Portfolio Petitions

By: Corey Rainey

In the last week of November, a student started a petition that picked up some serious steam. This petition was specific to one of the graduation requirements of Chariho Regional High School, the infamous graduation portfolio. As the number of signatures at the time of writing this article is 538, barely under half of the student population, some consideration should be addressed to changing or getting rid of this graduation requirement.

To better understand the purpose of the portfolio, Mrs. Hackett, whose job is to provide oversight and assistance to every student regarding their portfolio, was interviewed. With 1,113 students at the High School, that has to be a hectic task., Mrs. Hackett stressed the importance of the portfolio in understanding one’s own experience at Chariho Regional. The portfolio, she explained, permits students to comprehend the Chariho 10. Those are the ten categories necessary to complete the portfolio, but each section demonstrates a different area of learning or real-world application for students. These ten distinct areas of gained knowledge are then tied into another cornerstone of Chariho life, the learning qualities. Those are the conferences done in each class evaluating a student from both the student’s and teacher’s perspective on their effort and character academically. One piece from the Chariho ten is then paired with one of the five learner qualities allowing the student to create and understand later not only what they applicably learned from this project, but also how their own character might have been developed by this task. A final piece of the portfolio besides the presentation is the theme that is developed by the student presenting. This is where the student will relate every piece they present to a central theme, such as a future career to personal development.

However, when students Nicholas Fizzano and Abigail McAllister were asked about the benefits they thought the portfolio posed, their responses focused on grades. Nick touched on administration’s thoughts that “It makes students focus on their work’s quality throughout the entirety of their high school career.” Yet later he qualified that statement referring to the portfolio as a “Chore,” and an, “obstacle.” Whereas Abby thought the only benefit was towards students that, “Don’t have the time to put their best work into a senior project.” Yet it also only benefited students that already had good enough grades to not have to redo any portfolio requirements from earlier in their high school career.

When asked about why the school doesn’t do a senior project, both interviewees displayed the desire to have one. Mr. Fizzano passionately supported a senior project describing its impact compared to the portfolio as a, “Much more inventive and creative outlet for students,” and the student’s personal pride saying, “Instead of showing I passed a project that every other kid had to do, let me show my abilities through an outlet which I can really become engaged with.” Ms. McAllister felt that “Students should have the option to either make a portfolio or do a senior project”

The words of these two students carry a small, but relatively accurate student view on the portfolio. This system is not understood by the student body. It requires improvement in school-to-student communication or replacement with a new graduation requirement that could be similar to the widely accepted senior project.