Students in Crystal Burt’s senior English classroom have completed the Senior Sentiment Project as their final assignment before graduation for the past six years. The project invites students to reflect on their past, examine their present, and consider the possibilities of their future as they prepare to leave high school and enter adulthood.
Students begin the project by writing a vignette about one of their earliest memories. Reflection then shifts to the present, where students create drawings that represent who they are during their senior year. Exploration of the future follows, with images that symbolize personal goals, dreams, and plans. This final project encourages students to consider their life paths while applying themes from the literature they together throughout the school year, including A Christmas Carol, Anthem, Frankenstein, and Hamlet.
“Do you feel kind of like Ebenezer Scrooge right now? Let’s bring it full circle and choose our destiny, like Equality in Anthem, and have no regrets, like Frankenstein, and follow through with our plans, like Hamlet. Your unique story will be paired with your peers on a story quilt. You, as a collective, tell a story, and this is one of the last times those stories will coexist altogether. Make it count,” Burt said to her students at the beginning of the project.
Completed projects are displayed in the hallway outside Burt’s classroom for the entire school community to view. Each student’s work features the past positioned behind the present and the future placed ahead of it, serving as a visual representation of the students’ growth. The collective display highlights individuality and shared experiences among the senior class.
Student Jayda Round said the project allowed her to pause and reflect during a transitional period in her life.
“It’s like a reflection on the past, how I’ve grown as a person, and where I want to be in the future. I got to learn about myself and how far I’ve come. The past was my favorite part because it brought back memories of an easy-going childhood,” Round said.
Chance Clark said the creative elements of the project stood out most.
“My favorite part was looking up the different images that correlate with my future. I love the Rush logo I drew, which is like a boxing gym, and then the key I drew for my future apartment. The project basically helped us a lot with our plans for the future and seeing if we actually will follow through with our plans,” Clark said.
Connections to previous reflection activities made the experience especially meaningful, according to Marlee Hinson.
“We actually also wrote letters to ourselves when we were in the ninth grade, so this project Mrs. Burt has us do kind of connects to that, and I think it is really full circle,” Hinson said.
Sophie Nascimento said the assignment provided motivation and excitement about life after graduation.
“The Senior Sentiment Project really gets you excited because you’re able to write down your future plans and know you have something to look forward to,” Nascimento said.
Chase Gallagher said the project encouraged thoughtful reflection.
“One of the more important parts was reflecting on the part of life that you’re leaving and looking at the next phase of your life. I think it’s beneficial because it really made us see what we want in the future and analyze what we have,” Gallagher said.
Harmony Dixon said the shared experience brought classmates closer together.
“It’s beneficial because I got to look back on all of my memories and revisit my past. I also really liked seeing what everyone else had to say about their past, present, and future. Some people had happy memories, and some had sad memories. I also enjoyed hearing about other people’s plans for the future. I feel like I really got to know some of my classmates better. It was a really touching project right before we are about to graduate,” Dixon said.
Burt said the project serves as a culmination of academic and personal growth.
“This is something we work toward all year long because students are in an in-between phase of their lives. Now is the time for them to decide what they want to repeat, what they want to change, and how they can move forward and be productive members of our society. My motto is learning a little about literature and a lot about life, and everything we do in the classroom builds up to this moment,” she said.
