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News & Photos
Seniors Make an Impact
Every year, the graduating seniors at McDonogh get out of classes three weeks early in order to participate in senior projects. The educational projects always have a variety of platforms, all of which are approved by senior project coordinator Laddie Levy and supervised by a faculty adviser. At the end of three weeks, the seniors present their results to a panel of faculty members and a group of rising seniors. The class of 2010 continued the practice with a diverse list of activities ranging from internships to artistic exploration to community service. There is a vast and fascinating list beyond what this article explores; this is just a taste of the plethora of opportunities into which students delved.
Internships are always a popular choice because they provide real world experience in a potential career field. Andrew McKinley, Ryan Lee-Young, and Joe Meyer all got the chance to try a profession they are considering. Andrew worked for Inside Lacrosse, a magazine and website that follows the sport thoroughly. For the first few days he was assigned menial tasks, but he gradually worked his way up to seats in the press box at a championship game, where he posted live play-by-play updates to the magazine’s blog. “I was proud that they trusted me enough to give me that kind of responsibility,” beamed Andrew.
Ryan chose to pursue his interest in business, which he declared to be his prospective major in college. Under the supervision of Executive Managing Partner Mike Abbaei at Finix Business Strategies, a business consulting firm, Ryan proposed, investigated, and compiled a social research report on the future of corporate communication. The most difficult but most rewarding part, Ryan emphasizes, was the independence: “I feel extremely accomplished in my project because not only was I able to successfully create a report worthy of the firm, but I created it with little to no assistance from anyone.” He was also able to get an idea of how he liked working in the business world.
Joe got a feel for the career he hopes to pursue during an internship with PCS Engineering in Timonium. Like Andrew, he spent the first few days fetching coffee, but he was soon allowed to use SolidWorks, a design program, to make the base of a model rocket, a pressure plate, and two golf tees customized with his initials. He remarks that “it was good to get familiar with the programs and have experience with professionals.” If things work out, he hopes to return to PCS for summer work, further proof that senior projects can provide a means of entrance into the working world.
Many of the projects took a more artistic bent, like Ben Mormann, who worked with band mates Dennis C. ‘12 and Garrett C. ‘12 to produce his first album. Ben had to learn every step of the process on the recording program ProTools, including balancing and fading multiple tracks, editing for reverb and other effects, and most important, volume control. “I never realized how important volume control is,” exclaims Ben. “If your gain is too high, you'll get a fuzzy sound in your headphones, even if your track is recorded fine.” After the preparation, he combined the tracks into a master track and added it to the CD, which was completed with seven songs. Ben and his band mates plan to give the CD to anyone who wants a copy.
Katie Rogers decided to explore her interest in drama by setting up a social experiment inspired by the shenanigans of renowned YouTube prankster Remi Gaillard. Katie spent each week dressed as a different kind of social outcast: first a pregnant teen, then an obese woman, and finally a disabled person. Then she went out in public to observe the general response. At the end of each week, she filled a journal as each persona based on her experiences, down to characteristic handwriting and voice. One memory sticks out to her in particular: "When I was ‘pregnant,’ I had a group of maybe 25 privileged-looking middle school girls that followed me around and tried to take pictures of me for an hour or so. It was one of the few humiliating experiences of my life." Katie says that the experiment developed her sense of compassion, and she feels strongly that everyone should go through a similar experience.
Rather than social observation, Meghan Mitchell decided to undergo cultural immersion, traveling with a group of friends to New York City for a week to make a video capturing the life of a writer trying to find inspiration in the big city. Outside of the project itself, Meghan remembers that the hardest part was the group work. “We had to be very self-motivated, because there was no one setting our schedule or doing work for us,” she recalls. The five friends spent the week sharing one bedroom and one bathroom, a situation that made for some unavoidable but cherished bonding. By the end of the week, they had accomplished their goal, and they were closer friends because of the experience.
A strong contingent of seniors elected to complete service projects. Some combined that calling with other interests, like Marcus Tsouvalos, who learned to use Windows Movie Maker and Audacity to create a ten minute admissions video for the Upper School that followed a day in the life of the average student. The video was a huge help to Admissions Director Anita Hilson, who had tears of gratitude in her eyes upon seeing Marcus’s work. The project touched Marcus as well, who says, “I always knew how great the school was, but being able to show it made me want to never leave such an amazing place.”
Evan Lipinski also worked on campus, building for the Roots plot with a group of friends. He helped to make shelving and side panels for the shed, a new gate and sign for the entrance, and wooden stakes for planting. He spent some time working in the garden, too, weeding and helping the pre-first students with bean planting. “It was more work than I thought it would be,” commented Evan, “but it was rewarding.”
Instead of staying local, some students traveled to areas they felt had greater need. Chava Quinn spent six days in an orphanage in Caberet, Haiti, half an hour outside Port-au-Prince. She took videos of her experiences, combining them into a video diary upon returning home. Her group of ten set up clinics in three villages, providing free health care for earthquake victims. Chava was especially struck by a twelve-year-old girl who arrived at closing time one day with a 103-degree fever. “Our ‘clinic’ was the back of a van with baggies of medicine and two stools,” laments Chava, but the hospitals, even if they had been open past three p.m., were too expensive for the girl and thousands of other island residents. The doctors gave the girl Tylenol, water, and a wet cloth, but the rest of their resources had been depleted throughout the day. Even though the little they could do made an immense difference, Chava wishes she could have done more. “I feel like the trip helped me more than I could ever help,” she asserts. Hopefully, if the financial support works out, she will be returning to Haiti in September on a similar trip.
There is no doubt that every senior arrived on graduation day with a new set of stories to tell and a new perspective on some aspect of the world. The projects provide a kind of education that could never be achieved within the classroom, and they require a degree of independence for the students that serves as an introduction to college life and the world beyond. The class of 2010 took full advantage of the chance, and their experiences were an appropriate transition from high school life at McDonogh to whatever lies in their futures.
Every year, the graduating seniors at McDonogh get out of classes three weeks early in order to participate in senior projects. The educational projects always have a variety of platforms, all of which are approved by senior project coordinator Laddie Levy and supervised by a faculty adviser. At the end of three weeks, the seniors present their results to a panel of faculty members and a group of rising seniors. The class of 2010 continued the practice with a diverse list of activities ranging from internships to artistic exploration to community service. There is a vast and fascinating list beyond what this article explores; this is just a taste of the plethora of opportunities into which students delved.
Internships are always a popular choice because they provide real world experience in a potential career field. Andrew McKinley, Ryan Lee-Young, and Joe Meyer all got the chance to try a profession they are considering. Andrew worked for Inside Lacrosse, a magazine and website that follows the sport thoroughly. For the first few days he was assigned menial tasks, but he gradually worked his way up to seats in the press box at a championship game, where he posted live play-by-play updates to the magazine’s blog. “I was proud that they trusted me enough to give me that kind of responsibility,” beamed Andrew.
Ryan chose to pursue his interest in business, which he declared to be his prospective major in college. Under the supervision of Executive Managing Partner Mike Abbaei at Finix Business Strategies, a business consulting firm, Ryan proposed, investigated, and compiled a social research report on the future of corporate communication. The most difficult but most rewarding part, Ryan emphasizes, was the independence: “I feel extremely accomplished in my project because not only was I able to successfully create a report worthy of the firm, but I created it with little to no assistance from anyone.” He was also able to get an idea of how he liked working in the business world.
Joe got a feel for the career he hopes to pursue during an internship with PCS Engineering in Timonium. Like Andrew, he spent the first few days fetching coffee, but he was soon allowed to use SolidWorks, a design program, to make the base of a model rocket, a pressure plate, and two golf tees customized with his initials. He remarks that “it was good to get familiar with the programs and have experience with professionals.” If things work out, he hopes to return to PCS for summer work, further proof that senior projects can provide a means of entrance into the working world.
Many of the projects took a more artistic bent, like Ben Mormann, who worked with band mates Dennis C. ‘12 and Garrett C. ‘12 to produce his first album. Ben had to learn every step of the process on the recording program ProTools, including balancing and fading multiple tracks, editing for reverb and other effects, and most important, volume control. “I never realized how important volume control is,” exclaims Ben. “If your gain is too high, you'll get a fuzzy sound in your headphones, even if your track is recorded fine.” After the preparation, he combined the tracks into a master track and added it to the CD, which was completed with seven songs. Ben and his band mates plan to give the CD to anyone who wants a copy.
Katie Rogers decided to explore her interest in drama by setting up a social experiment inspired by the shenanigans of renowned YouTube prankster Remi Gaillard. Katie spent each week dressed as a different kind of social outcast: first a pregnant teen, then an obese woman, and finally a disabled person. Then she went out in public to observe the general response. At the end of each week, she filled a journal as each persona based on her experiences, down to characteristic handwriting and voice. One memory sticks out to her in particular: "When I was ‘pregnant,’ I had a group of maybe 25 privileged-looking middle school girls that followed me around and tried to take pictures of me for an hour or so. It was one of the few humiliating experiences of my life." Katie says that the experiment developed her sense of compassion, and she feels strongly that everyone should go through a similar experience.
Rather than social observation, Meghan Mitchell decided to undergo cultural immersion, traveling with a group of friends to New York City for a week to make a video capturing the life of a writer trying to find inspiration in the big city. Outside of the project itself, Meghan remembers that the hardest part was the group work. “We had to be very self-motivated, because there was no one setting our schedule or doing work for us,” she recalls. The five friends spent the week sharing one bedroom and one bathroom, a situation that made for some unavoidable but cherished bonding. By the end of the week, they had accomplished their goal, and they were closer friends because of the experience.
A strong contingent of seniors elected to complete service projects. Some combined that calling with other interests, like Marcus Tsouvalos, who learned to use Windows Movie Maker and Audacity to create a ten minute admissions video for the Upper School that followed a day in the life of the average student. The video was a huge help to Admissions Director Anita Hilson, who had tears of gratitude in her eyes upon seeing Marcus’s work. The project touched Marcus as well, who says, “I always knew how great the school was, but being able to show it made me want to never leave such an amazing place.”
Evan Lipinski also worked on campus, building for the Roots plot with a group of friends. He helped to make shelving and side panels for the shed, a new gate and sign for the entrance, and wooden stakes for planting. He spent some time working in the garden, too, weeding and helping the pre-first students with bean planting. “It was more work than I thought it would be,” commented Evan, “but it was rewarding.”
Instead of staying local, some students traveled to areas they felt had greater need. Chava Quinn spent six days in an orphanage in Caberet, Haiti, half an hour outside Port-au-Prince. She took videos of her experiences, combining them into a video diary upon returning home. Her group of ten set up clinics in three villages, providing free health care for earthquake victims. Chava was especially struck by a twelve-year-old girl who arrived at closing time one day with a 103-degree fever. “Our ‘clinic’ was the back of a van with baggies of medicine and two stools,” laments Chava, but the hospitals, even if they had been open past three p.m., were too expensive for the girl and thousands of other island residents. The doctors gave the girl Tylenol, water, and a wet cloth, but the rest of their resources had been depleted throughout the day. Even though the little they could do made an immense difference, Chava wishes she could have done more. “I feel like the trip helped me more than I could ever help,” she asserts. Hopefully, if the financial support works out, she will be returning to Haiti in September on a similar trip.
There is no doubt that every senior arrived on graduation day with a new set of stories to tell and a new perspective on some aspect of the world. The projects provide a kind of education that could never be achieved within the classroom, and they require a degree of independence for the students that serves as an introduction to college life and the world beyond. The class of 2010 took full advantage of the chance, and their experiences were an appropriate transition from high school life at McDonogh to whatever lies in their futures.