With a multitude of projects, tests and homework, Clarke Central High School sophomores have been unfairly challenged too early in their careers. “I do not understand why the teachers expected me to do a project that has no effect to my grade,” sophomore Kieffer Farber said. Cartoon by Mary Merritt
By HANNAH ROLLINS – Staff Writer
Let’s face it, sophomores have dealt with an overwhelming amount of work for the 2013-14 school year.
It was mandatory to do a social studies fair project and a science fair project. On top of that, sophomores were told they had to fulfill yet another time-consuming project called the International Baccalaureate Personal Project.
“(The Personal Project is) supposed to show that (students) are able to apply different skills that they should have been learning then mastering by their tenth grade year,” IB coordinator Ashley Goodrich said. “So, their ability to conduct research, their ability to communicate effectively (and) their ability to create something.”
While the concept of the personal project sounds appealing, it is tedious and complicates sophomore’s already overwhelming lives.
“I do not understand why the teachers expected me to do a project that has no effect to my grade,” sophomore Kieffer Farber said. “Why would I do the project if I’m not able to graduate with an IB diploma?”
Because sophomores gain no real IB recognition, many students chose not to do the personal project. Another reason students did not take part in it was due to the unorthodox manner in which the instructions for the personal project were given.
“It wouldn’t have been as bad as it was if it were more coordinated,” sophomore Thomas Willey said. “Everyone was confused, people didn’t know what was going on, and nothing was happening right. The personal project will probably be better in future years, when the school has its act together, but right now, it’s nothing more than a catastrophe (filled) with procrastination and uncertainty.”
To make matters worse, some students indicated that they were not notified on who their supervisor, the teacher assigned to guide the students during the course of the project, was. This made it difficult to have support when endeavoring to complete this grueling project.
“One reason (I didn’t do it) was because I didn’t get to find out who my (supervisor) was,” sophomore Jasmine Evan said.
Some students were fortunate enough to be contacted by their supervisors. However, other students were denied this luxury and remained uncertain about which teacher was their supervisor.
If the student became aware of who their supervisor was, while the supervisors are always willing to help, it added to the already massive amount of work teachers have.
“I think the IB project gives teachers an additional duty or something to oversee when they already have a lot on their plate,” social studies department teacher Karena LaRosa said.
To add to the difficulty in executing this project, the way it was presented to sophomores this year was not how it was intended to happen.
“The way it was presented it’s not how it needs to be done. Its supposed to start with their ninth grade year,” Goodrich said. “This year we dropped it on tenth graders in October.”
The way personal projects were advertised to sophomores was an interminable document that made the project seem harder than it really was.
“Right now, it’s this 45-page document that can be really overwhelming if it’s not broken down into chunks,” Goodrich said.
The worst thing about this all is that these problems could have been easily fixed had there been more time to prepare for the personal project. If these problems were fixed, then more people could have possibly turned the project in rather than the 30 out of 352 that did. Now that CCHS is IB cetrified, the project might count for something, but as for this year, it was simply another burden sophomores were asked to bear.
