Federal Hocking High School was filled with antique tractors, a kitten, a kayak, purses, cars, punch, cookies and a painting of a tree last night.
Each year the high school holds a night to celebrate the completion of senior projects. In order to graduate from the school, each student must complete a project.
These projects range from remodeling antique tractors and creating videos to organizing the school yearbook and making a quilt.
The high school recently started requiring the projects because they had learned from college and employers that they wanted students who were able to conceive
start and finish a project on their own high school Principal George Wood said.
For the senior project, every student has to write a proposal, find a sponsor or a mentor and spend 100 hours completing the project. The proposal has to be approved by a committee. The two options recommended to students is that they either do a project that will teach them a new skill or do a project that would benefit the community, senior Nichole Howard said.
For her project, Howard sewed her own prom dress. After always wanting to learn how to sew, she decided the senior project was a perfect opportunity, Howard said. She teamed up with a local non-professional seamstress and went through the entire process of selecting a pattern, pinning, sewing and hand stitching.
Senior Krystal McDaniel baked 100 cookies each grading period to donate to the community meals program she worked for at a local church. It became a little hectic getting all the hours in, she said.
The students are required to keep track of their own hours. Woods does not worry about students being dishonest about their time logs.
These are seniors. If they can't be trusted to do their work now then when are we going to trust them? Wood said.
In addition to the number of hours it takes for the project, students are also required to keep track of the amount of money it costs. Students were able to get supplies donated from local businesses.
Student Ian Butcher was able to raise money with a car show he organized. That money is now part of a scholarship fund in memory of his grandfather.
The benefits students get from their senior projects are obvious, Wood said.
We ask for final reflections
he said, so we know they get a sense of confidence and they get a sense of time management.
Senior Jarred Willis may be walking away with the best perk of all from his senior project. He now has a refurbished orange 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit, which gets 52 miles to a gallon, as a result of his project. This is not the first car Willis has fixed up. He has also refurbished a '78 Z28 Camaro and an '89 Pontiac Firebird. However, this is the only car he's fixed up that gets good gas mileage, he said.
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