Students Demonstrate Learning Through Culminating Projects and Experiences
January 12, 2026
At the end of every semester, you’ll find students at Thetford Academy putting their learning to work, applying the the skills and ideas they’ve practiced in the classroom. Through culminating projects and experiences, teachers encourage students to not only demonstrate their mastery of course material, but also their creativity and collaborative skills. Below are some examples of what students are doing this semester.
In Biology and Advanced Biology, students are deepening their understanding of body systems and anatomy through hands-on dissection. After studying the structure and function of various organs in class, students now get the chance to see exactly where and how these parts exist within organisms such as fetal pigs, urchins, and fish. To complement this experience, students also engaged in discussions around the ethical considerations of dissection, both in the classroom and in the medical field.
Students in Elizabeth Dowe’s Spanish 2 class created “Mi Vida” slide shows– demonstrating their written language skills and how to use the target language to express information about their lives. Here’s an image from Addison LaBelle’s slide show. Additionally, students in advanced Spanish classes read Spanish language popular novels and demonstrated their understanding of the text, expressed meaning in the target language, and used higher level vocabulary and pronunciation by creating movie trailers.
Melissa Perry’s Geometry students identified a building on campus they could attach a deck to, took measurements, planned and clearly explained what properties of a rectangle they used to ensure the deck was a rectangle, and “built” the deck.
Outdoor Education & Environmental Studies students, led by Scott Ellis, are hard at work on a community-based project in partnership with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), Kate Owen, and Mr. Deffner’s senior English class. Each student is designing an interpretive sign to teach VINS visitors about a concept from Tom Wessels’s Reading the Forested Landscape. Drafts will be ready to share with a wider audience by the end of next week, and final signs will be professionally produced and installed on site at VINS this spring.
In Design Tech, students are pairing up to create short instructional videos for future classes. One team is tackling safety protocols, while another is demonstrating how to make a cutting board. Each project involves scripting, accurate technical writing, iPad filming, iMovie editing, and voiceover narration. It’s a great example of students using a variety of communication, writing, and media skills, all grounded in their knowledge of safety and tool use in the workshop. Real-world, real-audience, and really impressive!
Here’s Cameron Chaffee and Parker Perry’s video about how to use the jointer. Real-world, real-audience, and really impressive!
Audio storytelling is booming. From crafted long-form documentaries to short digital narratives, audio storytelling transcends boundaries and connects listeners. 8th grade students planned, executed, recorded, and edited an interview with a member of their family. Here’s Danny Lloyd’s interview with his mom who served in the Iraq war and Jack Dubuque’s interview with his grandmother who earned Teacher of the Year and met President Bill Clinton.
