Eastern Hancock’s Passion Projects Spark Creativity, Careers, and Connection
11 Mar 2025
News
An Eastern Hancock math teacher taught woodworking outside, his students using drills to drive screws into pieces of wood.
Inside the building, students injected syringes into dog mannequins, one of which could also simulate the sounds of heartbeats, lungs, and digestion.
Down the hall, sewing machines hummed as other students stitched by hand.
It was not an ordinary day at Eastern Hancock High School and Eastern Hancock Middle School.
But then again, Eastern Hancock is not an ordinary school corporation.
The Hancock Economic Development Council had a blast visiting the campus, where faculty and students are in the midst of the school corporation’s annual Passion Projects. For four days this week, teachers swapped their subjects to teach something they’re passionate about. Nearly 40 mini courses on a variety of topics were available for students to choose from, all part of an effort to promote joy and connection.
Outside, students rode in a self-driving tractor whose GPS system they helped program the day before, learning how the machine can navigate a pre-mapped field. In the distance, students worked on the disc golf course they were building on campus as a drone buzzed overhead.
Back inside, a math teacher and her mother led lessons in cookie baking. Law enforcement officials spoke about their careers. High school students taught swimming to elementary school students. Students made ornaments, learned about investing and how to go to college with little to no debt, and stirred concoctions to aid in special effects makeup.
The 2025 Passion Projects course selection included:
- Veterinary science
- Genealogy
- Glam lab
- Self care and mental wellness
- Swim instruction for second- and third-grade students
- Literary Lounge
- Volunteering
- How to be a millionaire
- Creating board games
- Designing a disc golf course throughout campus
- Comedy and improv
- Drones
- Material handling
- Environmental awareness
- Crochet
- Employability skills
- Law enforcement
- Nursing
- Skidsteer operating
- True crime
- Taylor Swift
- Puzzles
- LEGO
- Sports movies and lessons learned from them
- Video games
- Recycling
- Woodworking
- The 1990s
- NCAA college basketball
- Soccer
- Creative creations
- Sports
- Special effects makeup
- Sewing
- Baking
- Hodgepodge
- Disney movies
HEDC was excited to see students learning about skills, potential careers, and opportunities to thrive in Hancock County, and looks forward to more Eastern Hancock Passion Projects in the years to come.
Pictured above: Eastern Hancock High School student Audrey Wooldridge-Jacobi, right, and Eastern Hancock Middle School Principal Brian Bowen ride in a self-driving tractor.
Learn more about education in Hancock County.
Catch a highlight video of the Passion Projects here:
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