Designing an Effective Senior Thesis Program – Patrick Halbrook

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Workshop Talk | | Academics & Curriculum, Rhetoric & Composition

Summary

Most classical Christian schools love the idea of the senior thesis. In reality, senior thesis programs often fall short of their potential, becoming a source of frustration for both teachers and students. A thriving senior thesis program is certainly possible for most schools, but designing one requires clarifying and communicating its purpose, understanding students’ abilities and needs, and crafting a plan conducive to student success. This workshop will share practical strategies to help teachers create or improve senior thesis programs.

Speaker

Patrick Halbrook is a rhetoric and humanities teacher at Cary Christian School, where he has taught a wide variety of classes since 2006. During that time, he has guided over 400 students through their senior thesis projects. Patrick studied the Bible and Great Books at Florida College and received his master’s degree in history from North Carolina State University. In addition to teaching, he helps lead the Triangle Classical Forum, a community of classical educators in the Raleigh-Durham Triangle and has written articles on history and education for The Imaginative Conservative, FORMA Journal, and The Classical Difference. Patrick also has a background in website and graphic design; he and his wife, Kaylie, own and operate Paideia Graphic Design, providing print and web design services for classical and Christian schools. Patrick and Kaylie live near Raleigh, North Carolina with their four children.

phalbrook@carychristianschool.org

Additional Materials

The Association of Classical & Christian Schools presents Repairing the Ruins, the ACCS annual conference, copyright ACCS. You may make additional copies of this recording for use by your school but please do not sell any copies of the recording, or post it on the internet.