The Dream Exhibition

Well, we had it this week - the Dream Exhibition! It was interesting to watch students as the day drew closer. Some who had worked hard all along were calmly putting on finishing touches; those who had procrastinated were frantically trying to finish; and some who had neglected to ever really dive into the project were making excuses. It was a relief that only a few students came to me saying, "Mr. Call, I won't be ready by Thursday!" And it was empowering to be able to tell them, "Well, that's when we're scheduled to present, and I can't change the date now." Having an authentic audience really forced a lot of the students to have some skin in the game and put in some effort.

On the day of the presentation, we had a handful of visitors each period, and it was neat to watch most of the students put on their A-game presentation faces and share what they did. Here's a bit of a sampling of their projects:

Students...

• Interviewed a counselor and a probation officer over the phone,
• Made a full suit of cardboard armor,
• Researched what it would take to climb Mt. Everest,
• Job shadowed a mechanic and helped fix some cars,
• Compared cosmetology products to find the best and worst,
• Designed objects in a computer program that could be 3D printed,
• Created a magazine layout,
• Spent an evening with a photographer and helped with several photo shoots,
• Researched careers and colleges,
• Mapped out the prevalence of AIDS and the reasons for its spread,
• Recorded music and made a website to post it on here,  
• Did a ride along and interview with a police officer and saw someone get arrested,
• Built a section of roof to show all the layers that go into shingling,
• And more.

Along with all the awesome projects, there were still some students who meandered through the project, complaining it was dumb and bragging that they hardly did anything for it on any given day. I'll definitely share some of those stories in the future, but overall I thought it was a success and am glad it helped a number of students step closer to their dreams, whether it was a job or just an interest.

Here are a few photos of the event: