The first cohort of Middle College students successfully completed their first semester and are already looking ahead to what’s next. Students shared that they loved their first college course and are excited to begin two additional college classes this semester. Many students are taking more than the two courses to work towards additional degrees and certificates!
Throughout the semester, students also completed a “Passion Project,” a long-term, student-driven project centered on an individual interest or career goal. Students were told they could pick any topic of their choosing, and no two projects were alike. They researched and developed their ideas and created a culminating product. The semester concluded with a gallery showcase held in the Cerro Coso Library for college students and staff, followed by a family night where students formally presented their projects to an audience.
Students created video games, board games, and the “perfect cookie recipe” after trials with various baking supplies and ingredient temperatures.
Amara did a rewatch of her favorite show, Stranger Things to watch for different themes throughout the show, and then wrote her own season 6 using similar themes.
Chase did a deep dive on the art styles of his favorite anime, wrote a research paper on them, and then recreated different characters in those art styles. Brody researched different solar systems and created 3D models of them.
Juni created a fictional world (map, language, culture) and wrote the first chapter of a novel. She chose the theme “show not tell” and pushed herself to implement this in her writing by creating a main character who had lost her memory and lacked words to name many things and had to rely on descriptions to explain what her main character saw.