This past May, a number of schools across the country participated in National Exhibition Month 2008 and engaged in various activities that highlighted their exhibition work. Here are the summaries of what happened at some of the selected schools in and around the month of May. Some photos are included as well.
Schools marked with an asterisk (*) are CES Affiliate schools; please visit our affiliation page for more on affiliating with CES as a school, organization, or individual.
If you have summaries of what happened at your school or organization, as well as photos, please send them to Ramon Calhoun at
rcalhoun@essentialschool.org.
On Wednesday, May 28, students presented their Passage projects. Every student in the school (grades 7-12) presented. Passages is a yearly, semester long, self-directed, learning experience which requires community experience, interviews, a journal, a final product and an exhibition of learning. The exhibitions were held in two shifts, 5:00-6:15pm, and 6:45-8:00pm. Parents and community members were invited to view the exhibitions. All visitors were provided conversation starters and comment cards. Students set up their materials and presented to individuals and small groups as they came by their tables. Graduating seniors also give a formal speech to a panel of judges.
*City High School
48 E. Pennington St.
Tucson, AZ 85701
520-623-7223
http://www.cityhighschool.org
Contact: Carrie Brennan
On Wednesday, May 14, City High School hosted the 4th annual City Works Showcase. All students in grades 9-11 were involved in the event, which highlighted student projects accomplished in collaboration with community partners.
CHS focuses on "place-based learning" – learning that incorporates city and regional issues and fosters in students a strong sense of place and connection to the community. The school’s City Works service learning program is at the core of the place-based curriculum, and all students participate in these classes. The City Works program offers students an opportunity to learn about community resources and issues and take action in new ways. Students gain real world perspective and interact with community members and mentors in a variety of fields.
This year’s City Works classes included Gardening with City High, Radio in the City, Civic Dialogue through the Arts, Video with PanLeft Productions, Culinary Arts, and Sustainability.
The public joined students and teachers as they viewed student-produced public service announcements and short films; listened to students’ radio documentaries; checked out the progress and a master plan for the school’s community garden; enjoyed food samples made by students who studied nutrition, cooking, and food security issues; and engaged in a variety of other projects and activities.
Columbus East High School
230 South Marr Road
Columbus, IN 47201
812-375-2789
http://east.bcsc.k12.in.us/
Contact: Anne C. Edds
Columbus East High School concluded and celebrated its ninth year of Senior Project presentations on May 14 and 15. There were 265 students who presented their Senior Projects to panels of judges. Upon completion of their speech the students struck the Bell of Champions to signify completion of their Senior Project.
The Senior Projects are student-selected and must be approved by a faculty panel. The projects focus on three different categories: career, community, or self-improvement/hobby. Of particular note is a project with a community theme. A student organized an entrepreneurial opportunity for residents in Ghana, West Africa. It involves the pick-up, delivery, and distribution of shay nuts gathered by the residents of the villages in Ghana. Senior Bryce Fathauer arranged for a system that improved the process that positively impacts 800,000 West Africans!
In addition to project displays, the school also displayed Senior Project data, which they have been gathering for eight years. The performance data is a means for continuous improvement not only of Senior Projects, but for school-wide curriculum. Data has been gathered for enough years that trends are evident, and it is obvious where improvements are possible. After reviewing the data, the classroom teachers strategize methods to implement in order to positively impact continuous improvement. The school Data Specialist has developed software to organize the data and query it in various forms to be most beneficial when looking at opportunities for continuous improvement.
Federal Hocking High School held its Senior Project Day and Graduation Portfolio Day during NEM. This is the 7th year for Senior Project day and the 10th year for Portfolio presentations. The annual Senior Project open house followed a day of judging the projects by FHHS faculty. The gym, commons area, several classrooms and the courtyard were filled with projects ranging from rebuilt tractors and trucks, photo essays from hiking the Appalachian Trail, community service projects, and pieces of fine furniture. Over 300 community members came in to view the projects that had been viewed by 7th through 11th grade students earlier in the day. The special guest was the local State Representative (and candidate for Ohio Senate) who praised the work of the students and asked if such projects should become a requirement for graduation state wide.
On May 23 seniors presented their Graduation Portfolio to judging teams made up of faculty and community members. These 30 minute exhibitions included a student presentation demonstrating how he/she has met the school standards for graduation as well as fielding extensive questions from the audience in attendance. Portfolios were judged both for completeness of content as well as the overall presentation. These demonstrations of mastery were attended not only by faculty and community members, but also by other students as school is annually canceled on this day so that full attention can be given to the potential graduates.
*Greenfield Center School
71 Montague City Rd
Greenfield, MA 01301
413-773-1700
http://www.centerschool.net
Contact: Laura Baker
On May 1, Greenfield Center School hosted its annual museum of student work. Each student enters one item from their portfolio and writes about their choice. More than 200 people visited the museum this year. Each student receives written feedback from at least two people on both their artifact and their reflection.
Recently Mary Helen Spiri visited GCS, where she attended a weekly All School meeting in which she noted that the school doesn’t “do” exhibitions, but rather they have “exhibition as pedagogy.”
On May 22, 5th and 6th graders exhibited their math fair projects. These projects must show evidence of conceptual understanding of specified math terms and be embedded in a project that is research based. Exhibitions must have visual representations, written explanations, and be presented with a speech. After having peer assessments and teacher conferences, the presentations are juried.
The 8th graders at GCS had their final two exhibitions in May and the first week of June. Each student must present a social justice project, a project in which they have been engaged for at least 6 weeks and “makes a difference in the equity of the world.” The final graduation piece is a presentation of a play which is individually written, cast, and directed. Several hundred people attend this traditional endeavor each year.
On May 23, the students and staff at Greenwood Elementary School held their 2nd Annual Connecting Hands Day in which parents, community members and school board members were invited to the school to view student exhibitions and activities in the classroom. Students from K-5 displayed projects such as their Science Exhibition; exhibited their knowledge about Famous Marylanders; and created a Colonial Fair, whereby guests had the chance to experience what life was like in Colonial America, and to meet colonial families.
The students were able to incorporate various media and technology, such as PowerPoint and PhotoStory Presentations, and display boards in the computer lab, media center and art room.
New England Coalition of Progressive Educators
71 Montague City Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
510-433-1843
On Saturday, May 10, the New England Coalition of Progressive Educators PK-8 hosted a gathering at Greenfield Center School in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Forty-seven educators gathered to think about the CES Principles “less is more” and “personalization” as it relates to the work of Eleanor Duckworth.
During the morning of the gathering, the participants had the opportunity to work with educators who trained with her. In five small groups they explored one of the following topics/items for 2 hours: eggs, ways to sit in a theater, poetry, crickets, and historical artifacts. After the experience there was an hour of processing what occurred and how it related to the CES Principles. The afternoon comprised of share/walk/talk time, lunch with people who work in similar positions, and followed by a choice of workshops looking at work/issues/questions.
The fourth grade at Princess Anne Elementary participated in two exhibitions. The first was the Egg Drop Exhibition. The students needed to build a lightweight device that would keep a raw egg from breaking when dropped from the roof of the school. There were trial drops to hone the device. At the final drop parents were invited, and it was successful for no eggs were broken.
The second exhibition was the Teackle Mansion Exhibition. Students studied Maryland history this year - as part of the study, the Somerset County Historical Society partnered with fourth graders throughout the county. The Princess Anne Elementary students did their exhibition after school at the Teackle Mansion. Students chose a room of Teackletonia, dressed in period clothing and presented what they learned in relation to Maryland history and Teackletonia to their parents. Parents then rotated through Teackletonia for a complete tour.
This year during NEM, School Without Walls senior Billy Ostapiuk started a heavy metal band, Infernal Abyss. Instead of taking a final exam, he gave a concert at the Bug Jar, where a committee of teachers, community experts and students judged whether Ostapiuk deserved to graduate. His project involved creating all original music, scheduling practices and shows and navigating group dynamics. Ostapiuk's display at School Without Walls' senior portfolio night included fliers from each of his shows.
Senior Patrick Battaglia's project was titled "Building and Programming an Autonomous Blimp." With the help of several mentors and the Rochester Institute of Technology's robotics club, aero club and amateur radio club, he designed attachments for a blimp to help it stay inside a course by using a camera to detect the course's borders. Battaglia, who plans to study physics at college, said his school's senior project program really helped him apply his knowledge of science.
In preparation for senior projects, each senior has a committee made up of two underclassmen, two local experts and two teachers. The seniors present their projects to their committees in May and early June and this year's topics ranged from computer language and programming to bilingual kindergarten teaching to hydroponic growing to quilting. Five of the six committee members must vote to pass a student's project in order for the student to graduate.
*Union City Middle School
430 St. Joseph St.
Union City, MI 49049
517-741-5381
http://www.ucschools.net
Contact: Klaudia Fisher
On April 24, the 5th graders presented the "Hall of Ologies" Natural History Museum. At the beginning of the year students were challenged with creating a year-long collection from something in nature. Throughout the year students explored the field of science ("Ology") that corresponded with their collection. Midway through the year they visited the University of Michigan Natural History Museum, and learned about other museums via the internet. They researched their “ology” and created a game board, wrote poetry, studied a famous scientist in that field, and began extensive research about their collection. Throughout the school year class projects were also completed (ecological footprints, body systems, etc.) that were included in their "Hall of Ologies" display.
The goal of this successful theme was for students to immerse themselves in a topic, learn how to do research, make connections with the topic across the curriculum, and experience what it feels like to be an "expert" in a chosen topic.
Hsinchu International School
No. 290, Niu Pu East Road
Hsinchu 30091 Taiwan ROC
http://www.hdis.hc.edu.tw/
Contact: Sheryl Gruber
Hsinchu International School had their first exhibitions this year in grades 8 and 10. They were a resounding success. Grade 8 exhibitions focused on student outcomes and how students were working toward demonstration of mastery of each. Grade 10 exhibitions were focused around a particular career path that each student was interested in and what 21st century skills are needed for success in this career path. The exhibitions were run over two nights and had parents, community members and students attend. This was a very exciting first step for their new school.
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