Project Week Ideas Are Flying!

It's September, and that means here at New Hampton School we are dreaming about March. In fact, many of us have been thinking about March since last May. That's because March is home to Project Week, and some pretty amazing things happen during Project Week.

Last year, when the program was reintroduced at New Hampton School, students travelled the globe, investigated relevant and interesting topics, and volunteered their time to serve others. Check out the blog posts below and the links to individual projects on the right to see what we did last year.

Last year was impressive, but we're ready to raise the bar even higher this year. Project ideas are currently taking flight, some of them literally! We have students and faculty generating ideas, digging into logistics, and soliciting support. The formal proposal process will begin later this week, but here is a sneak preview of some of the projects that are being talked about all over campus.

• Service Learning in the Dominican Republic: Mr. Schwab went the extra mile this summer and actually went to the DR to explore a new service program being offered by EF Tours. This project will help young girls in the DR develop social, educational, and business skills so that they can provide for their families and improve the quality of life in their community. This is a great extension of the all school summer read: The Dress Maker of Khair Khana.

• Project Flight: Mr. Tufts and Griffin H. are looking to take flight during project week. Both teacher and student have a lifelong passion for flying, and both are licensed pilots. Students in this project will learn the basic mechanics of flight through building and learning to fly RC planes right here on campus. Extensions could include a trip to a flight simulator and potentially loftier goals.

• Black Gold: As part of an interdisciplinary course being offered this fall, Ms. Brown and Mrs. Veilleux will be leading a trip to Nicaragua to study everything coffee, from the science of how it is grown to the economic and social effects that coffee has on the local communities. We are proud to partner with current board member Rick Peyser, who is the Director of Social Advocacy and Coffee Community Outreach at Green Mountain Coffee, on this exciting and unique project. Rick will be joining our students on this project to lend his time and expertise.

• Other projects that are currently being proposed include building a telescope from scratch, exploring land development and conservation in Hawaii, introduction to robotics, recording music in a professional studio, developing an organic farm at NHS, and more. 

The list of potential projects is growing bigger by the day. It is important to note that all of the projects mentioned above are in the preliminary stages of proposal. There is no guarantee that any of these projects will actually be offered in March, but there is a high chance that many of them will.

For more ideas, please click through the slideshow below. These ideas were generated by students and faculty alike at the end of last year. Members of the community, if you see something you like and you want to propose it, get in touch with Mr. Joslin and check out the proposal process and forms that are available to you right on this blog.

Explore. Educate. Experience.