Alberton presents senior projects to community

ALBERTON – It’s evident that graduating seniors from Alberton High School made a difference in their community this year as they presented their senior projects May 14. 

Students each Fall are required to complete a project, which they undertake with a mentor and together, work on throughout the school year. 

Fellow students, teachers, parents and grandparents showed up to support the seniors who filled the tiny cafeteria. Some students were nervous, as they had to make a formal presentation on stage, while others were natural speakers. 

“These seniors already had 500 hours of community service on top of an already rigorous course of study,” said Kent Haab, who was a mentor for several students. “They spent 1,000 hours combined to complete their projects.”

Haab is also the computer science and business teacher at Alberton. He said each student had to go out and find his or her own mentor for the project who had to pass a background check.

“All projects went above and beyond what I expected,” said Kyle Fisher, Alberton School principal. 

Other mentors included teachers Amy McAllister, Jacob Giffin, Jessie Baldwin and Jim Johnson.

Andrew Lommen, Laurabeth Tomlinson, David Stafford, Troy Munsch and Keir Sanzano were some of the students on hand to make presentations. 

Lommen stepped on stage to make his presentation to a wooing audience, cheering and clapping as his fingers tickled the strings of his electric guitar.

Instead of doing something within the community, Lommen used his love of wood, working to build a guitar.

To start the project, Lommen had to construct a template to form the shape. Then he drilled, routed, painted and sanded, which resulted in the final product. 

Haab said Lommen is off to Montana State University in the fall to take up engineering.

To promote reading and literacy, one student used one of her favorite pastimes to reach younger kids in the community. 

Tomlinson started the Alberton Book Club, or ABC, because she always loved the first page of a book. After talking with McAllister, her mentor, she decided this was the best project for her. 

The age level targeted fourth and fifth graders from Alberton, with the first meeting being held in December and involved reading a holiday-themed book.

“I had never read The Best Christmas Pageant but the kids loved it,” Tomlinson said.

After noticing some of the books were worn, Tomlinson raised $379 around the community. 

Since Tomlinson is graduating, she hopes that one of the seniors next year will keep the program going. 

Haab said that after graduation, Tomlinson plans to attend college in California.

Before joining the Air Force in the Fall, Stafford decided now was the time to restore some of the weight room.

He wanted to do so because the walls were chipped from weights leaning against them, and generally just needed to be cleaned and repainted.

He said he put in around 30 hours, preparing the walls before painting, which took the longest. 

“The weekend of prom was difficult because all of the drama equipment was in the weight room,” Stafford said. 

Munsch was nervous when he climbed the rickety old stairs of the crow’s nest that hovers over the football field.  

The crow’s nest, otherwise known as a press box, had steep stairs that seemed dangerous to Munsch so he decided to redo them.

He picked Giffin to be his mentor because of his carpentry skills. The lumber cost a total of $250, which he raised from fundraising in the community.

“I didn’t really have a project at the beginning of the year because I was procrastinating,” Munsch said. “But I wanted to give back to the athletics department.”

Between obtaining the materials and cutting the wood, it probably took a total of 20 hours or four or five days, according to Munsch.

“I learned that preplanning is a huge part, which I didn’t know going in,” Munsch said. 

Munsch will join the Army following graduation. 

Sanzano presented last for his involvement in Operation Second Chance. 

OSC provides a supportive environment with other veterans and together they participate in activities together like fishing, said Sanzano. 

“Spending time with service members gave me a greater appreciation for them,” Sanzano said. 

Hank Tuell who runs the OSC retreats acted as an advisor for Sanzano, who went to Red Lodge, Mont., to observe one of the retreats.  

“Fundraising felt like a great way to give back, but it was harder than I anticipated,” Sanzano said. 

Sanzano has also enlisted in the Army Reserves, and after boot camp hopes to study diesel mechanics. 

Incoming seniors will have big shoes to fill next year to compete with the quality of this year’s projects. Haab and Fisher advised those students to begin thinking over summer about what they want to do so they are ready to go in the fall.