After months of planning and putting together the project, the students have reached the end. During their sophomore year at South Lakes High School, they began their MYP project. This is a personal project where the possibilities are endless. Sophomores are encouraged to explore their interests and create a project from it. This could include a service project, a personal goal journey, building an object of your choice etc.

This year, Matthew Horne’s project was centered around his passion for animals. Matthew grew up with a love for cats in particular. When the project was introduced, Matthew stuck with the first idea that came to mind: to create beds for animal shelters. His desire behind this creation was to have the beds “ look good while the cats lay on them to attract the adopters eye”. 

“ Do not procrastinate, you think you have a lot of time but it goes by quickly”, stated Mattew when asked about advice for future participants.In order to create the beds, Matthew bought fabrics and stuffing. He used a sewing machine to put them together. He successfully was able to make three animal beds to donate to the shelter. He thoroughly enjoyed the process and is glad he stuck with his idea throughout his journey. .

 The MYP project is very open-ended and is across the span of your sophomore year. There are many steps to the process, including choosing a supervisor. This supervisor is commonly a teacher at the students’ school who helps navigate them through their project. At the fair, students advised the freshmen to choose their supervisors early to ensure you get who you want. This is an exciting, self-guided project for upcoming sophomores to begin!