1 – Dr. Cullen Colonial City Debate: 

The first History presentation of the year is one that few have forgotten. Students worked in groups to research a colonial city and “virtually” argued as to why it’s better than the others presented. The part that put it on the “top of the year” list has to be that the year had just begun, no one really knew Dr. Cullen well, and he dressed up as a powerful Englishman in a wig and cape. Besides the comedy, groups had to choose their vocabulary carefully to appeal to the Englishman, as anything out of line would receive a comment of disdain. The project was a great way to open the year in a light-hearted way and ease students back into school and projects.

2 – The Copper Etching Project – 

The copper etching was a great way of combining a student’s outside interests with both chemistry and history. Students chose a power shift from anywhere in the world and then connected it to a chemical process such as combustion or synthesis. Students then illustrated their power shift, ironing their design onto a plate of copper, and chemically etching it. Additionally, students who wanted some additional design had the option of removing some of the etching to make it pop or even blow torch it. The project successfully allowed students to both be creative, have fun, and learn about the chemical process of etching.

3 – Great Gatsby Project – 

In Ms. Cacho’s English class, students read The Great Gatsby and then chose a social media app and a character from the book. Students envisioned what their character would be like in the modern-day and used their character traits supported by text to create an account for their character, interacting with other accounts to create a believable fictional group of friends (and enemies). This again allowed students to creatively connect English literature to the real world. 

4 – Biofuel Project – 

The final chemistry project of the year had students research a traditional fuel, such as petroleum, and create their own using a base of different vegetable oils. Students then created a calorimeter to measure the chemical properties of the biofuel such as CO2 released, energy per dollar, and energy per gram compared to their traditional fuel in order to determine if it would be a good choice to replace it. Once students researched and calculated data, they then created a huge poster which they presented to judges in a gallery walk. This project shows some of the real-life uses of chemistry while making it fun and informative.

5 – GOP Convention – 

In Dr. Cullen’s history class, students were again put in groups and tasked with writing a speech addressing the issue of slavery in the GOP convention before the Civil War. Students were allowed to choose the stance they wanted to take on slavery and how to address it, once again forcing students to carefully consider their vocabulary, depending on their stance and the popularity of the stance. Once each group gave their speech, there was a debate amongst the teams and a vote on which group sold their argument the most successfully. The debate and vote made this a fun and useful experience, making it one of the best projects of the year for many.

6 – Soil Lab – 

The first lab that students completed this year was a fun, hands-on experience testing different properties of dirt in a group, then connecting it to History and how different kinds of soil shaped the way in which America developed. As the first lab of the year, it was fun to be able to work with and test everything in person instead of a simple research project. Actually seeing exactly how much of a role dirt played in the foundation of slavery in America, and even how it played a role in the Civil War by physically splitting the North and South based upon what could be grown. 

7 – American Dream Project – 

The final English project ended the year in a fun and satisfying way for many. Students conducted numerous interviews about what it means to be an American and then had the choice of writing an essay or creating an art piece with a short statement. This also allowed students to creatively express themselves and explore how being an American affects their identities. Some students wrote songs, created paintings, copper etchings, and collages.