Caitlin "Designs for a Cure"

Creativity is a major part of my life; in fact, it was the inspiration for my senior project. My project was called "Design for a Cure". It was a t-shirt design contest for 3rd and 4th graders. Students created designs and then a panel of judges chose the winning design to be put on the t-shirts. Over 100 students participated. Shirts were then sold at a local chiropractic office. All proceeds from teh project went to the Susan G. Koman Foundation.

I chose to do this project because I plan to go into the Graphic Design field. I have also had 4 women in my family diagnosed with cancer. I put the two together to form my project.

From this experience I learned public speaking skills, responsibility, and organization skills.

Taken as a whole, I enjoyed doing my senior project. I loved making a difference in our community. It made me happy to know that I inspired creativity in young children and help in finding a cure for breast cancer. I believe this project has amplified my desire to go to college and pursue a graphic design career. I am pleased and satisfied with my senior project.

Tony & Mike "Wrestling Camp"

Mike and I held a Wrestling Clinic at Kaleidoscope Charter School in Otsego for two weeks for our senior project. We taught boys, K - 8th grade, the basics and importance of wrestling. Both the boys and us benefited from this project.

I learned how to be responsible from this project. We also learned time management and self motivation. We had to schedule meetings with the direct of Kaleidoscope. I learned that there has to be a proper teacher to athelete ratio. That way the kids learn more and make things run more smoothly. I also learned that getting information out way before schedule is a good idea if you want to have a larger turn out.


My (Tony's) plans for the future are to be in a position where I can help others with their relationship with Christ and maybe even be a personal trainer. I believe that this clinic helped me to further my skills with people and I am very glad to have done it.

By holding this clinic, I (Mike) have increased my interest in teaching sports and I may want to be a wrestling coach when I'm older. I plan to be a police officer, but in my free time I would like to teach some basics about wrestling.

Brittany "Gymnastics Camp"

My project was a gymnastics camp. There were 15 kids that attended. It was two hours each day. I chose this project because I love gymnastics. This project benefited me, and also the community, by teaching the kids gymnastics.

The things that I learned in this project were how to teach young kids the basics of gymnastics. Also how to organize an activity for the community to be involved in. One learning experience that has changed my life would probably be working with the kids and teaching them.

The only things that I would have changed it to make it go longer. All of the moms told me they wish it was longer, because all of the kids liked it so much. Also, I would have advertised earlier and at more places.

Lindsay, Toby & Tim "Crazy Love Study"

We decided to put on a Bible study for our friends and classmates on the subject of love, being called “Crazy Love.” This project took place for ten weeks in a row and an additional Christmas party ending, on Sunday nights for two hours.

Throughout the Bible study, we discussed how we are “overwhelmed by a relentless God” and what this means being that God loves us more than we could possibly imagine and that he jealously wants our attention. We should give him this attention, being obsessed with him, because after all, he gave us everything we have. The areas that I personally grew throughout this project were leadership capabilities. I needed to be responsible and to be capable of leading the group in discussion and the lesson. I also had to learn how to better manage time and schedules due to the busyness of life.

Current skills, strengths, interests, and values that were applied in the Bible Study will continue to be used throughout the rest of my life. I will need the leadership skills, lesson planning, and teaching skills that I learned in my future of teaching students and working with youth. My future educational plan is to become a teacher. This experience influenced my future plan because as previously stated, I will use the skills that I learned in my career of education.

Becca Glasser "Around the World in 4 Days"

Throughout the years of my life, I have developed a passion for both teaching and culture. With these passions in mind, I was able to construct my senior project. My project consisted of a program in which I taught younger children (elementary age) about different cultures. The places I choose to hilight were Tanzania, Costa Rica, Japan, and Venice. Each day was then filled with different attributes that each place had to contribute, including different songs, foods, games, crafts, dances, languages, and other various activities. My main goal for this project was to get each of my students thinking about what other cultures are like and that not every culture is the same; that differences in the world do exist and that it's alright that they do.

What I gained from this project is incredible. What changed me the most was being able to see how what I taught effected each of my students. For example, when I taught them about the different languages, they began to grow a higher interest in how to speak these languages.

Being able to experience all of these events has greatly inspired me to broaden my horizons and continue pursuing my passions in both teaching and understanding culture. To be able to blend these two passions is something that I will always be grateful for. I not only hope that what I taught my students will have a great impact on their lives, but I also hope that what I was able to learn will greatly impact my decisions in the future. This will then allow me to pursue my passions with more understanding and a growing desire

Josh Rueckert "Spectrum Students helping Soldiers"

My senior project consisted of 30 students doing winterizing chores for four families of soldiers who had been deployed to Iraq. My project expanded over four weekends.

I learned that organizing an event such as this is very challenging. The whole project was a life changing experience. I learned that life isn't always about me.

An added benefit of this experience was that I was given an award from the military for my efforts. I was presented with a certificate, a placque and an American flag that was flown over a miliatry base in Iraq.

Jodi McGaver "Princess for a Day"

Low self-esteem is a constant problem in our world. Many people hear about low self-esteem, but few really understand the harmful effects it can have on a person's life. I make it my goal to reach out to young girls to teach them about self-esteem in a fun and exciting learning environment. For my senior project, I held "Princess for a Day" at my house. I invited 5 girls from ages 7-9 for a full day of fun fit for a princess. The day started with beauty makeovers and learning about self-esteem. The middle of the day consisted of crafts. We made "Great Day Cards" and personal sashes. We ended the event at Mansetti's Pizza.

I choose this project bacause I want to help people feel good about themselves and I also wanted to be a reliable source for these girls and let them know that I am here for them if they need someone to talk to.

Some advise to others doing a senior project would beto make sure that you pick a project that truly interests you and is a passion in your life. It will make the project much more worthwhile. Also, make a difference with your project. Reach out to people in your community and make a difference in their lives. You might learn something about yourself. Lastly, take pride in your project and do quality work so that in the end you are proud of what you did.

Take total advantage and learn as much as you possibly can from this project.