Trail Blazing Seniors

As part of graduation requirements at Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam, students design and execute a senior project of their choice that incorporates the skills and knowledge they have learned through their education. According to Superintendent, Dr. Ellen Solek, East Haddam is one of the few districts in the State of Connecticut requiring a capstone-style project such as this.

Cheryl Matthewson, agricultural science teacher at the high school, is the Senior Project coordinator. Matthewson oversees the Special Project course and works with five other teachers  to supervise individual student's projects. 

"Senior Project is a wonderful opportunity for students to take charge of their learning and to select a project that has a positive impact on their future and for our community," says Matthewson.

In addition to holding a Senior Project Expo to showcase their projects, some of the students also had the opportunity to talk about their projects at a recent Board of Education meeting.

Jami-Lynn Korpela, for example, presented her stop-motion film made with a cardboard mouse. "I've always really liked movies," she said, "I've watched a lot of movies and like how creative producers are."

When Dr. Solek inquired what she learned through the project, Jami-Lynn responded "It was stressful and it made me realize that I might not be cut out for film. I think I'm going to double major in film and journalism instead of just film."

She will be attending the University of Oklahoma in the fall.

Another senior, Mike Iannelli, also presented his project at the BOE meeting in June. Because Mike had to miss the expo due to an illness, his presentation at the BOE meeting would complete his grade for the project.

Mike's project focused on clearing some of the trails at the high school and creating trail maps for the public to get the word out that the walking trails are there for public use. As a member of the cross-country team, Mike utilizes the trails with his teammates.

"I've always been a hands-on type of person," Mike says, "and this project was perfect because I was able to help out the team at the same time by clearing the trails we use."

Mike ran into some snags in the process of completing his project including a winter laden with a lot of snowfall on the trails. Mike will be attending the California Polytechnic University in the fall as a Civil Engineering major.

Other senior projects included fundraisers for charitable organizations, learning and teaching sign language, job shadowing, participating in a race, building a guitar and raising awareness for autism, among others.