Senior Exhibitions 2013

That time of year finally arrived when the seniors become our teachers for a weekend. While many classes offered at Thacher provide students with the opportunity to teach their peers, none can compare to the teaching opportunity created by the Senior Exhibition Program. The annual process starts in September (for some, even in the junior year or over the summer break) with the selection of a research topic. The seniors then research their topics for the next eight months (somehow balancing this work with a full load of classes, college applications, campus leadership roles, horses and athletics, etc.), organizing and sharing their research using a blog, and passing through various check points along the way. In the process, the seniors become experts in their chosen topics as they work toward preparing thirty minute presentations for the community.

Last spring, the program garnered some positive recognition when it won an Edward E. Ford Educational Leadership Grant, which has paved the way for Thacher to create a forum to be held on the Thacher campus this summer in which other high schools can share and develop their own senior capstone experiences. For more details on Thacher's Senior Exhibition Program click here.

This year's Senior-Ex Projects reached their culmination the last weekend of April with two days of presentations. The weekend kicked off on Thursday evening after formal dinner, continued all day Friday, and closed after Saturday at noon. With seventeen time-slots, and three or four presentations in each, there was never a dull moment. The seniors really embraced their newly adopted role as educator and their presentations made for a remarkable weekend. As reward for their hard work, Paul Cresanta '13 (School Chair), announced a holiday for Monday April 29. Students, seniors in particular, used this time to catch up on sleep or work, take a trip into town, go for a ride, etc.

The class of 2013 and their presentation topics:

Alex Demopolous - The Titanic
Alex Duncan - Channel Islands Ecology
Amar Patel - The Arab Spring Revolutions
Amy Feldman - Effects of Neonatal Handling of Horses
Amy Kim - Heaven and Hell
Ana Urgiles - Terrorism in Afghanistan
Anna Fleming and Justin Myles - The Sustainable Management of Horse Manure
Ashley Wachtell - Biodiversity in the Southern California Bight
Bradley Callander - Leonardo Da Vinci
Brisha Howe - Medical Care Costs
Brittany Holden - Nutrition and School Lunches
Calum McGuckin - Lawlessness in Detroit
Carson Leydecker - Z-Boys and Skateboarding Culture
Casey Mulchay - Eating Disorders
Cody Renfrew - Wilderness Survival
Conrad Troast - The Godfather and the Mafia
Daniel Kruth - Dystopias
Ellie Hancock - The Maasi and Effects of Modernization
Emiliano Vargas - Anti-Heroes in American Culture
Emma Whitley - Animal Assisted Theropy
Evan Farese - Bank Roberies and Frontier Justice
Frank Hernandez - Horses and Giants in Greek Mythology
Gracie Farese - The Mafia and Italy
Grady Jacobsen - Hip-Hop Culture
Hannah Kent - Fashion Design
Hutton Becker - Women in Prison
Ian Muir - Private Military Corporations
Irene Limb - Organ Transplant
J.J. Nyshakolo - Ballet and Athletics
Jack Weil - Earth Liberation Front
Jacob Nelson - The CIA's Influence in the Crack Epidemic
Jacqueline King - Burning Man
Jarrett Kong - Space Travel
Jasmynn Roman - Modern Slavery
Jin Ah Jung - Feral Children
Joe Walton - The History of Freeskiing
Josh Cho - Educational Crisis in South Korea
Julianna Childs - Going Beyond Organic Farming
Kallie O'Connor - Creativity and the Brain
Kelsey Hartman - Indigenous Populations in the Amazon
Kyrien Edwards - Interratial Relationships
Laney McGahey - Suspended Animation
Leigh Thomas - Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents
Leo Turpan - Responsible Companies: An Assessment of Corporate Ethics
Liam Driscoll - Oratory and Rhetoric
Lucy Meyers - Coco Chanel
Maddie McMarrow - Dreams
Maeve Briggs - War Correspondents
Melanie Reimer - Street Children
Michael Cho - Animal Cruelty in the Food Industry
Molly Taylor - Krishnamurti
Nan MacMillan - Music and the Brain
Nu Xiong - First Generation Asian Immigrants
Olivier Domergue - The History of Music Piracy
Parker Dawson - The End of Time
Paul Cresanta - Reality TV and Modern Society
Rachel Turner - Alternative Medicine
Sandy Ballou - The Business of Video Games
Sarah Ratsimbazafy - Political Corruption in Madagascar
Shelby Luce - Modern Corporations
Shravan Rajasekaran - Happiness and the Brain
Tae Jung Kim - Blood Type and Personality
Taylor Tobin - Gun Control Laws
Theo Richardson-Omamo - Does Sexism Against Men Exist?
Viri Hernandez - Recent Immigration Policy
Willie Halsted - The American Prison System
Will Muir - Savant Syndrome
Zane Schryver - Wilderness Survival