Council High School Senior Projects
Eliza Bingham
This summer, I successfully advanced toward earning my lifeguard certification. To do this I took an online learning class that went over all of the requirements and expectations there are for a lifeguard. The online training offered an in-depth understanding of the purpose of lifeguarding and the critical skills required to ensure public safety. Then after the course I participated in many swimming lessons to be able to get myself physically fit so I could have the endurance and lifeguard skills to pass the physical exam and be able to become lifeguard certified. I learned a lot about expectations and requirements that are needed for the workforce. I also learned a lot about myself and learned that I am capable of doing more than I thought and I wish to keep that going and build on that for the rest of my life.
Sara Conaway
This summer, the class of 2026 started to get the ball rolling on their senior projects. Sara Conaway is one of them. Her project is hopefully an entry to a career and the rest of her life. Sara decided that she wanted to be an athletic trainer in the future, so she based her project on what might get her ahead of the game. Her project was to learn how to tape nine different tape jobs. She learned about the wrist, knee, ankle, shoulder, arches, and shin splints. One thing that motivated Sara to pursue this project was the fact that she could help her peers by knowing what and how to tape. She managed to shadow her mentor at many events and learn firsthand about sports medicine.
Lilly Mendenhall
During the summer and fall of 2025, Lilly Mendenhall wrote and illustrated an original children’s book for her senior project. She had always been drawn to literature and working with children, and knew this was the best project to fit both of these fields. Her project began with writing the text for her book, a story about a bird who runs away and finds adventure. She then completed 16 unique watercolor illustrations to accompany the text. After combining the illustrations and text in Adobe InDesign, she finally submitted her book to her printer. 2 weeks later, the books came in the mail. Lilly then had 1 reading of her book at the public library and 3 readings at the elementary school to complete her project.
Isis Thomas-Fox
Isis Thomas-Fox, a senior at Council Jr/Sr High, is proud to announce the completion of a senior project focused on the rehabilitation of individuals through Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy. This therapy combines the healing power of horses with psychological principles to foster emotional and mental wellness. As part of the project, Isis has earned a certification in an Introduction to Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy, gaining the knowledge and practical skills necessary to identify the therapeutic properties of this approach. The project’s main objective is to not only understand and apply the fundamentals of Equine-Assisted Therapy, but to also experience and implement these techniques on oneself and others. By engaging in hands-on activities this demonstrates the major potential of Equine Therapy as a tool for personal growth and healing.
Ella Fontana
Throughout this most recent fall semester, I have decided to learn the basics of sign language. I wanted to be able to communicate with a group of people that was often overlooked and dive deep into the art of American Sign Language. It turned out to be better than I expected. It took a lot of practice and even some research of the history of the language but it was a very exciting project. When the day finally came to sign my books and record the clips for my presentation, I realized that learning a new language was important as it helps everyone feel included, can be useful in emergencies, and has taught me some skills that will be needed in my future. Overall I think my project was a huge success!
Owen Hatfield
Aviation is the future of travel. Don’t believe me? Look at the numbers; 2025 is expected to set a record of both international and domestic flights/passengers. With that being said, who is going to fly these planes that are needed to transport this record setting amount of people? Well, I am. My aspiration to be a pilot in my future career is what led to me choosing the completion of ground school for my pilot’s license for my senior project. During this time, I have learned more new things in such a short amount of time than I ever thought possible. Because of this, I now have the opportunity to finish getting my pilot’s license next spring!
Wyatt Tharp
In the beginning of the summer of 2025, I chose to weld a flatbed for a side by side. I really enjoy welding so I thought for my senior project I should do something with that. I’ve welded on hard metals and steel but never aluminum. This bed is made of aluminum so I figured it’d be a great challenge to learn to weld on something new. From measuring to grinding to welding I learned a lot about fabricating something and how to weld soft metals. I learned about how to fabricate a flat bed from the dimensions to cutting angles for it. For the welding aspect I learned how to properly weld aluminum without burning through or warping the metal itself. It was a great challenge and I’m glad I got to accomplish this flat bed.
Cambria Longtin
After observing the large numbers of feral cats in the town of Council, Idaho, I knew that I needed to do something about it. Hi, my name is Cambria Longtin, and my senior project started in the summer of 2025. I decided to do a feral cat catch, neuter, spay, treat, and release program. The town needed help; there were so many feral inbred cats that many people didn’t know what to do with them, so I took care of it with the help of my mentor, Dr. Gardener. In the end, we treated many cats and helped multiple businesses and families feel a lot better about the mass of feral cats.
Ayden Heinemeyer
For my Senior Project I chose to get certified in scuba diving. I got my Open Water Certification which is the first step to becoming a master diver. I learned that being underwater is like a whole new world. The pressure build up and oxygen control is a lot to control and keep track of. I learned all of the basic skills that it takes to be a scuba diver and passed all of the tests that I was put up against. It was a very fun journey and I’m looking forward to a career in this field.
Hattie Nunn
I’ve grown up ranching and fell in love with the cowboy life from a very young age. When I was deciding on a senior project, I wanted to do something related to the ranching industry, so I chose to learn how to perform pregnancy checks on cows. I am learning two methods: ultrasound and rectal palpation. It has been a very interesting and enjoyable skill to acquire. Rectal palpation has been a very challenging aspect of this project that will take a lot of practice before I can truly master it. I have really enjoyed working with cows and have learned a lot over the past several months. I hope to continue my future in agriculture and ranching, and as I do, I know this project will have been a very useful skill I’ve learned.
Elise Shumway
In May 2025 I decided that I was going to learn how to play “Hallelujah” by Lenard Cohan on the piano. It took a lot of practice for me because I was pretty much a beginner. Although I had been learning at home with my piano app, I didn’t really know any of the notes on the sheet music. I thought that this was going to be impossible to do but with a lot of hard work I learned the song. It was not easy. I couldn’t even play for people for the longest time. It was the hardest thing having people watch me but I did it and now I know my first song on the piano. Thanks to our church community for letting me play at the church for them.
