By Flora Lepage, Year 10
During the first three years of secondary school, years 9, 10 and 11, different year-long projects are organized for the students. Each year has a different project with different goals that the students must reach, for the Year 9’s there is the Character Project then the Passion Project for Year 10 and lastly the Mastery Project for Year 11. These are individual or group projects according to the student’s preference and are worked on during the entire school year to then be presented at an exhibition in the upcoming months. All of these projects are very important for the learning and development of the students but there is one project that will stay with the students throughout the rest of their time in secondary school and that is the Passion Project. The Passion Project is a project that is worked on and organized in year 10 and demands a lot of creativity and time from the students.
The LGB Express was lucky to be able to interview Mr Hetherington, who is the head of year 10 and one of the main organizers for this project and will be able to further explain the details of this project.
Can you briefly describe what the Passion Project is?
Well, the Passion Project is a course designed for Year 10 students in the Universal Learning Programme. Students meet with mentors to explore self-agency and develop entrepreneurial skills. The main aim of the course is to allow students to pursue their passions and interests and to help them bridge the gap between their school life and the wider world.
The students must identify their passions and develop an entrepreneurial project that could potentially benefit society. They will work on the project during two mentor classes, either individually or in groups of up to four students. The students will be guided to develop their project management skills, and communication and collaboration skills will be emphasized. They prepare a presentation and a portfolio showcasing their learning throughout the year and participate in a final exhibition of the projects.
A few examples of potential Passion Projects that students could work on:
- Creating a campaign to raise awareness about the adverse effects of plastic waste on the environment and encouraging people to reduce their use of single-use plastics
- Creating a podcast or video series that explores different cultures and celebrates diversity.
- Developing a website or social media platform that connects volunteers with local charities and community organizations.
These are just a few examples, but countless other possibilities depend on each student’s interests and passions.
What are the goals the school hopes to achieve through this project?
The Passion Project aims to foster character, empathy, cognitive flexibility, and mastery by providing guidance and support, leading to a positive societal impact. Students are encouraged to dream, fail, and learn big, as passion and knowledge are essential components of a meaningful life.
What do you hope the students take away from their projects?
- Students explore their pursuit and development of an individual passion
- Collaboration to achieve goals and to better understand the relationship between an individual passion and the enactment of that idea in society
- The demonstration of the growth of competencies both related to passion and communication
What are some of the challenges that you had to overcome while organizing all the steps of the project throughout the school year?
The challenge for mentors is often the vast number of unique projects they may be far outside of their expertise. However, the mentors support the students as guides to their projects rather than experts in the area of the projects. For me, as head of year, my challenge has been to try and see all of the outstanding projects the students have undertaken.
Is there anything you would think to change about the project for the next year 10s?
I think we need to consider the development of the passion project exhibition carefully. How can we fully capture the elements of a live presentation at the exhibition? How students can curate their projects for public viewing.
A big thank you to Mr.Hetherington for taking the time to answer our questions and hopefully this will help the future Year 10 students to understand what this project consists of.
