• Culminating Project

    The purpose of the culminating project is to give students the opportunity to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge and to demonstrate that knowledge in a project. Students will complete the culminating project under the direction of  an appointed high school faculty advisor in accordance with the following guidelines:

    • Students will present an oral project presentation to a faculty panel.
    • The presentation shall be interactive, in that the audience may ask questions of the student.
    • The advisor will determine, after consultation with the faculty committee and use of the district-approved rubric, if the oral presentation meets the minimum requirements of proficiency.
    • If a project is found to be “not proficient” at the evaluation, the student is expected to act on the comments and recommendations provided by the evaluation panel and to present the project for a second evaluation. The second evaluation will be conducted with the same advisor and committee whenever possible.
    • Students will write a detailed reflective essay on his or her investigation into their culminating project.
    • The advisor and the faculty committee will determine if the student’s reflective essay fulfills the minimum requirement of proficiency by using the district’s approved rubric.

    A meaningful culminating project is one that:

    • Interests the student.
    • Allows the student to stretch their abilities.
    • Provides the student with a sense of accomplishment.
    • Can be based on previous knowledge but requires the student to grow further by using previous learning in new ways.
    Both the written and the oral presentation components of the project will be evaluated according to the official evaluation forms. Students must achieve a rating of PROFICIENT in each component to satisfy the project’s minimum requirements. Students are required to submit three copies of his or her completed reflective essay at the time of his or her oral presentation.
    Students must select an area of concentrated study from one of the four pathways:
    • Research based projects provide students a venue todevelop a research project on which he or she is working or has previously completed for a course. Students using a research paper from one of his or her courses must earn a minimum grade of a 70% for it to qualify as the stimulus for their culminating project. Areflective essay is not required.
    • Career based projects provide students with an opportu- nity to explore future careers. Students choosing this pathway will use their sophomore Career Exploration class as the stimulus for their project. The student must submit a portfolio from their Career Exploration course with a minimum grade on the project of a 80%. The graded portfolio must contain the following items from the course: resume, written report, and interview/shadowing experience information.*
    • Volunteerism based projects provide a way for students to volunteer in order to help improve their communities. Students choosing this pathway must secure volunteer sponsorship through an “official” organization such as a local church, food bank, Habitat for Humanity, Hershey Medical Center., American Red Cross, etc. Each student must complete a minimum of 50 hours of volunteerism within one calendar year.*
    • Product-based projects provide students interested in a   particular field an opportunity to produce a product and highlight his or her talents. Students must log a minimum of 50 hours or have a teacher advisor sign off on the actual “product” and earn a minimum grade of a 80% for it to qualify as the stimulus for their culminating  project.*

     *Each pathway, except the research based project, further requires the student to write a two page typewritten reflective essay and complete an oral presentation. The researched based project only requires a completion of an oral presentation.  Please see your culminating project advisor for more details on all aspects and requirements of each pathway. 

           
    Helpful Information
    The following hand-outs have been uploaded in Acrobat Reader format (.pdf). If you do not have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, we suggest clicking the button below and following the instructions there: