At LM, every senior must complete a project in order to meet the graduation requirements. Although this is just another assignment, many students take advantage of the opportunity to fulfill goals and try unique experiences.
Evan Naiburg’s senior project is to teach Kung Fu. He described the martial art, how his master trained with Bruce Lee, and the fact that he started training thirteen years ago. Without a doubt, he is someone you really don’t want to mess with. Naiburg explains, “Kung Fu is special to me because it has given me life and structure.” Naiburg hopes that he will convince people to try martial arts. He continues, “Usually, people don’t try Kung Fu because they don’t know what it’s like. I really hope to change that!” Naiburg is going to work alone for his project because there are no other seniors that have the same experience as him in Kung Fu. Martial arts is a big part of Naiburg’s life, so he is really excited to use his skills in his senior project.
One student’s fascinating senior project set the bar very high. Mike Galloway took his passion for winemaking and created a senior project centered around it. His cousin introduced him to winemaking when he was little and now he has grown to love this hobby. He says that winemaking is not his career choice, but he still does it for fun. His cousin is his mentor in his project. Winemaking is an intriguing thing to learn about, and Galloway’s project is a great example of expanding on an interest.
Some students want to use their senior project as a guide to help others. Marlon Bogle’s senior project is to teach as a middle school teacher. He hopes to use his experience to help and influence middle school students, and teach them about the high school journey. He explains, “This [project] is really special to me because I would really like to go back to middle school to see how far I have come as a student.”
He added, “I don’t really want to become a teacher, but I think the aspect of helping students is important because there are a lot of students who are afraid to ask for help, so I wanted to show them how they could advocate for themselves.” Bogle wants to make students feel more comfortable in their environment. He is going to shadow a teacher from Bala Cynwyd Middle School for his senior project. What Bogle is doing is really going to have an impact on the middle school students because it really shows how caring a lot of people are within the district.
Andrew Sandos has a passion for sports psychology. His senior project is to work in an internship with Dr. Joel Fish, a sports psychologist who has worked with many major sports teams, such as the Flyers, the 76’ers, the Phillies, and the USA National Women’s Soccer Team. He is the only person in the country who works in more than three fields of sports. Sandos commented, “I’ve always been interested in psychology because my mom is a social worker for cancer patients, and I have a passion for sports, so I thought I would mix both of my interests together.”
Sandos also would like to gain more experience from other people in the school, and to have a deeper understanding of the performance of students. He wants to focus on how he could help them not only in sports, but also in the classroom. Sandos hopes to become a sports psychologist when he graduates college. Sandos continued, “I’ve always had a dream about being involved in sports, so when I found out about sports psychology, I was really interested in it! I always wanted to work with a team, so it’s the perfect starting point to achieve my goals after I graduate college.” Sandos would like to help others from school, and eventually, beyond into the big leagues!
Sarah Stanger is going to play a prominent role in the planning, execution, and overall creation of a mural themed towards inclusivity and diversity at LM. She stated, “What’s truly special to me is being able to embark on a project that uses my passions and my interests in order to spread a collective message to a greater audience, to voice the ideals of our student body, and to help demonstrate the role of LM in creating a community where all can thrive.” Stanger’s goal is to create a reminder of the values of our school: promoting togetherness and unity while at the same time encouraging individuality and creative freedom. She proclaimed, “I hope to include all of the voices I possibly can. I want everyone to feel heard, to feel that their voice matters!”
Stanger doesn’t know what to do in the future, but she does think that “[her] senior project aligns with [her] imagined ideals and approach for the future: [she] plans on going to college to explore [her] passions both intellectually and in application within a community.”Stanger is not working alone. She states,“In these early stages of the process, I am working with a couple of wonderful underclassmen. As the project continues, I plan to involve many more people in order to properly reflect the school community. This opportunity was presented to me by a small group of people, and I’m so excited to work with them to make this idea a reality.”
Stanger’s mural will definitely open pathways to opportunity at LM. The mural is beneficial in representing the LM community because it shows the ideas and values that LM is trying to accomplish, and that the student body can finally have a voice. This is one of LM’s major goals within the district. Stanger’s senior project will be a step forward in making LM a safe place for everyone to learn.
