Sophomore Bill Tsui researched Folsom Dam for his presentation on Sacramento floods.
After researching a topic about Sacramento throughout the year, sophomores will be presenting their final projects during their English classes (periods 2 and 3), from Monday, March 19, to Friday, March 23.
Last year, sophomores could choose only topics that focused on religions or world languages.
“Last year (English teacher Patricia) Fels had the idea to make (the project on) locally based Sacramento religions and ethnicities,” English teacher Brooke Wells said.
“(We changed it to Sacramento in general because) it’s a lot easier to visit the site and interview if it’s local.”
Wells said he was excited about the local aspect of the project.
“We might be one of the most diverse cities,” Wells added. “And it’s exciting understanding about where we live.”
Sophomore Max Kemnitz is presenting on human trafficking in Sacramento.
He chose the topic because of his mother.
“My mom’s a nurse, and she has some bad stories about her patients,” Kemnitz said. “I also wanted to do more research on it because I thought it was interesting.”
Kemnitz said that he actually enjoyed the restriction of the topic being based only in Sacramento.
However, sophomore Aaron Graves disagreed.
“There’s nothing to do in Sacramento,” Graves said.
Graves will be presenting on Sacramento’s music scene because he plays and likes music.
Sophomore Bill Tsui will be presenting about Sacramento floods on Wednesday, March 21.
“(I chose floods) because I survived a flood in China,” Tsui said.
Each sophomore must interview at least one Sacramentan expert for their topic.
Tsui interviewed a Folsom Dam worker.
The presentation grades will be part of the sophomores’ second-semester English grade.
The sophomores also will write essays on their topics, which are worth 20 percent of their second-semester grades.
—By Annya Dahmani
