8th Grade Ambitious Projects

Last Tuesday night, the school was abuzz as this year’s 8th graders presented their work for our annual Ambitious Projects Night. The Ambitious Project (known as the “AP”) is an independent, out of school project that 8th graders design and pursue over the course of 8 weeks. They then present their work to the community at AP Night. This special night began with a “museum” of work, where the audience circulated around and asked questions of the 8th graders. Then we headed into the All School Room, where each student presented about their process and reflected on the experience. Then we opened the floor for noticings and commendations from the audience. The kids felt accomplished, celebrated and seen. It was a magical night! But don’t take my word for it. Here are some excerpts from student speeches and reflections:

My proudest moment from AP night was when I delivered my speech. I thought I would mess up a lot or forget something or freeze but I didn’t. I think I talked more clearly then I usually do because I was talking about something I experienced myself and about something I enjoy doing - Harper

My proudest moment from AP night was probably having a crowd around my station. I didn't think that people would want to see my work so it made me feel extremely proud when there were so many people trying to look that other people were on the tiptoes to see. - Tilly

I chose this project (making a table) because I wanted to do something that I haven’t done before. I think that I will enjoy doing things like this in the future just for fun, because I enjoyed the process that I had to go through while making this. I had to start this project pretty early because I knew it would take a long time to go through all the steps of making the project. -Asa