Juniors listen to seniors’ comments. Julia Gurevitz’ 19/Media
At the end of last semester, Charlie Sabgir‘20 was considering the classes that he wanted to take as a junior but soon became overwhelmed with all of the possibilities. The lack of details in the online course descriptions, such as specific homework loads and frequency of tests only contributed to his indecisiveness.
Sabgir realized that it would be beneficial to get the answers to his questions before the course form deadline in March, so he figured that many of his peers must have felt similarly. As a result, he began to think of a solution to the predicament and shortly came up with an idea that involved physically sitting in on classes to get a feel for the different styles, paces, and academic demands they entailed.
As a atudent council Officer, Sabgir presented his proposal at the start of second semester to the student council advisors, Ms. Stout and Ms. Eden, both of whom jumped on board. While working out the logistics with scheduling, however, Mr. Dow determined that sitting in on classes simply was not feasible.
Instead, by joining forces, Sabgir and Mr. Dow took the same concept and modified it to setting aside some time for discussions between the upper class students and the lower class men. After weeks of additional preparation, all of their hard work came to fruition.
On Tuesday, February 27, juniors attended the first-ever Peer Perspectives for Course Planning meetings. They were held in five separate science rooms, each including a mix of four advisories from the senior and junior grade levels. Led by the seniors and moderated by faculty members, the meetings acted as open information sessions, giving the juniors the opportunity to learn about their class options for the upcoming school year from the students who had already been through the process.
With the hopes of bringing a variety of views to the table, certain seniors were elected to serve on a panel which required taking the juniors’ questions and talking about their personal experiences. Although panelists were provided with a list of potential topics ahead of time, they largely had to rely on their quick thinking skills to provide responses on the spot.
So far, student feedback has been positive.
More Peer Perspectives for Course Planning meetings adhering to the same structure and rules will take place the week of March 5. Sophomores will hear from juniors on Tuesday, March 6, and freshmen will hear from sophomores on Thursday, March 8.
