We are excited to announce the students who have been accepted into the Senior Ventures Program for the 2025-2026 school year.
Senior Ventures is a year-long senior project built on a framework of leadership, innovation, and community engagement. Most projects will fall into one of the following categories: Investigation, Performance, Entrepreneurship, or Outreach. Proposals that are interdisciplinary in scope with connections to professionals in the community are strongly encouraged. Each project is expected to have components of experiential learning, positive citizenship, and technology integration.
Please continue reading to learn more about the students and their projects.
Student Name: Temira Bolds
Project Title: Heart of Art: Darlington Student Galleries & Market
Mentor(s): Kathy O'Mara
Project Summary: For my Senior Ventures project, I would like to create a space for student artists in the Darlington community to show their works of art through the presentation of multiple galleries throughout the year. Groups of artists will be represented throughout the year. I will also host a market-style event in the spring that highlights the student artists and gives the community the chance to take a piece of art home.
Student Name: Olivia Chen
Project Title: Sprout & Seek
Mentor(s): Owen Kinney
Project Summary: For my Senior Ventures project, I will publish a science book (which will be the second in a series I am currently working on) and lead hands-on classes to introduce 3rd-5th graders to environmental science in an engaging, accessible way. Through monthly lessons and outdoor activities, I want to spark curiosity, build environmental awareness, and create a lasting education resource that future students can continue using and expanding.
Student Name: Gabrielle Culberson
Project Title: We the Students
Mentor(s): Heather Shores and Brant Evans
Project Summary: I will use advisories, social media, and events to better educate students at Darlington on the functionality of government systems, current policies, local voting procedures, the electoral college, and the impact on media bias and misinformation in government. Additionally, I will use this platform to educate students about the functions of government in other nations that are represented here at Darlington. As students come closer to voting age, knowing how and what you're voting on is extremely important, and this project will help to make that happen.
Student Name: Murray Ellington
Project Title: Leveling Up Darlington Athletics
Mentor(s): Maddie Chastain
Project Summary: The purpose of my project is to enhance Darlington Athletics social media. I plan to do so by more effectively engaging the community and connecting them with athletic events through social media. As Darlington is a college prep school, it is important for our athletic social media accounts to be at the level of other top-tier institutions. Using Senior Ventures' time, I will improve the quality and consistency of posts, expand across multiple social media platforms (livestreaming included), and increase the follower count and engagement with the account.
Student Name: Harrison Inman
Project Title: The Creative Athlete
Mentor(s): Alex Johnson and Nathan West
Project Summary: My project focuses on bridging the gap between Darlington's fine arts and athletic programs. I aim to achieve this goal by engaging both groups through multiple activities and events scattered throughout the school year. I also want to offer similar activities to students in the lower school so they will learn that they can be involved in both sports and the fine arts and celebrate both; they don't have to choose between the two.
Student Name: Kaya Nadu
Project Title: Photography Service and Business
Mentor(s): Owen Kinney and Wright Ledbetter
Project Summary: My project aims to learn important skills necessary to run a small business while also using my photography experience to offer photo sessions to boarding students and others in the community. Throughout this project, I want to get my small business license, start a website, gain a social media presence, and possibly work with a local animal shelter to volunteer my time photographing their animals to promote their adoption.
Student Name: Jaylen Patel
Project Title: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs
Mentor(s): Leah Lynn and Ali McDermott
Project Summary: My Senior Ventures project strives to inspire and empower young entrepreneurs by creating a platform where they can develop and present their business ideas. I aim to provide students with entrepreneurial experience, fostering their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in hopes that participating students will gain confidence, receive valuable feedback, and have the opportunity to connect with local business owners.
Student Name: Sophie Piller
Project Title: The Power of Reading
Mentor(s): Mary-Kate Fowee and Paige Rogers
Project Summary: My Senior Ventures project will focus on promoting reading and its benefits across all grade levels at Darlington and throughout the community. The goals of my project will be to investigate why kids stop reading as they get older, to continue fueling students' love for reading as they enter high school, and to reach out to the community to encourage students to be lifelong readers, no matter their circumstances.
Through a proven self-guided exploratory process, seniors whose proposals are selected for the Senior Ventures program work independently to develop a project that’s interdisciplinary in scope and is connective, performance-based, investigative, or entrepreneurial. Click here to learn more.
