April brings thawing ground, sprouting crocuses, and the long-awaited gallery walk for Year End Projects (YEPs) in seventh and eighth grade. This is the current iteration of a project that many past FSP educators have played a role in shaping. YEPs have been shaped over time. YEPs began in our earliest years, when Mary Tracy, founding teacher, and former Art teacher, Celeste Henriquez, piloted an eighth-grade Arts and Social Justice Project that asked the question: What is something you'd like to learn about and work on to improve the world? The YEPs are now a project that seventh and eighth-grade students alike take on. And these projects still begin with Pete Curtis’ framing: “In a perfect world, how would this topic be addressed?”
This project uses research, writing, interviews, and action to support students in developing their journey of understanding. In a first essay, students define a problem. This could be historical research, seeking out relevant experts, and understanding why the topic is important. This first essay gives them context for the next step, an interview with someone already working on their topic. One typical interview question is, “I am looking for an action step. What do you think will be useful?” Next comes the second essay, a reflection on the interview and the action.
This project helps develop life skills: reaching out to someone you don’t know with a polite request to meet, being open to how your ideas might shift the more you learn. One important aspect of this project is how action is defined so broadly: educating, listening, participating, shadowing. Anyone can enter into action. I had the chance to speak with a few students about any shifts in perspective they had during the course of their process, or anything they wish more people knew about their topic.
“I interviewed Dustin Ward, who’s leading our Equity Assessment. I also interviewed Ali Smith, who’s on the board at FSP and who is the Director of Culture and Community at an organization that helps educators with DEI work. We can’t pretend that we’re not in a hard place in our country, but we can’t stay silent even if it’s hard. I was excited that so many people took a copy of my Zine, “We Say, Speak, and Use These Words,” which was full of the words that the current administration has banned. I also wrote the words on my arms for my presentation, as a way of etching them, not letting them go away. They had started to fade by Saturday (the day of the Hands Off protest), so I retraced them, as a way to visually stand up for what I believe.”
–Seventh-grade student
“I talked to Kim Simmons (alum parent) about Title IX for my project. I wanted to know her view on Trump and the transgender athlete topic. I went to the Hardy Girls conference at Waynflete as a way to do research. Seeing how many people there were who care was really amazing: about feminism and pushing away gender stereotypes, and speaking up with signs and protest. It was a safe community where everyone supported each other. At the beginning of this project, all I thought was ‘women need equality, the same things (opportunities, media coverage, resources) that men get in sports.’ It grew beyond that, with education, and with transgender people, too. The timing of the project overlapped with Trump’s challenge to Title IX, which put itself into my project.”
–Seventh-grade student
“One of my biggest revelations was how much domestic violence affects everyone in the world. It’s such a hidden issue, and to think about how much it uproots the lives of people around us because it really limits what you can do independently, so it can become your whole life. It had always been important, but now I feel a new passion. I think I will look for more opportunities to take action. I interviewed Mattie Daughtry, the President of Senate in Maine. They said that whenever they’re in session and a student comes in to testify, it’s always a thousand times more impactful to hear than if it were coming from an adult. That made me realize there’s a window of time as a young person speaking up, that I shouldn’t let pass me by.”
–Eighth-grade student
“My topic started as ‘temu’ online retailing and turned out to be about buying locally. I wanted to try to find out if it was a scam or a genuine thing, and it’s both. My first essay got to the bottom of Temu, and then I interviewed the head of the board at ‘Portland Buy Local.’ My favorite thing I learned was that fifty percent of the money you spend stays in your community if you buy locally.”
–Seventh-grade student
“My topic was aquaponics. My favorite thing I learned was that aquaponics is a farming method that basically has no downside, no waste. My interview was really helpful – I talked to Emily Donaldson, an employee at Springworks Farm. I wish people knew that if they think from a more creative perspective, they can accomplish great things.”
–Seventh-grade student
“My project was originally about how ski resorts negatively impact the environment. Over the course of this project, my topic shifted to the role of solar panels in the ski industry. I talked to a local ski resort owner who installed solar panels. He was able to help the environment while helping his business grow. Solar panels in ski resorts are a very manageable way to help the environment. I created a website about the issue and an informational sticker. We have a lot of stuff to do to help the environment and not a lot of time to do it.”
–Seventh-grade student
“My project was about repatriation, which I didn’t know much about at the beginning. I am getting our school’s skeleton forensic testing at USM with help from an anthropology and gender studies professor. It’s a complicated topic, but the basic idea is the return of objects that shouldn’t be where they are. It’s also about rebuilding trust, between institutions, tribes, and countries.”
–Eighth-grade student
Pete, 7-8 Class teacher, shared that having an audience that matched their excitement was very rewarding for the students. Nicole, 7-8 Class teacher, echoed this: “Helping young people practice the art of conversation in a scaffolded way is really far-reaching. Helping students learn that even small talk doesn’t have to be small. Students practiced and prepared for short, intimate conversations about topics they care about.”
