检疫, 隔离, and travel restrictions don’t come in handy when running an off-campus, 体验式学习计划. 但, Director of 视野 艾莉森Basdekis and her team pivoted and reimagined the 2020-21 视野 program so that it worked in on-campus, 在线, 混合设置.

“How do we adjust such a dynamic program that is so rooted and designed to send students off of our campus to learn in community? 我们如何适应当前的现实?” Ms. Basdekis问. “It was with great intention and dedication to our students’ learning and to the integrity of 视野.”

The team took into consideration relationships with 视野 partners, those partners’ situations (Were they working remotely? 在混合模型中?), 现状和现实, and the logistics of sending more than 150 students off campus and into the community — and back to campus.

“We shifted the program significantly, but not at the expense of what is core and dear to us,” Ms. Basdekis说. Those priorities include maintaining access to community learning, 即使是在遥远的地方, and dedicating time in the schedule for personalized learning and exploring student passions. “We are committed to student growth through experiential learning and connecting students to experiences and projects where they can contribute boldly and creatively to the common good,她补充道。.

九年级学生关注的是多样性, 股本, and inclusion (DEI); health and wellness; and leadership practices, 就像他们在一个典型的学年里做的一样.  On-campus students engaged in the 温室 Projects, while their remote peers contributed to planning, 慈善事业, 和市场营销. Sophomores continued their place-based learning, with a few adjustments to “place” [see below].

青少年远程处理, 学生项目, 高年级学生参加了远程实习, 个性化的项目, 和“实习”与MHS成人. 这些项目涉及方方面面, from assisting with DEI workshops for ninth-graders to curating content for Miss Hall’s Makes, to designing a new contemplative garden space on campus and capturing the goings-on around the campus as part of the MHS Storytelling team.

“So much about the 2020-21 school year was a chance to evaluate what is core, what is essential and to think about new ways that we can engage our students in the work of 视野 more deeply and beyond the physical restrictions of our campus and of the Berkshires,” Ms. Basdekis补充道. “We’re at the place where we’ve lived this year and we are starting to envision and dream up what 视野 will be in 2021-22, 其中一部分是对今年的反思, 评估工作世界的变化, 听取过去和现在的伴侣的意见, 听取学生的意见, 当然, 如何最好地前进.”

Sophomore 视野 emphasizes place-based learning, traditionally familiarizing students with the greater Berkshires community. That could mean drawing inspiration from the Shakers who lived just around the corner from the MHS campus, 参观民权运动偶像W.E.B. 杜波依斯在附近的大巴林顿, or pitching in to help the Housatonic River Initiative improve the health of the river’s watershed.

那么，如何在大流行期间做到这一点? 换地方.

Day students and boarders explored the Miss Hall’s campus with Science Teacher Jennifer LaForest (below), while students learning remotely instead studied a waterway close to where they live. 他们探索了环境, 文化, 以及水路的社会经济方面, 做研究和数据收集, 向专家学习, 与同伴分享信息, 参加一个社会行动项目.

每个学期都有一个不同的主题. This included centering stories about their waterway, 水质科学, 以及这如何澳门威利斯官方网站到他们的故事中, 粮食和农业, 以及土地管理的土壤科学.

园林设计是个性化的, yearlong 视野 project created by three seniors eager to explore landscape architecture, 增强了MHS校园的自然美, 改善社区福利.

Working with 温室 Manager Marian Rutledge, 莎拉·布里格斯, 那Mielke, and Brooke Telfer designed a meditation garden at the intersection of Witherspoon Hall, 休姆斯·尤斯顿图书馆, 纪念大厅, 以及阿拉西格林内尔1901年的温室, the literal and figurative locus for growth at MHS.

The immersive space they envisioned would be a tranquil place for raking gravel patterns, 调整岩石, 还有建造石堆.

“A more nature-centric MHS may look like spending more class time outdoors or doing your homework under the sky. We are privileged to live in such a beautiful area of the Berkshires and on such a beautiful campus. As we get dirt under our nails and plants into the ground, we have the opportunity to strengthen school pride and educate our community on the importance of nature in our lives.”

As a 视野 intern in the School’s Marketing and Communications Office, Sam Kangethe ’22 was interested in the art of storytelling. 她的第一个项目? A podcast that turned the tables on the boarding school admissions process.

把它拉下来, 山姆研究了一项新技术(大胆), 利用专业人士的专业知识, and reached out to the admissions officer who impressed her as an applicant to 澳门威利斯网站.

图为采访阿里·哈斯, 招生副主任, Sam is the one asking the hard questions: “What are you looking for in prospective students?” “How does self-presentation play a role in your decision- making?” “How have COVID-19 limitations factored into the application process?” “Will anything from ‘the new way’ change how you do your job in the future?”

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地平线重新想象- MHS家庭变焦

Director of 视野 艾莉森Basdekis and Associate Director of 视野 Emerald Power recently shared with MHS parents how the School's one-of-a-kind 视野 program has been reimagined to be even more relevant during this extraordinary year.