Republic High School seniors are gearing up to showcase a year’s worth of work at the annual Senior Project Showcase on April 24. The event, which will feature projects from 150 graduating students, is the culmination of the Senior Project program in the school’s English IV classes. It relies on the participation of community members as evaluators, either online or in person at the showcase.
Volunteers can sign up to judge here.
“The energy is high and we are so excited about this,” said English teacher Kristin Crandall in an announcement about the showcase. “There is nothing quite like watching a student transform from nervous anxiety to a professional expert on this night.”
The showcase will include in-person presentations where students will discuss their research and projects with volunteer judges. Students will also display the results of their work in the commons area of the high school for visitors to see it. Dinner will be served by the school’s Family and Consumer Sciences Department.
For those unable to attend in person, students have also created personalized websites to display their work, which volunteer judges can evaluate virtually from April 22-28.
Two of the projects that will be featured at the showcase are the work of seniors Ivy Vermule and Brady Purcell.
Vermule’s project focused on early childhood literacy and the impact of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. She focused her research on the benefits of reading aloud to young children and how the Imagination Library supports that practice.
For the product component of her project, Vermule visited a kindergarten class at McCulloch Elementary, where she read Parton’s book “Coat of Many Colors” to the students. The children then had the opportunity to color either a picture of Dolly Parton with a quilt or their own coat of many colors, inspired by the story.
“Throughout this project, I learned more about Early Childhood Literacy,” Vermule said. “I have always been passionate about reading, and this experience has built me into a stronger reader and an advocate for reading.”
Vermule’s presentation at the Senior Project Showcase will cover ideas from her 12-page research paper. She will also discuss her product and how it relates to her research findings, as well as the challenges she encountered and her growth as a student throughout the project.
Purcell’s senior project explored issues with prosthetics and involved designing and creating a 3D-printed prosthetic hand. Purcell chose the project topic because of his interest in the field and his desire to design a practical product.
Through his research, Purcell discovered that one of the major challenges surrounding prosthetics is a lack of accessibility for many amputees. He identified 3D printing as a potential solution, because it allows for the mass production of prosthetics that can be customized to fit each individual at a more affordable cost compared to traditional manufacturing methods.
“I have learned how to 3D-model complex parts with the goal of 3D printing them,” Purcell said. “There are a lot of new criteria to consider when you know you are going to 3D print what you are modeling.”
Both Vermule and Purcell’s projects, like others to be featured on Showcase night, involve the ability to apply results of research to a tangible product that addresses a real-world problem.
Interaction and feedback from community members at the Showcase are a part of what makes the projects such an important part of the senior experience for Republic students. Volunteers can sign up to judge here.