High School Senior
Project Opportunities

For the 2010-11 School Year

In cooperation with Gig Harbor High School and Peninsula High School, The Gig Harbor Lions Club is pleased to offer project opportunities to high school seniors working toward the goal of completing their “Senior Project.”

The Senior Exhibition (Gig Harbor HS) and Senior Project (Peninsula HS) are student-driven projects that can be based on pursuing a career interest, producing a product or event, learning or improving a skill, or providing a necessary service. Each school has determined its own set of student guidelines and limitations, and the Lions Club has made a commitment to work with individual students within that framework. The ultimate goal is the completion of the Senior Project with a successful outcome for the school, the student, and the community.

A key aspect to the completion of the Project is involvement in community service. The Gig Harbor Lions Club has been serving the local community since 1931, and any of our varied programs and activities could meet the needs of the Senior Project. Our focus is on sight and hearing related activities, and some ideas for student involvement with the Lions Club are:

- Participation in the eyeglass recycling program.
The Gig Harbor Lions is an official satellite of the Northwest Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center [NWLERC].  At our business park location in Gig Harbor, we collect, sort and process used eyeglasses that will be sent to needy individuals in developing countries.  The simple gift of clear vision can change the lives of people half a world away.  Children can learn to read and adults can help their families by learning new skills. Many of our high school students have volunteered their time and talent to this worthwhile endeavor.

- Participation in our annual “Live Successfully with Low Vision” community seminar held each year.
This seminar combines guest speakers, exhibits and hands-on training to people with low vision and their caregivers. This is an exciting, growing program that reaches out to the community and provides a much needed service.  The annual seminar is supplemented by monthly support group meetings held in our community and by a local low vision clinic created by the Gig Harbor Lions.
- Participation in a project that prepares a student for a career in the sight and hearing industry.
Work with local businesses that are involved with sight and hearing.
- Create an educational display or notebook that can be used to assist the sight and hearing impaired in their daily lives.
This could include community outreach at local retirement homes.
- Assist the hearing impaired by using sign language skills.

The list of service opportunities is only restricted by the broad guidelines of the individual school, and the imagination and persistence and of the individual student.

The Gig Harbor Lions Club will be pleased to serve in a mentoring role toward the fulfillment of the Senior Project goals. We have successfully mentored a wide spectrum of students who have participated in our program.  We will help to integrate the requirements of the school with the desires of the student and the needs of the community.

John Kirry, President 2009-2010
High School Program Director
Gig Harbor Lions
253-265-1466