Each year, eighth grade students at Housatonic Valley Waldorf School are asked to choose a yearlong project to study. This year’s class, under the guidance of teacher Leslie Lew, has now completed its culminating presentations.

Students in the class chose to study a range of topics this year. Each student worked with one or two mentors to complete their projects.

Bayley Storrier studied criminal profiling because she saw it “on TV show called Criminal Minds and I thought it was cool.” With her mentor, Bayley said she completed “a lot of research” and watched videos and documentaries.

Maeve Rooney studied cheese making and said she made a number of different types of cheeses during her studies.

“I spend a good bit of time reading several books on cheese making and researching different methods,” said Maeve, adding that she narrowed her focus down before writing her final research paper. Later she said, “It is fascinating that milk liquid can be turned into something like cheese.”

Lena DeFeo said special effects makeup has always been an interest of hers, and she had been planning to choose it for her eighth grade project since she was in second grade. For her project Lena learned how to create the effects of aging, cuts, bruises, and “ugly stuff” with makeup.

Sharing that he was inspired by a family friend and his family, Dempsey Reese said he studied hunting.

“Hunting has been in my family for a long time and I guess I just wanted to continue the tradition,” said Dempsey. To complete his project, Dempsey studied the history of hunting and looked at his own personal experiences.

John Disprow built a 10-foot-long fishing boat for his project.

“We have a big motor boat and every summer we would go fishing off of it, so I decided to make my own fishing boat,” said John.

For his project Jeremy Larkin built a remote-controlled boat from scratch, which is about 30 inches long.

“I was interested in building a vehicle and operating it,” said Jeremy.

Sanni Cohn studied Parkour and free running by taking lessons.

“It’s been very fun,” said Sanni.

For his project, Dillon Larkin created a robotic claw that can grab onto things.

“I’ve always found robotics interesting, because there is so much to learn and do about it,” Dillon said.

Michael Whipf made a video game that he named “Wolf Run.”

“The main character is a wolf and you just jump over obstacles. It’s a 2D game,” said Michael, who added, “I always thought it was cool.”

After rehearsing their presentations on Thursday, March 26, the students went on to share their culminating presentations before parents on Friday, March 27, at the school.