On Dec. 9, seniors participating in a senior project submitted their preliminary proposals. A committee reviews these applications and gives their feedback. Submissions for final proposals, which detail the entire project, were then due late Thursday. Finally, the day after midterms end, the seniors will hit the ground running.

Senior projects are “independent study projects that is a senior’s last chance to take control of their education,” said Mrs. Valerie Mattessich, who collects the applications and is on the review board.

This year, there are two options for students who wish to participate. Option A is a lesser commitment where students work on their projects during the Pascack Period every week during the third and fourth marking periods.

Option B is a much more demanding commitment in which students get out of one related class period every day plus the Pascack Period during the third and fourth marking periods. Option B has many more requirements and is more time consuming than Option A.

In the past, there has been one option that fell somewhere in the middle of these two options in terms of requirements and time, among other factors.

This year, only 13 people applied, in comparison to about 30 that applied in past years. Mattessich said, “The turnout of students is interesting, as this is the first year we have really changed the program and created multiple options.”

The program started in the late nineties.

Students in the past have done everything from having equestrian shows on the Pascack Valley field to painting a mural to interning with accountants. One year, a helicopter landed on our field and another student wrote his own symphony and found an orchestra to perform it! There are countless options for students to choose what they want to do with their last few months of high school.