On November 7th, students at The Winchendon School (MA) participated in another iDay for the academic year. These are academic days but take the students outside of the classroom to participate in hands-on learning. Students in each class were given different areas to engage in learning actives outside of the traditional classroom setting.
Freshman
The 9th-grade students spent their iDay at the Community Action Center (CAC) in Winchendon. This organization helps to stock and maintain the local food bank for the surrounding community to help ensure that people have access to food for themselves and their families. They also provide clothes for people to choose from for themselves or their children.
While spending the day working with the CAC, there were several activities that students engaged in. This included a group of students traveling to Worcester to the regional food bank to bring back food to restock Winchendon. A group of students also helped to paint an office at the CAC and a garden box to be used. Some students helped to build a shed for a local Winchendon resident, while others helped put together meal kits to give out for the upcoming holidays.
There were several activities for the students to engage in for their day of service at the CAC, all while working on giving back to the community and building up their teamwork skills.
Sophomores
Students in the 10th grade took a trip to the Boston Tea Party Museum, in Boston, Massachusetts to see the reenactment and visualize what happened during the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The idea of this iDAY was to engage the students in events they would be learning about, specifically in their history/social studies classes.
Students and staff were noticeably excited when arriving in Boston. The tour began by sitting in an introductory meeting with two Patriots from the 1770s. They explained why we were there, and what we were going to do with the tea! The groups then proceeded to follow the host Patriot of their group and go down to the boats. A few students volunteered to throw the tea into the sea, as they say at the museum!
Students concluded the tour by walking through the history museum. This allowed them to perceive many primary documents and items from the Boston Tea Party. There were no photos or videos allowed, which led the students to be immersed and engaged in the important information given.
Juniors
The 11th-grade students used iDAY as a jumpstart on the college search process. The College Counseling team was able to connect with surrounding universities to provide our students with an opportunity to explore different colleges. Students were assigned to tour the following colleges; Merrimack College, Stonehill College, or Assumption University.
This provided the students with an opportunity to tour one of the three colleges and talk with current students at the universities. This helps our students to gain an understanding of what the college student’s experience is like at their respective places.
Providing students with exposure to different colleges and universities is crucial as they begin to think about the type of college that they would like to attend and what they want to get out of attending the college.
Seniors/PG
The seniors and post-graduate students were provided with the opportunity to engage in a wellness day. Understanding that one’s wellness comes from a combination of physical and mental health, these students were provided with different activities to improve their well-being.
Students had two blocks for the day, where they were able to engage in different activities. The activities being offered by the school for these students included cooking with some faculty, creating vision boards, engaging in art activities, working out in the gym, or skating at the rink.
With the stress of applying to colleges and making decisions for the next year, the seniors and post-graduates took the day to take care of their overall well-being.
