Have you ever thought about experiencing your dream career in high school? By signing up for a senior project, you can! This year, Franklin High School will have students going to Franklin Schools, TB12, Lake Stewards of Maine, Franklin Fire/Police, Wrentham Courthouse, and MAS Engineering. 

Senior, Erica Bain will be working with the author of the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series, Jeff Kinney, at his Unlikely Story bookstore in Plainville. 

“I will help out with his marketing and event planning team by expanding their PR lists and running their social media accounts. I think you can gain a lot of experience and create connections that you wouldn’t in high school” said Erica.

She added: “Because it is during the 4th quarter, I think it is a more valuable opportunity and it is something that I plan on putting on my resume. It truly is an experience that you wouldn’t be able to have any other way.” 

The last day of school for seniors doing senior projects will be April 7th and they will work on their project outside of school. On April 8th, they will have a review meeting. 

“It is all during the school day and I only come to school once a week to check in with advisors. You get to pick a day of the week and you have to complete 70 hours over 3-6 weeks,” said Erica. “ I will be going to Unlikely Story pretty much every day.”  

Seniors at FHS have the opportunity to sign up on Aspen at the beginning of the school year. They will work with Ms. Fernandes and Mr. Carmo to develop their projects. By December break, students know what they’ll be doing in the spring. When students begin their projects, their progress is recorded through check-

ins. 

“Every week you have to write a reflection about how things are going,” said Erica. “My advisors from Unlikely Story will also write a reflection to notify Mr. Carmo and Ms. Fernandes of my progress.”

The project has a 70 hour requirement. Once students complete their hours, they will then draft a website and an annotated bibliography with 8 sources on their field of study. They will also have a 15-minute presentation on May 23rd. It will be a series of 3 judges that are generally parents, advisors, and/or teachers. They will get to know what students did and how it affected them in terms of answering their essential questions.

Senior projects are a great way to discover your interests while also contributing to your community. Through working with businesses and schools, students have the opportunity to build connections that can guide them later in life. Ms. Fernandes and Mr. Carmo are currently working on modifications as they are rebuilding the program after internship cancellations last year due to COVID-19. 

Even as an underclassman, it is a great idea to consider signing up for this program during your senior year. For more information, you can reach out to Ms. Fernandes via email at [email protected].