The Cafeteria was bustling on Thursday, February 12, 2025, as the Sophomores of Kaiser High School presented their MYP Personal Projects to the Freshmen.
Daniel Brummel, a Freshman who toured the Projects during the extended KAP shared his opinion on the students creative interests. “I thought that it was pretty cool to see what all of the Sophomores were interested in and how they turned that into a project for us to look at. However, I still feel pretty confused for what I’m going to have to do for my Personal Project.” He and many other students feel that information about the project is limited, and confusion is rampant.
The Personal Project is somewhat of a controversial topic amongst the students and faculty of Kaiser. Ms. Yano initially led the Personal project for several years at Kaiser. She thinks that a lot of great measures have been made to increase the completion rate of the project.
“By making the Personal Report an English assignment, we really increased the student completion of the project,” said Yano. “We also placed emphasis on the KAP lessons this year that led up to the Personal Project, which constantly reminded students to complete it, and set them up for success with ideas and tips.”
These changes have been successful as the completion rate of the project increased from about 30% last year, to more than 80% this year.
Yano believes that changes will and should continue to happen with the personal Project. “We are already working with the Freshmen KAP teachers to make sure that everyone is on the same page for the Personal Project…and making sure that we are all staying consistent with our message will help to increase the frequency and quality of the Project submissions for next year.
However, the Students’ opinions differ from that of the faculty’s. Eleonora Pililyan, a Sophomore at Kaiser chose to bake a Turtle Cake for her project. Pililyan feels that there are both pros and cons to the project.
“We don’t really have a lot of time for it, and…it counts as our English grade, which makes it worse.” However, she also thinks that it is a good way for students to develop their interests.
“If there’s something they want to develop…the Project kind of forces them to work on it…which can help them discover new talents and skills.”
Maximillian Tobin, a Kaiser Junior, shared his thoughts about the Personal Project. “I feel bad for all the Sophomores and Freshman who have to do this. I think it was better when the students had the option to do it, so it would less like a chore, and more of a personal choice.” This lack of agency over the Personal Project was a complaint for many, who felt that its restrictions confined their creativity over what they could do.
While the MYP Personal Project is surrounded by contention from students and faculty, supporters and haters, creativity and constriction, the Project will continue to grow and develop over the coming years.
