Each May, Class I students begin the long-awaited “Senior Project.” A tradition since the 1960s, Senior Projects have evolved, and today seniors’ proposals qualify as: scholarly or academic; community service; internships; or the arts. The Class of 2016 chose broadly—from immigration to the environment, from stem cell research and business startups through working on presidential campaigns. Students painted, gardened, sewed, prepared concerts and recitals, shadowed doctors, wrote and directed plays, tried learning new instruments and languages, and volunteered at sites all over Boston.
Just before graduation, underclassmen see the fruits of the seniors’ work, at demonstrations, performances, films, poetry readings, plays and presentations at the Senior Project Fair in the Athletic and Convocation Center.
Isabella Miller worked at the Samaritans suicide prevention center, after 60 hours of training on taking hotline calls from people in crisis. She researched and wrote a guide on how to approach mental health and suicide prevention at Milton.
Graham Blackburn, Tarin Karimbux and Matthew Ward launched a t-shirt business called Oasis. They developed a business plan, created the logo, learned print screening techniques, and built a website for online sales.
Finley Cobb studied art at Milton for four years, and he particularly focused on landscape painting. “I thought that a series of paintings focusing on Milton landscapes would be a fitting and fun way to close my time at Milton.”
Simone Hunter-Hobson designed a curriculum for a senior-level, full-year literature course called Black Voices: The Untold Narrative. She chose titles including James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time to more recent works, like Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. “I learned that creating a curriculum is very challenging. Teachers have a lot to consider while they’re planning.”
Grace Stanfield, Jessica Xu and Rika Ichinose created a website of recipes using ingredients from Flik Dining Services menu options. They wanted to educate themselves about healthier eating and create healthier, more delicious Flik lunch options for other students.flikbookblog.wordpress.com
Sam Rochelle created promotional videos for his middle school, Dedham Country Day. The videos included drone footage and taped interviews, edited into professional pieces.
And other students:
- Created 3-D-printed airplanes
- Examined media bias and the presidential election
- Assisted at the Irish Immigrant Center
- Re-created Jane Elliott’s blue versus brown eyes exercise to explore discrimination
- Taught chess to elementary schoolers
- Filmed a documentary: The Student Athlete – A Case Study
- Created a dance exploring ancient mythology and modern religion
- Wrote and published a Middle East policy blog
- Wrote an environmental story for children