Preparing students for college and beyond

Nov 27, 2013 | Uncategorized, Upper School News

Decided upon collaboratively by students and teachers, the Upper School students have embarked on a year-long projectΒ guiding them to leverage content and skills from all of the disciplines to make a measurable impact in a contemporary local, national, or global issue. For freshmen and sophomores, this year’s focus is on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). For juniors and seniors, the issue is limited land/water use. Β The project, among many things, challenges students to expand their minds, challenge their assumptions, and ultimately teaches real world demands. Connecting with student interests, the GMOs and limited land/water concerns are real issues affecting real people, emphasizing the idea that school isn’t meant to just be a place where we prepare for life’s next steps, but also a place where students use their learning to make the world a better place now. Β So far students have researched their topic by reading articles, journals, and primary sources, and they have interviewed numerous outside experts providing real world input on the effects of GMOs and the issues related to limited land/water use. Β By the end of the year, students will use their history skills to find out how a difference has been made in the past with these problems; their math skills to understand space, navigate structure, and measure their impact; their science skills to investigate, integrate new knowledge, and correct previous knowledge; their English skills to express themselves and their ideas; and their artistic skills to imagine new techniques, interpretations, or expressions through presenting a solution to the problems.