The seniors of SAR High School recently completed their Senior Exploration capstone project, a fulfilling ending to the 148 members of the Class of 2022. Since its first graduating class in 2007, SAR has had a tradition of students pursuing a passion project during their final weeks of high school. Every senior has the opportunity to engage in 45 to 60 hours of fieldwork, such as an internship or volunteerism; a creative project, such as art, music, film, design engineering or many other paths; course certifications, such as machine learning, coding, yoga instruction, spin instruction etc; or advanced research. After three weeks of engaging in a particular project of interest or internship, every senior delivers a 20-25 minute presentation in front of a three-person faculty panel. These judges award the students with their final grade in high school, and for the vast majority of seniors, it is a true celebration of their academic achievements.
Many internship opportunities are provided on an annual basis by SAR parents and community members. Placements this year included matching seniors with parents and alumni in fields like plastic surgery, nutrition, jewelry design, flavor chemistry, investment banking, real estate, political campaigning, public relations and elementary school education. Students had exposure to in-person experiences and many expressed profound respect for those that have to commute to and from Manhattan on a daily basis. Incredibly memorable creative projects were in abundance: examples included a documentary film on community leaders; a Sephardic heritage cookbook; a children’s book, replete with impressive illustrations; and a collection of emotionally resonant poems of characters from the book of Genesis. As Noam Siegel (AC ‘18, HS ‘22) shared, “When I first started thinking about my Senior Exploration project, I thought I would do some project with a hobby I already have, but then I was presented the opportunity to intern at a real estate company, Luxstone Partners, by a teacher at SAR. With not too many expectations, I came in on the first day excited. Over three weeks, I learned so much about real estate and many things that go into it. I ended up doing some of the work in my free time and gladly doing more work after my Senior Ex project requirements were met. My Senior Ex internship gave me the time to delve into something I may not have considered and ended the three weeks with a new interest and a potential career path.”
The Class of 2022 certainly fulfilled their potential with the Senior Exploration assignment and are proud of what they accomplished for their capstone projects.
