NHS Students Prepare For Junior/Senior Project Presentations

By Eliza Hallabeck

Students in this semester’s Junior/Senior Project course at Newtown High School met Tuesday, May 15, to practice the presentations that were made before an audience on May 29 or May 31. Local resident Anna Moses was on hand Tuesday to help the students by sharing tips on how to be a better presenter.

Each semester the high school offers students the opportunity to undertake a self-directed project of their choosing, which is presented before a panel of volunteer judges. Overseen by Peg Ragaini, Angela Pennucci, and Kristen Hardy, each student works with a mentor to investigate his or her project.

There are 13 students in this semester’s Junior/Senior Project course — Ruhit Ahsan, McGarry Hunter Bassett, Marian Blawie, Danielle Chaloux, Nick Clarke, April Corbo, Kurt Daum, Sean Decker, Rachel DiVanno, Zoe Eggleston, Margaret Kase, Eric Song, and Leah Wallace — and the projects chosen range in topics from cancer research to architecture.

“I’m really interested in medicine,” said Marian Blawie, “but I had never seen the public health side of it. So I worked with [Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert] and she showed me a lot about public health.”

Marian explained that one of the topics Ms Culbert is interested in is the prevention of tick-related illnesses. For her project, Marian created a poster that can be hung in local pediatricians’ offices that explain tick-related illness prevention techniques and more.

Hunter Bassett said he designed an environmentally friendly house for his project, adding, “I’m passionate about architecture and I’m going to college to become an architect.”

Kurt Daum, a junior in the course, created a pen-pal exchange with a school in Puerto Rico. A friend of his, he said, lives in Puerto Rico and through one of her teachers, Kurt said the program was started.

“We communicated with the students via e-mail and handwritten letters,” said Kurt, “which just went out recently. I’m planning on making a club of it next year.”

Ruhit Ahsan said he created translational medicine oncology sheets for Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale.

“I was interested in some sort of cancer research,” said Ruhit. Through Ms Ragaini, Ruhit was connected with his mentor for his Junior/Senior Project.

“I learned some more information on it,” said Ruhit, “and I created some informational sheets for patients.”

Ruhit said he had always had an interest in the medical field, and the topic of cancer had also always sparked his interest.

Ms Pennucci said she is impressed by the diversity of all of the projects created by students this semester.

“They always seem to do a great job,” said Ms Pennucci, “and I am really looking forward to seeing their presentations.”