Page 16 - Priorities #47 2010-June/July

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Design Thinking: The
Will you please describe, in 20 seconds,
WHY
of Senior Project
By Scott Parker
senior project.
Sarah Montgomery ’09 and Claire Watson ’09 decided that they wanted to
sharetheirowngiftswithgirlsinKenya. SarahandClaire,throughtheirresearch of the educational disparities faced by African girls, found a way to share their particular athletic and artistic talents with female high school students in Kenya.
The Priory seniors designed a project to raise funds to purchase soccer and artsuppliesfortheDarajaAcademy,anallgirlsboardingschoolinKenya. The fundraising was a component of a much larger project goal: to develop and personally deliver physical education and arts curricula to the Daraja students.
Weeks after graduating from Priory, Sarah and Claire traveled to Kenya to meet the Daraja girls in person, deliver the art and athletic supplies, and sow the seedsofalastingrelationship. Itwasalife-changingexperienceforbothPriory graduates, and a perfect example of the wide-open possibilities of an educational experience that matches a student’s talents and curiosities with a perceived need in the world.
Senior Project at the Priory flows from the headwaters of two very different discussions. First,wasaconcern,voicedseveralyearsagobythefacultythatthe school was not doing enough to encourage independent learning in our students, especially as they prepared for a life in college that would require a higher degree of self-direction and problem solving.
The other stream related to the phenomenon of the second semester senior. Brian Schlaak, Academic Dean and Asst. Head of School, challenged the faculty to address the apparent fade-away experience of the senior who, with college acceptances in hand, is less motivated to finish strong. Mr. Schlaak likened a senior’s last quarter to air escaping from a balloon.
“We do social/emotional closure for our students better than anyone. A student’s academic closure should be as impressive,” said Schlaak.
The semester-long graduation requirement, intends to harness a senior’s energy by asking her/him to apply personal gifts to a perceived need, problem, or under-explored area of opportunity, known to the students simply as the NPO.
Senior Project at Priory gives students the opportunity to challenge and stretch themselves as individuals and intellectuals. Individually, in that every student is asked to identify talents, skills, or interests that are unique to him/her. Intellectually, in that students are allowed to design a project that draws upon many years of school and different courses of study.
This year, Priory seniors worked with educators from the Stanford Design School, who introduced students to the concept of design thinking. Part of the
Adrian Dannis and her senior project chickens for the Priory garden.
how you are changing the world?
For the past three years, Priory graduates have answered that very question, by way of the
HOW
WHAT