Student Preparation and Planning Guidelines

The Senior Exhibition is a school district graduation requirement and a culmination of your portfolio process.  Presentations of this type are frequently used as a selection process for jobs, college entrance, and for selling yourself, a product, or an idea.

What to expect

• The panel to whom you will be making your presentation will consist of 3 to 5 people including one or two PHHS teachers and/or staff members, one or two business or community persons or parents and one 11th grade student or students that will observe (they will not participate in or score your presentation)
• DO NOT BE LATE TO YOUR EXHIBITION -- You want to arrive 10 minutes early.
• You will have a maximum of 20 minutes with your Exhibition panel.  Plan to spend 8 to 10 minutes on your presentation and allow 4 to 8 minutes for a question and answer period. 
• Question and answer period:  At this point your senior exhibition turns into more of an interview.  Study the sample questions and be prepared to respond to any of them.  Be aware that in addition to the questions listed, panelists may ask questions of their own based on your presentation.  This part of the Patriot Exhibition will last from four to eight minutes.

Your presentation:  Here is a typical presentation outline for your Exhibition.  You can use this outline as a model for your Exhibition, but feel free to tailor it to fit your specific needs.  All items in this list must be addressed; it is up to you to decide how you want to do it.

• Introduction
• Short personal background
  • Presentations:
    • Academic work (from Choice works, Non-choice works or work that you have done outside of school)
    • Extra-curricular activities (clubs, athletics, hobbies)
    • Community service
• Challenges, struggles and/or obstacles you've experienced
• Future goals and aspirations for college and/or career
• Reflect on your Reading Log and explain to your panel how the reading you've done at PHHS have influenced you as an individual.

Presentation tips

• Introduce yourself:  A Staff member will invite you into the room and introduce you to the panel.  Remember to give each member of the panel a firm handshake and introduce yourself.
• How to start:  You may begin your presentation by telling the panel about yourself:  your interests, skills, abilities, your family background, school/community activities, and future plans. You should tell the panel how you will accomplish your goals and why you feel you will be successful.  This portion of your presentation should take approximately two to three minutes
• Presenting your portfolio:  Describe one or more of your "Choice Works" selected from your Portfolio.  This portion of your presentation should take four to five minutes.  Be sure to select a work with enough substance to speak about at length.  If you can only speak for one or two minutes on any one of your Choice Works then you should select several to discuss.
• Reading Log:  Reflect on your Reading Log and explain to your panel how the reading you've done at PHHS have influenced you as an individual.
• You will need to incorporate the ESLR's into your presentation.  The panel will want you to demonstrate that you:
  • Read, Write, and Communicate Effectively
  • Think critically, analyze information, manage resources, solve problems
  • Be technology-literate
  • Exhibit personal responsibility and respect for self and community
  • Be sensitive to individual / cultural differences and creative expression

  Since you have already done this as part of your "Reflection Sheets" for the portfolio, it should not be difficult to incorporate the ESLR's into your presentation.

• Question and answer period. Up to now you have been making your presentation with little or no prompting from the panelists. At this point, however, your senior exhibition turns into more of an interview. Study the questions you received today and be prepared to respond to any of them. Be aware that in addition to the questions listed, panelists may ask questions of their own in regards to anything that is included in your binder. This part of the Patriot Exhibition will last from four to eight minutes.
• SPECIAL NOTE:  You are not constrained to the format stated above.  Feel free to modify the format of your Exhibition to one that is more appropriate for the things you would like to do, however, remember that the items listed above must be in your presentation in some form or fashion.  Some suggestions on a focus for your presentation are a)  Discuss a major high school accomplishment has helped you decide on a future educational or career goal; b) Talk about future college and / or career goals and how your work in high school has helped you on the road to achieving the goals; c)  Present to your Exhibition panel ways in which you have matured and grown into adulthood and how high school has guided the process.  You must include a question and answer period in your presentation and be sure to consult the scoring rubric so you can tailor your presentation to the aspects of your presentation that the panelists will be grading.

Before you leave

• Before you leave the Exhibition, thank the members of the panel for their time and be sure to shake their hands.
• Please leave your portfolio with the panel.  If you brought additional materials, please take them with you when you leave.