Twelve Highland students presented their honors projects during a Friday Forum on Friday, Dec. 6 during a Friday Forum in the Clarence Mitchell Library on the Highland campus in Freeport.
Honors projects allow students with an opportunity to seek a greater challenge and receive recognition to explore their own unique academic interests outside of the traditional classroom setting. To participate in the program, qualified students must submit a research plan to their instructor. The instructor then reviews the plan before the student begins the research project. Upon its completion, the research project is evaluated before the student is granted honors credit for the course.
“The Honors Program, and the individual projects that go along with it, are excellent opportunities for students to gain a deeper understanding into their chosen field,” said Evan Talbert, Highland Hospitality instructor and Director of the Honors program. “Each project is designed by the student with assistance from a supervising instructor, which means that not only is the student particularly interested in the topic, but they also get to have a stronger relationship with their instructors as they complete advanced study and specialized research.”
Students participating in the Honors Projects:
- Nwandu Abdulsalam (Freeport) — Research and paper on “crunch time/mode” in the software industry
- Madison Coon (Freeport) — Bacterial growth in classroom setting
- Caroline Giuffre (Freeport) — Using statistics to study cholesterol levels of various diets
- Olivia Kuhl (Durand) — Research and paper on speech-language pathologists in different settings
- Sydney Hayunga (Freeport) — Research and paper on Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Kierra Leverington (Freeport) — Research on growth of various seeds in different conditions
- Cassidy Loberg (Shannon) — Research and PowerPoint on life and work of artist David Alfaro Siqueiros
- Ceanna Loberg (Shannon) — Research and paper on music therapy
- Kennedy Schroeder (Rock City) — Updating and improving visual art portfolio
- Katherine Stevens (Freeport) — Chicago Bears highlight reel
- Abbygale Strominger (Lena) — Assisting Dr. Brendan Dutmer in researching how various bonds react (dual project)
- Brooke Sutherland (Davis) — Assisting Dr. Brendan Dutmer in researching how various bonds react (dual project)
Photo: (left to right) Caroline Giuffre, Madison Coon, Kate Stevens, Brooke Sutherland, Abby Strominger, Cassidy Loberg, Ceanna Loberg, Kennedy Schroeder