The John Carroll School Senior Project

The concept of Senior Project is not new. Throughout the United States, a variety of public and private schools both
secular and religious conduct senior projects. Most of the private secondary schools in the Baltimore area have senior
projects in place. This is the seventh year of a Senior Project program at John Carroll School.
The goal of the John Carroll Senior Project experience for JCS seniors is to:
lead students out of their perceived comfort zones and challenge their current skill levels;
encourage students to explore new concepts and engage them in real life problem solving that enables
them to make practical use of their classroom knowledge;
provide a year-long in-depth educational venue for critical thinking, independent expression, personal
responsibility, and growth;
serve as a culminating synthesis of the educational experiences to which seniors have been exposed and
foster independent, life-long learners with a sense of membership in a global community;
provide a transitional experience between the completely structured, directed venue of high school and
the more unstructured, independent venue college provides.
Successful completion of an individually constructed Senior Project is a mandatory graduation requirement for the
members of each senior class, but the project does not affect class rank or GPA. Students receive quarterly pass/fail
grades as well as a numerical final assessment based on their project presentation which is included on final student
transcripts. Year-long, weekly project work sessions involve project and mentor selection, construction of an essential
uestio that ill d i e a stude ts p oje t, project website construction and maintainance, written and oral
observations and reactions, field work, culminating project presentation preparation, and assessment by an evaluation
team comprised of a combination of three members of the JCS and broader community. Students can create projects in
one or some combination of the following categories: career exploration, community service, creative expression,
pursuit of a dream or exploration of a passion. In addition to the year-long project implementation obligations which
students must fulfill, seniors must complete a minimum of thirty hours of field experience directly related to their
individual projects during a two week period in May between exams and project evaluations when they are released
from classes and school attendance. Field experience hours may also be completed during the school year depending
o a stude ts hoi e of p oje t.

Our goal is for this to be a real life experience for students, not just a classroom exercise.
So for students to successfully complete their projects, they must secure connections with both individuals and
locations in the general community.
In order to fulfill this component of Senior Project, we rely on people such as you and locations beyond our
school campus to provide seniors with the guidance and placement they need to complete their project
explorations.
If you can be of any assistance to the student who shares this letter with you, we would be very appreciative.
Students have been made aware of their obligation to anyone providing them with assistance in any way.
If you agree to assist this student, you will be asked to complete a mentor agreement form and an exit
evaluation of the student with whom you interact.
You are also invited to our end-of-the-year Senior Showcase Event on May 26, 2016, so that you will able to
view the results of your contribution.
If you are being approached by a senior regarding his/her project, the senior has a project in place that has been
reviewed and approved.
While it is possible that during the exploration of a project additional or alternative possibilities for the specific
di e tio of the p oje t ay o u , it is ot the e to s/ad iso s responsibility to develop or reinvent a project
for a student.
The level of mentor/advisor involvement with the step-by-step p og ess of a stude ts p oje t is dete i ed y
students and their mentors/advisors.

The time commitment for a Senior Project mentor/advisor varies based on the type of project and the complex
nature of the project that a student has chosen to pursue.
Each senior is required to complete a minimum of thirty hours in the field directly related to his/her project
during or before the last two weeks in May, but there is no assigned amount of time that a student must spend
with a mentor/advisor.
However, mentors/advisors and students should establish and maintain a regular meeting schedule. These
meetings may take place in person or electronically. Fieldwork may also occur throughout the school year.
While fieldwork can occur at any time during the school year, after exams, our seniors are dismissed from
classes and in-school time for two weeks May 9-20 in order to complete their fieldwork and prepare for their
evaluation presentations.
Mentors are to serve as guides and sources of information and assistance, but seniors are responsible for
executing and completing their projects.
Students track their hours on their individual project websites, but mentors/advisors will be asked to verify
student progress during the project process should any questions arise.
Fieldwork locations and opportunities are vital to the implementation of student projects, so any help you can
provide in this area is also appreciated. Thank you for being willing to consider joining in this endeavor with a
JCS senior.

Please contact Louise Brink Gczy, Senior Project Coordinator at lgeczy@johncarroll.org or 410 8388333 ext 2047 with
any question or concerns.
Thank you for your interest, assistance, and time.
Sincerely,

Louise Geczy
LB Gczy, Senior Project Coordinator