ROBERTS VAUX HIGH SCHOOL
SENIOR PROJECT HANDBOOK
INTRODUCTION
The Senior Project is a graduation requirement of both the School District of Philadelphia and Roberts
Vaux High School. Seniors must prepare a typed, original essay and a PowerPoint presentation. Both
the paper and the presentation must receive a satisfactory rating as judged by a panel of
administrators and faculty members. All students who wish to be considered for graduation must meet
deadlines in a timely manner and complete ALL required components.
DEADLINES/CHECKLIST
The following dates are meant to keep you on track with the project requirements. You should closely
follow the deadlines to make sure that you are going to be able to finish in time and that your Senior
Project Mentor has enough time to read over items and return them to you.
October 31ST
Thesis/Mentor Approval Form Submitted to Project Coordinator
November 21st
Community Service Form Submitted to Project Coordinator
December 12th
Research Paper Outline (with at least 5 sources)
Submitted to Mentor
Community Service Completed
Community Service Documentation Submitted to Coordinator
First Draft of Paper Due to Mentor
January 23rd
January 30th
February 27th
March 20th
April
Second Draft of Paper Due to Mentor
First Draft of PowerPoint Due to Mentor
Final Draft of Paper Due to Project Coordinator
Final Draft of PowerPoint Due to Project Coordinator
Projects will be presented
COMMUNITY SERVICE
You must complete 25 hours of community service that relates to the topic of your research paper.
After you finish the community service hours, you must then write about your experience in your
paper and show how it helped you to learn more about the topic.
EXAMPLE: If you are writing a research paper about homelessness, you could volunteer at a
homeless shelter.
EXAMPLE: If you are writing about politics, you can volunteer on a political campaign.
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PAPER
The paper is the first part of the Senior Project that will be turned in. The research paper should take
you at least a month to research and another month to write several drafts before having a perfect
copy. To avoid several mistakes that have been made in the past, please read over the following
suggestions to ensure that your project experience goes smoothly.
-
Do not begin your paper until you have gotten approval of your thesis/topic.
Do not change the thesis/topic of your paper without approval
Make sure you make a detailed outline before you begin to write your paper (your outline must
be attached to your final copy)
Topic: The topic is simply the general category that you will be researching.
EXAMPLE: Divorce rates in America; Female Poets; State prison systems
Thesis: The thesis is a statement made in the introduction of your paper that specifically details what
you will prove in your paper or what you are trying to figure out. You must be attempting to show
something through your paper that is not common knowledge.
Poor Thesis
Drugs can ruin peoples’ lives.
Effects of Teen Pregnancy
Alzheimer’s Disease
Good Thesis
American media influences teenagers
to start and continue dangerous drug
addictions.
What are the long-term effects of
teen pregnancy on the baby and the
mother and what can be done to
prevent teen pregnancy?
What are the causal factors of
Alzheimer’s disease and what can be
done early in life to prevent it?
Resources: Your research paper should be supported by information and facts that you get from books,
approved websites, newspapers, and magazines. You can only use information from the internet that is
from a government or official organization website (so that it is reliable). Please see the APA citation
guidelines attached to make sure you are making your “Works Cited” page and citations in your text
properly.
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INTERVIEWS
Your research paper should include a minimum of 2 interviews from people related to your topic. The
interviews are important because they give you information that you may not be able to find in books.
Additionally, it will help you improve your interviewing skills.
EXAMPLE: If you are writing a paper about Alzheimer’s disease, you could talk to a doctor that
specializes in geriatrics or you could interview someone that works with the elderly.
EXAMPLE: IF you are writing a paper about the Revolutionary War, you could talk to a history
professor or someone at the history museum.
PRESENTATION
The second part of the Senior Project is a presentation in front of faculty and administration from the
school and possibly the school district. You will be required to present your information in a speech
along with a PowerPoint that shows the findings of your research paper. Here are some basic
guidelines:
-
Dress must be professional
Your information should be simple and not written out in full paragraphs (use bullet points)
You should practice at least 3 times before giving the formal presentation
You must be prepared to answer any questions regarding the information you present
CHECKLIST
Use the following to keep track of what you have already done and what you still have left to do.
 25 Documented Hours of Community Service
 2 Interviews
 5 Page Paper
o Coverpage
o 5 pages of essay
o Works Cited Page
o Page numbers on each page
 PowerPoint Presentation on Jumpdrive
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APA FORMATTING
BASICS:
-
typed
double-spaced
-
1" margins on all sides
12 pt. Times New Roman font
COVER PAGE EXAMPLE
FACTORS OF CHILD OBESITY
1
THE MAJOR FACTORS IN CHILDHOOD OBESITY:
HOW AMERICA IS MAKING ITS CHILDREN FAT
AMANDA GARCIA
VAUX HIGH SCHOOL
SEPTEMBER 2008
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CITING A SOURCE
If you use a fact or idea from a source, you must cite it. If you do not cite it, it is plagiarism and will be
returned without approval for cheating. Please make sure you use citations properly.
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and
the page number for the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase
that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.
EXAMPLE: According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially
when it was their first time" (p. 199). Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using
APA style" (p. 199)
If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and
year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the
page number (although it is not required.)
EXAMPLE: According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time
learners.
APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
REFERENCES PAGE
The references page is where you show all the works you used to write your paper. Below are some
examples of how you cite common sources.
-
All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be
indented one-half inch from the left margin.
Alphabetize list by the last name of the authors.
Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
Author of Book
Last name first, followed by author initials.
Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 11, 7-10.
Article in a Magazine
Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.
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Article in a Newspaper
Unlike other periodicals, p. or pp. precedes page numbers for a newspaper reference in APA style.
Single pages take p., e.g., p. B2; multiple pages take pp., e.g., pp. B2, B4 or pp. C1, C3-C4.
Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The Country Today, pp.
1A, 2A.
Web Document, Web Page, or Report
List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt around to find the
information; don't be lazy. If there is a page like http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and
somepage.htm doesn't have the information you're looking for, move up the URL to
http://www.somesite.com/):
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved month day, year (only
if the text may potentially change over time), from http://Web address
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SENIOR PROJECT THESIS/MENTOR APPROVAL FORM
DUE: OCTOBER 31st
RETURN TO: MS. THIBOULT (ROOM 309)
Before you begin writing your research paper you must first have your thesis statement and Senior
Project Mentor Approved.
Please fill in the following information and return to Ms. Thiboult by OCTOBER 31st.
NAME:
BOOK #
THESIS STATEMENT:
FOR SENIOR PROJECT ADVISOR ONLY:
APPROVED?: Y
N
INITIALS:
NAME OF PROPOSED MENTOR:
SIGNATURE OF PROPOSED MENTOR:
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SENIOR PROJECT COMMUNITY SERVICE APPROVAL FORM
DUE: NOVERMBER 21ST
RETURN TO: MS. THIBOULT (ROOM 309)
Before you begin your community service, you must have your location and project approved by the
Senior Project Committee. You should contact the place you want to volunteer and make sure you can
volunteer there and get a contact name and # for our records.
Please fill in the following information and return to Ms. Thiboult by NOVERMBER 21st.
NAME:
BOOK #
THESIS:
Name of Proposed Community Service Location:
Contact Person at Proposed Site (Name and #):
How does the location relate to your research paper?
When do you plan to volunteer there?
FOR SENIOR PROJECT ADVISOR ONLY:
APPROVED?: Y
N
INITIALS:
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SENIOR PROJECT COMMUNITY SERVICE LOG
DUE: JANUARY 23RD
RETURN TO: MS. THIBOULT (ROOM 309)
You must document all of your community service hours for your project. Please make sure that you
have your supervisor sign each time you volunteer. You must have 25 total hours by the deadline.
Please fill in the following information and return to Ms. Thiboult by JANUARY 23RD.
STUDENT NAME:
BOOK #
COMMUNITY SERVICE LOCATION:
Contact Person at Site (Name and #):
DATE OF SERVICE
HOURS LOGGED
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SUPERVISOR SIGNATURE
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