Mansfield High School Senior Project Moving Forward

In the third year of the program, the Mansfield High School Senior Project is coming along better than ever.

MHS teachers Bill Deasy and Benjamin Caisse, who help run the project, said that the program is aimed at hands on learning for the students.

“Senior Project is part of a larger group of elements where we move beyond those first few years of high school and we really try to get our students more hands-on learning,” MHS principal Michael Connolly said. “We take a lot of the things that they’re building in K through ten and apply what they’re learning.”

Students chose their own topics based on two qualifiers: achievability and challenge. It is a performance-based assessment and the program itself is utilized all over the country.

“What we’ve done is taken the foundation and adapted it for the Mansfield High School,” Caisse said. “I think one of the biggest attributes of the program is to allow the students to really take control of their education, to really pursue something they’re passionate about and demonstrate their capabilities.”

 The students have to write a fieldwork proposal, write an eight to ten page research paper and do a presentation on their work at the end of the year.

“It’s quite impressive to see the process these students go through,” Superintendent Brenda Hodges said. “I know it’s grown tremendously since you started this and I just wanted to commned you for the work, the time and the effort you put into it.”

This year there are 54 students participating in the program.

“We are open to all students,” Caisse said. “We have students of all levels, college prep, honors, [advanced placement], [and they have a] wide range of skill sets and various experience, [including] research, writing, presentation skills and experience in the community.”

The projects themselves range all over the academic spectrum, from medicine, weather, theater, politics, conservation etc.

One student is putting together a Special Olympics Rally, two students are studying the effects of concussions, and one student has started a voter registration drive.

“Up to this point he has up to 47 students registered to vote,” Deasy said. “After March 6, the primary, he’s going to try to get more students registered for the fall. We also have a student working with the Mitt Romney campaign organization and one student working with the Elizabeth Warren campaign organization.”

Many students are working with the town on current issues. There are three students working on conservation, including one student who is working with the conservation commission to map out the many trails in the area with a GPS. Another student is working with the Mansfield Electric Company to put together a solar panel.

“You can definitely see the eclectic nature of these projects,” Deasy said.

The presentations will be done in May for a final grade on the project. School committee member Jim Perry said that he was extremely impressed with the students’ work last year when he sat in as a judge of the presentations.

“I can’t even tell you how impressive it is, to see these young people and how involved they are and how mature they are,” he said. “The presentations are professional. They do an incredible job, and I think that [Deasy and Caisse] do an incredible job with the organization, setting up clear expectations with the kids, and I’m sure they exceed the expectations set up for them.”