Growing into and Beyond Middle School

11/7/2013
Two weeks ago, our seventh and eighth graders extended the walls of their classrooms well beyond our NYC environs. The eighth graders traveled to Gettysburg and Washington, D.C. to explore more deeply the way that memorials and monuments speak to our historical past and serve as moral compasses for our nation’s ongoing journey of self-discovery. The seventh graders traveled to Virginia to explore colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown settlement. As students of history, they were tasked to uncover new stories and connections that can help us in our present moment to better understand the lived experiences of those who came before us and the relevance of those experience to our current historical moment.

To provide some additional insight into the importance of these trips, seventh grade humanities teacher Suzanne Cohen shares her reflections on her trip experiences with students in this week’s letter:

After working as a teacher and administrator in the lower school for over 15 years, I wondered how students who had been at LREI for 8 or 9 years would demonstrate and build upon the values and skills first fostered in the lower school. As a new seventh grade humanities teacher, I was about to find out.

Two weeks ago I joined 3 colleagues and 39 seventh graders on a week-long trip to Virginia as part of our study of European colonization of America. Before leaving town, each student had selected and researched an aspect of colonial life—e.g., roles of women, science, medicine, colonial shoemakers, milliners, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, soldiers, the military, and piracy—which will culminate in a full-length research paper, as well as a student-produced re-creation of Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown this December. As we set out, each student knew what remaining information he or she would need to gather on the trip. They were prepared and motivated to learn about their topics. I could tell already that they were critical thinkers, ready to further their own learning.

As we toured Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, students conducted independent interviews and took pictures for their research topics. I was struck by their initiative and self-confidence, sometimes chasing down tour guides in order to get their questions answered. The guides complimented the students, noting their motivation and intellectual curiosity. They were impressed by the complexity of the students’ questions as well as their interest in history from multiple cultural perspectives—and they learned early on in our interactions to include not only European perspectives, but also African and Native American perspectives.

It became clear to me on the trip that these students have internalized a strong sense of social justice and empathy through their years at LREI. I was struck by how inquisitive, courageous, and self-possessed they are. They asked questions like “Why weren’t women allowed to own businesses unless they were single or widowed?” and “Please tell me about how European colonists’ medical procedures differed from Powhatan ones?” They are deep thinkers who want to investigate many layers of meaning in order to be informed, thoughtful historians and citizens.

On the bus ride home, students put on their headphones and used their iPads to transcribe their interviews. Some of them had most of their questions answered on the trip and others had new clarity about where to focus their further research. After about an hour and a half of work, they took off their headphones, had snacks, watched movies, or slept. During our week away, new friendships had been formed and old friendships were solidified. All were exhausted and ready to get home.

I learned that at all levels—from a kindergartner learning about the people who work in our school, or a second grader studying diverse neighborhoods of New York City, to a seventh grader researching early American history—students at LREI are open, empathetic citizens and motivated learners. The students we are guiding and educating at LREI are intellectually curious, creative, compassionate, and confident.

It’s an honor to have joined the middle school in part because I get to see with my own eyes how the values first instilled in the lower school are so clearly evident in the students’ world view as they grow.

Thanks, Suzanne!