Researching different running shoes for his personal project sophomore Jake Lee learns what kind of shoes are on the market for all types of training.

 
“I chose researching running shoes because I have been running since I was a kid,” Lee said. “It is a topic that interests me and I learned the effects running shoes have if you use them for the wrong purpose.”

 
The MYP (Middle Years Program) Personal Project was introduced three years ago as a part of the IB program. In order to receive SRT credit students must complete 20 process journals, a report and a display of their final product.

 
“I was proud of all my SRT students’ projects last year,” Video Productions teacher Rich Ashley said. “I spend a lot of time encouraging my students to pick something they will enjoy doing/ working on because the projects go on for a few months.”

 
The projects have varied from students teaching younger children new skills to students teaching themselves new skills, such as learning how to play an instrument or building parts to a car.

 
“For my MYP project, I learned the Pledge of Allegiance and ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ in sign language,” sophomore Callah Sullivan said. “Recently, I taught the pledge to a seventh grade class and the song to a first grade class; Not only did I enjoy doing this project, but the kids I taught did, too.”

 
Students pick a topic that has to do with their interests because they have to write the relation between their interests and the project in the report.

 
“I enjoy music, so I decided to learn a song on my soprano saxaphone for my project,” sophomore Mitchell Ferris said. “I also like playing video games, so the song I am learning is ‘Mario Brothers.’”

 
The purpose of the Personal Project is to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the Areas of Interaction (AOI) and how they can expand their learning techniques. By using the skills they have developed through their normal classes, the design cycle and using the Approaches to Learning skills (ATL), they will showing their ability to plan, design, research, create and present.

 
“The ATL skills in the journals aren’t just random or made up by IB; they are real life buzz words useful for college and interviews because they are going to want to know students can use these skills,” SRT teacher Brett Mead said. “Students should want to do this as a possible showcase to show their individualism and show that they can stand out in the crowd.”
The showcase will take place on April 29 in the main gym and the auxiliary gym from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.