By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Their extensive research and passion for their respective subjects qualified 75 Union City High School seniors as “experts.”
Students in English IV and AP English Literature classes taught by Joanna Wisener and Ashley Martin again presented their annual “Expert” Museum in the commons area and library of UCHS this week.
A variety of topics – ranging from arts and sciences, medicine, social issues and sports – were examined in depth by seniors, who began the major project undertaking last September and weathered the challenges of the coronavirus outbreak and an uneven 2020-21 school year to again present an outstanding product.
Students were required to have eight sources, including a book, to complete their projects. Periodically, their research notes were checked by Wisener and Martin to ensure they were on track with their projects.
As part of the assignment after creating their display boards for the museum, the seniors also penned a short research paper and will give 10-minute presentations to their respective English class.
Faculty, staff, administrators and other students were invited to the museum to interact with the seniors and listen to a brief explanation of their projects. Each high school grade level had the opportunity to visit and spend 30 minutes all totaled hearing the “experts” speak.
Wisener, who has assigned some form of the project for five years now, admitted this year’s undertaking was considerably more challenging, given the circumstances.
“This was the final activity I did with my seniors last year before school was disrupted in March,” she said. “It was definitely on my mind as we began this school year, but I still wanted them to do as much of the normal Expert Project as we could while not knowing how much time we’d have together in class. We ended up having to adjust due dates and required sources because of virtual learning, and the students were also challenged to be more self-sufficient because we weren’t in class every day.
“Even though we had to scale back on some of the things we normally do, I am so pleased we ended up having what I believe was a successful museum. The students were able to share their expertise with all their visitors and that was our main focus – to make sure displays were set up and to allow our seniors to be able to interact with other students.
“They all did a great job maintaining the quality we have come to expect from this project and they showed great flexibility by successfully dealing with all the distractions.”
Martin, in her first year helping oversee the project, was thrilled to have witnessed student growth and maturity while they diligently researched and met deadlines.
“The expert project does a great job of preparing students to take responsibility for their own learning,” she said. “These seniors did a tremendous job of rising to the challenges that they were confronted with and I do believe the museum was a hit, as always!”