By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Students in Joanna Wisener’s English IV and AP English classes at Union City High School are earning the right to be referred to as “experts” on a variety of subjects.
Their work was on display earlier this week at – where else – a museum reserved for such examples of authority and knowledge.
As part of a year-long project for Wisener’s classes, 95 UCHS seniors selected topics from a variety of choices last September, researching them in-depth to become “experts.”
Their findings were part of exhibits available for viewing by both the remainder of the student body and several teachers and administrators who helped evaluate this portion of the project.
Students were allowed to choose any topic that interested them, but the AP students had to pick something related to either literature or language. They were required by Wisener to use a variety of sources, including websites, interviews, videos, books and newspapers.
The students were then also responsible for organizing the Senior Expert Project Museum.
According to Wisener, they had to apply for jobs such as museum director, gallery directors, public relations staff and physical laborers. They made all the decisions, including how to group the projects into galleries and how to organize the layout of the museum.
Additionally, students made posters and announcements and visited all of the other English classes to promote the museum.
As part of the project, the students will also give presentations to their English class and complete a variety of writing assignments.
Among those students who had exhibits was Wilson Harris.
Harris’ topic of “expertise” was ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. His father, James, died from ALS when Harris was a small boy.
“I chose this topic because my father was diagnosed with ALS when I was a child,” Harris said. “I never knew the effect it had on him or our family because of my young age when he passed away.
“I also learned about how much money the Ice Bucket Challenge raised for the ALS Foundation.”
Dayton Thompson’s field of choice was social media and depression.
“In today’s world, everything is done online, and for teens this can be a dangerous thing,” Thompson said. “Social media is a big part of our society, so we need to completely understand what it can do to our mental health.
“In today’s world, social media has become a blessing and a curse. It just depends on how you choose to use it for the betterment of society.”
Wisener, who has assigned some version of the project for “about five years now,” said this was just the second year her students have organized a museum.
And those efforts received rave reviews from students, faculty and staff, who were also complimentary of their knowledge of their chosen topics.
“Since the expert project is such a significant assignment throughout senior year, I think it’s important to have the museum as a way for the students to share what they have learned with a wider audience,” she said. “The museum allows them to refine collaboration and communication skills in addition to their reading, writing and researching abilities.
Photo by Mike Hutchens
Menu
