to grow and adapt to the changing needs of the times. Policy 8 clearly states:
"The Principia shall accept “from common practice only those methods and customs which best contribute to the fundamental purpose of the institution.” — Education at the Principia
And what is the "fundamental purpose of the institution?" It is to "serve the cause of Christian Science," as stated in Policy 1. The HOW is found in Policy 6, namely, we are to train "...our students to think — and to think clearly, vigorously, fearlessly, tolerantly, unselfishly." Through this, we meet our obligation laid out in Policy 10 that "technical skills" and "intellectual attainment" be for the purpose of the "betterment of humanity." Sooooo, that is the long way of saying that anything we do, in this case, the Senior Projects, must contribute to the purpose of the institution, the betterment of humanity.
Service was an obvious first step. We also know that students still want to do something they will enjoy. What the missing element was, was the why. For Principia, the answer is "for the betterment of humanity." For the students, this means identifying a problem. They don't have to solve it, but through their actions, humanity should be a bit better.
What this will look like is a problem the student wants to solve, they will use whatever skill they have, whatever they are passionate about to develop a service element, and thus by taking a step in the right direction, better humanity.
Stay tuned to later today. We will be getting all their sites loaded on here for you to look at and subscribe to. Watch as they dive into the history of the problem and tell you a little about what they hope to do! Thanks for tuning in!
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