The Marblehead High School field house was packed last Friday as nearly 200 students displayed their senior projects. MHS seniors have the option to spend the last quarter of the school year getting hands-on experience in passion projects.
“It lets the kids take control and try something new, a new path, all while being supported,” said MHS teacher Andrew Scoglio, who oversees senior projects.
This year, students did everything from teach in classrooms, compose music, start businesses, work with veterans, plan events and more.
Max Arbo spent his senior project reporting and writing for the Current, and displayed some of his articles and feature stories.
“I learned a lot about reporting and how to write effectively for news,” Arbo said. “And I got a chance to connect with my community, covering people and events here.
“I also learned I’m not great with deadlines,” he added sheepishly. “It’s not just in school.”
Bella Takata wrote, directed and appeared in a one-hour show called “Saturday Night Live? No, Tuesday Afternoon Dead.”
“I’ve never written a play before. I kind of went off the deep end with it,” Takata laughed. She also raised about $350 for the MHS Drama Club.
Several students worked together to plan this year’s Culture Feast, which took place Friday, May 24. (Read about Culture Feast on Page 16.)
Others, members of the band Wham Bone, wrote and recorded their own song, called “Event Horizon.”
“It’s a long jam, inspired by Pink Floyd,” explained Jameson Vied.
Audeline Vitet, who is headed to Wentworth Institute of Technology to study interior design, researched and designed a beach club and restaurant for a property in Cote D’Azur.
“I learned that I need more patience,” she said. “And I learned that me and my dad, who also does design work, don’t work well together at all.”
Kirill Ostrovoskii launched his own car detailing business.
“I like my own car better when it’s clean,” he said. “I started the business, built the website and built the scheduling tool.”
Haven O’Brien and Precious Smallwood spent their senior project volunteering with the Veterans Administration in Jamaica Plain.
“There are a lot of veterans in my family,” O’Brien said. “The VA really helps vets mentally and physically.”
“There’s a lot of judgment here,” she added looking around the high school gym. “The veterans are so kind. They’re always open to hear my stories.”
Jacob Piascik composed “Chad Gadya,” a six-movement piece of music depicting the “persecution, joys and troubles of the Jews throughout time,” he said. The chamber work features a quartet of strings as well as a mixed choir and will be performed Friday, June 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the MHS auditorium.
Students Alex Coate, Ben Wales, Cam Waldman and Charlie Grenier organized a street hockey tournament to raise money for Huddles for Hearts, which will supply MHS with AED devices and other life-saving equipment. More than 125 people participated in the tournament.
Colette Rodriguez created a “social media presence dedicated to teaching people about cerebral palsy and what goes into being a caretaker.” She was inspired by her neighbor who has the disease.
“Being able to caretake for Lucy Stiles has been one of the most rewarding and special things I have ever done in my life,” Rodrigues said. “My goal of my senior project was to teach people about what it means to have a child living with severe cerebral palsy and what goes into providing her with the utmost care.”
Watch this video of the senior project presentations produced by MHS-TV television production teacher Henry Christensen:
