Although there is no known cure (until graduation day), Marblehead High School has found an effective treatment for “senioritis,” a term coined for the end of the year burn-out of the high school’s graduating class. Nearly 170 of the 189 MHS seniors have opted this year to leave their classes early and spend their last quarter on a senior project of their choosing before graduation on June 5. From painting murals to writing music to defending clients at a law firm, the majority of 12th graders have already transitioned to the real world, and are trying out some interesting careers.
“It seems like mostly everyone has chosen a project that is in a similar field of what they want to do after high school,” said Colleen Inglis, the Senior Project director and music teacher at MHS. “So this is sort of a transition to life after high school. So I think that it’s a great opportunity for students to learn outside the classroom and test out a possible career. It’s a really neat opportunity.”
This will be Inglis’ first year directing the senior project program at MHS, and she has spent countless hours planning and organizing the project. It started back in January, when she presented the requirements for the project to the senior class, and she spent the following couple months helping students complete the application process.
“It’s a great experience for people to be able to learn outside of the classroom,” said Inglis. “And so the goal is to get every student who’s interested to do it. And it’s like how do we get there. And if people aren’t eligible yet for grades, how do we get them there and support them so they can.”
Marblehead High School seniors were excited to get out of the classroom and start learning about topics they’re interested in through real world experience. Henrik Adams is diving into the world of materials engineering for his senior project, helping a local family design prototype orthotic casts to improve the condition of their daughter’s feet, after a debilitating car accident which left her needing 24/7 care.
“I’m going to help him reverse engineer from the goal shape of her feet and create a series of casts or help get her to that stage,” said Adams.
Adams, along with Nick Manganis, another MHS senior, will use a laser scanner to upload an image to AI software and generate a series of casts, which can be 3-D printed. He hopes to get at least one working prototype before presenting his project at the end of May. Adams is attending the University of Michigan next year, and hopes to study materials engineering, so the project will give him an opportunity to learn more about it.
“I felt like it was something I had to pursue because it would help me see if engineering is something I want to do, and also make a difference,” said Adams. “I think there’s a lot I don’t know about how the engineering process works, but this will definitely be an experience of prototyping things and getting things wrong over and over again until you get it right, so I think I’ll gain a lot of engineering know-how and practice my creativity, resilience and problem-solving skills.”
Dimos Thanos, a senior who is going to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the fall, is working with a defense attorney’s office for his senior project as a paralegal intern. Thanos has recently been working on a case defending a man who claims he was framed for telemarketing scams.
Navigating this new legal landscape has been difficult, especially when the stakes are high, but Thanos said it has been rewarding.
“My favorite part, and the most stressful part, is the responsibility that’s been given to me out of nowhere,” said Thanos. “His future is in my hands. It’s a big responsibility, but it motivates me, and drives me to really do good work. I’m just looking forward to being able to help this guy out.”
Five students are spending their Senior Project songwriting, rehearsing and building a setlist for their band, Boomstick. The band is made up of seniors Cam Gibson, Brady Leveroni, Lakai Parker, Lily O’Keefe and Nate Jendrysik. The group hopes to write some original songs and prepare to start playing gigs during the summer.
“We want to be able to perform our set list and to write a song,” said Leveroni. “We’re in the process of that right now, brainstorming, writing lyrics, writing a rhythm and a harmony. It’s a lot, definitely not as easy as it sounds.”
All five of them are interested in music and formed Boomstick last year. They hope the Senior Project will give them a chance to practice together more regularly and land some gigs.
“The whole thing about playing together is that, as Dave Grohl said, when you start a band, you all suck, and then you just keep practicing, you keep sucking, and then all of a sudden you’re going to suck less,” said Jendrysik.
MHS senior Charlie Seliger chose to stay in the building for her Senior Project and paint a mural on a third-floor English classroom wall. In her painting, she will depict some scenes and symbolic elements from “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy, which she read in AP Literature last year, in that very same classroom.
“The book really spoke to me a lot when we read it last year,” said Seliger. “So I’m definitely going to enjoy getting what I envisioned from this book onto the wall.”
She started by creating a sketch of her mural, and preparing the wall for the painting. Over the next few weeks, she will paint the wall with picturesque scenes of horseriders on the plains of Mexico, that future students can gaze at as they read the story.
“I think it’s going to be neat to have something in this classroom that will be here forever, like the other murals in here that I’ve been looking at since I was a sophomore,” said Seliger.
On May 28, seniors will present their projects in a science-fair style exhibition in the Marblehead high school gymnasium, which will be open to the public
“I think it’s a great opportunity for students to showcase what they did, how they used their time, what they learned, and what they liked about it,” said Inglis.
Reporter Grey Collins is partnering with the Marblehead Current for his Senior Project.
