Senior Thesis
The path to Senior Thesis starts in Kindergarten, when students study and “become” planets in the solar system. From that first oral presentation, through opportunities in each successive grade level, Regents students develop skills to read, study, write, and speak well.
First graders enjoy Mammal Day; fourth graders join medieval guilds, create projects, and give oral presentations of their learning process; fifth graders perform William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors; School of Logic and School of Rhetoric students make numerous oral presentations in their various academic classes.
The Regents senior thesis provides students the opportunity to express their ideas on the True, Good, and Beautiful using all the skills and knowledge they have gained as Regents students. A Regents education aims to create the ethically good human, being capable of producing effective, thoughtful, and grace-filled words in both written and oral form.
The process of preparation can be divided into two clear sections: thinking and writing. The thinking part of the process is the most challenging for students because they have to “discover or invent” the argument of their topic through diligent research. Through this process, students often discover that there is so much more to learn about their topic and the world around them.
Students are required to consider and examine their topic from a Christian worldview. How has their topic been shaped by humanity’s sinfulness, by humanity’s redemption, and God’s truth? What Biblical truths and principles does their argument reflect? The thesis itself does not have to contain specific Christian language or Scripture, but the argument has to be scrutinized through a Christian worldview lens.
Written on the front of the Rhetoric building are Latin words that translate to “a good man speaking well.” The Senior Thesis presentations are a culmination of the hard work and perseverance in pursuit of this ideal.
“When my daughter was in Kindergarten, I thought we would have to leave Regents before 12th grade because there was no possible way this shy introvert could give a Senior Thesis. By the time she got there, though, she was so well equipped and thoroughly enjoyed the process. She takes for granted her ability to speak well in various professional settings: I know it is because she has been doing so since she was 5 years old.”
Melissa
ALUMNI PARENT