Everyone loves a good school project. They help us learn to work together and engage with content in new ways.  They are less restrictive and stressful than tests and can be a great break from the monotony of classroom lessons. Most classes at Madison have that one iconic project that makes the class memorable. 

The social justice project in English 10 has students research and write an essay about a relevant social issue of their choice. Then, they create a project that brings attention to the issue. While these can include the usual slideshows and comics, many students do “podcasts,” where they have meaningful discussions with knowledgeable experts or fellow students exploring the issue.

“I really like that we were able to pick a topic that we were interested in and write a presentation by ourselves,” Elise Chung (’27) said.

In Trigonometry Discrete, there is a unit on fair division where they use math to divide up items fairly. This can look like dividing up a cake that is half vanilla and half chocolate between five people, who all prefer vanilla. At the end of the unit, students get to decorate and divide up a cake based on the math they learned. This project is exciting for students, and is a hands-on way for students to practice what they learned in real life. 

“They apply what they learned to fairly divide what everybody can call fair share,” math teacher Heather Schrager said.

The political campaign project in AP Government involves students in small groups creating a campaign to run for class president. They have to create a video advertisement along with posters and can even go as far as social media posts. This project walks students through the campaign process that real candidates go through and is also a creative project that gives students freedom to experiment and learn. One memorable group focused on environmental issues during their campaign. Their party was the Lorax party and they gained support by dressing up in a lorax costume at school while filming memorable moments and posting them on Instagram. 

“I really enjoy anything that has to do with using creativity in video,” Jenna Jumaili (’25) said.

In Biology, students must create their own scientific experiment involving the growth of tobacco plants. This activity slowly guides the students through the steps of creating an experiment and is a chance to practice scientific writing in a real world scenario. 

“It was very straightforward, there was a lot of hands-on stuff …  it was just fun to grow plants,” Audrey Ta (’27) said.

The Holiday Fair, done by marketing students, involves the creation of a shop that sells something of student’s choice in the cafeteria right before winter break. This project challenges students to become entrepreneurs and test their ideas in a test market. It’s a creative challenge that pushes students to practice the ideas and techniques that they learn in class.

“It made us better businessmen and gave us real experience,” Alex Lowe (’26) said.

Projects offer a unique way for students to connect with content while collaborating with each other. They are a creative outlet that lets students show a unique version of learning that can’t be captured in a test.