Junior/Senior Project Course Wraps Up

With Student Presentations

By Eliza Hallabeck

Newtown High School juniors and seniors have the option to take a course that partners them with a mentor and asks them to create a project. On Monday, May 24, students in the second semester’s Junior/Senior Project course presented their final projects to a gathered group of peers, mentors, teachers and more.

Peg Ragaini, Kirsten Hardy, and Angela Pennucci oversee the course, and were in attendance for the presentations.

Dates stuffed with nuts, one product of Eliana Kohrman-Glaser’s Junior/Senior Project, which translated ancient Roman recipes in the cooking collection called “Apicius” into modern versions, were offered with refreshments to event visitors. Eliana has been working with NHS teacher Jennifer Huettner and local chef Nancy Bamburg to complete her project. She was one of six presenters during the evening.

This semester’s projects covered a range of topics, from creating a custom dashboard to writing a book about a personal struggle with autism.

Student Michael Brown worked with his mentor, NHS School Psychologist Jennifer Hong, who he said helped him to stay focused, on defining factors affecting the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).

Michael said he originally wanted to look into the topic of ADHD being overdiagnosed, but later changed to a broader concept. In some ways, Michael said, it was difficult to pin down the factors that contribute to diagnosing ADHD.

Gender and cultural factors were two that Michael found while doing his research, but, he said, multiple false identifiers could be at work within those two concepts.

“It may be genetic,” said Michael, in response to a question from the crowd, “but I think that is a bit of a gray area as well.”

After explaining that she is shy, Kaitlyn Kakadeles presented her work in writing a book of poetry for her senior project. Before this school year, Kaitlyn said, she had no interest in writing poetry. She estimates she began her writing last September. Later, after signing up for the Junior/Senior Project course with a friend, Kaitlyn presented her writing to NHS English Department Chair Jeanetta Miller, who became her mentor in the project.

With Ms Miller’s guidance, Kaitlyn discovered poets and different types of poems. Kaitlyn’s poetry centers around the theme of love.

“I definitely came out of my shell for this,” said Kaitlyn, “which I am proud of.”

Although she is a 2009 NHS graduate, the next presenter, Megan Bernardi, said she wanted to come back to take the Junior/Senior Project course. Megan presented her book, a 25-page autobiography about her life with autism.

Most of the things people think of autism spectrum disorder, Megan said, is mostly stereotypical.

Roughly three to four children between the ages of 3 to 10 out of 1,000 children are diagnosed with autism, according to Megan’s presentation.

Through excerpts from her book Megan shared brief stories about growing up in Newtown with autism. While attending Head O’ Meadow, Megan said she found it confusing when a woman would take her out of her classroom to bring her to the school’s resource room.

“Writing my life down made me very emotional sometimes,” said Megan.

While Megan said people, including herself, find autism hard to understand because of the range of symptoms people exhibit, people with autism should express themselves.

“I know if everyone worked at it,” she said, “then they would succeed.”

Monica Tedla was the next presenter. Monica said she hopes to practice pediatrics one day, but for her Junior/Senior Project she outlined a business plan for the photography business she owns with her younger brother, Newtown Middle School eighth grader Vivek Tedla.

VRT Studios donates 25 percent of its profits to funding scholarships for students in India, according to Monica. She said working on her project gave her knowledge of the specifics that need to go into a business plan, and she will bring those skills with her in the future.

“A mentor really gives you insight into your project,” said Monica, who worked with Harry Brooks of SCORE, “and a new perspective.”

Her photography company preserves memories, she said, and developing the business plan will help VRT Studios expand business.

As the last presenter for the evening, Steve zVon showed slide show images of a Nissan he worked on, creating a custom dashboard with mentor Bill Ross of the Star Spangled Sports Car Shop.