The Senior Project English elective is an independent course designed to challenge motivated students in their pursuit of intellectual and meaningful growth. This course will provide students myriad opportunities to find new interests or hone current ones. Students interested in this elective must apply for course consideration. The application consists of a personal profile and project objective, both of which afford the candidate an opportunity to provide evidence of past and current autonomous projects. Proposals will be reviewed by the English department. Upon acceptance, candidates will submit a bibliography and year-long curriculum plan.

2012 Senior Projects

Ann Hill

A Cappella Through the Ages

The Performance and Study of Unaccompanied Singing

The art of a cappella singing began with the development of Gregorian chant in as early as the 10th century. Throughout history, a cappella has transformed from a strictly liturgical art form to a widely popular genre of music today. In order to immerse myself in all things a cappella, I will be forming an a cappella group of Ashley Hall girls, called the McBeats, performing pieces from many different eras, and I will study its history and influence from its primitive form of Gregorian chant, to its contemporary style. In addition, I will be learning how to arrange music with the intention of performing a few original arrangements with the McBeats.

Caroline Lowery

Becoming Queen Bee

An indepth study on bees and beginning beekeeping

Read my blog: Becoming Queen Bee

This year, I will explore the fascinating world of beekeeping first hand as I follow two hive through all four seasons. Through research, hands on experience, and local mentors, I hope to hone my beekeeping skills and continue scientifically researching threats to the honeybee population. In addition to covering the hobbyist and scientific aspects of beekeeping, I will delve into the historical and commercial sides of as well. I am reading Vergil's Georgics in it's original Latin text to understand the evolution of beekeeping over the last twenty centuries. The commercial facet of my project will involve different readings on the rise of commercial bee pollination and will culminate in an adventure California to see almond pollination, the largest pollination event in the world, first hand, from the perspective of commercial beekeeper, John Miller. It is my hope that this project will continue to grow my interest in bees, provide me with a life-long hobby, and allow me to opportunity to share the exciting world of beekeeping with the Ashley Hall and Charleston community.

Cecilia Prentice

Fukushima

A Study in Nuclear Disaster, Environmental Engineering, and the World's Energy Crisis

Read my blog: Fukushima

Throughout the year, I plan to research the sustainability of the various energy sources the human race uses today and the viability of their continued use in the future. I would also like to research the effects of these energy sources on the environment and any problems that may occur and majorly impact the environment and specifically apply what I've learned to the Japan and its past, present, and future energy policy, including the effects caused by the recent earthquake.

Danielle Feerst

LEGO to the Future

Empowering Education by Reasoning with Robots

Read my blog: Empowering Education By Reasoning with Robots

This project is a 5 month activity session with 4 Ashley Hall fifth and sixth graders. We are exploring the definition of engineering, career options, computer programming basics, the Engineer Design Process, and are constructing Robots from LEGO NXT Mindstorm Kits. The computer programming will be done on LabView 2010, in the Computer Lab at Ashley Hall. The students keep documented progress, thoughts, comments, planning time, and observations in an Engineer's Journal for research and analysis. The activity sessions will culminate in field trip to MUSC Health Professions and Research Center on the corner of Bee and President Street to see real life robots in occupational therapy, and view the complexities of the LabView program on a larger scale.

Hopefully, the students will also have 2 group robots to show to Ashley Hall and MUSC for fun before the Mindstorm Kits are returned to Tufts University. The girls will also have a greater understanding of communication skills, group work, the importance of planning, the engineering thought process and how it relates to all aspects of good decision making, knowledge of future career options in engineering, and the chance to develop technology skills and programming basics in high school for a competitive edge on a college resume.

Isabelle Luzuriaga

PAACT Project

Promoting AIDS Awareness among Charleston's Teens

Read my blog: PAACT Project

My name is Isabelle Luzuriaga, and I am a Senior at Ashley Hall in Charleston, S.C. In the Spring of 2011, I applied for Ashley Hall's Senior Project Program so that I could study the AIDS pandemic and learn about AIDS awareness. My proposal was accepted, so this year, I will be studying the AIDS epidemic in Uganda and I will be spreading awareness throughout the Charleston Area. I intend to learn about the basic biology behind the disease, Uganda as a developing country, health education in Charleston County public and private high schools, the history of AIDS awareness, and the technological developments and research behind the pandemic.

I will also give talks to local high schools about the AIDS epidemic in Uganda and in the US to spread awareness to my peers. At these talks, firstly I will inform them about the epidemic and the disease, but after I am finished talking, I will give them a chance to give back. I am partnering with a nonprofit organization called Accordia. Accordia focuses on training native Ugandans how to provide adequate health care and counseling to native AIDS patients in their developed hospital called the Infectious Disease Institute, and in other hospitals and clinics around the country. At the AIDS awareness talks that I give, the kids will have a chance to decorate a panel of fabric that will later be pieced into a quilt. I hope to send the finished product to the Infectious Disease Institute to show the support its patients are receiving from around the world. I hope for it to be a symbol of respect, support, hope, and peace in their eyes.

Furthermore, the organization will be putting on a tester event in the winter to see if there is any interest in Charleston. If successful, they will host another bigger event in the spring to raise awareness and money for their cause. I will speak at both and will be able to spread awareness through the event.

My goal for my project is to eliminate or drastically reduce the common stigmas, especially among high school students, surrounding the AIDS pandemic. I would like to share Accordia's goals and mission with my peers and friends so that they can see what is being done abroad to fight the disease. I hope to get across the importance of prevention rather than avoidance, and I hope to introduce the topic as one that can and should be discussed to best achieve prevention. Finally, I will voice the truth behind the pandemic, thereby amplifying the voices against persecution and stigmatism towards HIV+ persons.

Katerina Koch

Running the Extra Mile

Researching the Effects of Endurance Running on the Heart and Central Nervous System

Read my blog: Running the Extra Mile

When I was only four years old, my parents introduced me to running and I became hooked. As I was deciding what I wanted to do for my Senior Project, I knew that I would do something that combined my love of running with my love of science and medicine. I decided to train for and run a half marathon, while researching the effects of such running on the heart and the central nervous system. Throughout the year, I will be able to challenge myself with the research, while doing something that I am still extremely passionate about.

Margaret Legerton

Got Veggies? Go Local!

Local Food, Nutrition, and Sustainable Agriculture in my Senior Project

Read my blog: Got Veggies? Go Local!

What defines local? What is considered sustainable? What should we eat and how will it affect us? For my senior project, I am studying sustainable agriculture, local food, and nutrition, and working to create awareness and promote eating local in the Low Country. My research began with the industrialization of the American agricultural system, and how the shift to centralized corporations has affected the nutritional value and quality of the food produced. I am also researching the current policies regarding agriculture and food production, the health effects of processed foods compared to those of local produce, and push for local foods as a social movement. This knowledge is allowing me to better understand the importance of returning to organic and sustainable practices, and the many benefits of supporting local farmers.

In an effort to support local farms, I helped promote the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at Rosebank Farms by encouraging Ashley Hall families to join. I also joined the CSA myself, and I am learning about new foods each week and ways to cook them. I am also organizing a food drive at Ashley Hall in March to help fight child-hood hunger with nutritional snacks through the Low Country Food Bank.

In addition to just collecting food, I am also organizing a Kid’s Health Fair to take place in the Charleston Community. In addition to the food and nutrition aspect of my project, I am also working to make a difference through Ashley Hall’s food wastes. After I discovered that Ashley Hall was sending over 300 pounds of food waste per week to be landfilled, I helped organize for our food waste to be collected by Organic Gardening Supplies. They use vermin-culture and grub farming to recycle our food wastes into organic fertilizer, and thanks to the success of the program, Ashley Hall is now the first school in the nation to donate food waste to grub farming initiatives.

The goal of my project is to complete in depth and first hand research on modern and agricultural food systems, but also to spread awareness and to create change for a more local and sustainable diet in our community. Please visit my blog at http://gotveggies-golocal.squarespace.com/ for weekly CSA updates, pictures, and the latest news regarding my senior project.

Shira Cohen

The History of Music

A form of history not often taught in school

For my senior project, I am studying a form of history not often taught in school: the history of music. Independently, I am spending the year studying German composer, Johannes Brahms, tracing the evolution of music in the wake of Beethoven's innovations and Brahms's significance in the resulting schism of the German musical tradition. I am studying Brahms's compositions using knowledge of music theory and analysis, as well as the Musicians of the Future movement and Brahms's opposition in the form of Liszt and Wagner. I am studying Brahms through both history and music, incorporating many of my key interests. A lover of music and an aspiring musician, I have played piano since second grade and I have recently taken up violin. My goal is to build a repertoire of Brahms for piano and to master "Brahms's Lullaby" on the violin by the end of the year. This project also brings in my affinity for history, as I dive into Brahms's biographies and letters, as well as primary source documents recording the monumental split in the German musical tradition. In preparation for this challenging study, I completed an internship with Spoleto Festival USA, a world-renowned performing arts festival that occurs annually in Charleston. I was exposed to a myriad of modern-day art, theater, and music that helped me develop an attentive ear and appreciate historical influences in contemporary works.

Sussannah Schools

The Maghrebi Experience in France

The Arab/Muslim Maghrebi experience in France

I am studying the Arab/Muslim Maghrebi experience in France. The Maghreb is a region in North Africa that encompasses Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia; all of these countries are former French colonies, and today, there are many Maghrebis who immigrate to France. However, in spite of anti-discrimination laws, these immigrants still face a lot of prejudice, discrimination, and non-integration. Through the use of literature and film, I will examine how these people are portrayed in different media. I will also translate part of something I have read from French to English.

See more from the 2011 Senior Projects