Wilson Hall will be quieter than usual. Many classes will be empty. The Fifth Form will move up to the first row in Centennial Hall.
The three weeks after May 19, when Wilson Hall empties its oldest students, the Sixth Form goes to show off the skills they’ve learned at Haverford by producing a graduation project.
Graduation projects are meaningful. They reflect a student’s time at the school. Students have a rare opportunity to dedicate all their time to one project. Whether a student chooses to demonstrate their refined art skills or their business knowledge at an internship, graduation projects are a part of the Haverford experience.
This independence, however, is often met with confusion. The end of the semester has some Sixth Formers mentally checked out and lacking ideas, and the screening process could be more transparent.
“I think if I had more time to think about what I wanted to do, I would’ve had a better plan going in,” Alir Gladden ’23 said, “I wouldn’t have spent those first two weeks just making ideas and scrapping them. I could’ve actually been productive.”
“If we can start thinking about the project as a freshman, and we build it up over four years, I think there’s plenty of people who will be doing something meaningful.”
Mr. Matt Ator
First-year graduation project coordinator Mr. Matt Ator heard these complaints. “I’m going to do freshman seminars at the end of the school year to talk about reflecting on the year,” Mr. Ator said, “If we can start thinking about the project as a freshman, and we build it up over four years, I think there’s plenty of people who will be doing something meaningful.”
According to Mr. Ator, students will pay increased attention to what they’re learning, what they enjoy, and what they do well, allowing them to enter Sixth Form ready to tackle a graduation project.
This change is mostly well received in the graduation project committee. Former graduation project coordinator Mr. Timothy Lengel said, “Students [can] build up a portfolio of interest over time, which should make the process smoother.”
Along with introducing the project much sooner, Mr. Ator also plans to have Sixth Formers create a poster board to present the project to family and friends. “I’m encouraging [Sixth Formers] to reflect on what they’ve done each week,” Mr. Ator said. “Then everyone will do some sort of poster or presentation at the very end.”
This change is also well accepted in the graduation project committee.
Mr. Lengel said, “It’s not like the advisory presentations where students can blow it off. You don’t want to look silly in front of [your family and friends].”
Previous students being able to “blow off” advisory presentations has been a bother to many Haverford students.
“This is supposed to be your biggest project at Haverford,” Sixth former Andrew Bradley said, “and it seems like as long as you get your project approved, it doesn’t really matter what you do.”
“This is supposed to be your biggest project at Haverford, and it seems like as long as you get your project approved, it doesn’t really matter what you do.”
Andrew Bradley ’24
Mr. Ator hopes that Sixth Formers will put more thought into their time away from school. His new plan also ensures that creative projects or not, all students will have a product.
For students making films, Mr. Ator also added, “The day before Honors Day, we’re going to do a film festival this year and show all of the movies.”
Creating a film, art piece, or internship, all Sixth Formers will have a product at the end of the year to demonstrate what their time went to.
Mr. Ator plans to focus more on the product made this year, rather than the time spent on the project. In previous years, getting a creative project approved was difficult because students had to convince the committee their project could fill the 30-hours-per-week requirement by creating an in-depth schedule. This year, Mr. Ator is shifting his focus to the product rather than the time spent. “We work out the time that I expect to go into it,” Mr. Ator said, “but focus more towards the product.”
Mr. Ator also hopes to increase organization. He plans to sort feedback by groups to avoid group members receiving different answers. For art projects, he is sorting all art projects to send to first-year committee member, art teacher Ms. Kristin Brown, bringing in a new voice to help give feedback to creative projects.
“I feel like there are so many art projects that have been proposed in the past,” Ms. Brown said, “and not having an art teacher’s voice on the committee has left those students struggling with how they can create a successful project without that feedback.”