Parker offers many different after school clubs and activities that allow students to be involved. The majority of Parker students take advantage of these programs, but some want more from them. No matter how much time you spend, and how many club meetings you go to, you are not able to receive high school credit. Independent studies are a great way to do just that. Through the Independent Study program at Parker, students are able to spend a semester during their junior and senior years of high school focusing in on a topic of their choice.

Just across the Indiana border in New Buffalo, Michigan, one can find junior and bee enthusiast Will Holtz farming his very own honey bees. “I was interested in bees and was planning on beekeeping over the summer,” Holtz said, “so I thought it would be a good idea to turn it into an independent study.”

Holtz is just one of around 40 upperclassmen that pursue an independent study each semester. “I love the program,” Holtz said.“I think it is a great way for someone to pursue their interests.”

In order to undertake an independent study, there are multiple steps a Parker student must complete before the semester even begins. Students must begin the process by filling out a form detailing the length of the study, their curriculum, who their teacher sponsor is, and what their final project is going to be. Students completing an independent study have to create their day-by-day curriculum about a year in advance. Holtz said, “Creating the curriculum was definitely the hardest and most stressful part.”

When finding a teacher sponsor for his independent study, Holtz turned to lower and intermediate school science teacher James Audrain, who is a beekeeper himself. Holtz never thought about working with a lower school teacher until high school science teacher Xiao Zhang suggested it. “Mr. Audrain bee-keeps himself, so he knows the most about it and really is a knowledgeable guy,” Holtz said. “Since he is a lower school teacher, I was afraid that our schedules might not line up and that he might not be prepared, but I was wrong.”

Senior Isobel Bender, who completed an independent study on biochemistry during the fall of her junior year, believes that her independent study helped her in the college process, specifically in applying to schools in England. “For the schools I applied to in the UK, I applied for their biochemistry programs,” Bender said. “In England, you have to declare your major first. Through my independent study, I was able to apply for this major, and have a great experience to talk about regarding this topic.”

Typically, independent studies are completed by individual students and occasionally in pairs. This year, a group of nine high school Model UN students decided to tackle one together. This group of juniors and seniors worked toward running a Model UN conference at Parker, known as FWPMUN.

Since large-group independent studies are not as popular, there are certain areas which tend to challenge some students who decide to tackle this. “Communication is probably the hardest part,” junior and FWPMUN independent study student Sammy Kagan said. “We do the best to make sure everyone is on the same page, but since this study is so huge, it is really challenging.”

There are many different ways a student can choose to wrap up their independent study. Some may choose a more traditional essay or presentation, while others choose to do other projects. Throughout his semester-long independent study, Holtz has been working on the various parts of his final project. Holtz said, “For my final project, I made a movie about beekeeping, I presented to second graders, and I just completed a five-page, single-spaced essay about bees.” In the end, Holtz is also going to host a Morning Ex about his independent study.

Holtz has been working on his movie about bee keeping since before the beginning of the semester. Holtz said, “I wanted to bee-keep, so I decided to try and convince my parents to let me.” As soon as Holtz got his beehive, he started filming and taking pictures each step of the way. According to Holtz, this is what allowed him to be able to create such a detailed movie.

The FWPMUN independent study group is comprised of juniors, Kagan, Desiree Shafiae, Galia Newberger, Jack Mailing, Zuri Mabrey-Wakefield, and Felicia Miller, and seniors Felix Wood, Grace Buono, and Ray Blickstein. Their final project is putting on a Francis W. Parker-run and hosted Model UN conference. Kagan said, “We are expecting around 215 participants.”

And interest in independent studies does not seem to be faltering “I think that the independent study program at Parker is great,” freshman Emme Silverman said. “I really hope to complete one someday.”