GRADUATION EXHIBITIONS
Successful completion of a Graduation Exhibition is a graduation requirement at Anzar High School. The Anzar staff and the ASJ District firmly believe that the completion of these exhibitions builds critical thinking and learning skills which provide our graduates a unique tangible "edge" as they go on to higher education or the work world.
Each summer Anzar High School staff reflects on the recent graduate exhibitions and additional lessons learned during the school year. Indeed, this process has enabled us to learn much about what aspects of our curriculum are positive and engaging as well as an identified area for improvement. Through this process and taking into consideration feedback from staff, students, and parents we have decided to make significant changes to the Graduation Exhibition program moving forward.
Definition: The Graduation Exhibitions combine directed research, written and creative work, as well as oral presentations. A successful exhibition must cover several focus areas ranging from language arts, science, social science, service learning, a post-graduate plan, and mathematics. In addition, two or three supplemental components such as art, second language, and/or math must be woven into an exhibition of choice.
New to Graduation Exhibitions:
This year, students will not have a separate class to complete their exhibitions. Instead, students will complete exhibitions within their content area classes. A few teachers experimented with this idea last year, and saw resoundingly positive results! Therefore, each department has undergone focused training over the summer to support this effort and will work throughout the year with each student to create an exhibition that the student will complete and present within their classes.
We are inspired by the trial run last year and the summer training and believe this change will contribute to a more positive exhibition experience for students and staff while enriching the instructional experience for our students.
Product:
Students will identify complex issues to explore through multiple perspectives. The thoughtful choice and development of these ideas is critical to a successful and engaging exhibition experience. Working with complex concepts about which they care deeply allows students to gain and demonstrate their mastery of the subject and the EPERRs. Once the issue has been identified for an exhibition, students and coaches work on research, writing, creative, and oral presentation skills guided towards successful completion of the exhibition.
Some examples of exhibitions done in classes are creative in nature such as an invention, a podcast, a film, blog/vlog. Others may take the form of a student-teacher project, a cumulative representation of work (like a portfolio), or cross-collaborative effort similar to debates which typically happen in 10th grade English/History classes. These products will be evaluated by the teachers of the department and scored using the scale below:
●Pass with Distinction (above and beyond the requirements, a student could teach this complex issue to a peer)
●Pass (student met the requirements of the exhibition)
●Not Acceptable (did not meet the minimum requirements of the exhibition)
Post Graduate/Service Learning Reflection:
The Post Graduate/Service Learning Reflection (PGSL) will remain the same and most of the work for these projects will take place in Advisory as has been common practice for many years. PGSLs will be evaluated by a panel of trained judges assembled from the community using the same scale as above.
Parents of all Anzar students are invited to attend the training to become exhibition judges. Community members, teachers or administrators will run four training sessions this school year. The dates will be published on the Homepage of the website. In addition, most exhibitions are open to the public, and all students, parents, and community members are encouraged to attend any exhibitions that interest them.