This year's seniors reached another milestone in their farewell year.  The semester long senior project class wrapped up with project presentations last week where each senior spoke about their project and their experience in senior project. As always, nerves were on edge anticipating their presentations and questions from the senior project committee. To receive full credit, presentations needed to be 10 minutes long, and include a power point slide presentation, complete with pictures documenting the project from beginning to end.  All 12 of this year's seniors agreed that it was a huge relief to be done with presentations and all were proud of their accomplishments.

     This is the fifth year for the senior project class and students have completed a wide variety of projects since its beginnings. Students have built projects of all kinds, either for themselves or for the community, or have donated time and service to various causes within the community.  During the semester, seniors complete a research paper associated with their actual project. They also keep a scrapbook type portfolio detailing every aspect of their project including receipts, a journal, time log and photographs. They must spend at least 30 hours on their projects and 15 of those hours must be spent with a mentor adult. In past years, seniors have worked archiving objects and designing exhibits at the Heritage Museum. Others have produced photo books and cookbooks, or worked in community service areas like the nursing home, or with CASA.  Still others have built projects. There have been various pieces of furniture, a deer feeder, smoker, and a re-furbished vintage travel trailer. Some students choose to build projects for the community, like the fence at the rodeo grounds, or the fence surrounding the Jaycee's hut at the baseball field. 

     This year's senior projects were all impressive, with Ali Smith welding an outdoor swing, and Hailey Wright collecting and documenting native grasses of Texas. Kenneth Neskorik xeriscaped the flowerbeds at the courthouse and Marcus Cruz built a new sign for the Assembly of God Church. Ricky Searcy made fleece tie blankets to be distributed to former Paducah residents who know reside in area nursing homes. Jackson Hicks re-built the roof on the bathrooms at the baseball field. Kristyn Deaton photo-documented various cemeteries in Cottle County and produced a book which will be donated to the Heritage Museum.  Carli Holley re-purposed wedding dresses to make two funeral outfits for stillborn babies. These will be donated to a charity which passes them on to hospitals who offer them to families who have lost a stillborn child so that child will have beautiful clothing in which to be buried. Leslie Mayo made a 30 minute documentary film in which she interviewed Paducah natives about what it was like growing up in Paducah.  Matthew Gonzalez built a wooden podium for PHS band director, Lee Brossette. Shelby Smith built a picnic table with a cooler inset in the middle.  Miranda Munoz worked at the museum on various displays.