Senior Projects

“We were very surprised to find out that government funding does not actually support healthy eating and nutritional choices.” With these words, Marcellus Senior High School class of 2011 members Megan Dailey and Bailey Donovan described one of the more interesting discoveries of their senior project “The Cost of Eating Healthy”. The two seniors researched, comparatively, the cost of eating from three major food areas: Junk Food, Regular Food, and Organic Food. They researched both the cost and nutritional value of eating foods from each group. Dailey and Donovan explained that they chose the senior project because they wanted a topic that was “in the now, interesting, a current hot topic, and a project that could impact the next generation.” What they found through their research was rather startling considering the nation’s focus on reducing obesity. In one segment of their power point presentation Dailey and Donovan shared that the daily cost of eating a diet of junk food was $38 a day, the daily cost of eating a diet of regular food was $58 a day, and the daily cost of eating a diet of organic food was $72.86. Clearly it is not cost effective to eat healthy. Senior project presentation time at Marcellus Senior High School is a time of excitement and hands-on experiential learning. Among the wide ranging topics presented this year were:
· Trebuchet Engineering
· Hydro-Fracking
· Religion and the Environment
· Fashion Design
· Counseling Careers in Chemical Dependency
· The Legal Process
· Engineering a Baseball Bat
· Veterinary Medicine
· Woods and Wonder
· Working with the Howlett Hill Fire Department
· Movie Making
· Observing Surgery
· Artistry in Cake and Pastry Design
· Get Fit-Becoming a Physical Therapist
· Success in the Music Industry
· Press the A Button: Game Design
· Re-finishing Furniture
· Scholastic Equestrian Team
· Computer Technology
In many cases senior projects also provide the opportunity to give back to the community as well as raise money and resources for worthy causes. Among the many service learning senior projects were “Helping Needy People: A Toiletries Drive for the Samaritan Center”/Eric Hagan and Alex Irby; “Food for Thought: Working with the Food Bank of CNY”/Veronica Raymond; “Renovating the School Store”/Salome Saanishvilli; “Bowling for Charity”/Rhianna Hickey, Ashley Russo, Jackie Ripple, Jenna Dedonato; and “Volunteering at the SPCA/Heather Heinekamp, Molly Jobson. Aaron Murphy’s senior project presentation focused on the topic of “College Athletic Recruiting”. Murphy’s presentation focused on both the personal family and the school cost of athletics prior to college. He also spoke to the very limited athletic scholarships that are available to the average high school student athlete and the pressures faced by elite high school athletes. Senior Projects have been a graduation requirement for seniors in the Marcellus Central School District for more than 16 years. The English department at Marcellus Senior High School incorporated the senior project requirement to ensure that graduating seniors are able to apply the skills and knowledge acquired during thirteen years of education. Seniors must research and log, interview/shadow, create surveys, and present orally. Seniors can work individually or in groups.