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On January 11, 2018, AHS held Showcase Portfolio Night featuring writings from Honors English students. The theme for this year was “Swing into the Jazz Age.” The event was held in the cafeteria from 5:30 to 7:30. Lauren Hamilton, Senior, chose to do Portfolio Night as her senior project. Senior Gabby Agan said, “My favorite part about Portfolio night was the theme. It really made portfolio night a fun atmosphere.”

Hamilton started thinking about doing Portfolio Night as her Senior project since the beginning of her Junior year. When she decided this was what she wanted to do, she asked for Mrs. Mowery, English teacher, to be her mentor. Hamilton was responsible for making and getting the decorations. She also had to decide a theme for the event. Hamilton organized volunteers from different clubs at AHS to help her with the event. These volunteers included members from Key Club, National Honors Society, and Spanish Honors Society. Hamilton also spoke to all of the honors students who would be showcasing their portfolios. Hamilton said, “Since it  was my senior project, my favorite part was just working around the crowded cafeteria and greeting people. All the months of hard work were worth it when I saw everyone enjoying the night.” For the student’s portfolios, they also had to create a creative cover for their folder. The cover had to have a reason behind it and it needed to be one of a kind. Lily Watson, Senior, said that her cover was inspired by one of her most important memories at AHS. Watson said, “I chose my cover by illustrating one of my pieces about winning Miss Armuchee and how it changed my outlook on AHS.” Most of the student’s covers were inspired by one of their pieces showcased in their portfolios and others were inspired by different parts of their own life. “I chose a tree for my cover because it represents me growing into what I have become today,” said Jacob Henderson, Senior. During Portfolio night the students also had to fill out a tic-tac-toe board to evaluate other peoples work and to give them feedback. “The tic-tac-toe boards were to suggest a variety of work to read from; I read a piece and documented the title and author for each piece I read,” Savannah Poole, Senior. The tic-tac-toe boards were taken up for a daily grade to show that the students could recognize multiple genres and to show that they read from different grade levels. Each student had to win a tic-tac-toe game twice on their personal board. Christopher Dean, senior, said, “The boards were for seeing what other students had worked so hard on.”

Portfolio Night was a night full of community and enjoyment of student writing. Teachers, students, and parents of students all gathered in one area to share the beauty of essays, poems, and stories. The purpose of Portfolio Night was to showcase the students and their writing.