Dear TRA Families,
Looming at the end of The River Academy education, fearfully whispered about in the halls with solemn voices, is the Senior Thesis Project. For more than half the school, the Thesis Project is far in the distance, nothing more than the clouded peak of a high, lonely mountain, far in the distance. They might think, “That’s something we don’t need to deal with yet, for it’s five, ten, or even twelve years away. That’s for our future selves to worry about. Out of sight, out of mind.”
Not exactly.
While to an extent this is true, and even though the process actually gets underway in the High School, it’s also something for which our teachers at TRA begin training in the youthful, vibrant minds of our students, from an early age. The Thesis Project is, ultimately, the culmination of our students’ years at The River Academy, bringing together everything that they have worked so hard to learn, to understand, to achieve. It represents a synthesis of worldview through all years and all subjects–and we prepare our students for it from the time they first begin constructing written sentences.
Yet, there is a fear of that project. That fear comes from the unknown. Many people, longtime school families, do not understand what the Thesis Project is. We have only “fear itself” to fear, however. Let me attempt to clarify this fearful unknown.
The Senior Thesis Project is a 20-25-page thesis-driven (meaning, argument-driven), research-supported essay. In the last week of the Junior year, students will begin to think about a historical, social, governmental, economic, scientifical, biblical, rhetorical, or literary topic to research and find an argument for. This will cover the modern era and must be relevant to the current day: any topic that they have the desire and interest to explore further and argue more in-depth. This must be a topic about which they could argue from a biblical worldview. That means it cannot contain a report of research alone. Our seniors must use that research to argue a point–their topics must inherently contain a debate. They must apply a biblical worldview, taking it further than simply agreeing or disagreeing with a subject. As with any thesis-driven essay, they must point toward something significant.
While all this sounds daunting, the process of this thesis makes it utterly accomplishable. While this project is certainly a mountain for our seniors to climb, they do not make the ascent alone, nor do they attempt the climb in one go. By the start of this project, they’ll have written already three theses (Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior), so the process is wholly doable because they’ve done it already. Moreover, we pair them with a faculty advisor and each aspect of the Thesis Process is broken down into its parts (note-taking, outlining, bibliography, drafting, revising) over a nearly year-long period. Following the final, perfected revision, these seniors on the verge of graduation will stand before a panel of their teachers and an audience of their peers to deliver a 20-25-minute speech from memory based upon their papers. At this point, our seniors will have accomplished something truly remarkable, something that few young men and women in their position have–or can–accomplish. They have summited Mount Thesis and can see the lush valley of the Graduate just beyond.
If our goal at The River Academy is to train the next generation of Christian leaders, this is one of the means by which we hope to assess this. Can they think well? Can they argue well? Can they empathize well? Can they communicate effectively? By the end of their years at The River Academy, they can, by the grace of God and their own hard work.
Here are a few Senior Thesis topics we have had over the last few years:
The Worldview of Role-Playing Games
A Critique of Modern Christian Art
Having A Growth Mindset
Should Christians Watch Horror Movies
Should Classical Christian Schools Teach Graphic Novels
There are Men in Movements Yet None in Mobs
True Leaders Must Be Held Accountable
Why Young Men Should Play Team-Based Contact Sports
Tackling the Body-Image Pandemic
Why Christians Shouldn’t be Paralyzed by Fear
The Father-Image Problem in Sitcoms
A Christian Approach to CRT
Have a great week!
Tyler Howat
Dean of Academics
