text: Giving students control over what they do for a summer project could greatly benefit their learning. By requiring them to design the project themselves, students are then also required to step up to the plate and be more responsible and creative. Learning to develop these characteristics is far more important than any history or science lesson their project may be on. As stated earlier, summer projects are usually not followed up on, making students even more likely to forget what they learned about from them. And at the very least, making the projects student-designed would save teachers from having to do it themselves, which they would most likely appreciate since they are already given enough work as is. Some people like boat trips. Some people don't like them. For the people who like boat trips you should join the Seagoing Cowboys.