Troll

A senior project to end all senior projects

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Marissa Luck

Seattle Public Schools recently joined other school districts in Washington — including Edmonds, Ellensburg and Waitsburg — in dropping a graduation requirement looming over the heads of seniors: the senior project. State legislators voted last spring to drop a statewide mandate, leaving it up to districts whether to require the projects, which range from research papers to community service undertakings. The Legislature acted in response to the efforts of a Yakima high school senior. 17-year-old Tiffany Stewart. The stepdaughter of state Rep. David Taylor, Stewart helped draft a bill as part of her own senior project. Her reasoning? Many students blow the projects off or don’t have the time or money to do more than the bare minimum. Should your district chuck senior projects? At last check, 68 percent of respondents to a Seattle Times' poll think so. — E.W.

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By Marissa Luck

Marissa Luck is a Tacoma-based writer and editorial intern at Crosscut. She has previously reported on issues of activism, homelessness, and Olympia city news for Works in Progress and Olympia Power &