by Alena Zhang ‘18, News Editor

On September 29, over thirty Newark Academy seniors gathered around Kaltenbacher Hall in preparation for Extended Essay night. IB Diploma candidates, clad in semi-formal attire, were accompanied by dozens of supportive parents and NA juniors. The 4,000 word Extended Essay paper gave students an opportunity to research, write, and present on a topic of their choice. For nearly two hours, audience members rotated in and out of classrooms to listen in on the students’ five-minute presentations.

There are 74 members of the Classes of 2017 and 2018 pursuing the full diploma. Approximately 95% of the Class of 2017 is enrolled in at least one IB course. The IB Program is a highly respected pre-university program; in 1991, Newark Academy became the first school in New Jersey to grant the IB diploma. When asked about the role that teachers play in the essay-writing process, IB Coordinator Mr. Stourton responded that they “act as a sounding board – not proofreading, not telling [students] what research to do. We take them through what they’ll be doing in college.” But he was careful to point out that college students don’t have the privilege of that guidance.

At the end of last school year, diploma candidates enrolled in the Extended Essay June Term course. For two weeks, they tackled massive archives of information at Drew University, rigorously researching and revising their essay questions. Shaan Pandiri ‘17 explained that 95% of his research and a full draft of his essay were completed by the end of June Term. He expressed that “Drew University’s research library was very helpful; it made finding different types of sources much easier.” Shaan’s paper, entitled “The Repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act: A Failure in Legislation,” led him to examine transcriptions of congressional hearings: “There’s a whole room in the basement of the library devoted to those.”

Chloe Yu ‘17 added that she changed her thesis several times: “It was frustrating, but at the end of the day, I’m really happy with the end product. Writing is a process, and it’s okay to just scrap everything and start over sometimes.” Her final essay was titled “Legitimacy and Power: A Comparative Analysis of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Henry V.” After June Term, students worked on their essays throughout the summer in order to have presentations ready for September. Chloe stated that “the most difficult part about presenting was deciding what to keep. We only had 5 minutes to summarize a 20-page paper, so I couldn’t go into full detail about textual analysis or literary criticism.”

Junior class diploma candidates who attended Extended Essay night were extremely impressed with the seniors’ final products. Abbey Zhu ‘18 especially enjoyed Meghna Padmanabhan’s presentation, in which she attempted to answer the question “How is The Catcher in the Rye a modern adaptation of the ‘hero’s journey’, and in what ways is the concept of a protagonist enriched by our preconceived notions of a hero?” Abbey noted that Meghna “sounded truly passionate about her topic; she was very relaxed and in control.” The “performances,” as Mr. Stourton called the presentations, were each accompanied by a brief question-and-answer session. He explained, “A lot of it depends on audience involvement – if you get a room where people are thinking and asking you questions, it’s like a theater.”

Some students, including Mark Berger, Rakhi Kundra, Peter Lu, Shaan Pandiri, and Betsy Zaubler did not present their essays on the 29th. Rakhi presented in front of NAPA and Peter presented to the Alumni Board of Governors. Mark will be presenting at a faculty meeting, Shaan will be presenting to the NA Board of Trustees, and Betsy will be presenting at an Upper School morning meeting.

Essay advisors included twenty of our very own NA faculty, and students’ topics covered over ten different subjects: English, Visual Arts, Psychology, Human Rights, Politics, History, Biology, Philosophy, World Studies, Environmental Systems, Design Technology, Economics, Chemistry, as well as Peace and Conflict studies.  Mr. Stourton summarized the event well: “We know we have smart kids at NA. But this is a way of celebrating that, sharing knowledge in the community, and having intelligent discussion. You see the best of the students on EE night.”