For the first time in Woodford County High School history, a select group of seniors have had to create and present a presentation titled “Portrait of a Learner.” This presentation is a test run, designed to see how students do, as the presentation itself will become a graduation requirement starting in 2028. Seniors had about 2 months time to prepare, and as of May 13th, have just finished their presentations.

I sat down with a couple of students to see what they had to say about the new requirement and the presentation itself, in order to provide some tips for upcoming seniors.

A great friend of mine, Sam Hash, said “ Overall, it was alright in my book. I wish there was a bit more of a say and ways for students to give input, and time to get prepared. I enjoyed looking back on my high school years to find all my pieces of evidence, especially before I’m about to graduate. My biggest con, however, would have to be the fact that it just doesn’t feel important, and it feels like just another burden people have to deal with in order to graduate.”

Parker Ishmael, another  close friend of mine, said “I thought it was quite stupid. I believed it was a waste of time with no other purpose than making the school system look better as if there’s more academic rigor then there truly is. If I knew I was going to have to do this as my Digital Journalism final, I wouldn’t have taken the class.

Personally, I think the Defense of Learning was a bit unnecessary. I was a bit unprepared, which is likely to change when upcoming students know they need to do this before their senior year.  The Portrait of a Learner isn’t the most creative design, and it certainly didn’t let me speak my mind or explore more creative options. Overall, however, I don’t think it was bad, unnecessary, but not bad.

Upcoming seniors have a lot to look forward their senior year. College, final grades, dual credits, “senioritis”, and so much more, personally, and I don’t think the Defense should be one of them.