Nevada Joint Union High School District

Senior
Projects
Handbook

A graduation requirement for all Seniors

School Year 2020-2021

Includes overview, dates, and specific element explanations

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 Table of Contents
Project Element ​Page
Overall Purpose and Explanation of Project 3
Project due dates 4
Project element explanation
1. Personality test, Meyers-Briggs 5
2. Career Profiler, Holland Codes 6
3. Career Exploration Cohorts 7
a. Cohort Survey
b. Cohort Initial Meeting
c. Cohort Project Proposal
d. Cohort Final Meeting
4. Personal essay (UC Questions or District Scholarship Prompt) 8
5. Career Research Project 9
6. Resume 11
7. Cover Letter 12
8. Mock Interviews 13
9. Thank you Letter/Email 14
10. Journal Entries and Evidence 15
11. Final Slide Presentation 16
12. Group Presentation Practice 17
13. Final Presentation Expectations and Presentation 18

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 Overall Purpose and Explanation of Senior Project
The Senior Project, in keeping with an academic focus on more college- and career-ready
curriculum, is designed to give all students an opportunity to explore a career path and move
progressively and successfully towards entering the adult world of work. The goal of this project
is to help our seniors understand how their own personalities and interests can help them select
a career path, gain deeper insight into the types of jobs available, discover specific career
training requirements and expectations, and practice the process of getting a job. We partner
with many professionals and community members who lead our students in the understanding
of specific career paths, offer them mock interview practice, and act as adjudicators for the final
project presentations. This truly is a community effort, and, although it is a lot of work, our
graduated students are very grateful for the experience.

All senior students in Nevada Joint Union High School schools must complete a Senior Project in
order to graduate. The Senior project is MANDATORY for graduation and is a year-long project
involving students’ English teachers as well as counselors, intern coordinators, and district-level
workers who focus on school-to-career education.

Our new team is very excited about streamlining the process for our seniors, working with all
school sites so that the experience is gratifying, edifying, and similar for all NJUHSD students.
We are pleased also to be partnering with professionals in our community to help our students
successfully make the transition to adulthood.

As always, our community is invaluable in this process. If you would like to be a mentor for a
student cohort, take part in Mock Interviews, or attend Final Senior Project Presentations,
please let us know.

NOTE: During the 2020-2021 school year, the Job Shadow/Intern experience will look different
than in past years, due to Covid-19. Please make note of this. Despite the cancellation of Senior
Projects for 2019-2020, Senior Projects will be MANDATORY for 2020-2021 school year.

Wishing our Seniors Success,

NJUHSD Senior Projects Team at Bear River: Sara Noah, s​ noah@njuhsd.com​; Christina
Levinson, clevinson@njuhsd.com

Please note you and your student’s receipt and agreement with the Senior Project Handbook by
filling out the Google Form
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddiKZxaj0hiBdX-EjaCStYzh3V3hBJjyKtH2ZIUS0TVB6gJQ/viewform?
usp=sf_link

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 Senior Project Due Dates 2020-2021

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE

Personality/Career Profile tests August 28, 2020

Topic Choice Cohort Google Form August 28, 2020

Personal Statement Essay/UC Questions September 18, 2020

Career Cohort Initial Meeting BY October 16, 2020

Career Research Project October 26 - 30, 2020

Resume and Cover Letter December 2, 2020

Mock Interview December 8/9, 2020

Thank You Letter/Email to Interviewer December 11, 2020

Cohort Project Proposal December 15, 2020

Journal Entries/Evidence January 22/February 12/March 5/March 19/

April 2, 2021

Final Career Cohort Meeting April 9, 2021

Slide presentation Due May 7, 2021

Group Presentation Practice May 10 - 14, 2021

Final Senior Project Presentations May 18-20, 2021

GRADUATION! June 4, 2021

Standards Covered: RI 7, W3, W4, W5, W7, W8, W9, W10, SL 4, SL 5, L1, L3, L6

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 Personality Test

Students will all be taking a Meyers-Briggs personality test and compare the
results with their own conception of their strengths and weaknesses. This
personality test will help students to make connections between their unique
personalities and how different jobs appeal to different types of people. This is the
first step for students to understand possible directions to take in terms of career.
Obviously, this test does not completely explain or define one’s personality, but it is
an interesting activity for students and also can help them begin the process of
self-examination for future goals and plans.

https://www.16personalities.com/

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 Career Profiler Test
Holland Codes (RIASEC)

Students will all take a Career Profiler test, which, in conjunction with their
Meyers-Briggs Personality type results, can help them more deeply research
possible careers that fit their personalities and strengths. Students will begin by
taking the Holland Codes Career Profiler test, which shows student interest in the
areas of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional
(RIASEC). The California Career Zone website offers students many ideas for
exploring jobs, discovering different job sectors and specific jobs, and types of
training and education needed for jobs. Students will be able to explore this
website more on their own.

https://www.cacareerzone.org/

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 Career Exploration Cohorts

In order to maximize the time for our local volunteers, students will be working
together with a mentor to learn more about specific careers. Students
participating in these cohorts will be from all schools in our district, so that we can
make sure all students have a strong Career Exploration experience. There will be
three deadlines throughout the year for students: first, to fill out the Career
Interest form so that students can be organized into cohorts; second, students will
attend a 1-hour career presentation with other students which includes a question
and answer period; students will submit their project proposal; students will
attend a final meeting with their cohort to present their project. This project will
also be the focus of the final Senior Project presentation.

Student Requirements
● Topic Choice Career Interest Form: Students will fill out this form
expressing their job fields of interest so that cohorts can be formed
● Cohort Initial Meeting: Attend a 1 hour career presentation with prepared
questions for question and answer session
● Submit a career project proposal--connected to this would be the hard and
soft skills you will be working to gain/improve on through this project.
(typical examples of hard skills include computer software, marketing,
writing, accounting, finance, or legal skills. In contrast, soft skills are your
traits and abilities not unique to any job—think collaboration, time
management, empathy, or leadership.)
Projects could include completing an internship; attending a summer
program; learning a skill related to career (using online or on ground
sources); building something; job shadowing; an unpaid job experience; a
volunteer experience related to the career; a research project/paper; etc.
● Submit something documenting the career project process with a finished
product (if student’s project was about creating a product).
● The project should take a minimum of 15 hours.

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 Personal Essay

Students will write a personal essay, which is helpful for some job applications,
military service job placement, or college acceptance. In addition, it helps
students to develop an awareness of their strengths, skills, and personality traits
that would be beneficial to a college/university/technical school or a particular job.

Students have three choices for the Personal Essay:

1. Respond to the Nevada Joint Union High School District Scholarship
Prompt.
2. Answer four of the eight personal questions from the University of
California College Admissions Application.
3. Choose a specific prompt (if different from the two above) for a particular
college they are applying for, which must be approved and verified by the
student’s English teacher.

These essays are process essays in English class. Students will work on
brainstorming ideas, putting ideas into concrete form, revising, editing, and
creating final drafts.

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 Career Research Project

Seniors will all create a Career Research Project, which satisfies the English
California State Standard for conducting research as well as incorporating
findings into a finished project.

The Components of the Research Project include:

1. Student’s individual results and findings of the Meyers-Briggs personality

test. Students will make note of the personality type that very strongly fits
them and analyze and connect the descriptions to themselves. They will
need to make note of and describe the four letter code that is the result of the
test.

2. Students will take the Career Interest Profiler. They will make note of their
RIASEC score with percentages for all six areas and the three areas of
strength. This data will be used to explore careers for the project.

3. Students will brainstorm four different careers that are of interest.

4. For directed research, students will examine careers using the Occupational
Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; the California
Careerzone website, and ONet Online. Students will take note on three
careers in three different field areas. One of their researched careers must
be the career they are investigating for their senior project.

5. Students will present their findings orally and in writing using one of the
following choices:
a. A research paper
b. A poster (22X28 or 20X30) *If we are back at school by this time
c. A slide presentation

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 Each of these written works must be accompanied by an MLA-formatted
Works Cited page.

More details about this assignment will be given in class. The following is a list of
elements that will need to be included in the final project.

Students will need to include in their final paper/presentation:

1. Personality type from the Meyers-Briggs test. Give details about the type
and how it fits or doesn’t fit the student’s personality rather than just listing
the four-letter code.
2. RIASEC score and percentages for each area from the test with a reflection
on how this score represents the student’s strengths and weaknesses.
3. Three occupations studied (must be from different fields)
For EACH occupation:
Title of Job
Job Field
Related Jobs
Salary range
Education/training needed
Extra Certification needed
Job outlook in the future (job growth)
Job location/environment
Skills/personality needed
Work Activities
How this job fits with your personality type
Which of the three most appeals to student and why
Which of the three jobs student is working on for Senior Project

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 Resume

All students will be required to create a working, usable resume. The different
segments of a resume will be covered in English class, and students will be allowed
to experiment with a variety of formats and looks for their particular resume.

Students will create a rough draft of a resume, which will be edited for errors and
format issues. Students will then create a final draft of their resume, which is
expected to be error free. Any final versions of resumes with errors will result in a
zero grade, stressing for students the importance of sharing a clean resume with
potential employers.

Students will use hard copies of their resumes during our mock interviews so that
the interviewer and student can refer to elements in the resume.

NOTE: Because of the uncertainty of the 2020-2021 school year and distance
learning, we are still planning to have mock interviews, but they may be remote.

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 Cover Letter

Although not always required for every job interview, students in NJUHSD will be
creating a Cover Letter for their senior project. Skills focused on include using
proper language and tone based on the audience (a potential future employer),
using proper grammar and word choice for formal writing, and correctly
addressing correspondence for business.

Students will create a cover letter for a job they could actually be applying for based
on their current skills and experience. This means they would have to research
local business addresses and managers in order to address the letter correctly. As
with the resume, the letter will go through several edits, rewrites, and is expected
to be error free in order to receive points. The idea that many employers throw
away resumes and letters that have errors in them will (hopefully) be impressed
upon our students. Taking care and time for that first impression may get our
students the jobs they seek.

Students will also bring hard copies of their cover letters to their mock interview.

NOTE: Because of the uncertainty of the 2020-2021 school year and distance
learning, we are still planning to have mock interviews, but they may be remote.

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 Mock Interviews

This is another element of the Senior Project that includes our staff and broader
community. Students will take part in a mock interview, meeting one-on-one with
a member of staff or community to discuss their resumes, their goals for the
future, and their plans for after graduation. The ability to interview well is a great
skill, and it is hoped that this practice interview will help our students understand
the importance of this crucial element for getting a job.

Students will be expected to dress and speak professionally during this interview
and will spend some time practicing common interview techniques and questions
in their English classes.

Interviewees will be given a list of potential questions to ask our students and will
be grading students on their appearance, poise, and communication skills.

NOTE: Because of the uncertainty of the 2020-2021 school year and distance
learning, we are still planning to have mock interviews, but they may be remote.

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 Thank you Letter/Email

Students will all write and send a thank you letter or email to the person who
interviewed them for the mock interviews. This experience is vital in the current
job market as well, as it will keep the interviewee’s name at the forefront and also
shows good manners and appreciation for those on our staff and community who
take the time to interview our students.

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 Evidence of Project

Throughout this project, students will be expected to turn in specific updates to

their English teacher, which will be due on particular dates. Students will
document what they are doing, successes and failures they encounter along the
way, and what they have learned by doing this project.

Before beginning the project, all students, with the help of their mentor, will
choose a plan for what type of specific evidence they will be using to document
their project, which will depend on each student’s individual project (i.e.,
spreadsheets, photos, videos, timelines, journals). As students work through their
project as approved by their cohort mentor, they will need to keep accurate and
detailed records of what the project is, the work they do on the project, the dates
worked and the time it takes to complete the project. It is also advised that they
document the project according to the project evidence plan they have agreed on
with their mentor and turn work in to their teachers according to set deadlines.

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 Final Slide Presentation

Students will create a slide presentation that will be used when they present their
project orally at the end of the year. This slide presentation will serve as the basis
for the student’s final presentation.

Students will learn the importance of visuals in presentation, use of text in

presentations, and how to make their information interesting and engaging.

Students will need to include the following slides in their final presentation:

Title Slide:​ including student’s name, teacher, class period and topic
Resume: ​ A slide of the student’s resume (personal information can be
blocked out)
Personal Essay: ​Highlights of the student’s response (not a picture of the
paper) using brief statements and connection to the Meyers-Briggs test and main
points of their personal essay
Career Research Slides:​ at least three slides showing the detailed research
students did for the career they are following for their project. This information
will come from the Career Research Project.
Cohort Project: ​at least four slides showing a description of the project and
student’s progress along with dates of work.
Future Plans/Goals: ​ student will create a slide to share what they hope to do
in the future and any current concrete plans
Reflection on the project: ​ students will create a slide to highlight successes
and challenges with this project
Works Cited List: ​ This list should include all research conducted by the
student for their Career Research Project and Cohort project.
Question Slide: ​ Offer an opportunity for members of the community to ask
questions after student has presented.

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 Group Presentation Practice

Public Speaking is one of humanity’s greatest fears, and we hope that with both the
Mock Interview, group practice, and the Final Presentation, students will gain
confidence for the future, as most jobs involve at least an interview and many
workers in all sectors will, at some time or another, be expected to present
information to larger groups.

Students will have an opportunity to practice their Senior Project presentation as

part of their English class. They will view and analyze a variety of presentation
styles, discuss effective methods of speaking/presenting, and learn and practice
how to communicate clearly using body language, vocal projection and
enunciation, and eye contact.

Students will have time to practice their presentation in front of the class, allowing
them opportunity to give and receive feedback.

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 Final Presentation Expectations and Presentation

Students will be giving their Final Presentations to a group of community and staff
members as well as a small group of students. The community and staff members
will be grading students on their presentation, which will be part of their English
grade as well as a requirement for graduation.

Students will be expected to dress professionally, treat the panel with respect,
speak loudly and clearly, and be prepared to answer questions after their
presentations.

We welcome members of the community who are willing to take part in this
important event for our seniors. Senior Project panels will be given sample
questions to ask, or may ask their own questions of each of the participants. We
value the input of our broader community in the growth and development of our
seniors.

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