2013 Senior Project Fair

Heath Commons was abuzz with conversation, video, live music, and jiu-jitsu on Friday, May 24 as select seniors presented the Senior Project Fair. From research projects to illustration, volunteer work to coaching, vegan cooking to biking in New Haven, dance performances to guitar compositions, and the senior class video, the spectrum of topics represented at the fair offered visitors a diverse and fascinating smörgåsbord of information. 

 

The following are descriptions of all the projects. See a gallery of photos from the fair, as well as video of some performances.

 

 

Isabel Bailin

Adviser: Ms. Wich

I have chosen to study a variety of Italian classical songs with Mrs. Wich (choral teacher) and Mary Kleshevsky (a Yale music student) each week. It was then my responsibility to memorize and practice the songs on my own and do some research on the composers and the meaning of the pieces. What I love about this project is that it combines my two passions: singing and Italian. I have been singing practically my entire life; I have taken it more seriously since seventh grade. Mrs. Wich trained me initially as an alto, but later prompted me to become a soprano in order to expand my range. I began studying Italian in freshman year and fell in love with both the language and also the culture of Italy. At the senior project fair, I will present two live songs, Amarilli Mia Bella and Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento. I hope you enjoy my performance!

Performance in WEISSMAN ROOM on Friday, May 24, 3:45 pm. Running Time, 15 minutes. Accompaniment by Ms. Wich.

 

Shivali Gupta
Fusion Dance

Adviser: Ms. Sperber
I have been learning the Indian classical dance form of Bharat Natyam for nine years, and I completed my graduation, or Arangetram, in this dance form in 2009. Since then, I have not been able to keep in touch with this dance form as much as I would have liked to, and have never had the chance to choreograph my own number. I have also always been interested in other dance forms, including Hip Hop. I taught myself some elementary Hip Hop steps via YouTube tutorials and integrated these into a fusion choreography with Bharat Natyam and Hip Hop dance, finding ways that the seemingly different styles can flow and blend together. 
Performance in LOVELL HALL on Thursday, May 23, 2:30 pm.

 

Mariel Shlomchik
A Play in Three Acts

Adviser: Mr. White
Over the past 6 weeks I have written a full-length play in 3 acts. Before I began I created character sketches of my 9 characters and wrote a detailed outline of my play. Each following week I had recorded cast readings, where I had actors read the script so I could detect which lines needed to be changed. Once my play was completed I had my cast read through it one last time before it was read and performed publicly on Monday, May 20th. My final product includes my final play, my drafts, my writer’s notebook and the recordings of my cast readings.
Staged Reading in LOVELL HALL on Monday, May 20, 3:30. Running time: 70 minutes.

 

Isabel Szawiola
The Art of Practical Self-Defense

Adviser: Mr. Melchinger
I started the project with one goal in mind: learn some self-defense. This goal has taken me into the realm of jiu-jitsu, and I have trained with second-degree brown belt Ian Melchinger and Black Belt Hall-of-Famer Grand Master George Logan. Even though the seniorproject time is only six weeks, I have been learning for several months now. I now know how to execute some proper kicks, punches, palms, and throws, and have practiced techniques for typical real life situations. I have also learned a lot of things outside of self-defense, like how to roll and fall. Along with physical training, I have written mini-stories in which a character uses the techniques I've learned in real-life situations to defend herself. 

Come join me during the activities fair to see me demonstrate my acquired skills, with the help of Mr. Melchinger!

Performance of Self-Defense Techniques in Heath Commons on Friday, May 24, 4pm.  Please be advised that the performance contains some physical contact, falls, yelling and violent images. Although the performance is choreographed, artistic and carefully controlled, folks who get upset by violence should avoid it. Mr. Melchinger is a ranked jiu-jitsu practitioner and will not be harmed, but he will simulate the harm a bully might experience if he were to attack Iza in several scenarios. Running Time: 15 minutes.

 

 

Christopher Cappello
Could Be Bitter Forever:
A Project of Recording, Production and Leadership

Adviser: Mr. Smith
For my senior project, I recorded my sophomore full length album Could Be Bitter Forever, an 11 track LP that I wrote over the past year and a half. Working with audio engineer Ian Bates at his studio in Wallingford, I tracked the record over the past six weeks and aided Ian in the mixing and mastering process. Although Could Be Bitter Forever is a solo album in name, it was effectively an ensemble piece, featuring crucial instrumental and vocal contributions from a number of my close musician friends. Stylistically, the album ranges from blistering, angst-ridden punk rock to elegiac folk and misanthropic slowcore, drawing on the work of artists such as Titus Andronicus, The Mountain Goats, and Conor Oberst's punk rock side project Desaparecidos. Featuring a bevy of instruments and intentionally open lyrics, Could Be Bitter Forever is a sonically polarized rumination on loss and depression -- a self-absorbed wallowing session that, in its harshness, transcends its solipsism. 

 

Nailen Matschke
Songwriting by Example: Heavier than Osmium Edition

Adviser: Mr. Smith
During the senior project period, I listened to and examined six albums that I enjoy listening to by six different bands, split into three groups of two albums each. This involved writing out the strong structure, chord progression, and general notes about each song, and then writing a detailed written analysis for each song in a blog format. Then, for each group of two albums, I wrote a song for two guitars, bass, and drums based on them, using what I had learned from my analysis as a guide. I made a demo version of each using mostly MIDI instruments and Garageband, then re-recorded them with real instruments, myself on guitar(s) and bass, and my friend Skye on drums.

 

Susana Wilson-Hawken
Cello Composition and Recording

Adviser: Mr. Melchinger
For my senior project I composed a partly structured, partly improvised pop piece. The project was not really about the final product, though. It was about figuring out and discovering what it takes to compose a piece, becoming a more free flowing player, and learning more about music theory as I went. 

 

 

 

Kate Bradley & Aliza Van Leesten

Adviser: Ms. Leite
We started out with a huge goal of comparing our athletic program at Hopkins to peer schools', coaching the Junior School team, and learning from Hopkins coaches what the important qualities are for an effective coach. Through the six weeks of our project, we narrowed the focus down to just improving the team as much as possible and improving our own coaching techniques. The girls have taken huge steps in their stick skills, strategic play, and defense, and we are proud to be their coaches. Along with coaching, we interviewed Hopkins coaches and compiled their answers to our questions to observe some common practices. We then incorporated these techniques into our own style. Overall, this project has been a huge success. 

 

Max Coffey & Chris Durham

Adviser: Mr. Elrick
Every day for the spring athletic season, we have coached ten Junior Schoolers in water polo. There has never been an official water polo program, other than the varsity program, at Hopkins. We saw this team as an opportunity to not only introduce the game of water polo, but also to organize a program that better prepares players for success on the varsity level. The kids have shown great improvements both physically and in respects to the understanding of the game. We, as coaches, feel as though we have gained as much from this program as the kids have, and we are hopeful it will continue next year.

 

TJ Dembinski & Alex Mukherjee
Coaching Junior School Tennis

Adviser: Ms. Wineland
TJ Dembinski and Alex Mukherjee helped coach the Junior School Tennis Team for their Senior Project. Going into the endeavor, each had their own specific goals; TJ wanted to improve his tennis game by learning proper techniques and strategy through coaching, while Alex wanted to determine which drills and coaching methods are the most successful in helping people improve. They both had a blast while achieving these goals. They coached the team during all of the practices and found the experience to be both personally rewarding and hopefully valuable to the Hopkins Junior School Tennis Team.

 

Jonathan Kluger
Becoming an assistant soccer coach with Everson Maciel

Adviser: Dr. Brant
This spring I volunteered as an assistant coach for two Amity Soccer Club’s U10 girls teams to work alongside Everson Maciel, a well known Brazilian coach in the youth soccer community in Connecticut. I spent most of my time teaching the players technical aspects of the game, mainly skills related to receiving the ball and dribbling past defenders. When Everson split the large group into his usual A-team and B-team for small-sided games and full-field scrimmages against local boys’ and girls’ teams of various ages, I usually managed one of the teams and played the role of a head coach. In addition to demonstrating foot skills and running Everson’s drills, I designed a few of my own drills and made three practice plans in case Everson missed a session and needed me to run it (he didn’t). The drills I designed can be found in my Technical Soccer Guide, and my thoughts on each practice can be found in my journal.

 

Doug Schaffer & Paul Tupper
Junior School Baseball Assistant Coaching

Adviser: Mr. Roberts & Mr. Treat
Doug and Paul were proud to take a role in helping the Junior School Baseball team practice and train for their spring season. With Mr. Roberts missing action due to his knee surgery, this turned out to be a big year for assistant coaching, and we had a great time working with these kids. Come to the Coaches’ Corner at the fair and ask about what we did!

 

 

 

Leili Azarbarzin, Kirsten Jorgensen, Ben Kazer, and Yohan Kim
Senior Video

Adviser: Ms. Hartup
Our Senior Project is a series of candid footage that aims to tell the story of our final few weeks at Hopkins. We have displayed our classmates doing what they love, whether it pertains to arts or athletics or simply being around their friends. Through student and teacher interviews, this video is sure to be a tear jerker.

 

Sam Beck & Ryan McMahon
Sports Journalism & Blogging 

Adviser: Mr. Ayer
We explored sports journalism and blogging.  We set deadlines and wrote about current events to simulate what it would be like to write sports journalism full time.  Over the course of the project, we rotated between writing daily, informative articles and longer opinionated articles.  The project concluded with a significantly longer essay to fully illustrate the skills and techniques we’ve developed over the previous four weeks of writing.  The design of the project was to demonstrate our growth and development in sports journalism.

 

Aliyah Bixby-Driesen
The Zoo: Live-blogging the House of Representatives

Adviser: Mr. Peters
For my senior project, I watched a portion of every meeting of the House of Representatives for six weeks. As I watched, I turned the discussions, strategies, and quirks of the Representatives into an accessible and (hopefully) humorous blog. I played around with different forms, such as comics and word pictures. Though I eventually settled on the traditional blog format, my experimentation led to some interesting insights about what I found most exciting in the political process. 

 

Mike Howland-Dewar & Matt Russell
Collision at Königgrätz

Adviser: Mr. Casanova
We set out to research a battle, and then create a military simulation around it. We ultimately chose  the battle of Königgrätz, the climactic battle of the Seven Weeks War, for its relative obscurity, tactical and technological interest, and historical importance. We then set about finding a good part of the battle to simulate (the center, at the climax of the battle), making a map and pieces to represent the center and the two armies, and devising a rule set that would A) create a fun, balanced game and B) represent differences in the technology and command structure of the two armies. You get to see the fruits of our labor by playing out our game with us. 

 

Patrick Quinn & Jason Teplitz
Tales from the Labyrinth: An Old-School Video Game

Adviser: Mr. Young
Tales is a browser based computer game created and produced by Jason Teplitz and Patrick Quinn. Over the last two months they have combined Jason's technical skills with Patrick's singular ability to make things up, and successfully built a multiplayer game which players can enjoy with their friends, or by themselves. Every part of the game is open-source, which means that anyone can build upon or modify what they have created, and they are both excited to share their work with everyone, and they hope that everybody enjoys it!

 

Emma Speer
The Fitness Speerit

Adviser: Ms. Lane
I maintained a fitness and nutrition science-based blog called The Fitness Speerit.  I wrote approximately four entries per week about what is going on in your body when you exercise or eat, with sources from books, textbooks, professionals (whom I interviewed) and reliable websites.  I started off thinking that I was going to explore the concept of “what is health?” in the physical sense but the projecttransformed more into “how does physical health translate into mental health and vice versa?” While many entries were thoroughly science based, I would say the highlights are my philosophical entries and the results from a school-wide survey I conducted about body-image in the Hopkins community. The titles for my science entries include Calories, Fast Twitch and Slow Twitch Muscles, Red and White Meat, Anaerobic Alactic Exercise, and Graphs of Body-Image. Come see the blog, spin the game-wheel, and maybe learn a yoga posture!

 

Timothy Taurchini
NFL Draft, Site & Blog

Adviser: Mr. Sperling
For my senior project I made a website on the 2013 NFL Draft using Apple's iWeb software. On the website I wrote about the entire draft process including senior bowl stock reports, combine stock reports, mock drafts, big boards, team need pages, and team grade pages. Following the NFL Draft is a passion of mine so I tried my best to emulate what professional draft sites do in the hope that I can utilize what I learned in the future. 

 

Sarah Wagner
The Adam Stanton House

Adviser: Ms. Barrows
I read through mostly 19th century documents from The Adam Stanton House, a historic Federal house museum in Clinton, and transcribed them online. The original owner of the house, Adam Stanton, was an extremely wealthy merchant and owned the only general goods store for miles. I transcribed 20 documents with each transcription including: the full text, at least one picture of the document, date the letter was written, the author’s and receiver’s names, and a brief description about what the document contains. In addition to the transcriptions, I include the first three generations of the Stanton family, including each person’s birth, death, parent, spouse and children, as well as historical events taking place at the time. These were done using tiki-toki.com and resulted in three different timelines stacked on top of each other so the viewer can easily see the documents, who was alive, and what was happening at the time these documents were written. 

 

 

 

Brendan Donovan & Bella Perrino
Erin Go Bragh and Pushing Luck: 
feature film treatments featuring conceptual artwork

Advisers: Mr. Johnson & Mr. Ziou
For this project, Brendan wrote two film treatments for which Bella provided concept art. A film treatment is a pitch for a screenplay; rarely does a producer have time to read a full spec script, so most screenwriters create treatments as a preview to summarize the plot. The treatments contrast each other in style and genre: Erin Go Bragh is a period drama;Pushing Luck is a modern comedy. Bella's pieces include movie posters, character sketches, and set design. They help to provide the mood and style of the treatments visually.

 

Saiyara Fahmi
Exploring the Colors of Music

Adviser: Ms. LaBelle-Young
My project brings together several artistic ambitions: improving my oil painting, integrating  more art history knowledge, and combining my piano playing with painting to understand more about the Romantic and Impressionistic movements in both painting and music. Working with my own recording of Franz Lizst’s “Un Sospiro” Concert Etude No.3,  I have created paintings that hope to capture aspects of Lizst’s piece in oil painting. My small canvases will be mounted on the wall, and I invite you to try the headphones and listen to Lizst’s music as you watch my painterly interpretations.

 

Oliver Hare
Graphic Novel: Scripting, Penciling, Rendering

Adviser: Mr. Melchinger
The exciting story of Oliver Hare as he attempts to write and render his own original story in the form of a graphic novel.  Experience the journey of his two characters discovering the true meaning (or lack) of friendship, and how to successfully purée your botched satanic rituals.  Also view Oliver's constant struggle with mediocrity and utter exhaustion while trying to draw. He drew a bunch; it wasn't fun.

 

 

 

Jonathan Ashken
Internship with TEDMED organization

Adviser: Ms. Cahn
For my Senior Project I had an internship with an organization called TEDMED. TEDMED describes itself as a, “multi-disciplinary community of innovators and leaders who share a common determination to create a better future in health and medicine.”  The main platform for this community is the TEDMED conference that occurs once a year at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. During my internship I had the opportunity to work closely with TEDMED employees at TEDMED’s head quarters in Stamford, Connecticut. I then traveled to Washington, D.C. to work at the conference itself. I had a great time at TEDMED. I experienced the day-to-day activities of a real world work place, observed fantastic talks, and learned about ways to improve the field of healthcare for the future.

 

Josh Knopf
An Advanced Study of GMOs and BioChemical Applications into Research

Adviser: Mr. Young
I set out to learn the process by which much biochemical research is done in collegiate and graduate settings, I have done technical biochemical lab procedures to test for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in different foods.  I have separated strands of DNA through the use of buffers, combined these strands with different DNA primers that test for the GMOs, ran PCR and tested the samples in an agarose gel.  PCR is a timed heating and/or cooling of the DNA-Primer mixture to help combine and separate wanted strands of DNA that have connected to the primer sequences.  Once this is complete, an agarose gel tests whether there are genetically modified organisms in the test samples.  The agarose gel is loaded with the samples and then put through electrophoresis (placed in an electrically charged pool of a certain kind of buffer for 30 minutes). The gel is then destained and an analysis of the appearance of GMOs i the food can be made.  I have run these tests seven times using different food samples. 

 

Kate McNally
Finding My Flow

Adviser: Mr. Melchinger
I began my project with conflicting sentiments: the wish to find and play music that allowed me to express myself fluidly, and a fear of musical performance that, in the past, has stopped me from actually playing and expressing myself in public. I have grown tired and frustrated by that fear of placing myself in a vulnerable position; the older I get, the more it hinders me from real self expression and experiences that are really worthwhile. At its core, my senior project is taking on that fear head on. For the last six weeks I have immersed myself in music that I feel expresses a true piece of me and rehearsed it with the intention of sharing it with others. The music I have chosen to represent me seems to have broken into three distinct categories: choral, folk/bluegrass, and rap. The largest aspect of study (and fun) in my project has been the opportunity to learn how to play the banjo for the folk/bluegrass element of my project. More than any other instrument I’ve played, I feel most able to express myself and “flow” with the banjo. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten more lost in music than in the last two months. I don’t think I’ve ever actively done more things to push myself out of my comfort zone, either. In many ways, because of this project, I feel stronger than I ever have. 

 

Cara Meyer
Musical Composition and Arrangement

Adviser: Mr. Melchinger
This spring I've been happily immersed in music. I began by arranging Sara Bareilles' "Bright Lights and Cityscapes" for female voices. I then worked on writing an original song, "Gross and Familiar," that pushed the boundaries of pretty, comfortable harmony. After that, my project became more performance based. Mr. Mel and I co-wrote a melody line for an Emily Dickenson poem and performed it at the poetry slam. To conclude my project I have been working with other senior musicians and putting together several folk songs to perform in the future. 

 

Cadence Miskimin
Teaching the Oceans: A Reflection on Marine Conservation Education

Adviser: Mr. Young
I spent the last four months volunteering as a docent (exhibit interpreter) at the Mystic Aquarium. My job has been to educate the guests at the aquarium about the animals in our exhibits, and what they as citizens can do to help with ocean conservation efforts. I have also written a paper about my experience at Mystic, and the various environmental topics I have tried to teach the guests while working there.

 

Gleeson Ryan

Adviser: Mr. Anderson; Rep: Ms. Bennitt

Course substitution: About Poetry

I have been teaching myself to speak German. Though I worked mostly from a self-study book, I had weekly lessons with a teacher for speaking practice. I listened to pop music, and read poems, stories, and online news for additional practice. Since it is tricky to demonstrate how much German I learned, I have some interesting activities planned for the fair. If you are curious about how it would sound to speak English with German word order, or if you want to hear the longest compound German words I can think of, I will have entertaining examples to share.

 

Maeve Serino

Adviser: Mr. Melchinger
My journey began with the need to inspire others.  I wanted to learn how to take the passion I have for so much of life and transform it into something meaningful and important.  And so, this project started out with me teaching and assisting dance classes at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven.  But that’s not what this is really all about.  This is about reaching deep inside myself to extract a dialogue for which I have unknowingly been collecting data since I was six.  It’s a conversation about passion: how to get it, why we need it so badly, what happens when it dies, and, perhaps the scariest one of all, is it real?  Although the cards presented at the senior project fair are a condensed version of my writing shaped by my experiences in the dance world, at school, and with family and friends, I invite you to read them.  I invite you to share in my process of self-assessment, exploration and discovery.  And I hope that by doing this, you will choose to embark on a similar journey of your own.

 

Liam Taylor

Adviser: Ms. Ratcliffe

Folding a thousand origami cranes is a traditional Japanese exercise referred to as aSenbazuru. I undertook this practice to explore meditation, spirituality, and work ethic in our modern environment. Along the way came interesting observations about efficiency, self-worth and self-persuasion, and the ways the Hopkins community itself reacts to such a project. The completed work lends itself to the discussion of art in our society, and of what we convince ourselves is important.

 

Rachel Wishnie-Edwards

Adviser: Mr. Saunders

Focusing on bicycle infrastructure and safety, I researched the growing bike culture of New Haven and its problems.  This involved mapping routes for and going on an approximately twenty-mile bike ride each weekend of the project, reading articles about biking and bike safety in the city, and interviewing five major characters in the local biking scene.  I rerouted my first two rides, to the Shoreline and Woodbridge, respectively, to avoid areas that were dangerous or unpleasant to bike through.  Analyzing what made these roads feel less safe was a part of my writing and research.  Two of my interviews were with bike activists, two with city authorities in charge of implementing bike lanes and other infrastructure, and one interview was with a city official and bike advocate.  My research culminated in a “New-Yorker style” article expressing what I have learned, how I feel about it, and what my conclusion is regarding the “bike problem” in New Haven.  

 

 

 

Spencer Lowlicht

Adviser: Mr. Brown

I began with the idea of forging my own blade. I have always been interested in blacksmithing, but I had never attempted it. When numerous professional blacksmiths could not spare their valuable time to instruct me one-on-one, I took it upon myself to design and build my own forge in my backyard. I then used this forge to smith a longsword out of hardened steel. Finishing touches were made with a metal grinding wheel.

 

Max Martone

Adviser: Mr. Taylor
For those who have even heard the word “Robot,” the humanoid based bots are just about iconic, and I believe the arm is no exception.  I have spent the past six weeks building an arm from a kit, and then playing around with the various things that can be done with it.  These have ranged from simply picking up an object, to writing down a word with pen and paper.  The project was a great introduction and exploration of robotics, not to mention it resulted in a pretty cool robot to play around with.

 

Dan McCabe

Adviser: Mr. Taylor
For all the non-guitarists out there, an effects pedal is something you run an electric guitar through to change the input sound before it reaches an amplifier. For my project, I built two different distortion pedals from scratch. Basing them on schematic diagrams I found online, I created the circuits for my pedals from basic electronic components and soldered in the switches, jacks, and other parts necessary to use them. The simpler pedal is similar to one that would actually be sold, while the more complicated pedal didn't reach its final form - but as a working prototype, it's a good way to see what a circuit that creates a distortion effect looks like.

 

John Rogers

Adviser: Mr. Mueller
My parents had a dysfunctional upright piano in their basement that they didn’t know what to do with. Because I love carpentry and woodwork, I decided to build a drinking station using the piano as the foundation. Stages included: refinishing the outer surface, adding a countertop, building an underneath storage cabinet, installing a mirrored backsplash, and more. Although the final project is too bulky to easily bring to the fair, please come check out my poster with pictures and details about what it really takes to remodel furniture in this way.  

 

Sabra Stratton

Adviser: Mr. McCord
My senior project explored veganism through the creation of vegan base foods such as tofu, seitan, and tempeh. By making these from scratch I was able to fully understand how just a hand full of soy beans can make an ingredient usable in thousands of dishes. After making these soy products from scratch I used them in various recipes. This project allowed me to easily transition into being a vegan by providing me with freshly made products high in protein and essential vitamins. All in all my project stresses the importance of completely embracing a lifestyle when you give up another one. 

 

Max Ying

Adviser: Mr. Gries
This senior project involved learning how to fold and design origami models. Each week, I chose a few models by other artists to fold and analyze, placing emphasis not only on the end product, but also on the hidden mathematical patterns that underlay each creation. After folding each model, I deconstructed them and studied the resulting crease patterns. By the end, I also created two of my own origami designs, using the techniques I learned during the folding process.

 

 

With best wishes from the Senior Project Committee:

Ms. Alina Badus

Mr. Benjamin Johnson

Mr. Miguel Pizarro

Ms. Susan Bennitt

Mr. Bruce Kaplan

Ms. Penny Ratcliffe

Mr. Michael Calderone

Ms. Karen Klugman

Mr. Brad Ridky

Mr. Mark Davenport

Ms. Jacqueline LaBelle-Young

Dr. Phil Stewart

Ms. Jillian Gleason

Ms. Jennifer Lane

Mr. Joshua Young

Mr. Dan Gries

Ms. Daria Melnyk

Mr. David Harpin

Mr. Ian Melchinger (chair)