Principal to ensure seniors complete final project
BROWNSVILLE – Brownsville High School Principal Rick Gates said he will work with seniors to ensure they successfully complete their senior project after board members questioned the fact that students were only presented with their assignments last week. This year’s graduating seniors are the first Brownsville class required by the state Department of Education to complete a senior project in order to graduate high school, according to Superintendent Dr. Gerry Grant.
Students have complained that they only received the requirements for the project, which is due between April 28 and May 30, last week, when Gates presented them with a packet outlining the project requirements and scoring procedures among other things.
Director Andy Dorsey brought up the issue at the district’s board meeting last week.
Dorsey said a number of students had complained to him about their senior project, asking him if they were required to complete one this year. Dorsey said students also told him that they had asked their guidance counselors about whether a project was due this year and the counselors told them they didn’t know.
“I’m baffled because it’s March. It’s a very late time to do this. This should have been done prior to the school year or early on,” Dorsey said.
Directors Jim Brown and Dr. Melvin Sally also expressed concern with the students’ receiving their requirements so late in the school year.
“If you go to the guidance counselors, they should know,” Brown said, adding that the project requirements should have been made clear at the beginning of the school year.
Both Dorsey and Brown voted down a motion to adopt the Brownsville Area High School Senior Project Guidelines for 2002/2003.
While Gates admits students only received the material Thursday, he said students have known about the mandatory project since their freshmen year.
Jenna Jackson, the board’s student representative, said students have known about the project since ninth grade, but she said it was never made clear, exactly what was required for the senior project.
“I met with my counselor one time in junior year. I was told not to do the project, to do a portfolio. I didn’t know what to do until today, when we first heard about it,” Jackson said.
Jackson said while she does have some material (from past assignments) that can be used for her senior project, she doesn’t believe the majority of her fellow students do.
Gates, who only took over as high school principal late last year, said he really can’t say how the all the confusion started or what students were told about the project last year, but he said he knows seniors have been aware of the fact they had to turn in a senior project since their freshmen year.
Both Gates and Grant told the board they agreed the requirements should have been given to students earlier in the year, but they said they do not feel student’s will have a hard time meeting the requirements in the time frame given.
They added that most students have nearly completed the project or at least have some work completed from past assignments associated with the senior project.
Gates also said that the requirements for this year’s class have been “watered down” a bit since the students were given the requirements so late in the year. He said next year’s seniors will have more requirements and will be aware of those requirements in plenty of time.
Gates said he met with teachers Monday to make sure everyone is “on the same page.”
He said teachers, who also serve as mentors to students, will work closely with seniors to make sure they complete the requirements for graduation.
Gates said the major changes to the project’s requirements are that students are required to do 15 hours of community service, submit a written report and give an oral presentation in front of three teachers. He said this is the first year, the assignment has been presented in written form.