Class of ’22 Senior Projects Underway

April 28, 2022

Every Spring, the senior class embarks upon Senior Projects–an opportunity to spend five weeks exploring a field of interest, to pursue a possible career or attain a skill, and to gain a sense of the professional world outside the classroom. While we will miss them dearly, we are excited to see how they creatively tie together their personal interests and academic experiences as they begin to make the transition from high school to their lives beyond. Here is a look at what our seniors will be doing over the next five weeks. 

Congratulations on making it to this point in your VCS career, seniors! Good luck and safe travels, whether they are down the road or around the globe!

Finn will be conducting a survey of the performing arts scene in Burlington and the wider Vermont area. In collaboration with Trish Denton of In Tandem Arts, he will be interviewing performing artists who have made Vermont their home. He will also be developing a workshop for teens and emerging artists to envision a brighter future for the performing arts in this state.

Jordan will be working at the Burlington Children’s Space located in the North End of Burlington with preschoolers. The Burlington Children’s Space focuses on cognitive development in children ages one to three. The Burlington Children’s Space works alongside the Howard Center which gives Jordan the opportunity to interview their staff in order to learn more about the psychology field. This senior project will help Jordan see if she wants to focus on child psychology. 

Zoe will be working at Crow’s Path, a children’s nature program located at Rock Point in Burlington. She hopes to take a deep dive into the world of outdoor education and will be working with mentor Ross Doree, the Youth Programs Director at Crow’s Path.

Tess will be working on an organic farm in Oahu, Hawaii. Staying in an art and cultural village, she will be learning to deepen her connection to the land. Her days will consist of tending to a plethora of fruits and vegetables, working with local artists, and hopefully learning to surf. Five weeks in a tent will surely improve her back pain. 

Beaven will be working at Treiber Farms on Long Island. Treiber Farms is an agricultural farm that focuses on sustainability, simplicity, and resourcefulness. They combine agriculture and arts through collaborations and events in their fields and at the Old Barn. She will be working with the co-founder of the farm, Pete Trieber, to learn about sustainable food sourcing as well as how to grow food and care for farmland.

Simon will be interning on Kitty Toll’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor. The internship will cover a variety of topics within the campaign sector such as fieldwork, communications, and social media. This internship will be entirely in Vermont, and Simon hopes to learn more about statewide political campaigns as well as become more engaged with the greater Vermont community through this senior project.

Throughout this project, Iris will be immersing herself in the athletic coaching world. She will be working toward achieving her National Federation of High School Sports Level 1 coaching certificate, working with Karen Chesser from Essex High School to help build the Middle School Volleyball program in Vermont, and shadowing Caleb Morehouse as he coaches the VCS Ultimate teams. By the end of this project, she hopes to learn more about coaching, feel comfortable coaching a youth team by herself, and have given back to the Vermont and VCS athletic communities.  

For his Senior Project, Ethan will be working an internship at EarthyCars, a used car dealer and repair garage in Williston. He will be primarily working in their automotive service shop, and hopes to both help out a small business and learn as much about cars as possible. Ethan is excited to gain experience in this customer service industry, and practice his ability to be accountable in a professional work environment. 

Leaving the states for Belize’s tropical Bladen Nature Reserve, Magnus will be volunteering at BFREE (Belize Foundation for Research & Environmental Education). In the past, BFREE has been a popular location for VCS big trips, and as there will be two student groups spending time at BFREE while he is there, he will have the BFREE big trip experience (twice over!). Additionally, when there are no student groups at BFREE, Magnus will be volunteering at the research station’s Hicatee Conservation and Cacao Agroforestry projects. Magnus is excited to lose himself in Belize and gain a feel of whether the field station life is for him!