Students Switch It Up With Senior Options

The Senior Options program at Scarsdale High School is in full swing. Running from April 30th to June 12th, the program involves High School Seniors working at either internships or in independent project rather than attending school for the final section of the year. Seniors choose many different paths to fulfill their thirty hours a week, ten of which must be structured for those committing to an independent project. Many seniors venture into the city to work at their internships. Senior Carly Cohen is currently working at Boss Sounds, a music management and marketing company. Cohen’s responsibilities include updating the company website here. “Click on an artist. The news/press/tours/videos, that’s all me coding it in,” stated Cohen. Cohen expounded, “I just do different kind of publicity stuff every day. At night we usually go artists and repertoire researching, which involves going to concerts and scouting for new talent.” Considering all of the interesting actions that she is responsible for, it is no wonder that Cohen raves about her Senior Options internship. “I think I’ve learned more here than I did in all 4 years of high school.” Educational issues aside, the city itself has its own allure. Cohen’s favorite part is still, “Working in the city and eating at all these new restaurants every day.”

Other seniors have found internships closer to home. Senior Cara Scharf has taken up an internship at Hartsdale Veterinary Hospital. “I go in at 10:00 where I sit in on appointments. They range from normal check ups to vaccinations to actual medical exams. Around 11:30 appointments end and we start to prepare for surgery. We are usually in surgery till about 1:00, and then we eat lunch and resume appointments at 3:00. My role is usually to sit in and watch what is going on, and help with anything non-medical.” Scharf enjoys the internship, noting that the most interesting part has, “Definitely been watching surgeries.”

Still other seniors have decided to take a more physical route in their internships. Seniors Jake Dorf and Daniel Wilentz both have manual labor scheduled into their days. Dorf is working at Total Form Fitness Gym in Hartsdale. “I clean a lot and watch how the trainers interact with clients. They do a lot of key stretching that has helped a lot of the older clients here still be able to work out and stay fit.” Dorf likes the job because of his co-workers, the trainers at the gym. “It’s been really fun. I like the guys a lot here. They’re all nice guys.” Wilentz took an internship at the Greenburgh Nature Center. The job includes both indoor and outdoor sections. Wilentz’s favorite part is the indoor work, which includes, “Maintaining the animal museum and presenting animals to visitors.” However, the bulk of the work is the outdoor section, consisting of a lot of physical activity. Wilentz, on his outdoor responsibilities stated, “I cleaned out a chicken coop yesterday. Today we worked in a barn for sheep, cleaning out the old hay and putting in new hay. And feeding the animals of course. There's also maintaining the trails that the nature center has.” Similar, to Dorf, Wilentz also enjoys the company of his co-workers. “There are some other chill kids from Eastchester doing it, so it's a good time.”

Still another group of seniors has taken up residence at different schools throughout the district. Senior Adam Grossman is working with Mr. Bitterman’s 6th grade Social Studies class at Scarsdale Middle School. “I go in at 8:30, talk about the lesson plan for the day with the teacher, and co-teach for his classes. Sometimes I make a lesson plan myself and teach on my own.” Having to deal with kids all day could be a hassle for some, but Grossman is getting by just fine. “The kids are usually very cooperative. Naturally they’re not as focused as older kids, but reception was generally positive with me working in their class.

Other than those doing full internships, a smaller portion of the grade embarks on independent projects. Seniors Evan Bederman and Max Cohen have decided to create some new apps for Android. “We're starting off small. Our first one is a dictionary app.

We've spent a few days getting acquainted with the android ecosystem and developing in eclipse. Earlier we spent a lot of time developing a website for the senior options program as well,” stated Bederman. The two work at the high school in one of the computer teacher, Mr. Leong’s, room. As their structured time, the two are interning for a freelance web developer in Maryland. “We're just helping him out with projects. So far we've tested some projects he's finished to make sure there are no bugs and they work correctly on multiple platforms,” continued Bederman. The process has been very rewarding for Bederman. “You get out what you put in. I feel I'm definitely picking up skills that will be useful to me in my college and professional life.” Senior Rebecca Hallac is also completing an Independent Project that involves, “Taking online Stanford classes, using Codeacademy.com, and helping out in a class at school.” The structured time consists of helping out with four of the high schools computer art classes. Hallac noted that, “It’s more of individualized help for students, but I will hopefully be teaching a few classes later!” The end goal of the project is, “To pretty much learn javascript programming. I think it is a great process. It allows students to learn about things that they never had time to do before.”

Overall, the Senior Options program has received high marks from the students participating in it. There is an overwhelming support for the program in contrast to continued school learning. “It's better than school,” remarked Wilentz. “The stress level is really low comparatively, and I think seniors deserve that type of break.” Grossman maintained similar sentiments. “Since seniors are done with their college decisions, they especially don’t want to sit in a classroom. Senior Options is a great way to switch things up!”

This article was contributed by SHS Senior Zach Edelman who is working at Scarsdale10583.com during Senior Options.