A collaboration among Sixth Formers takes stress management strategies global.
November 8, 2024
The 2024 Fall Term Living in Community Day focuses on practical life skills.
BY KRISTIN DUISBERG
A typical Thursday morning at St. Paul’s School might find groups of students working together in a lab in the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science, discussing a humanities class reading around a Schoohouse Harkness table, or catching up on homework in Ohrstrom Library. Nov. 8, however, found students wielding needles and thread in Raffini Commons and fishing rods at Library Pond; learning how to set a formal dinner table in the Upper, change a tire in the AFC parking lot, and build a fire on the sandy pathway between the library and the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul; riding bicycles, lacing on hockey skates, baking bread and cookies — and more. The activities were all part of a Fall Term Living in Community (LinC) Day focused on practical life skills, a departure from classroom learning aimed at helping students become better rounded, learn something new and have fun.
One of the hallmarks of St. Paul’s, the residential life LinC curriculum is designed to help every student become a knowledgeable, responsible, caring and contributing member of society. During Third and Fourth Form years, students take required LinC classes that delve into topics including cultural competency, diversity and inclusivity, personal identity, sexuality and gender, drugs and alcohol, and wellness; Fifth and Sixth Formers participate in a three-times-per-term seminar that builds on the knowledge base developed in those LinC classes. While the once-per-term student-led LinC Days for the student body often focus on complicated topics with both personal and societal implications, student LinC leaders and program leadership from the Dean of Students Office were in agreement that for this term’s programming the community would benefit from something a little less weighty.
Students learned how to knit with the help from members of the SPS Knitting Club.
Students learned how to change a car tire during the Basic Car Maintenance workshop.
Following a presentation by LinC leaders that outlined the day’s activities, students spread out across the School grounds for three different hour-long “how-to” classes, having chosen ahead of time from 35 options led by SPS faculty and staff as well as two outside presenters. Those presenters — New Hampshire-based accountant Nathan Walker, who led sessions on personal finance, and Dartmouth College career coach Eric Eisendrath, who shared his expertise on finding a job and building a personal brand, joined students over lunch for questions and conversation. The energy on the grounds was distinctly buoyant as students welcomed the break from projects and papers to learn about practical topics that interested them and try out new skills — and, between their two morning sessions, to socialize over a fall-themed snack of apple cider, donuts and popcorn that was made possible by their families and the SPS Parents Association.
