Student hopes to restructure senior projects for the future

Alicia Armstrong's senior project is unique in that it could change the timing of future senior projects, which are a requirement to graduate from Wrangell High School. She wants to make the concept more structured and planned so that students can start preparing for it in their junior year.

"The idea would be to meet with the counselor that first semester of junior year to go over the expectations of what a senior project is ... what it looks like," Armstrong said. "And then, you would then schedule another meeting for the second semester of your junior year where you actually choose a project, and you would get it approved by your counselor and your principal."

That way, she explained, students would have the entire summer and the first semester of their senior year to complete their projects, unhampered by time constraints or inclement weather. "And the goal would be, right before Christmas break, you would do the whole presentation so you would be done," she said.

Armstrong said early completion of senior projects would free up students to concentrate on other assignments during their senior year, such as scholarship applications, especially in their last semester.

Starting projects in the fall semester of senior year can be challenging, she said, if students want to do something outdoors, as the weather often turns cold and rainy. "So, if you want to do anything outside ... your options are limited."

Her assignment choice was inspired by her music teacher Tasha Morse, who once talked of how she started her senior project when she was a junior in high school.

"I thought that was a great idea," Armstrong said. "Because you're always hearing about how busy senior year is, especially that second semester. ... Me, personally, I didn't really know what counted as a senior project, and what the expectations were, so that would help, knowing what you're getting into."

Given her schedule, Armstrong found a way to merge two tasks into one, using a proposal that she wrote as an assignment for her U.S. government class and took to an advisory committee meeting with the principal and a few school board members on Feb. 20. "My proposal was supported, and they agreed to write a letter of recommendation for the (full) school board," she said. "I still have to attend a school board meeting and present it there."

Thus far, most of the feedback regarding her proposal has been positive, and she pointed out that, in the past, other students have completed their senior projects over the summer break with school approval, but awareness of that option isn't common knowledge.

Classmate Mia Wiederspohn was one such student who completed her assignment last summer. "Because I have college classes and a bunch of scholarships to do, and pretty hard classes in high school this year as well," she said. "So, I got it out of the way early, which I wish more kids knew to do, because it took a lot of stress off of my plate."

Armstrong thinks the most challenging part of the project will be meeting with the school board to get approval for the change regarding future senior projects, as she hasn't had any experience operating in that kind of public forum. "My goal is to start (senior projects) as soon as possible because it just takes a load off of everybody, the sooner you start it," she said.

One of the things she learned from this experience was civic engagement with her community. "Just figuring out how to work with the school and how to make changes that I'd like to see, that would be helpful," she said. "Maybe that I don't benefit from but would benefit others in the school after I leave."

While Armstrong has found her exploration of government processes interesting, her career interests lie elsewhere.

After graduation, she plans to attend college (her first choice being Indiana University) to study for a degree in animal behavior. "It's a building block for most jobs in the animal field," she said. "You could take that degree and go into veterinary (medicine or science), you can go into marine biology, you can take it and become an animal trainer. It's a very basic degree that you can take just about anywhere in the field or continue to build on."

As for what she'll miss the most about high school, Armstrong stated it would be the people. "I think seeing the same people every day, you get to know them and just hang out with them," she said. "That's probably what I'll miss the most. And band. I'm a band kid, so I'll miss the jazz band and the high school band, just the atmosphere."

As for what she will not miss, she said with a smile, "Being here all day long. I will not miss that."