High school Graduation Project becomes optional
for 2010
The new “Graduation Project” requirement that
would have taken effect with the Class of 2010 has been made optional
for next year’s seniors at Watauga High School.
The decision by the Watauga County Board of Education follows
the recent announcement by the state Board of Education that implementation
of the state requirement for a high school graduation project
will be delayed from school year 2009-10 to 2010-11.
The postponement at the state level allowed local school systems
to make their own decisions about whether to require a graduation
project for the Class of 2010.
The state Board of Education announced in 2005 that the project
would be required beginning with the entering ninth-grade class
of 2006-07, but some school systems in other parts of the state
had complained that they would be unable to meet the original
timetable without adverse impacts on their students.
Watauga High School principal Michael Wyant said that, although
he favors the use of additional project-based assessments at the
high school, “2009a voluntary approach to the graduation
project next year will be beneficial because it will give us a
smaller number of students to work out the kinks in preparation
for full implementation in 2010-11.”
Wyant favors incentives and recognition for those students who
choose to complete a graduation project next year.
The graduation project includes four components: a research paper;
a tangible product (which can be a service); a portfolio; and
a formal oral presentation. It is intended to demonstrate that
the student can apply their education in a more project-based
“real world” fashion than is usually possible through
classroom instruction and standardized testing.
The product component of the graduation project requires the student
to work with an “expert in the field,” a volunteer from
the community who will meet with and advise a student during 15
hours of mentoring.
Clarissa Schmal and Trudy Moss, who coordinate graduation project
planning at Watauga High School, said that the high school faculty
and administrators are extremely grateful to the many volunteers
who have offered to serve as experts in the field for local students.
“We truly appreciate their support, and we hope that they
will offer their services again when the project becomes a requirement
in the 2010-11 school year. Community participation is crucial
for each student’s graduation project, and we are confident
our volunteers will find it to be a rewarding experience for them
as well as for the student,” they said.
Additional information about the graduation project is available
online at www.watauga.k12.nc.us/graduation_project/index.html.
Persons interested in volunteering to serve as an expert in the
field may contact Watauga High School media coordinator Trudy
Moss at mosst@watauga.k12.nc.us.
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