As the 2014-15 school year is getting started, many seniors are likely wondering about what will become of the culminating (senior) project and what has been decided upon so far. After the State of Washington determined that the culminating project was no longer a state graduation requirement near the end of last year, individual school districts, like Arlington, were left to decide for themselves whether to uphold the project as a requirement. Principal Brian Beckley says “Our school board has made a decision to no longer require a self-directed project or log of community service hours.”

Although the senior project was eliminated, to avoid confusion, Ms. Smithson explained “there is still a ‘culminating’ project at Arlington High School, but there is not an hours requirement; an hours requirement being a physical project where you actually do something.”

This is relieving news for the seniors because it means that they don’t have to worry about completing a full blown project without the three months of summer that the previous seniors had. What seniors CAN expect is a presentation similar to what last year’s seniors gave. This presentation will be given in the spring. Other speculations about what has been finalized cannot be trusted unless they are verified by Mr. Beckley or Ms. Smithson for now.

Now, as for the other components of the project that still remain, Mr. Beckley said there is a committee of teachers, counselors, and other AHS administrators who are in charge of making a decision on what will become of them. Ms. Smithson is also on the committee with Mr. Beckley, and she predicts that the State will most likely reinstate an hours requirement for future seniors. The committee has not met yet, but the key components of their agenda will be to finalize the requirements for the presentation and to discuss changes to advisory. Without the project included, the presentation will be slightly shorter and the rubric will follow suit. The employability portfolio will also be included since most seniors have already completed their job shadows, reference letters, and resumes, etc…

Even though the information provided to seniors in advisory in the next few weeks may not be delivered with specificity or confidence, seniors who have completed the components of the portfolio up to this point have nothing to worry about. Whatever the final outcome of the senior ‘project’ may be, Mr. Beckley says“the bottom line purpose, no matter what the project looks like, is to prepare students to be ready upon graduation for college or employment.”