Bethel High School teens must perform at least 30 hours, over the course of three years, of community service or a job shadow in addition to meeting other requirements.

Sumner High School seniors must complete 15 hours of “learning experience” outside the school day during 12th grade, but are prohibited from doing job shadows.

Mount Tahoma High School seniors don’t have to do community service or a job shadow. Instead, their requirements include collecting samples of their best class work, writing a research paper and assembling and presenting a portfolio.

The Class of 2008 is the first that must complete a culminating project to graduate, along with meeting other new requirements such as passing the writing and reading sections on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

The Washington State Board of Education, which decided in 2000 to create the requirement, issues broad guidelines for the projects. But the state leaves it to school districts to set requirements for their students.

“Some districts have been doing this for years and have very sophisticated systems in place,” said Kathe Taylor, policy director for the state board. “Some districts implemented requirements for the very first time and are still figuring it out.”

Said Mount Tahoma Principal Greg Eisnaugle: “Ours is not as elaborate as other peoples.”

Mount Tahoma is among the schools tying the culminating project to graduation for the first time. But without extra money to cover staff time to coordinate the projects and work out the legal issues of having his 2,000 students doing job shadows, he said, “We wanted to make it manageable. We did the best we could with what we have to work with.”

The state board wanted to give districts flexibility when it approved the requirement. Since then, the board’s makeup and responsibilities have changed, and members are “taking a fresh look at the graduation requirements as a whole,” Taylor said.

“It may be they’ll decide we’ll just wait and do nothing at this time or they may decide to take some action to address this inconsistency,” she said.

Taylor surveyed districts in January to see what they required in culminating projects and whether school administrators wanted the state requirement to change. Out of the 145 districts that responded:

 • 99 required a presentation.

 • 84 required a portfolio.

 • 58 required a project or a product.

 • 51 required a research paper.

 • 46 required a reflection paper.

 • 44 required community service.

 • 18 required a job shadow.

“One district required students to go to a college fair and write an essay that would be typical for a college application,” Taylor said. “That was the least (amount of required work) that I saw.”

Some 37 percent of the administrators recommended leaving the state requirement as is, and 10 percent suggested providing funding for the requirement.

Many administrators expressed concerns about the inconsistency of rigor across the state. Some argued the requirement is too difficult for struggling students, who wind up doing “watered-down” projects because they need to focus on meeting their other graduation requirements.

“I do like local control,” said Ann Varkados, assistant superintendent of curriculum in the 18,000-student Bethel district. However, she said, the requirement also amounts to an unfunded mandate. Existing staff have taken on the duties of ensuring students are on track with projects, arranging presentation panels and doing other tasks associated with the culminating projects.

She and Brian Loffer, Bethel’s assessment director, stressed that they support the requirement’s goal to make school more relevant and rigorous, and connect learning to the outside world.

“To do it in the quality we want to do takes more resources,” Loffer said.

Though Mount Tahoma’s requirements aren’t as extensive as other schools’, Eisnaugle sees culminating projects as one of the most exciting developments in education in years. Fifty to 60 percent of Mount Tahoma parents are attending conferences where students present their portfolios, compared with a 5 percent turnout before the student-led meetings.

“We’re asking students to not only reflect on what they’re doing, but why they’re doing it,” Eisnaugle said.

Even Sumner High, which has required senior projects for 14 years, plans changes to allow students more flexibility, said district spokeswoman Ann Cook.

The projects originally started as a means to keep senioritis-prone 12th-graders engaged from February through June of their senior year. But with the heightened pressure on students preparing for college, the district wants to let seniors start projects the summer after 11th grade. They would be able to use some of their classroom assignments to build a portfolio, while retaining the community-learning experience.

“The purpose of the senior project for us has changed over time. It’s still a wonderful process for us,” Cook said. “It’s amazing what kids come up with in their projects.”

Debby Abe: 253-597-8694

Clover Park High School recently received national recognition for its student “exhibitions,” the oral presentation that seniors make as part of their culminating project.

The Coalition of Essential Schools, a national organization that supports intellectually challenging schools, cited the Lakewood school as an outstanding example of using exhibitions to assess student performance.

By requiring all students to give an exhibition each year before a panel of community and staff members, the teens gain experience in preparing for the senior year presentations that are required for graduation, coalition spokesman Brett Bradshaw said.

Coalition schools believe exhibitions are more effective than fill-in-the-bubble tests at measuring academic performance because they give a fuller picture of students’ knowledge and encourage critical thinking.

Debby Abe, The News Tribune

Culminating projects are as varied as the thousands of high school seniors who must do one to graduate in Washington state. Here are projects from four South Sound students and highlights of their school’s requirements. Each school calls for a portfolio that typically includes examples of “best works” or class assignments throughout high school, plus class grades, a plan of what students will do after graduation, and a variety of other elements.

Kayla Huggins, Sumner High School

Project requirements included: 15 hours of “learning experience” outside the school day during 12th grade, researching and keeping a journal on the learning experience, and an eight-minute speech illustrating the student’s learning over time before a panel of community and staff members. These requirements will change next year to give students more flexibility.

Project highlights: Organized a silent auction that raised $1,128 for the Evergreen Spina Bifida Association. Two-year-old Kehlana Miller inspired the project. Huggins baby-sits the toddler, who has spina bifida and is learning to use a wheelchair.

Huggins handled every aspect of the evening fundraiser, from procuring donations to producing event fliers to asking friends to bring refreshments and clean up.

Was it worthwhile? Yes. “I’ve never really taken on a leadership responsibility. It was all on me. I learned a lot of different ways to contact businesses, and how to talk more professionally. … Getting a hold of people when they don’t call you back is a little stressful.”

What’s next: Central Washington University

Career goal: Pediatric surgeon

Sarah Rasmussen, Emerald Ridge High School

Project requirements included: 20 hours of community service or “active, community-based learning,” a job shadow, an essay, a research paper, and a presentation to a panel of staff and students. Each year in 10th through 12th grades, students must read four books and compile work examples from math, science and other subjects. Students work on project elements throughout their three years of high school and during their four-day-a-week advisory class.

Shadowed: A district manager for Starbucks on the job.

Among her 85-plus community service hours: Organized the school marketing club’s most successful ever schoolwide food drive, collecting 21,341 cans of food. She coordinated a “hunger banquet” to make the issue more personal. In it, most students sat on the floor for a meal of crackers and water, other students ate cookies and Kool-Aid at tables, and a few sat in nice chairs for cake and sparkling cider.

Extra credit: Volunteered well beyond the minimum, made in-depth PowerPoint presentation to judges panel, which gave her high scores for “Honors at Exit” designation.

Was it worthwhile? “Yes and no. Yes, because it really has prepared us to move on and to get a feel for huge projects. At the same time, it’s a lot to do towards the end of your senior year.”

What’s next: Washington State University

Career goal: Event coordinator

Charles “CJ” Rhone Jr., Mount Tahoma High School

Project requirements included: A research paper, three best works from each year of high school and written reflection on each work, and career exploration exercises. The portfolio was presented each year to parents and an adviser at a school conference led by students.

Among his best works: Spent 100 hours producing a 10-minute earthquake safety video for Mount Tahoma. He researched earthquake safety, wrote the script, appeared on film as the host, got students to demonstrate safe procedures in film and, with the help of two classmates, filmed the piece. He made the video at the request of a TV production teacher and the principal, who wanted an updated version of a similar video he made as a sophomore. The school shows the video before earthquake drills.

Was it worthwhile? “Yeah, because it demonstrates not only to myself but to the school that I’ve improved since I last did it … If I do want to get a job, showing that portfolio to anyone will help me.”

What’s next: The Evergreen State College

Career goal: Filmmaker, scriptwriter and actor

Andrew Mariano, Clover Park High School

Project requirements for Power House, an academy within the school, included: 24 hours of community service, a research paper, finding and working with two mentors, and presenting to a community and staff panel an exhibition that reflected on the service project and his personal and academic growth in high school.

Among his service projects: Produced a brochure about community efforts to restore the overgrown Flett Creek wetland in Lakewood. He researched the property’s history, visited and photographed work parties, then wrote, designed and printed a trifold brochure to encourage prospective volunteers.

Was it worthwhile? “It gave us a great opportunity to give back to the community and really work with the community. I learned a bunch of skills, like communication, time management – scheduling appointments with my mentor. I believe it taught us a lot of real-world skills.”

What’s next: The Evergreen State College

Career goal: Media artist