Sample Senior Project
By the time Ocean School students are in the highly challenging, self-directed, 2-year Senior Program, they are prepared to undertake complex, interdisciplinary projects that address existing needs. Here, a student has worked to design an inspirational, environmentally-focused campus for The Ocean School, wherein the school's mission informs both the structure and the relationship of that structure with the surrounding land. To develop this part of the project, the student has partnered with local environmentalists, land developers, and architects to understand both the challenges and the opportunities presented by such a development. He has designed a land use master plan as well as a physical model of a truly innovative, sustainable academic building.
Next, this student endeavored to extend the concept of sustainability by developing a course curriculum on the culture and craftsmanship of ancient Hawaiian surfboard design. In that proposed course, students are first challenged to explore the origins and impacts of a native sustainability ethos, and then undertake the actual experience of shaping their own board out of a single piece of environmentally-friendly wood.
