By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–There are those who know and those who are in the know. Seniors in AP English and English IV classes at Union City High School check both boxes.
The culmination of a year-long body of work, students of Joanna Wisener, Tara Kendall and Ashley Martin showcased their work as “experts” to the rest of the UCHS student body as part of an annual class project designed to tag them as all-knowing in their chosen subject.
A total of 85 UCHS seniors selected topics from a variety of choices made available to them last September, researching them in-depth to become “experts.” Arts and sciences, sports and medicine, as well social issues, were among the many subject matters on display.
Their extensive efforts were on exhibit earlier this week in the school’s commons area, which was dubbed as the “Senior Expert Project Museum” for the students’ knowledge and authority.
Along with the rest of the student body which milled about and questioned many of the students regarding their chosen subjects, faculty and administration quizzed the seniors and graded their presentations and later offered many positive reviews of their knowledge of their chosen topics.
Students were allowed to choose any topic that interested them, but the AP (Advanced Placement) students were required to pick something related to either literature or language. They were required by their teachers to use a variety of sources, including websites, interviews, videos, books and newspapers.
“The annual senior expert project museum has become one of my favorite activities of the year,” said Wisener, who has assigned some form of the project for six years now in her classes. “I enjoy seeing the creativity and hard work of the students as they confidently interact with their visitors.”
The seniors also made posters and made announcements advertising their showings at the “museum,” which was in its third year of existence under Wisener’s watch. Additionally, the students will give presentations to their respective English class and complete a variety of writing assignments.
They also had to apply for jobs, such as museum director, gallery director, public relations staff and physical laborers, as part of the overall project. The students made all the decisions — including how to group the projects into galleries and how to organize the layout of the museum.