Senior Project at Ashley Hall is one of the school’s most distinguished programs. This student-directed, year-long class is a synthesis of intense research, critical thinking, and targeted community outreach allowing students to delve deeper into a specific topic of interest. Selected through a competitive application process the prior spring, Senior Project girls begin researching their proposed topic over the summer months. This research then fuels their work over the course of the school year as the projects evolve. During April of the following year, the girls present their Senior Project research findings to the Upper School student body along with other distinguished guests. Click on the button below to view a full list of this year’s presentations.
2018 Senior Project Presentations
Past Senior Project Presentations:
On Friday, Ashley Hall recognized its 2018 graduates during “The Spiral Walk,” a campus procession through each division that celebrates not only the wonderful young women the graduates have become but also the bright future that awaits them. A new tradition established last year, “The Spiral Walk” began at the Shell House, where each senior received a small conch shell with her graduation year written inside as a symbol of both the spiral curriculum and the conch shells on the Shell House. “I was walking across senior lawn last spring and looked to my right and saw first and second grade girls walking to the Ingram Arts Center,” said Upper School faculty member Chris Hughes, who created “The Spiral Walk.” “I then looked to my left and saw seniors hanging out on senior lawn—where else can you see who you were and who you will become in one glance? I started thinking about how the girls move through the buildings on campus by starting with the Early Education Center (EEC) and ending in the Upper School.”
After Head of School Jill Muti read aloud the poem “The Chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., those seniors who started in the EEC initiated the walk and stopped at each division to pick up their classmates where they had commenced their Ashley Hall journey. Girls in each division sang a special song to honor the seniors, and as the entire senior class entered Davies Auditorium, the rest of the Upper School stood and greeted them with the song “Oh Ashley Hall.” “I think this is a meaningful walk because it gives all the younger girls the opportunity to not only pay homage to the seniors but also to get a glimpse into who they will become as Ashley Hall girls,” said Chris. “For the seniors, it is a trip down memory lane and a visual reminder to reflect on their time spent here and the wonderful teachers they had along the way. It is a circle of endings and beginnings.”
Grab your boots and join us for Square Dance at the Hall, hosted by the Class of 2018! Festivities will include live music, dancing with a caller, and more! A dinner of chili, mac-n-cheese, corn on the cob, and cornbread will be served. All students, parents, alumnae, siblings, and friends are welcome! Bring your whole family down to Ashley Hall and celebrate with the senior class! In case of rain, the event will be held in Davies Auditorium.
Online sales are now closed for this event. Tickets will available at the gate.
The members of Ashley Hall’s inaugural strings class (from left to right: Eliot Hall ’18, Lou Lou Byars ’18, Ann Sheridan ’18, and Meaghan Bonds ’18) are preparing to graduate this year completing the Ashley Hall Learning Spiral. (The program launched in 2004 – how time flies!) When asked their thoughts on the impact of this program, words like “transformative“, “inclusive“, “inspiring” were shared. These talented young musicians have helped pave the way for what is now considered one of Ashley Hall’s signature programs and have surely inspired other young strings players to pick up an instrument. “I love the connectedness of the strings program,” says Eliot. “We’re able to play throughout the year with much younger Ashley Hall girls and also work with other musicians in the community.” Ann chimes in with “classical violin led me to the celtic fiddle, how cool is that!”
The Ashley Hall Strings Program is also available to the community through private and group lessons for both children and adults through the Carolina Strings Academy. For lesson details, click here.