Virtual exhibition has low turnout

The 2021 Personal Project exhibition was made optional for students . Each teacher was assigned four to five students, but for the average teacher, only a couple students showed up. 

The exhibition involved joining a zoom meeting with the Personal Project supervisor along with the supervisors cohort. Then students would present their personal projects one by one. 

Previous exhibitions allowed students to view what their entire class had done for their project, as they were spread throughout the student center, cafeteria and the gym. This year, students were confined to view only what those in their cohort completed. 

“I mean in my group specifically, lots of kids had internet problems. It really slowed the process,” said sophomore Peter Waterman. Waterman had a total of eight people in his Zoom meeting, including four teachers. 

With only four students presenting, Waterman’s exhibition experience was a long way from students in past years.

“The engagement was very low, along with personal interaction, but for what it was, it worked,” said supervisor Weston Heeren. Heeren had only two of his five sophomores show up, and only three completed the project. 

Heeren believes that because the exhibition was optional, students felt that it was a waste of time. At the same time, Heeren said that some projects worked out better virtually than others, such as one his students that built their own computer.