Seniors Innovate in New Independent Study

By Sam Zaslow-Braverman ‘23
    Golda Och’s newest transitional tool for seniors moving into college allows for a more flexible approach to learning, and reflects a common university-based structure.  This senior ISP (Independent Study Project) is making its debut this year, offering seniors the opportunity to research a topic they are passionate about and implement their newfound knowledge into a personally designed project. 

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"I am really excited to continue learning about a subject that I find super interesting and I’m happy that I can choose the best way for me to learn," said senior Sophie Fischer. Her project focuses on music therapy for elementary schoolers, and will eventually be worked on with younger students. 
    Senior Isaac Groffman has taken a preparatory approach to the program. "I have been enjoying senior independent study because I feel like it is a good thing to get me prepared for college," he said. Groffman’s project centers around antisemitism on college campuses, with his end goal being to create a college-level curriculum to educate students on this worrying cultural phenomenon.
While a senior seminar existed previously, its credits were disproportionate to the work produced, with the class needing to be more centralized in the senior curriculum.
ISP advisor and Language Arts department chair Mr. Hefetz explained that “Since we are… a college preparatory school, senior seminar needed to reflect that more accurately. If the credit was going to increase, then the requirements needed to as well. So that’s how it [took] on the form of a scaled down version of a college independent study course.”
ISP coordinator and advisor, and language arts teacher, Mrs. Godin, is, according to Mr. Hefetz, “a perfect fit to coordinate, since she has both high school and college teaching experience.” “Understanding how to translate one experience to the other would come more naturally [to her],” Mr. Hefetz added. 
“After I was asked to be coordinator and given the ‘bones’ for the course,” said Mrs. Godin, “I thought about how to give seniors a taste of a college course that would not only allow for learning about and creating a product that students were passionate about, but also incorporates a variety of writing genres and critical thinking research steps that will benefit students in higher education and life.”
Senior Daniel Shapiro said, "I think this class is incredibly important for our development as students as we make our way into the wider world. It gives us the necessary mindsets of exploration and curiosity vital for success."
Shapiro's project focuses on how fungi can break down human waste, with the product of his work being the attempted digestion of clothing scraps completed entirely by an oyster mushroom.
    Though the seniors have entirely different projects, they are linked by a desire to explore psychological, social and/or scientific phenomena that are meaningful to them.

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