Project Based Learning

Projects are at the core of our curriculum because projects are at the core of peoples' lives. We remodel our homes, create new management models, track the spread of diseases, and design websites. All of these efforts take planning, persistence, imagination, collaboration, and other complex skills. Meridian's projects deliberately cultivate these skills to prepare our students for college and beyond. Our projects come in many forms, but they all have common characteristics: 

1. Questions posed or modified by the students;

2. Student-driven research or problem-solving;

3. Analysis, synthesis, and creativity.

See below for examples of past Meridian projects.

Cortez's Conquest of Mexico: A Telenovela

Having spent the trimester exploring different aspects of Aztec culture and history as expressed through various types of literature and art, students in Spanish Advanced Middle School decided to also study the phenomenon of the telenovela, which, with hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide, have come to make up a significant part of Mexican daily life today. After learning about the history and influence of these television programs via articles, interviews, and examples, students also looked into the mechanics of creating a telenovela: script writing, plot elements, character development, story-boarding, and filming techniques. Finally, combining what they learned about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs with what they learned about telenovelas, students wrote, designed, produced, and acted in their own telenovela. Exploring themes of power, loyalty, betrayal, and new beginnings, the plot parallels the story of Cortés and Moctezuma, but through a contemporary lens.  

"What parenting strategies have the greatest influence on childhood development in under-resourced environments?": A Junior Year Research Project

Meridian students undertake their longest and most in-depth project in 11th grade. Working closely with an advisor, they carry out an original year-long research project on an academic question of their choosing. Students' responses to these questions take a variety of forms, including laboratory experiments, documentary films, literary analyses, research papers, comic books, and works of art. Learn more about JRPS here. Below, you can listen to Kenny's final project. He interviewed leaders and participants in local parenting programs and produced an original podcast about their work.