Practice makes perfect: Seniors unfold Magnet presentations
Magnet senior Jacqueline Ortiz delivers her research presentation, titled “Vaping versus Cigarette Smoking: Generational Perspectives.” After years of focused instruction, these seniors used their developed researching skills to study a modern topic of their choosing. Using collected data and graphs to visually represent their information, all the presentations featured a minimum 12-minute discussion and post questioning.
January 27, 2020
As fellow NC students, parents, and community members packed the Freshman Academy this past Saturday, January 25, senior members of the 2020 International Studies Magnet program eagerly awaited to unveil their research presentations. Following a year and a half of work throughout Magnet core classes (namely AP Research), Magnet seniors received feedback and assessment from three qualified community judges as well as any peers willing to contribute.
“I was a bit nervous before and after them. I feel like I didn’t meet up to the standards, but that’s just me being hard on myself. It feels good that I no longer have to worry about it and that it’s over with,” Magnet senior Hope Anyanwu said.
Entering high school as Magnet freshman in 2016, each year provided a new element of preparation for these senior presentations, which must receive a score of 75% or higher to rec a Magnet seal on their diploma. Topics for these presentations ranged anywhere from the “Reduction of Gun Violence in America” to the “Effect of BMI on Pitching Velocity.” Classrooms that held these presentations featured two Magnet juniors voluntarily serving as moderators, three community judges that operate within their respective fields and other local audience members including family and friends of the presenters. Mixed with a minimum 12-minute speech on their chosen topic, multiple graphs of data, and post-presentation questioning, these Magnet seniors faced a long checklist.
As each research presentation concluded, judges from across the local community with knowledge specific to each student’s topic wrote notes and questions for the presenters. Presenters needed at least a 75% to earn a Magnet seal on their diploma. “I don’t [think] I did the worst, but I think I was in the middle of the pack. Presenting was honestly pretty nerve-racking,” Magnet senior Hope Anyanwu said.
NC’s senior presentations encapsulated 4 years of hard work and dedication to the International Studies program, which results in an additional resume builder and achievement. Years from now, the 2020 class of Magnet seniors will look back to this Saturday morning as a pivotal moment in their successful journey.
“I feel like in a way, a chapter in my life has been closed finally. And I’m not mad about it at all,” Anyanwu said.
