Our students will create a personal coat-of-arms, to display their family name, a special place, an animal that represents them, a passion, a book genre, a movie, something EXTRA , and a personal motto. The order does not matter.

PROJECT 13

Tunnels, mazes and more

In prior years, students designed tunnels, a classroom maze, and other interactive displays for the community. They also performed original skits, songs, and poetry on stage. The challenge each year is to come up with something original and inspiring; a reflection of learning and personal experiences. What will your verse be? CARPE DIEM!

PROJECT 13 ON STAGE?

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

​"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." ― John Keating (Dead Poet's Society)

THE STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS OF THE TEENAGE EXPERIENCE

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ​​― e. e. cummings

Personal Coat-of-Arms

Project 13 focuses on the varied experiences of NEW teenagers, as seen through their own eyes. Students will start from personal experience, then journey down various pathways in order to learn about the multitude of teenage experiences across the globe. Each "pathway" has been curated by students, so that they not only have voice and choice within the project, they also have agency in the project design process. Our resource list (see below) includes fiction and nonfiction books, articles, films, music and poetry. Students can choose how far THEY want to travel down each pathway. They will also discover that many of the pathways intersect, creating new opportunities for critical thinking and collaboration.

ALUMNI
"CARPE DIEM"
TATTOOS

D.P.S. 2022

URBAN ART

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Students will begin this writing project by making several decisions. First, they need to choose an issue that affects teenagers. Project 13 resources will facilitate their deep-dive into the specific issue they choose. Students will spend six weeks researching, which involves reading 2+ books, several articles and watching documentaries. They will take careful notes, develop a thesis, collect evidence and organize their arguments. Students will then work on a pre-writing activity, meant to solidify their arguments. The dialogue is a fictional back-and-forth conversation between two or more positions on the issue they chose to study. Finally, students will write, revise, edit, publish and record their argumentative essay. This is meant to be a culminating writing piece for Project 13.

Five past Five Future

Five events from your life that shaped who you are, and five goals for your teen years (13-19). You can create a poster, Google slides, a webpage on Adobe Express, a different creative product on Canva, or something totally original! Be prepared to present in class.

Old Indian Cave?

RESOURCE list

Non-FICTION:

​And Then They Stopped
Talking To Me
You Don't Know What
War is
The 57 Bus

​The Whole Story of Half a Girl
​Listen, Slowly
Refugees (Alan Gratz)
Two Degrees (Gratz)
Grenade (Gratz)
Ground Zero (Gratz)
Prisoner B-3097 (Gratz)
Long Way Down
The Fault in our Stars
Middle School: The Worst Years of my Life

ARTICLES:

Teen Drama
​Shot at School
​Teen Sailors
Dress Code Girls/Skirts
Teen Depression
Teen Mood Swings

FILMS:

Dead Poets Society​
8th Grade
Moxie
​Maiden Voyage
Lord of the Flies
​Grave of the Fireflies
The Breakfast Club

MUSIC and POETRY:

Keep Ya Head Up
Mean (Taylor Swift)
Proud of Your Boy
The Climb
Who Says
I Can
Landslide
​It's My Life
Amina and Hannah
Girls like Poetry
Perfect, Maia Mayor
7th Grade Poetry

Videos:
Teen survives car crash
Teen Decisions and Family
Teen Poetry GetLit

Students will be expected to read two books, one fiction and one nonfiction, two articles and watch two documentaries or movies. Most students will stretch themselves far beyond the minimum requirement. Each student will record their learning in an annotated bibliography. Example below.

FICTION:

The Crossover
Posted
The Hate U Give
Sanctuary
Dear Martin
Lord of the Flies
​Find Layla
Like Home
We Are Not Free
Internment