{photos by Carolyn Eicher}
While we may have a small senior class this year at SLOCA High School, their recent Senior Project presentations were grand endeavors! The Senior Project is the culminating work of the Rhetoric Stage in Classical Education. Each year our seniors present their projects to high school students, family, and anyone from our SLOCA community who wishes to come and hear them.
As always, this year’s projects were inspiring and fascinating! It was an honor to listen to these thoughtful students share their research and work on topics they are passionate about. High School English teacher Paul McCullough gave a few opening remarks before handing it over to the seniors:
Hannah Thompson presented first. The title of her project was Music, History, and My High School Experience. Hannah, with her deep love of music, plays the violin in the SLO Youth Symphony. Her project reflected the many ways that her history studies throughout her years at SLOCA have influenced her personal study of music. She insightfully connected specific events and themes from each year of our history cycle to pieces she has played in the Symphony, and music that has been meaningful to her.
A few highlights: Hannah discussed the ancient art of reciting poetry as song, and compared it to today’s music. She recalled learning the Rimsky-Korsakov piece Scheherazade for the Symphony, and connected the sounds of the music to scenes from 1001 Arabian Nights, which she read for her Middle Ages history class. Her appreciation of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, which she played in a concert, was deepened because of her studies of the rise and fall of Napoleon in Early Modern history. And then in Modern history she learned about “Ekphrasis” – a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art, in which the art “speaks.” This led her to more fully appreciate another piece she learned for the Symphony, Mussorgsky’s Great Gate of Kiev, which was composed as a response to a painting. The painting spoke out to Mussorgsky; the art inspired the music. Hannah found the musical piece much more fascinating after learning the history behind it, and the role of Ekphrasis in linking art and music.
Mrs. Weinschenk, on the flute, accompanied Hannah in a duet at the end of her presentation – a rare and delightful treat for all to hear!
We even have a clip of their performance:
Eden Theule then presented her project, titled Language and Loam, which was about the intersection of her two passions: Farming and Poetry. Eden shared that she was raised to love things that grow, and that her desire to farm grew out of her love of cooking. When she discovered the “farm to table” concept, she started a garden and her interest gradually shifted from cooking food to growing food.
During her freshman year of high school, she developed a love of poetry… especially farming in poetry. Eden shared several poets who have influenced her over the years, from the Bible (which is chock full of references to land, water, and soil) to Wendell Berry, an award-winning poet, novelist, and farmer. She discussed the role faith plays in her concern for how we use land and grow food, and in her own expression of ideas through poetry.
With poise and conviction, Eden demonstrated that poetry is a natural product of farming. She clearly communicated her love of land, plants, people, and God, which have all grown over the years along with and enhanced by her love of literature and poetry. She wrapped up her presentation by reciting a few beautiful and perceptive agrarian poems of her own writing.
It was a lovely, thoughtful ending to a wonderful morning spent getting to know more about these two talented students!
We are pleased to share one of the poems Eden wrote and recited for her project:
Fig leaf layers
I.
First an image:
Outline finely jagged,
Lobe and sinus
Alternating;
Color green as
Only a leaf can be;
And, paler,
Arteries and veins
Outspreading,
Palmately, from
The petiole.
II.
A small infinity of cells,
Matter-made
Pigment-laden.
A distillery: essence
Of light, made with
Only the finest
Breath-waste.
A funnel to pour
In ballooning fruit,
Glucose from the cycle's
glyceraldehyde.
The sugars deepen
The blush on
Rough-skinned harvest.
III.
A shabby first self-remedy
For nakedness,
Before some stabler
Veil was given.
And later,
A symbol from a symbol
To avoid a blush,
To cover the work of the
Unblushing artist.
It’s apparent that the classical education Hannah and Eden have received has not only given them a broad understanding of history and literature, but has allowed them to more deeply follow the things they are passionate about, and to be able to share their knowledge and enthusiasm. For years they have been making connections between what has been learned at SLOCA and their favorite pursuits outside of school. This skill and awareness will serve them well in whatever lies ahead after graduation.
Congratulations to both of you, Hannah and Eden – we are so proud of you!
