Seniors begin annual rite of passage: Senior papers

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Emily Hanes

Several seniors working on their senior paper in Mrs. Warlows class room.

Emily Hanes, Staff Writer

As the third nine weeks approached seniors have begun their senior paper. With this year being different due to COVID, students will be doing an annotated bibliography instead of a traditional paper. This is a little bit easier than all the different parts that usually make up the paper. In a usual school year, students would then present their research at the end of the school year. But this year Mrs. Warlow has not yet decided if students will be able to present. Mrs. Warlow is being hopeful that it will be “normal” by the end of the year.

This year the paper is going to be laid out differently. Seniors will still have a piece of the project due each week, but the layout is different. An annotated bibliography is also something that we students may see in college, so this is another “tool” that can be useful after high school. In preparation for the paper students have been doing research in the library for the argumentative aspect of the paper.

AP Students get to pick their topics first, Mrs. Warlow said adding, that is the bonus for taking AP. ACC students then pick topics a few days later.  This year students submitted their top 3 choices via a form on Teams. No two students will have the same topic and usually will get there first topic choice.

Mrs. Warlow said nothing will change with the project if our school would turn virtual again. Students were given a calendar for the third nine weeks to ensure that students have enough time for working. With having virtual days every other day students have plenty time to work. Mrs. Warlow stated: “Students have more time than ever before to complete this project, so there is really no reason it can’t be done and done well!”