2019 Senior Project Fair

On Monday afternoon, May 20, 36 seniors shared the culmination of six weeks of effort at the 2019 Senior Project Fair. 26 projects in all spanned a range of interests and topics, including creative writing, original artwork, music, video and a podcast, converting food waste into energy, earning a pilots license, building a canoe, research into the Criminal Justice System, starting businesses related to baseball coaching and custom phone cases, and many more... Congratulations to these seniors for completing their projects, and for a diverse and exciting final show! Read about all the senior projects below...

Mentor: Ms. Hartup Rep: Ms. Lane

The Senior Video includes all 130 members of the Class of 2019, their personalities and experiences summarized into 40 minutes of short video clips encapsulating their humor, joy, love, and as we near the end, nostalgia for our time on the hill. Highlights include a variety of Q&A’s with the members of this year’s seniors, childhood photos, athletics montage, and messages from teachers.

 

Mentor: Ms. LaBelle-Young & Mr. Ziou Rep: Ms. LaBelle-Young

The aim of our project was to replicate the works and technique of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a French Impressionist painter, in closely studying his subject matter, composition, brushstroke, and colors. Visit our project to see two different takes on painting in the style of Renoir (10 works total), and how we each grew as artists in the process.

Mentor: Ms. Schroth Rep: Mr. Melchinger

In order to write two contemporary musical compositions influenced by the words of child poets in Terezin Concentration Camp, Sophia did extensive research on holocaust poetry and Jewish music composition so that she could best convey the emotions expressed by these children’s words. Sophia chose to compose music set for a treble choir based on two poems by Franta Bass, a young Jewish boy from Czechoslovakia who wrote poems in his diary during his time in Terezin. Sophia tried to convey the nostalgia that Franta Bass felt for his happier past by using dissonant melodies and minor chords, while also retaining the simplicity that Sophia wanted the music for children to have.

Mentors: Mr. Calderone & Mr. Melchinger Rep: Ms. Leite
Our goal in creating Control was to take the classic high school drama genre and remodel it to accurately represent the high school experience. Control follows senior Alice Callahan through one week in her life, during which she deals with friendships, relationships, grades, secrets, and prom.

Mentors: Dr. Brant & Mr. DeMaio Rep: Mr. Levy
Pro Coach TV combines elite instructional video content from MLB Coaches with an intuitive, subscription based learning platform to teach players and coaches of all ages the fundamentals of baseball. The iOS app and website will feature renowned coaches such as Seattle Mariners Infield Coach Perry Hill, who teach their craft with simple steps and proven results.

Mentors: Mr. Ziou & Mr. Nast Rep: Mr. Byron Course Swap: AP Physics

The project is a medium transfer of sorts, in which instrumental music was translated into abstract painting through the study of color and movement.

 

Mentor: Mr. Kozey Rep: Mr. Pizarro

To combine my love of creative writing and modern language, I wrote original short stories and sonnets in Spanish and English, and translated each into the other language. Each piece was loosely tied to my experiences last summer in Ecuador, where I lived for seven weeks. Through my writing and translation, I explored the relationship between language and meaning, form and creative impact.

 

Te voy a enseñar a hacerlo, mi’ja.

Yo no quiero que te quemes. Pero

ven por aquí, no le tengas miedo

al aceite que salta por la harina.

 

Let me show you how to make them, my child.

I don’t want you to burn yourself. Come here,

Watch the oil in the pan, but do not fear

As it jumps over the flour, hot and wild.

 

Mentors: Ms. McKenna & Ms. LaBelle-Young Rep: Mr. Pizarro

Having nearly a lifetime of riding experience, we sought to have Coco offer Tim a glimpse into the enticing, complex, and rewarding world of horseback riding and show jumping. Through one week of classroom style instruction and six weeks of riding, Tim mastered the essential techniques of riding. By the end, he had the horses in the bag!

 

Mentors: Ms. Schroth & Mr. Daniels Rep: Mr. Lytle

If you are interested in French-language literature, enticed by new writings, gripped by musical composition, or appreciative of the work of Jean-Philippe Rameau, La Chorale Francophone is for you! This project combined fun music-making and artistic exploration with a tribute to people suffering in the refugee crisis, and was in large part inspired by Francophone texts on migration and displacement.

 

Mentor: Mr. Taylor Rep: Ms. J. Gleason

Each week, the Hopkins community throws out approximately 275 pounds of edible food in the lower Heath garbage bins. We constructed two functional, small-scale apparati targeting two different processes: anaerobic and aerobic digestion. These machines harness mechanical energy from Hopkins’ food waste and turn it into potable energy in the form of methane biogas and electricity. During this process, we researched these processes, how others have approached this problem, and looked into the feasibility of applying the technology to Hopkins School.

Mentor: Mr. Melchinger Rep: Ms. Jacox

What was originally a HopBlog project has transformed into a full blown journey of self discovery, and a deep-dive into the world of spoken word poetry, technique and performance. In this project, I have learned to finally share parts of myself that in the past I have kept deeply secret. With my poetry, I hope to (someday) help those who feel the same way, and to unmask and accept every part of myself.

Mentor: Mr. Byron Rep: Dr. Gries

For my project, I built a Cedar Strip Canoe which is similar to those built by the Wabanaki Confederacy. It’s highly functional, lightweight, and strong. The core materials are western red cedar coated in fiberglass and epoxy/resin.

 

Mentor: Dr. D’Angelo Rep: Ms. Leite

For my Senior Project I worked diligently to attempt to earn my instrument rating for my private pilot’s license. Although I was not able to accomplish this monumental task in just six weeks, I learned a lot about instrument flying, including: navigation, departures, arrivals, approaches, and emergency procedures. I also completed a guide titled, “Learning to Fly: A Student’s Guide to Getting Your Pilot’s License”, so that other interested Hopkins students can understand what it takes to pursue flying from a student’s perspective.

 

Mentor: Ms. Gerstenfeld Rep: Mr. Maharidge

One of the most vital parts of your college application is how well you take standardized tests. Come visit me and learn how I taught highly motivated students to succeed on the SAT.

 

Mentors: Mr. Byron & Mr. Thornburgh Rep: Mr. Byron

CaseCreate is a model startup based around 3D printed iPhone cases. Our venture is an experiment in both product development and marketing, and we’ve been working to design and sell a high-quality product to the school. Come check out our booth to learn more about the prototyping, marketing, and selling process!

Mentors: Mr. May & Mr. Johnson Rep: Ms. Schroth

For my senior project, I wrote a collection of dark fairytales and poems. I have been fascinated by folklore ever since I was a child, and I decided that I would write my own stories. These four tales explore love, loss, family, and fear.

Mentor: Ms. Jacox Rep: Mr. Johnson

For my senior project I wrote for my sports blog, The Full Court Press. I wrote a diverse array of articles, ranging from game stories to statistical analysis to reflective pieces. Whether you’re a fan of baseball, basketball, football, or not a sports fan at all, make sure to check out my project at the senior project fair!

Mentor: Mr. Van Leesten Rep: Mr. Melchinger

I learned aerial silks, a performance in which an artist hangs from a suspended fabric while performing aerial acrobatics. In order to successfully learn this art, I created a workout program, tracked my diet, and logged this journey in my journal.

Mentors: Mr. Melchinger & Mr. DeVona Rep: Ms. Schroth

I researched the relationship between music and the way you form memories, along with how those are connected to emotions. In addition to the research I did, I wrote personal reflections that were based on what I had learned about the subject.

Mentor: Ms. Schroth Rep: Mr. Melchinger

In an effort to more legitimately understand the city I’ve grown up in, I asked meaningful questions to New Haven residents on the street and wrote reflections. Next, I researched New Haven’s musical history, and used what I learned about the city’s forgotten genres to turn my reflections into original songs.

Mentor: Mr. Melchinger, Mr. Maharidge, Ms. Minort-Kale, and Mr. Peters Rep: Ms. Lane

Hopkins Ear Hustle is a research and interview based project centered around learning more about the American Criminal Justice System and Halfway Houses. Through interviews with halfway house employees, college professors, and more this project attempts to gain a comprehensive understanding of both the statistical and human aspects of the American Criminal Justice System.

Mentor: Ms. Gleason, Ms. Bennitt, Ms. Chapin Rep: Ms. J. Gleason

Cuisine is a universal language and a medium to share culture. Through learning about and sharing food from our own heritages (Middle Eastern, Russian, and Chinese) and beyond with the Hopkins community, we hope to enrich both taste buds and Hopkins’ appreciation of cultural exchange.

Mentors: Mr. Addison & Ms. Harper Rep: Mr. Werrell

The Hopcast is a podcast that brings together students, faculty, and administrators in a roundtable format to discuss issues of importance to the school. Topics include workload, diversity, and freedom of expression.

Mentor: Ms. Nicolelli Rep: Dr. Gries

I digitized and indexed 70 years of Razor history, exploring topics such as student culture, role of head of school, and censorship over the years.

Mentor: Ms. Williams & Mr. Johnson

In my memoir, entitled Yellow-Belly, I use visual and written art to explore my childhood fears. As I learned to create an image by marrying watercolor with pen, I learned to create a whole me by marrying my past and current selves.

Mentor: Ms. Williams & Mr. Casanova Rep: Mr. Lytle

My project explores the importance of fashion during the French Revolution, as well as the styles that became prominent. I have sewn a dress that could have been worn during the period, after thoroughly researching the important trends during the politically charged atmosphere of the 1790’s in France.