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My Experience: A Day in the Life of a Senior
In an effort to better understand the Upper School student experience by grade level, I am experiencing "a day in the life" of four students over the course of this school year. I will start with a 12th grader and follow with an 11th, 10th, and 9th grader later in the year. In selecting students to shadow, I consulted with grade-level Deans of Students and Lead Advisors with a focus toward an interesting and well-rounded class schedule. I meet individually with each student beforehand to see if he/she is interested and to select the best date. I am sure to let teachers know in advance so they aren’t surprised by my presence. Again, my purpose is to simply experience a typical day for a student. My hope is to disrupt the classes as little as possible. I see these experiences as informing the work that I do - potential to share insights with faculty, admin, parents, and/or students about the student experience at the Upper School.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019 (post-Fall Break, Monday schedule with assembly, no Chapel)
Anna Clair Byrd, 12th grade
Anna Clair starts every Wednesday with two free periods. As a Senior with Senior Privileges, that means she gets to sleep in and arrive to campus around 9:30 am! We started the day by checking in with Anna Clair’s advisor, Mrs. Amy Rogers, then heading to assembly in the Chapel. AC realized that she had forgotten her lunch, but was confident her friends would share with her. Then, we are on our way to a fantastic variety of 12th grade classes...
W Period - AP Psychology with Mrs. Bussey - super-fun class about the nervous system including a demonstration in the hallway in which students further understood travel time for messages along sensory neurons!
X Period - English IV with Dr. Stone - with a substitute teacher here today, students all worked independently on their senior thesis papers. AC only has her conclusion left to write!
Lunch - I did not spend lunch with AC and her friends, but did see that she managed to pull together a nice assortment of food!
5th Period - World Spirituality & Ethics with Ms. Jones - fascinating class debate around the ethics of providing reparations to Japanese Americans who were placed in internment camps during World War II. The students were well-prepared and vigorously debated this controversial topic in a respectful manner.
1st Period - Trigonometry with Mrs. Kilian - wow, I have forgotten most of the trig that I learned in high school. Mrs. Kilian assured me that I definitely would have learned about the unit circle in high school when I expressed my doubts… AC confirmed “We really learn stuff in this class.”
2nd Period - United States Government with Mrs. Carmichael - so many current issues to discuss both real (checks and balances in the US government, the impeachment process, etc.) and fictional (good ol’ “West Wing”). We rounded out the class period by understanding the concept of popular sovereignty.
What a day! Thanks so much to AC Byrd, all of her wonderful teachers, and fellow classmates for welcoming me into this 12th grade world for a few hours. I finished the school day simultaneously exhilarated and exhausted. How will an 11th grader’s day compare? Stay tuned.
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