At the beginning of the year, Sophomores began working on their Middle Years Programme (MYP) Personal Projects. Spending several months on their projects, they gained valuable insight into the IB program and built essential skills. They were expected to formulate a project regarding their personal interest while researching, interviewing, and learning. Once the personal project was completed, the students looked forward to showcasing their work
The IB works to develop students who are compassionate, communicative, reflective, and knowledgeable, which the MYP Personal Project helped do. The project allowed students to develop skills they wouldn’t get from their normal school curriculum, as they investigated and tried many new things. The MYP Personal Projects outline began with students selecting a topic of personal interest. They then conducted research and interviewed an expert, for example, students interviewed family, friends, and professionals related to their topic to deepen their understanding. Throughout the project, students maintained logs of their research and evidence, which helped them create a final product demonstrating their learning. The process concluded with a final report summarizing their research, product, use of Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, and a reflection.
On April 1st, the sophomores showcased their MYP Personal Project in the Clinton gymnasium to parents, teachers, and freshmen. Here, the sophomores shone, clearly showing their creativity and dedication. At the showcase, sophomores presented trifold posters highlighting their learning process, product, success criteria, ATL skills, action plan, and related images. From the showcase, it was clear that the current sophomores learned, grew, showed creativity and dedication, and developed skills that they will carry with them for the rest of their academic career. The showcase also acted as an opportunity for current freshmen to get inspired by the displayed products, for when it is their turn to complete the project next year.
I had the opportunity to speak with Josephine Gaffinel, a current sophomore at Clinton, who completed the MYP Personal Project. For Josephine’s project, she started her own clothing brand by planning, being creative, and solving problems. Josephine plans to continue developing the clothing brand in the future. Josephine’s brand focuses on comfort as well as aesthetics and includes French style. Josephine stated that she felt she had grown in many ways as she “was able to truly understand and learn how complex and thoughtful the process behind fashion design really is.” After completing this project, Josephine advises current freshmen to “Do your personal project based on something that actually interests you and you will want to keep working at it even after you’ve turned in your personal project.”
With the second semester of the school year coming to a close, freshmen should begin to brainstorm topics that they find interesting for their personal project. These projects helped students learn a lot about themselves and what they can achieve when they put their minds to it. In the end, the personal project offered much more than an academic assignment—it challenged them, sparked new interests, and helped them gain valuable skills.
