Lovejoy High School
Senior Project Handbook
2016 – 2017
Informational Booklet for Students, Teachers, and Parents:
Forms, Handouts, and Explanations
A hands-on opportunity to live out an interest, passion, or community service.
Dear Class of 2017 Seniors,
Lovejoy ISD has determined that as part of the Lovejoy High School standards, the successful completion of a Senior Project is a requirement for graduation. Senior Project is a hands-on opportunity for you to explore topics of your choice, challenge yourself to learn something new, and share what you learn with members of the community.
As Senior Project Coordinators, we will be working with other administrators, community members, parents/guardians, and staff to make this a meaningful educational experience for you. One of the keys to making this a successful and rewarding learning activity is ensuring that you choose a project you are interested in and passionate about. You will need a mentor to support and guide you in completing your chosen project.
Each part of the Senior Project (letter of intent, poster, annotated bibliography, portfolio, project, and presentation) is due at various times depending on a student’s presentation date. The letter of intent, where students propose their project idea, and poster are completed at the end of junior year through junior English classes. Proposals are reviewed by the teacher and Senior Project Coordinator to ensure all requirements of the project are being met. The remaining portion of the portfolio is due to the student’s Senior Project Coordinator 2 weeks prior to their presentation date. All portfolio components must meet an acceptable level before students move to the presentation portion. Because the Senior Project is now a Lovejoy ISD requirement for graduation, a graduation cord for above average performance will no longer be awarded.
Be sure to back up all your work in the event the file becomes lost or corrupted. If you have any questions or need guidance, be sure to make an appointment with one of the Senior Project Coordinators. It will be your responsibility to work with your mentor, teachers, and parents to ensure that the Senior Project experience will be successful for you.
Plagiarism or a student forgery of required signatures may result in a project being invalidated. Each step of the Senior Project including due dates reflect what you will face after you graduate and constitute a vital component to your learning and preparation for the future.
Senior Project provides the opportunity for you to design your own curriculum based on your individual interests and to share your findings with your colleagues, teachers, and community members. If approached with a positive attitude, it will benefit you and the community alike. We look forward to working with you to make this a successful and rewarding year.
Looking forward to a great year!
Addison Snyder and Randy Trevino – Senior Project Coordinators
Important Dates
Students are able to submit a request for their preferred presentation date at the end of their junior year through an online Google Form. Students are assigned dates on a first come, first served basis – the sooner they complete the google form, the more likely they are to receive one of their top choice presentation dates. Students will be notified of their presentations date before school lets out for summer vacation.
2016-2017 Presentation Nights
November 15
December 7
January 19
February 16
Final Project Change Date
Students who need to change their Senior Project topic must submit their new proposal (letter of intent, poster, and one annotated bibliography) to their Senior Project Coordinator no later than Friday September 16th in order to have the request considered.
Senior Project Steps:
1. You choose your project (projects are done individually).
2. You create a Letter of Intent and Poster as described in the SP Handbook and turn them in to your Junior English Teacher or one of the Senior Project Coordinators.
3. You find a mentor that will support you with your project (must meet a minimum of four times with your mentor, keep a mentor log, and write a mentor bio (includes a picture of you with your mentor).
4. You compose your annotated bibliography.
5. You complete the activity portion of your project.
6. Your Mentor fills out the Mentor Verification/Evaluation form scoring your project.
7. You produce a portfolio on your project. As described in the SP Handbook.
8. You present to a panel of community judges what you have accomplished with your Senior Project
Questions?– See one of the Senior Project Coordinators.
Addison Snyder and Randy Trevino
Senior Project Coordinators
Lovejoy High School
Table of Contents
Introduction5
Five Main Components of Senior Project6
General Information7
The Proposal9
The Poster13
The Annotated Bibliography14
The Project16
The Portfolio21
The Presentation25
Copies of Forms30
Lovejoy High School Senior Project
The Senior Project is a culminating high school initiative that demonstrates a student’s ability to write, speak, acquire and use knowledge, solve problems, and apply a variety of skills, including time management and task analysis. It is a culmination assessment that demonstrates what students know and can do as they prepare to graduate. It prepares them for college and/or the workplace and can help them transform their senior year into one that is uniquely challenging and stimulating.
The Senior Project is performance based and adaptable to most topics of interest. The project requires that students use comprehensive resources as they work through five general phases of the process: Letter of Intent/Poster, writing an annotated bibliography that reflects their information acquisition and literacy skills, conducting a rigorous, self-identified project with the support of a mentor, developing a portfolio demonstrating and verifying the process they used, and delivering a formal, oral presentation on their findings, conclusions, and recommendations to a panel of adults from the community.
The Senior Project empowers seniors to use their talents, skills, and creativity to demonstrate what they know and showcase their achievement in a final presentation. Completion of each portion of the project also enhances preparedness for college coursework as well as workplace etiquette. The Senior Project is not the end of learning but the beginning of a life-long process of productive research, meaningful study, and useful actions to meet compelling problems and needs.
Why do we ask our seniors to complete a senior project?
To give our seniors a chance to demonstrate and develop the following skills necessary for workplace and college success.
· Creativity / · Self-direction· Innovation / · Flexibility
· Problem Solving / · Social Skills
· Critical Thinking / · Productivity
· Communication / · Accountability
· Collaboration / · Leadership
· Information & Media Literacy / · Responsibility
· Initiative
Five Main Components of the
Lovejoy High School Senior Project
The Proposal
A statement of what you intend to research, do the project on, and present. Included are the:
· Letter of Intent
· Mentor Verification (on-line form)
· Poster
· If needed, waiver, financial proof and Facility Use request.
Annotated Bibliography
Students will submit an annotated bibliography that reflects the research aspects of their project. The annotated bibliography should include 5-10 reputable sources in APA format. An example of a reputable source is a scholarly journal. Articles published in scholarly journals are typically peer-reviewed meaning a panel of experts in the author’s field have fact-checked the information for accuracy. The bibliography must meet all standards as outlined by Junior Social Studies teachers.
The Project
Could be any of the following examples:
ð A physical product: painting, scientific model, fashion outfit, computer program, rebuilt engine
ð A written product: short story, book of poetry, novelette, newspaper articles
ð A performance: dance or singing recital, theatrical production, video creation, produce a fashion show
ð A teaching or leadership experience: teach junior high health classes about teen alcoholism, coach a junior basketball team
ð A physical experience: learn to scuba dive, run a marathon, start a fitness program
ð A career-related project: investigate a career by working in the field with someone who is currently employed in the area and produce a document related to that field (brochure, guide, pamphlet, video)
ð A technology project: develop a home page on the World Wide Web, create a video game, build a robot, draw blueprints
The Portfolio
A portfolio will be compiled that includes all paperwork along the way, poster as a front cover and verification (pictures, letters, receipts, documents) of project.
The Presentation
A formal 8-10 minute presentation that will be given to a board of judges.
General Information
Topic Selection
All topics must be appropriate to a high school setting. The Lovejoy High School Handbook/Code of Conduct will serve as the basis for determining appropriateness. Your 11th grade English teacher or the Senior Project Coordinators can guide you on appropriate topics.
Time Management
Seniors are expected to utilize their time outside of class to work on Senior Project. Students may begin their approved activity in the summer before their Senior year. The activity and all hours need to be completed and verified prior to the portfolio due date.
Use of School Facilities
If your project requires fundraising please review the fundraising guidelines with one of the Senior Project Coordinators for approval. If your project involves the high school (either using school facilities or equipment or affiliated with a school group), you must fill out a Facilities Request form, turn that form into Mrs. Lynda Fleming (Principal’s Secretary) in order to have it approved by Mr. Mayfield. You can get this form from the Lovejoy High School website.
Any student planning to use school facilities or to sell food at school must also see a Senior Project coordinator for the appropriate district forms. It is the student’s responsibility to submit and follow up on these forms, which can take as long as a month to process. Application for facilities is not a guarantee of availability–students must check the progress of their requests. All facilities and food requests must be submitted to the Senior Project Coordinators with your proposal.
Evaluation of Submitted Work
Mentors, teachers, and judges using standardized rubrics will do scoring of Senior Project assignments. No late submissions of the final draft of the annotated bibliography or the portfolio will be accepted or scored without approval by one of the Senior Project Coordinators. It should be noted that no subsequent assignments would be accepted for submission until previous assignments are completed with a score of competent.
Grading Policy
Project Grade
Evaluation of Senior Project will appear on a student’s transcript as an addendum stating:
o Student successfully completed Senior Project
To receive this evaluation a student must have earned competent on all parts of the Senior Project. The student must submit work that meets the requirements as indicated on the rubric.
Grading of Individual Parts
o Topic Proposal Approval Packet: The approved Letter of Intent and Poster along with completed Mentor Form will determine whether or not a student’s topic is approved to continue. Any students whose work does not meet all criteria in the rubric will be required to revise the assignment until all elements are fully satisfied.
o Annotated Bibliography: The annotated bibliography will be incorporated into the spring semester of Junior Social Studies classes. Senior project coordinators will work with students prior to presentations so that the annotated bibliography is acceptable before the presentation.
o Portfolio: The portfolio will be incorporated into the fall or spring semester. The portfolio will be evaluated by the Senior Project Coordinator and assessed as either “Passing” or “Not Yet”. Any students whose work does not meet all criteria for passing will be required to revise the assignment until all elements are fully satisfied. Students will not present until their portfolios meet the requirements.
o Oral Presentation: The oral presentation will be evaluated by judges consisting of community members using a 4-point rubric (Exceptional, Commendable, Competent, Not Yet). Students must earn an average of a 2 (competent) across the judges panel in order to pass the presentation portion. Students who do not meet that requirement will be required to revise their presentation and re-present at a later date to be determined by the Senior Project Coordinator.
Important Note: Students found guilty of forging required signatures, plagiarism, or failure to successfully complete any one component of the Senior Project (Topic Approval Packet, Annotated Bibliography, Poster, Project Portfolio, Oral Presentation) will not receive credit; therefore, they will not receive endorsement on final transcript and will not meet LISD requirements for graduation.
LETTER OF INTENT
This is a letter in which you formally indicate your Senior Project topic, your research focus, your activity and your understanding of the consequences of plagiarism. You are writing this letter to the Senior Project Coordinators. It must be approved and signed by one of the Senior Project Coordinators.
Formatting Instructions:
o One inch top, bottom, left, right margins
o 12 point Times New Roman font
o Single space within paragraphs
o Double space between paragraphs
o Follow the formatting outline given on the next page
o Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout the letter
o No grammatical mistakes in the letter
o Keep your letter to one page
o Students are provided a template for this letter. They received one in their 11th grade English class and it is also available on the Senior Project website.
Below are some questions that you need to answer in your Letter of Intent
o Is my topic clearly identified and does it involve a learning stretch? Does it show how I will be challenged by my project?
o Is it appropriate according to school and community standards?
o Does my research topic tie into my activity?
o Will I be able to spend at least 15 hours during the spring semester on my activity and will those hours be completed prior to the deadline?