graduation project handbook - exeter.k12.pa.us graduation project general requirements all...

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Graduation Project Handbook

(Revised May 2010)

Exeter Township Senior High School 201 E. 37th Street Reading, PA 19606

610-779-3060 www.exeter.k12.pa.us

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Rationale 2

Graduation Project General Requirements 2 Graduation Project Option Descriptions 3

Pink Topic Proposal Form 4

Guidelines for Good Notes 5

Sample Note Card 5

Library Information 5

Guidelines for Works Consulted 6

Sample Works Consulted Page 6

MLA 2009 Works Consulted Formats 7

Guidelines for Essay 9

Sample of an Acceptable Essay 10

Advice on Giving a Speech 12

Appendix

Preparing a Resume A

Tips for Resume Writing A

Sample Resume B

Community Service Verification Form C

Evaluation Worksheet D

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RATIONALE

To ensure all Exeter Township students successfully complete this graduation project requirement, the senior high school faculty, district administration, and district school board support the following project design. Successful completion of the Graduation Project will require persistence and time-management skills, as well as the abilities to make critical decisions, problem solve, and demonstrate expertise in a focused area of interest.

GRADUATION PROJECT GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

All Graduation Projects will have the following general requirements met.

I. Topic Proposal Form - must be completed and signed by Graduation Project Coordinator

II. Project Option - select one

1. Research

2. Community Service

3. Work Experience

III. Essay - must be completed and turned in at time of visual presentation

IV. Visual Presentation

Remember! Regardless of your Graduation Project option, all students MUST complete at least 30 hours of community service.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education states the following requirements for graduation in Section 4.24 of Chapter 4 Academic Standards and Assessment: “…course completion and grades, completion of a culminating project and results of local assessments aligned with the academic standards….The purpose of the culminating project is to assure that students are able to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate information and communicate significant knowledge and understanding.” Students cannot graduate without successful completion of this project.

3 GRADUATION PROJECT OPTION DESCRIPTIONS

(- General requirements * Option specific requirements)

1. Research Option: Students who choose to complete the research option for their Graduation Project must complete the following tasks:

- Approved Topic Proposal Form

- Essay

* Research must be related to a career.

* Works Consulted page (MLA format) listing a minimum of three sources only one of

which is the internet.

* 25 note cards

- Personal Resume (see Appendix A)

- Visual Presentation

2. Community Service Option: Students who choose to complete the community service option for their Graduation Project must complete the following tasks:

- Approved Topic Proposal Form

- Essay

* Minimum of 20 hours of approved and documented community service focused on a

specific concentration (i.e. eldercare, animal rescue, emergency services)

- Personal Resume (see Appendix A)

- Visual Presentation

3. Work Experience Option: Students who choose to complete the work experience option for their Graduation Project must complete the following tasks:

- Approved Topic Proposal Form

- Essay

* Documented proof of valid work experience (your employer will be contacted to verify

your employment).

- Personal Resume (see Appendix A)

- Visual Presentation

4 TOPIC PROPOSAL

Name ________________________________________ 1st period teacher _______________________________ Topic Request ____________________________________________ Which project option are you choosing? � Research � Community Service �Work Experience Why are you interested in this topic? Be as specific as possible. ___________________________ _______________________________ student’s signature date parent’s signature date

If you have chosen the Work Experience option, please provide the following information. Place of employment: Supervisor’s name: Contact phone number:

To be completed by the Graduation Project Coordinator only Topic Approved ______ ______

initial date Topic Not Approved ______ ______ initial date

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GUIDELINES FOR GOOD NOTES Your note cards give your evaluator a cursory glance at your research results. They also allow you to organize your information easily at a later date. • Take notes that look more like lists than paragraphs. Discrete pieces of information will be

easier to find. • Space notes so that only related bits of information are on the same card. Notes on

completely different topics should be written on separate note cards. Organizing notes this way helps with interpreting the information and selecting what is important and why.

• Write down more than the main idea. Include enough details, facts, or examples so that you will later understand the material.

• Use phrases and abbreviations. Try to compress the information, but be sure abbreviations are clear so you will later understand what you have written. • Be neat so that re-copying is not necessary. • Include on your note card the page number or numbers for all information – quoted or

paraphrased – you have placed on the card. • Label each note card in the upper right hand corner with the number of the related source

card that represents the source of the information. SAMPLE:

1 (source)

Proper archery stance: Feet shoulder-width apart Shoulders back Face target pg. 23

LIBRARY INFORMATION • The Exeter Community Library is open Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.,

Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. • Students who have internet capability and a library card from any Berks County library

can use Power Library for free access to periodicals, newspapers, current and historical photographs, a constantly expanding menu of other features, and PA Access. A library will have to order materials from PA Access. The easiest method for finding Power Library is through www.exeter.k12.pa.us/groups/shslib/index.htm. Click on Power Library and follow the directions.

• The senior high library site listed above also contains many valuable research links.

6 GUIDELINES FOR WORKS CONSULTED

The typed Works Consulted page lists all the sources you investigated for the Graduation Project. There is now a minimum of three sources only one of which may be the internet.

• Double-spaced • 12 point font • Times New Roman • 1” to 1.5” margins • Heading in upper left corner stating your name, your advisor’s name, and the due date, each

on its own respective line • Center the unadorned title Works Consulted. • Begin each entry flush with the left margin. If the entry runs more than one line, indent

additional lines five spaces. • List each entry alphabetically by the author’s last name. If there is no author, use the first

word of the title (disregard A, An, The). • Do not number your entries. • List all the sources investigated. SAMPLE:

The next three pages list formats for the MLA Works Consulted page (also called Works Cited

when used in a research paper) based on the MLA Handbook, 7th ed., 2009.

Joseph Hunt Mr. Quigley February 15, 20XX

Works Consulted

Boyer, Peggy. Aim High with Archery. New York: Doubleday, 2010. Print. Stover, Robert, Jonathan Smith, and Madeline Beecher. “Interests in Archery Hit

New Heights.” Time 25 April 2009: 14-20. Print.

Wisyer, Juan. Personal Interview. 3 January 2010.

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MLA 2009 WORKS CONSULTED FORMATS

PRINT SOURCES

For a book by one author:

Fairbanks, Carol. Prairie Women: Images in American and Canadian Fiction.

New Haven: Yale UP, 1986. Print.

For a book by two or more authors:

Berry, Jason, Jonathan Foose, and Tad Jones. Up From the Cradle of Jazz:

New Orleans Music Since World War II. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1986.

Print.

For a book with no author’s name on the title page:

Encyclopedia of Photography. New York: Crown, 1984. Print.

For a work in an anthology:

Rubenstein, Ayre. “Children with AIDS