The graduation project has provided sophomores with a wider forum of experience and knowledge. The pilot program of these projects has spawned much creativeness among students and the community.

As the end of this year approaches, the results of the graduation project will be apparent and will lead the way for future projects.

The school board recently revised the graduation requirements by adding the project to a list of credits and tests that students must complete. There are approximately 40 sophomores that have volunteered to complete their projects this year, requiring them to be finished by the end of April.

Science teacher David Lybarger and business education teacher Sharon Diggans, will have the task of reviewing the projects and refining the guidelines originally speculated.

“We already have a clear idea of how the pilot program will run, but the details of the coming years are not yet established,” Lybarger commented. The state has required each graduating class starting with the Class of 2003 to create a tangible product, such as a Web page, songs, a curriculum or a proposal to help the school and community.

Many students are close to completing their yearlong projects. Jillian Brainard has been working on a way to convince the school board to require students to perform community service. “I’ve been learning so much through this, and I’ve met so many administrators,” Brainard stated.

Numerous hours have been spent on such projects. The researching and intensive analysis proved to be no easy task. Sean Carson and Phil Halikias have spent much time in attempt to build a peer mediation website, while Robyn Ettinger is focusing on developing a curriculum that stresses tolerance.

These students were recently recognized for their work on a violence prevention website directed at teens. A grant of $1000 was given by Kravco Company in conjuntion with Channel 10 News and SHINE.

This program may be new to Neshaminy, but Pennsbury students have been participating in the graduation projects for a few years now. The trend is catching on as more and more schools have decided to test their students’ creativeness and motivation to seek out innovative demonstrations. The ultimate goal is to have students learn the importance of fostering new experiments that could possibly affect the future.

Students will be scored on their projects by a panel of teachers. Projects will be assessed for content and use of technology; each student is required to use at least three technologies. These projects will eventually be placed on exhibit for other students and members of the communities to view.

“They are not just setting the culture for the project; they’re setting the culture for the entire high school,” Lybarger said of the 40 students participating in the project.

The graduation project may have seemed to be time consuming for many sophomores, but ultimately the experience has proved to an interesting and stimulating task.