Friday, June 08, 2012 By Reann Dela Cruz Before presenting, Elin Mardirosian checks over her clothing rack to see if everything is in place. - Reann Dela Cruz Advertising Wrapping up the senior project with Oral Boards Day (June 8, 2012) -- Crowds of seniors filled the panic-filled hallways on June 2 as they made their way towards the room containing their awaiting judges. Seniors walked with posters, boards, paintings and even animals in hand. Serj Megerdichian roamed the hallways with Sparky, his seven-month old Maltipoo, grabbing the attention of every passerby. Megerdichian decided to take a different route with his senior project by training his dog. According to Megerdichian, Sparky also caught the eye of the panel of judges he was assigned to. “He did really well during the presentation,” said Megerdichian. “He managed to remain really calm.” Aroutin Aivazian felt good about his presentation as well. “I bombed my presentation,” Aivazian said. The ten-year Homenetmen Ararat Scout decided late in his junior year that he would focus his year-long project on survival camping, something he’s accustomed to with years of experience. The camping veteran led a group of teenage Scouts on a three-day survival camp, where they practiced the skills they’d acquired during their time with Ararat. “I go camping every three months,” Aivazian said. “This is something I’m very comfortable with.” While already standing out from his formally-dressed classmates, roaming the school hallways in his Boy Scout uniform, Aivazian managed to remain calm while others around him seated themselves outside the room, anxiously waiting for their names to be called. "Presenting didn't scare me or make me nervous," Aivazian said. According to Aivazian, coming to Clark was beneficial towards his presentation. He said that four years of presenting projects at Clark shapes students' speaking and presenting abilities, helping nervous freshmen become well-spoken seniors. "We will all need to present or speak in front of people in the future," he said, "and Clark really prepares us for that." Similar to Aivazian, Douglas decided to work with younger kids, coaching a local soccer team. The former Hoover High School soccer player didn’t hesitate to work with the kids because the sport has played a large role in his life. “I saw an opportunity to coach soccer,” said Centeno. “And I took it because I like working with kids.” Although Centeno enjoys working with kids, working on his senior project taught him how to be more patient and understanding. Centeno, who worked with the junior soccer team for several months, admitted that at times the younger boys’ short attention spans and jittery personalities would cause them to lose focus. He believes that although certain situations don’t go as expected, people should know how to deal with it and the people around them. With time, however, Centeno’s hard work proved to be worth it. According to the temporary soccer coach, he saw a large improvement in the young kids’ performance and skill, as the team won a majority of the tournaments they entered. “Since I enjoyed what I was doing, completing the project and presenting in front of the judges was really easy,” Centeno said. While many seniors spent a long time contemplating what they wanted to do their project on, Shant Salkhorian automatically knew that he wanted to produce another film. The aspiring filmmaker devoted several months working on his 17-minute short film that he showed off to the judges during his presentation. Although Letting Go, Salkhorian’s most recent film, isn’t his first, he felt at the end of his junior year that it was only appropriate as he wishes to pursue a career in the film industry. “It’s very important that you do something you enjoy,” said Salkhorian. “And whatever it is, you have to push yourself to the limit. It’s the best way to learn more about yourself and accomplish something you thought you never could.” Salkhorian faced four judges, one of which was a former Clark student who pursued a career in film upon graduating high school. Salkhorian, unlike the majority of his peers, was not intimidated by  his panel of judges. “Public speaking comes natural to me after acting for almost nine years,” he said. Salkhorian left the room confident that the judges were impressed with his project. Other projects, however, didn’t go as smoothly. Tech Lit teacher David Black ran back and forth across the school campus, attending to the several seniors who found themselves face to face with technical difficulties brought upon by the school’s computers. “When my PowerPoint wasn't opening I was panicking inside but tried not to show it,” said Anasheh Nazarian. After minutes of waiting in anticipating, Nazarian was relieved to see her PowerPoint up and running. “I thought if would ultimately affect my grade and what the judges thought of my presentation.” she said. “But I continued as if everything went smoothly and it definitely paid off." To find inspiration, Astine Shagbayan turned to her favorite television series, Switched at Birth. The ABC Family show features uses American sign language, something that caught Shagbabyan’s eye and would ultimately lead her to learn the language and educate others. After discovering that the American Sign Language classes at Glendale Community College were completely filled, Shagbabyan taught herself how to sign by watching video tutorials on Sign Time. Her intentions were not only to understand the once-foreign language on the TV show, but to be able to help and communicate with more people. Due to her inability to fluently sign, Shagbabyan was denied the opportunity to volunteer with deaf and mute children at the local Boys and Girls Club. According to the new signer, taking more classes and eventually becoming more fluent in order to volunteer is definitely on her agenda. Despite the fact that she wasn’t able to volunteer, Shagbabyan, along with her panel of judges, were more than happy with her progress and achievements, after having successfully taught a class of fourth graders how to sign their names. Shagbabyan feels good about her presentation after the judges told her she had the first sign language-related project they’ve seen. “The judges were really impressed with my presentation because I signed most of my speech as I spoke,” said Shagbabyan. The relief of having successfully completed her senior project is not the only thing Shagbabyan had to look forward to. “I can watch Switched at Birth and finally understand what they’re saying with the help of subtitles,” Shagbabyan laughed.

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