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WELCOME TO THE 2015 SENIOR PROJECT FESTIVAL Welcome everyone to our 2015 Senior Project Faire! We are very excited to present all of our senior projects and showcase the hard work that our seniors have accomplished this year. This will be the first project festival that MCHS will be hosting. All the participating Seniors are very excited to have their projects shown to the community of Mariposa. The projects are derived from the seniors own passions and interests, which they have created for our community. We hope you enjoy these creative projects and find something in them that sparks your interests.
FRIDAY, MAY 8TH Time
Event
Where
8:10-2:54
Student Research Presentations
Fiester Auditorium
3:00-6:00
Senior Projects
Learning Center
5:00-7:30
Performances
Fiester Auditorium
8:00-10:00
Senior Cinema
Fiester Auditorium
SATURDAY, MAY 9TH 12:00-3:00
Lower Field Activities
Grizzly Stadium / Lower Campus
2:00-4:00
Senior Example Exposes
Front parking lot/ Lower campus
3:00-6:00
Student Band Performances
Fiester Auditorium
6:00-8:00
Band / Dance Performances
Fiester Auditorium
8:00-10:00
Band Performances
Lloyd Hobby Gym
SENIOR PROJECT FESTIVAL OVERVIEW The Senior Project Festival, held May 8 and 9, is a cumulation of research, organization, production and planning by the Senior Class of 2015. Although not all seniors will present their project during the festival, the majority will. During the festival, the campus of MCHS will transform into a symposium of presentations, events, interactive activities and music and art performances. The range of topics is as diverse as the class itself. The basic organization of the two day event allows for student presentations during the school day on May 8 an event that is closed to the general public, but is open to guests, parents, students and faculty. The students will be presenting the nexus of their research, the story of the project and their discovery and the insights they have gleaned from the process. These presentations will take place in the auditorium and will be digitally archived by multimedia students. Similar to TED and other academic/cultural symposiums, the student presentations will be organized around a theme or topic and will count for part of the students’ senior project grade. In addition to the student presentations during the school day, MCHS will host an open to the public Battle of the Bands, Gaming Convention, Cooking Competition/Collaboration, Sports Camp, Awareness Walk and Art Expose, Grizzly Cinema (student run). On Saturday, the campus will host presentations of classic cars, forestry woodsman’s games and other representations of larger festival ideas that the students have studies and will represent during the project festival. During the afternoon, students will perform alongside professional touring musicians and the winner of the battle of the bands. To end the festivities, after the touring bands, a dancehall dance night and dance competition will take place in the gym. The event (portions of which are open to the public) is free to everyone who attends.
2015 PROJECT FESTIVAL GUIDELINES We are committed to creating a safe, relaxed, and fun experience for all of our guests. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ AND ABIDE BY THESE GUIDELINES. All personal items brought onto campus by you must be removed by you when you leave. Please keep the campus clean by picking up after yourself and depositing your trash in the trash bins. • No pets will be allowed on campus unless they are approved for service. • No fireworks
• No unauthorized vending • No smoking or consuming alcoholic beverages on campus • We are not responsible for any lost or stolen items.
2015 PROJECT FAIR ATTENDEES MUST ABIDE BY ALL LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LAWS. ON SCHOOL CAMPUS, NO ALCOHOL, TOBACCO OR OTHER CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ARE ALLOWED. BE RESPECTFUL TO THOSE AROUND YOU. THIS FAIR IS FOR ALL AGES, INCLUDING FAMILIES.
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2015 SENIOR PROJECTS MARRY ACEDO:
Marry’s passion in life is dancing, volleyball and swimming. She loves kids and taking care of them. She loves helping other people. Her aim in life is to finish school and have a nice job. Her senior project is all about dance because one of her passions is dancing and she wants to share it with other people and just have fun with this event.
DILLON ACKER-JAMES:
urday and it will last all day. However, for the senior project faire, they will be giving more information about their project.
REBECCA AVENDANO:
SPENCER AREBALO:
Spencer Arebalo is a student at Mariposa County High School and he is very passionate about cooking and the culture behind food. He plans on having a festival that you can go and try foods from different cultures and types of food. Spencer has been collaborating with Sonet Baars and is planning on a joint function with her at this festival to help serve and produce food, he will need food supplies, water, a easy up and napkins, plates, and silverware.
Rebecca Avendano is giving a Ted Talk about Positivity and Positive Thinking in today’s modern society. Rebecca will talk about how to truly achieve primal happiness. Her influences come directly from a speaker she met at camp RYLA, Matthew Emerzian, who is in charge of the organization Every Monday Matters. She wants to help those who need it and on this journey be a small part in an aspiring task to change the world.
DARYA BABINTSEVA:
JESSE ASHTON: Dillon is an athlete that has struggled with confidence issues for nearly his entire life. For his senior project he researched the impact that visualization and other mental training techniques could have on a teenager. He found that these skills are not only valuable to athletes, but those trying to overcome stage fright and stress.
JUVAE ANDERSON:
Juvae is working with kendall Robinson & Brandon O’Brien. Their project is about having a riding day at La Grange off road park, it is for anyone who wants to come out and enjoy a day of riding and socializing. This event will take place on a Sat4
Jesse has had a love for cars ever since he was a kid. He is hoping to start a high school drag racing team along with creating a drag strip for other drag racing events. By doing this he’s hoping to bring more money into a small town like this. Along with giving everyone something to do on weekends. The main struggle for this is budget and getting money together to build. Jesse will be distributing more information about this at the faire.
Darya has worked with Kristen Montgomery to coordinate all the written proposals, information, adds and design of this Senior Project Book. In addition, she is researching and presenting about the dynamics of organizing cultural events - specifically the design work that goes into the publications.
KAMA’RE BAILEY:
Kama’Re’s senior project will be an all sports camp at the high school. There will be training and competitive events throughout the camp. There will also be nutrition keys to keep your body staying in shape to its best ability. This is throughout multiple sports such as basketball, football, baseball, etc. and also girls sports camp. All athletes will get to pick two
sports to do at the camp, it will be a long weekend be prepared to work hard and have fun at the same time.
SERVANDO BARRITA:
mal health booth and is planning to have at least two animals present to do a demonstration and have students take the pledge against animal cruelty.
TYLER BLESSING:
SCOTTY BIRO:
Servando Barrita is a senior at Mariposa County High School. The event he has in mind for the senior project is to have a Film Festival. He will also be working alongside Samuel Hise. They want people to submit their personal films which they have created. Samuel and Servando hope to bring everyone together to enjoy each other’s films and have a good time.
JADIN BATTLES:
Scott Biro wants to hold a special olympic for the kids here at Mariposa County and all schools around that would like to participate. He will be hosting the event here at Mariposa County High School Project Faire. He wants to do this event because none of the special needs kids go out and do activities like this. He wants them to work together in sports and he would like to show them how to play, what to do and create a good foundation. Scott wants to help them try new things.
WILLY BLALOCK: Ever since Jadin was a little boy has been very passionate about basketball. He started his love for this sport when he was in fifth grade when he played for the bulls in MYBL. Jadin is going to be holding a three on three basketball tournament at the Mariposa County High School. He wants to share the passion that he has with other people who have a love for the game of basketball.
RYLEE BIBBY:
Rylee Bibby is a senior at MCHS and has created an animal awareness booth for the Senior Project Fair. She has partnered with fellow senior Makenah Heavner to create an ani-
Willy Blalock is an avid lover of the sport soccer. Willy knows a lot about soccer and enjoys showing people how soccer can benefit people in multiple ways. Soccer is a sport in Mariposa that kids usually play until they are about 14 years old, then they stop and begin to pursue other sports. Willy would love to help kids continue to play soccer and get the community more notified about local soccer teams.
For his senior project Tyler decided to try and get a motocross track in Mariposa County. We have trails up here but many riders like to race and we don’t have any good places to practice. What he would need is land that he can use and a permit and insurance for the track in case anybody gets injured. Tyler believes this would be a great benefit for the riders in our community.
GRACE BUSCHHUETER
Grace’s project is about helping remaining awareness for paraplegic people. She wants to promote a positive lifestyle for people with a disability. By hosting her project, she will be helping people with disabilities feel like they can do anything.
ROSE BROCCHINI:
Senior Siblings is Rose Brochini’s senior project. Members of the club are to be paired with one another, where upperclassmen will mentor the lowerclassmen and create a bond and a friendship that will last a lifetime. A lowerclassmen having an upperclassmen mentor could be helpful in numerous ways as well as the upperclassmen student having the responsibility of being the mentor. 5
MIKAYLA BURGESS:
Mikayla’s senior project is a Scavenger Hunt through Mariposa, it is just like any old Scavenger Hunt but her’s will take you to the different historical places that made Mariposa what it is today. It will start at the Mariposa County Courthouse and from there it will take you everywhere in mariposa. Some of the places include the old jailhouse and the museum. This event is fun for all ages so families are welcome.
SARA CAMACHO:
a mud fest. She wants it to be at the La Grange Park. She is going to have food there and maybe some games too. There is going to be a contest of how fast you can go through the pits and going to see how mudding your car can get. She is working on her fliers and she is almost done with her website.
JOHN CASTANON:
Do you want to be one with nature? You should stop by and see John’s Senior project! He will have safe places to meditate with the trainer. He is also planning on providing a new sense of focus with the human body
ANDREW CHENOWETH: Show Your True Colors with Science! Sara Camacho has been in love with science her whole life, growing up she always wished to participate in a science fair. Sara took this opportunity to give the students of Mariposa the chance to participate in an event where they can use their imagination and creativity combined with science to teach about what they find most interesting in live, with a science fair! This event will be held May 8th at the Mariposa County High School. For more information on how to prepare and attend this event go to http:// mariposasciencefair.weebly.com/
MADISON CARDOSO:
Maddy Cardoso is a senior at Mariposa County High School. She is having 8
Andrew’s passion is music; his research has been centered around the history of music and the various intersections between pop music, countercultural movements and its socio political ramifications. He also is keenly interested in seeing performance space options to expand for young people in Mariposa. He is working on researching and performing with regards to this.
JENNA COFFMAN:
Jenna’s senior project is something very simple, yet something much needed in our community. The basic
idea is directed toward children who really do not have a secure home, or even children who are troubled in general. Basically, her research is about creating a place where these children can go and feel completely comfortable while also experiencing encounters with God, but without having religion being “shoved down their throat”, or forced upon them. ¨
KELLI COLUMBRO:
Kelli Columbro’s Senior Project 2015 is the Senior Project Day. She and a committee of other Seniors have worked very hard to make this a success. She has planned with Ms. Azevedo and Mr. Finney to make sure every project is carried out to the best of it’s ability. The Senior Project Day is a place where graduating Seniors from MCHS can show all their hardwork and dedication they have put in over the course of the school year, to the community.
STEVEN COOK:
Steven is very interested in working with something he has been researching for a while now, WilderMann. This is a collection of authentic costumes that reflect ancient anthropology. Steven is bringing this tradition to Mariposa
SAM COYLE:
MONA CURTIS:
NOAH FLUHARTY:
Sam Coyle wants to bring the thrilling sport of Longboarding to Mariposa. Longboarding is an exciting, vigorous, and positive sport that brings people together. Sam Coyle wants to encourage the young people of mariposa to do things that they love by showing them the passion people have for longboarding.
Mona’s senior project is a Down Syndrome awareness walk in Mariposa. She wants to have it on one of the schools fields, or at the fairgrounds. Most smaller Down Syndrome awareness walks however; are usually put on at a football field of the towns local high school. Her walk is meant for people with Down Syndrome, the purpose of it is to have those/the/these people with Down Syndrome to be able to make friends with other people with down syndrome, and to bring acceptance to this genetic disorder.
Noah Fluharty plans to restructure the youth of Mariposa through Teen Spiritual Communion. He will host a “youth group” type event that is much different than ever before. It will be a judge free zone where you can express yourself in many ways and be free. Noah hopes to have a bonfire with food and beverages at the end of TSC.
ALONDRA CRUTCHFIELD:
BAILEY GIBSON:
BRITTANY DAVIS: Alondra wants to be able to help children who are in hospitals. Her senior project is to make baskets filled with donating stuffed animals and other uplifting gifts for children who are place long term in children’s hospitals. Alondra wants to brighten their experience with a true love offering.
AARON CUNHA:
Aaron is doing a music festival with tom for his senior project. He wants to have as many people playing at mchs. The bands will be located at the bleacher on the lower campus. There is going to be a lot of different kinds of music anything and everything. He is going to have people play on friday then saturday he’s having the battle of the bands . so come on down to A-A-ron’s music festival.
Brittany has a strong passion for art. She believes art is a very beautiful thing in this world and it teaches you many things. She wants to set up a booth of art activities and just have a great time making people happy and make peoples cheek bones ache from smiling so much.
Bailey Gibson’s senior project is Green and Gold Friday to bring the grizzly spirit back like it used to be. She feels, by having the opportunity to bring the community back together, it would give back like the people in this town have given to us. With Mariposa being such tight knit town, Bailey feels like many businesses and store will be willing to help with grizzlies in any way that they can.
FORREST FERRELL:
KAREN GOMEZ
Ferrell`s Annual Medieval event will take place on May 8. It will take place on lower campus at Mariposa High School. It will feature many renaissance events, such as larping, an event that involves a group of people that are willing to fight with fake swords.There also would be examples of what else the event has to offer.
For this years Senior project faire, Karen would like to get some donations from our community and directly affect the school. She wants to make the Learning Center a more fun place to be and for students to actually hang out there. Karen is hoping for enough donations to possibly buy a foosball table or anything similar 9
MANNY GOINS:
awareness to create an activity space for teens where they can productively channel their anger.
MAKENAH HEAVNER:
JADON HANSELL: Immanuel’s senior project will be me creating a senior mural which will be a graffiti style font and will represent the 100 years mariposa has been open and running. it will also represent us senior graduating on the 100th year anniversary. The mural will have all the seniors that are graduating this year signature on it after it’s completed
SIERRA HARTSOG:
Like many other students on the MCHS campus, Jadon has a passion for technology. He wants to help people in the community become more computer literate.
CHASE HANCOCK:
Makenah Heavner is a senior at Mariposa County High School. She is very passionate about animals and would do anything to help them. For her senior project she will be doing an animal awareness and grooming station with fellow senior Rylee Bibby. At their booth they will have a poster board with statistics and photographs, a grooming station where they will show you the correct way to groom and care for your family pet, and a pledge against animal cruelty.
ZACH HEIDENRIECH:
Sierra Hartsog is a Senior at Mariposa County High School who is passionate about Sports Filming, and promoting the sports programs and students. She has been diligently working to publish game film, player highlight videos, and banquet videos for multiple sports this year. During the development of her senior project this year her passion has grown stronger and more localized to specific filming, and she hopes to continue sports film as a hobby or maybe even a career.
WILL HAMBELTON:
Will will be facing anger and stress but to a whole new level. He will be speaking about how to change your down attitude to a smiling face by using just a few helpful tips. Will would also like to partake in raising 10
Chase is organizing a forestry/ woodsmen’s competition at MCHS. He is interested in collegiate lumberjack games and teams and festivals and wants to start this sort of competition at the high school level.
TOM HAUGEN:
Zach has studied the details and process of putting on a food festival. He wants to show the significance of feeding people through this simple gesture. He wants to bring the diversity of sharing food from around the world to Mariposa.
SAM HISE: He is helping to put on the student music portion of the project fair as a study of learning to promote a music festival. Tom is doing this for a senior project because he really loves good music and thinks it will be fun to do.
For the Senior Project, Sam will be working with Servando Barrita on their Mariposa Film Festival which will take place at MCHS in the Auditorium. Young filmmakers can submit their films for all of Mariposa to see. The benefit out of this project is they are hoping to help people who love to make films get started on a career and have their work be seen.
BRANDON HOLCOMBE:
KATANA JOHNSON:
JORDAN KEMP:
Brandon Holcombe: Brandon is coordinating the design and digital media marketing of the project. He is working on the website construction, the archival of all projects and presenting the brand of the Mariposa Senior Project Festival.
Katana Johnson is a senior this year at Mariposa County High School. Katana will be introducing Donkey Football, as a new activity at the high school. Most locals know about Donkey Basketball, which is put on by the Mariposa FFA chapter here at the school. But, Katana feels this could be beneficial to our community because the earnings come right back to our school.
Jordan has been working with the rest of the Senior Festival team, he specifically is in charge of the safety aspect of it. He is in EMR and Fire Science this year.
BROOKE HOLCOMBE:
RIVER KEYES
MIWA JOHNSON: Brooke Holcombe is a senior at Mariposa County High School and for her project she is planning to host a run up to the reservoir right above the school. Her project is focused on getting children of all ages outside and away from technology. Brooke hopes that the children will experience all that the outdoors have to offer. She is also in the process of getting an outdoor club started at Mariposa County High School.
LAUREN JAY:
River has a passion for video games, like many teenagers. He plans on having a video gaming tournament in the learning center open to all ages.
Miwa Johnson, a senior at MCHS is focusing her project around the issues concerning animal awareness and animal abuse around the world. She wants to show people what really happens behind closed doors. What the media doesn’t want people to know. Her goal is to create an organization in Mariposa and the surrounding areas to stop the spread of animal abuse.
GINNY KELSEY:
BRANDON KNAUF
Brandon is a young man who believes in old fashion values and he wants to keep those values alive by teaching high school boys how to treat woman and how to act in the everyday world. He would be covering chivalry, style, dating, fitness, and many more.
SARAH LAFATA Lauren is a person who cares about people. Her senior project is to get more students to donate their blood to the American Red Cross. She is using her project as a way to show her passion of making life better for others. Lauren just wants to make the world a better place one donation at a time.
For Ginny, softball is a big part of her life. Her senior project will be hosting a charity softball tournament for boys and girls of all ages.Her research is focused on highlighting the importance of different service academies. All of the money raised at her event will be donated to the Travis Manion Foundation.
Sarah’s project is based around the relaxation of Yoga. She plans to have a stress free yoga class. This will help you get in shape and feel better mentally. 11
SHANIE LANE:
AARON LERMA
HILDA LIRA:
Shanie left Sacramento moved to the small town of Coulterville in the 2nd grade, and that is where she realized that bias can be a large influence in the way people perceive you. Shanie is doing her project to make people aware of their negative biases and to try and find a way to eliminate them from society by creating a promotional video.
Aaron has been working with a fellow Senior to accomplish their idea of a Senior Project. The two boys plan on fundraising for new batting cages for the high school baseball team to use for many seasons to come.
Hilda’s senior Project is about the Importance of College. She believes college should play an important role in your life. Furthering your education is the right step for a positive well paying job in the future. For her senior project she plans on having different schools explaining the benefits and advantages of college. Also, go over student loans, financial aid, scholarships and more. Seniors are mainly invited, any other students that want to attend are more than welcome. The purpose of Hilda’s senior project is to motivate seniors to want to attend college.
AANTHONY LERMA
CAMERON LAW
Cameron has a passion for the sport of Soccer. He has been working on his ideas all year and he wants to coach a small team of Mariposa F.C. club soccer boys ages 6 and 7. His research is focused on the art and craft of teaching an under 8 player called “The Golden Age of Learning” for soccer; he is exploring why this is and what makes it so by research and reflective coaching.
SEAN LEMESSURIER:
Sean has always seen skateboarding as a good way to learn how to take a fall. Not just a physical one where you scrape a knee but an emotional one, a heartbreak, a traumatic event. He thinks skateboarding can teach the young kids in our community useful lessons and be a super rad sport for them to participate in at the same time. 14
Aanthony has a strong passion for music and he would like to share it with the community. His Senior Project is helping create a new type of music festival aimed at the youth of the community. He would also like to be able to host his event during the summer.
ADAM LINK:
Adam Link’s project is to start a “Coffee House Club” that will meet in the mornings before school, play music, and have breakfast food available. His plan for the club is to provide instruments that can be checked out to provide people who cannot afford their own instrument, as well as provide a venue for MCHS students who have a hard time finding venues due to their age. The club will also serve to be a place where many of the students who arrive early to school can come and interact, strengthening school’s core.
CARLIANNE LOPEZ:
Carlianne Lopezs mission with her project is to be able to help the community come together, and enjoy what everyone does, food. She hopes to have event goers to trade, share recipes and enjoying themselves. And its all for a great cause, to help the homeless. Carlianne wants it to be an annual thing at the fairgrounds.
WADE LOUCKS:
His senior project has resulted in Wade basing his project presentation on the PRCA, which is a rodeo organization. Wade would like to hold a different type of rodeo here at the
Fairgrounds soon and he would also like to organize a dance that is open to the public through the night.
KEVIN MARTINEZ:
TORI MILLER:
Kevin, like many other dedicated seniors, has a passion for a specific sport. Kevin’s passion is soccer and he would like to help the younger generation find their love for the game. Kevin is fundraising to buy brand new soccer goal so that the younger kids have better updated equipment.
Tori Miller is a senior at Mariposa County High School and for her senior project, she chose to do a food forest for the locals and homeless people of the community. She is very involved in horticulture and she believes she could bring light to this problem with the hungry homeless. Her hopes for this project are getting the homeless people fed and possibly teaching them how to plant and grow their own fruits and vegetables.
JUSTIN LOWRIMORE:
Justin has researched his passion: airsoft. He wants to not only organize local airsoft tournaments, but also promote it as a viable business in Mariposa.
JESSE MARCELL:
KIONA MARI:
ANGELINA MIRASSOU:
Jesse is coordinating the documentary filming of the senior project presentations and activities. He is coordinating youtube videos for the website of all the projects and organizing a large digital file that documents the entire festival - he is starting the process of a long senior project documentary.
NATALIE MARQUEZ:
Kiona Mari is a senior at Mariposa County High School. Her and her senior class have been asked to come up with a senior project that benefits the community. Kiona has always liked haunted movies and things that people find terrifying. She wants to have a Haunted House/Farm to give something fun to the community.
TRISTAN MERO:
Angelina and Lauren are working on a blood drive for mariposa grizzly high school. Due to the intense fog in the central valley there has been an increase in car accidents thus, there is a blood shortage across the nation and we can help. Angelina and Lauren are hoping for at least 100 participants in the school and county. Help their efforts and save a life.
ANDREA MORGANTE: Natalie’s research has been on the cultural intersections that occur in public schools and public spaces. She is keenly interested in where culture resides, where it originates and where it goes. Her research has focused on events and interactions; earlier in the spring, she also helped to produce MCHS’s first cultural club day with Jamba Juice.
Tristan’s research and project is about raising awareness toward the beauty and harmony of living with horses. He wants to raise awareness about listening to your horse and not injuring it; he also wants to paint a beautiful picture about the tradition and adventure that horses have offered us. He hopes to help to continue this tradition with his research and work.
Andrea is presenting copious research on the brain, its science and the effect of medications on it. He is interested in the cosmic, scientific and philosophical intersections within the matrix of the brain and how our modern medicine interacts with it. 15
SAVANNAH NEWITT:
MICHAEL PALMER
MYKAYLA QUEEN:
Savannah is working with fellow classmates to create a safe environment for students to come and gain awareness of God. She wants to show that not every youth group is the same and that no one will judge you for what path you choose to take in life
Michael has been working hard this year with MCHS facility on creating a Senior Movie Night. He plans on presenting a movie during the Senior Project Festival.
Mykayla believes that all young drivers should have an awareness about the drastic outcomes from drinking and driving and texting and driving. If a text is that important then pull over you’re saving yourself and also someone else. Her project is going to be on a Saturday, May 8th at Mariposa County High School from noon-10 pm..
RICHARD PENA
MARGIE ORTIZ:
AMANDA RANSOM:
Margie is working to organize and study cultural events, specifically festivals. She is researching the history of festivals and serving as the artist liaison and coordinator for the senior project festival. Her research presentation is also on the various types of festivals and their impact on society.
Richard has a passion for baseball and along with the help from fellow classmates, he is able to fundraise for a new batting cage. By fundraising for new batting cages, he hopes to inspire younger children to play the game and love it just the same.
SAWYER PERRIEN:
BRANDON O’BRIEN:
Brandon is giving back to the community by holding the first annual group motorcycle trail ride. He is very passionate about riding dirt bikes. This idea is subject to great success and has potential to turn into an organization for dirt bike riders to ride once monthly together. This is great for riders who want to meet people who share the same fascination with this hobby.
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Sawyer’s senior project is to open a music cafe/studio in Mariposa. There will be instruments of all shapes and sizes for people, couches, food, and drinks. He feels that this place would be good because it will bring people together and help our community. He would imagine that this is something that many people will enjoy and want to keep going.
Amanda Ransom has been dancing for over 14 years, and has a passion for working with special needs people. For her senior project, she decided to combine the two.Amanda would love to eventually be able to start a dance class or camp for people with special needs, to make them feel included and important, doing something fun with people who are like them.
MEAGAN ROBBINS:
Meagan is working on an expose of cars and highlighting the types of classic cars that she has always loved. Her research is about the viability of this sort of show adding to economy of Mariposa and the cultural aspects of how people can be brought together by this mutual interest.
KENDALL ROBINSON:
JESSICA SARNOFF-WILSON:
JESSE KOLK
Kendal will be working with a fellow classmate to make their passion for motocross come to life. They plan on hosting a motocross event in La Grange. They would both like to see the event move forward and continue for years to come.
The dance festival of the year is going to be held at Mariposa County High School. Make sure you’re there, there will be live bands, and a great area for dancing. This event is hosted by Ms. Jessica Sarnoff-Wilson and she is an active dancer in the community and leads the high school’s dance club. She is a passionate dancer and always looking for more people to share in her love for dance. The best part about this event is that it’s free and a good time for everyone to get out and be free! Hope to see you there!
Do you want to experience exotic foods from around the world but don’t want to take the time to travel? Jesse’s senior project will be hosting a food event with foods that can be made from anywhere in the world.
JOHNNY KING
Nickolas Savage’s senior project is a presentation in the vet science class about a neurological disease called lafora bodies. It is usually found in small dogs and adolescent children. The reason Nick is giving this presentation is that his horse was the first horse in existence that has ever been diagnosed with this disease. Right now Nick is currently trying to get the blood samples from ohio state for his presentation.
RYAN ROSE
Ryan’s project will consist of a demonstration on how positive attributes can directly affect ones life and the lives around them. He hopes for it to help people overcome a traumatic experience they might have encountered in their life time. He also hopes to help shed light on the hidden potential of the human psyche and the power of the mind. Ryan wants to better his peers by reaching out to them and inspire them to positively change their lifestyle.
Johnny plans on creating an event that helps promote a positive image for our local skatepark and the skating population in our county. He hopes to raise awareness of the skaters potential and skill by hosting an event in downtown Mariposa.
CONNOR ROSS:
DANIEL KOOTNZ
Connor’s senior project is related to public speaking that is open to all ages. He will be covering normal public speaking, inspirational speaking, and improvisational speech. Though his project, Connor hopes to accomplish a start of an art gallery which will showcase local pieces, music, and comedy sketches.
Daniel is planning on promoting his passion for mechanics by hosting an intro to a mechanics program. He can see himself in this career down the road and he hopes to inspire the younger generation.
NICKOLAS SAVAGE:
MACKENZIE SHADDIX
Mackenzie hopes to spread awareness of the effects that negativity can cause on someone. Mackenzie’s dreams were crushed completely by an adult she so looked up to. Her project focuses on pursuing your dreams and defining your own limits, not letting others decided what you can and cannot do.
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SAIGE SHAFER:
Smooth Music & a Few laughs is exactly what it says . Smooth Music from local band Girls on Fire, Saxophone player Kelsey Wight, and the Few Laughs from Saige Shafer . Smooth Music & a Few Laughs is meant for you to get connected with local artist that want you to dance and have a laugh .
JOHNNY SHEETS
KAYMEN SMITH
Kaymen Smith is putting on a small scale car show for the students of MCHS. He plans to have around 3 to 5 cars and a booth with some information on the cars with pictures of larger car shows. There will be multiple small car shows there that he hopes to partner up with that will also be on exhibit for people to see.
CODY SMITH:
MANUEL SOUZA:
Manuel Souza is a senior at Mariposa County High School who hopes to bring the experience of an actual video game tournament to the High School. The game being played will be the “smashing” Super Smash Bros Brawl! The entrance fee for the tournament will be 5 dollars, which will be put into a pot that will be split among the people who come in first, second, and third place. They hope to see you there!
ALLECODEMAR SPENCER:
Johnny Sheetz Is presenting and advertising his School Poetry Club. in doing so he hopes to inspire students to create and share poetry, while indulging in new creative ideas. This will allow for academic growth within the school, and hopefully reduce stress among the student population.
SHAWN SHIMER
Cody’s love of music is very apparent and his senior project is about doing research first hand about the intricacies of funding and developing consistent community music in Mariposa. He is helping to produce and organize the performances at MCHS as part of the senior festival and he has worked on his digital media promotions and has researched different performers.
GAREN STEIN: Shawn plans to introduce the concept of therapy dogs to the education system in Mariposa County, paying special attention to elementary school students and special education classrooms. Dogs are proven to boost moods, lessen depression, lower anxiety, increase socialization, increase self-esteem, and can help children overcome speech and emotional disorders. These are all qualities that can be utilized in the classroom. 20
Demar’s project is going to be dancing and it will be called Mariposa Dance Night; it is going to be held at Mariposa high school starting at 8:30 and end 10:00. What you would be looking forward to in the dance is to have fun to dance until you can’t dance anymore. Also, there will be dance battles between two groups,two on two, and one on one battles. So if you’re a dancer you can have the opportunity dance against someone else.
MICHAEL SPIELMAN: Social and Hungry are two words that describe Garen Stein. His senior project will be the idea of a social cooking class held at MCHS. People can come together, whether they can cook or not, for a fun interactive time.
Michael has worked to organize a 7 on 7 football tournament. The research he has conducted includes liability issues, materials and referees. Michael believes it will serve the coaches an opportunity to get the feel
of the passing game and also get to know better of their personnel on the team. This will all contribute back to both of the schools in participating in the event an more like the players will be excited for the upcoming season.
WILLIAM STONE
it with the town by holding an event to bring local songwriters together to perform. She has found that music can have many benefits including reducing stress and boosting an individual’s mood. She also believes this event will bring the community together and help individuals become more comfortable with each other. For more information, go to her website, http://mariposasongwritersunite. weebly.com/
DALTON THOMAS William Stone passions in life are cars and bikes, quads planes. William loves to go fast and likes shooting and fishing. William is more of the type of person who likes hobbies likes building model planes and trains. The reason why William chose flying for my project is because it is what William wants to do in my future life. What William hopes to accomplish is to get Future people into flying.
KAYLEE STRICKFADEN:
Dalton believes in the good old days. He wants to create an event that returns Mariposa to its “Golden Age”: a time before technology and the complexities of modern life. He wants to create a festival to honor Mariposa’s western heritage and cowboy legacy with events and activities centered around the middle 19th century - a return to Mariposa’s “Golden Times”.
KAYLA TOMLIN Kaylee Strickfaden has focused her senior project on the small coffee companies around Mariposa. Her goal is to bring revenue to the small coffee brewers in Mariposa. Kaylee has contacted Pony Express in hopes of them being a vendor at this high school event.
KAYLEY TEDROW
Kayley Tedrow has recently started working on a senior project to help benefit the community. She has a passion for music and wants to share
Kayla Tomlin, age 18, is a senior at Mariposa County High School. She has developed an idea for a festival, of all festivals. Whittle of the Woods: Featuring a Wood Carving contest! Participants will be able to apply for a spot in the contest. Participants must be 18 years of age and older, and have some kind of experience in woodwork. This is a study for a larger festival that would be over multiple days and include live music, car shows and other activities in addition to woodworking contests.
GABI TOVAR
Gabi Tovar has always wanted to run in a Color Run with friends and family, but it was very expensive and she could not afford it. She thought about how Mariposa could host a Color Run and that it would be a great event for the community to participate in with their loved ones. Gabi Tovar believes that a Color Run would be a fun, exciting event that Mariposa should have every year to bring our community together.
SAVANNAH VERDUGO
Savannah’s project is going to be a donation center, for the local SPCA.She will be taking money, toys, food, and bedding for the animals, or if people want to donate other things to the SPCA. More people should donate things to help them out. The SPCA is an important place they help animals find a good home and get the love they deserve. The booth for this will be on the lower campus.
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BRANDON VERLEY
treatment of horses. She hopes to further and improve the horse-human relationship as they are instrumental in our history and potentially in our future.
WYATT WASS Brandon’s senior project is to build two football sleds for the football team . Brandon built these sleds because he thinks this will help the football team become the best team in the Southern League. Brandon has also created a website and business plan for his fabrications and welding. The reason Brandon wants to do this for the football team is because he likes football and he thinks it will help with conditioning and strength for the football team.
DANICA WAGES
Wyatt is a member of our local FFA Chapter and he has a passion for his Forestry Team. He would like to combine the two worlds of FFA and Senior Projects to create a Timber Harvest Competition. He will be presenting more about his ideas and goals during the presentations.
KELSEY WHITE
other classmates have been creating new ways to host a car show and what better way to host a car show than at a Project Festival? Ross is planning on having many cars on display and speaking about each one.
CODY YORK
Cody york is going to bring a 100 ft water slide to mchs for his senior project. He is going to have to find out what the budget is going to be. He is going to have brochures and posters at the project faire so he can bring more awareness to people about the project. And he is doing this project idea because it sounds a lot of fun and it will bring people back to their childhood days.
ASHLYNN ZURILGEN Danica Wages is trying to start a Drive-in Theatre in Mariposa County. She believes Mariposa needs a safe family fun environment where everyone can go. She is very passionate about her project because she believes it will save money for people looking for entertainment, and cause a bigger tourist attraction. Danica hopes to accomplish her dream for fun entertainment.
MARGO WANNER
Kelsey Wight has a passion for both composing and performing music. She and Saige Shafer have decided to organize the Smooth Music and a Few Laughs comedy event which will be held at the Senior Project Faire on Saturday, May 9th. The event centers around a jazz theme and will feature Kelsey Wight herself as a saxophone soloist. The Smooth Music and a Few Laughs comedy event offers family-friendly entertainment that the entire community can enjoy.
ROSS WILLIAMS Margo Wanner focused her senior project on horses including use, contributions, and abuse. She hopes to raise awareness toward issues in the equine industry and promote acknowledgment of the use and 22
With the help of his friends, Ross would like to hold a car show for his Senior project. Himself and a few
Ashlynn has a big love for theatre and wishes that the community of Mariposa and people of all ages could share this love. Her project is researching the history of theatre and the benefits of having a community theatre and/or kids theatre camp. She wants to know the benefits so that maybe Mariposa could have the benefits of a theatre and/or kids theatre camp. Since Mariposa does not have a full seasonal theatre company she hopes that her research can bring light to the benefits of having a seasonal theatre.
HISTORY OF SENIOR PROJECT FESTIVAL Beginning in August, seniors at MCHS were asked to focus on discovering and identifying a personal passion which could be fused with a beneficial act for the community at large. Students did original research and experimented with creating websites and digital presentations to represent their learning journeys and potential project ideas working with their passions. As the year has gone on, students have sought to create or work toward creating some sort of personal passion project that could have a meaningful impact on the community. This has many potential outcomes, however the “learn by doing” motto has helped students to think creatively, reflect and respond to potential setbacks. In some cases, students have dreamt really really big: a waterslide spanning multiple town blocs (yes these do exist), a new skatepark on MCHS campus, a new business plan for a drive-in movie theatre on Mariposa ranchland. The culmination of the students’ creative process will occur with a presentation, event, interactive expose or some sort of blend of the three. In addition, students will present their information and/ or work to produce the festival. Essentially, the idea behind it is for the students to learn, participate, present and produce. We feel this gives students a well-rounded experience and coordinates the cumulation of their passion project into an interactive festival for the school and community.
FUTURE PLANS FOR SENIOR PROJECT FESTIVAL All of the student projects, and the recorded presentations, will be archived on the website created specifically for the project festival. The website will serve as a digital hub for promoting, explaining and archiving the projects. Furthermore, it will serve as a searchable online archive where projects can be “picked up” and “taken further” by future students. For instance, if a student worked on researching and proposing a skate park on MCHS campus and spent the year organizing data and preparing a presentation on the importance and plausibility of the idea, a future student could “pick up” the project and try to secure grant funding and coordinate the logistics to get the project approved and funded while a third student might even see it through and organize the design and construction of the park. In addition to participating, presenting and producing the project festival, students will also be writing a cumulative and reflective research paper describing an issue that they have explored in-depth as part of their project process. For some students this will tie in the business plan they have made and the actual facts about the feasibility of their project; for others, this will be more of a reflective piece about the research they did and how it benefitted the community and perhaps helped them to grow. Their thesis will focus on the application of the research and what it has lead to in their own thinking, their own process.
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