Portfolio Day at Lawson Middle School

Putting students in front of a small panel of strangers so they can present themselves almost as if they were on a job interview,  had its third annual Portfolio Day last week. I was invited by Alysa Sakkas—Moms Council leader and regular contributor for Cupertino Patch and the school’s PTA president—to be on her panel of reviewers, along with Matt Wilson of the Cupertino Courier.

We, along with other parents and volunteers from the community, acted as reviewers of the students’ presentation, completed a scoring and comment sheet and gave immediate verbal feedback.

Centered on a “Me Now” theme, the students’ portfolios included a resume, digital presentation and oral presentation in which they were to explain how their eighth-grade experiences changed them over the year.

This included such topics as change through success, failure, interaction, experience and hard work. Some students, such as Vinitra Swamy and a couple of the other students in our group, referred to a weeklong trip to Yosemite as an experience they will never forget.

The trip touched them each in different ways; for at least one in our group, it was a time he learned how to be more self-sufficient.

These kids were poised and composed in their presentations. When their digital presentations didn’t cooperate fully or keep up with where they were in their speeches, they all remained calm, unflappable.

It was an impressive group, and one thing that struck me was their collective support of one another. As each took his or her turn in front of the panel, the others tossed out words of encouragement.

During the presentations, there was no 13-year-old silliness, giggling or even impatient squirming. They were respectful and courteous.

Each student had a style: Vinitra seemed destined to be in front of an audience giving marketing presentations, Pavan’s style was engaging and friendly, Chirag Toprani seemed as if he were in a corporate boardroom and Derek Lin stole our hearts by sharing a piece of himself in an endearing, unassuming manner.

Before the bell rang, we chatted casually with them. It didn’t take long for the Portfolio Day façade to melt and the 13-year-olds to reveal a bit more of their youthful personalities.