Here are some highlights from the last two weeks—February 9 through February 20—in the Upper School.
🗳️ The Beaver Senate comes to order! Students in the ninth grade Nations & Nationalism course gathered in the Rogers Room for a special senate proceeding where students served as the senators. With a bill focused on reforming the electoral college as the centerpiece of the activity, students formulated arguments, engaged in debate, and advocated for the stances of their assigned states. Students leaned into the formal proceedings of the senate, even taking brief recesses to meet with their caucuses and iterate upon their stances. The activity ended in a vote in which the proposed bill was not passed.
🎭 Acting it out: Students brought scenes from Hamlet to life during an assignment tasking them with filming reenactments of the text. As part of the English elective Madness to Mental Health, the assignment challenged the class to make creative decisions—such as picking an acting style and finding meaningful camera placements—to expanded upon the text. As teacher Emily Robertson states, “in deciding how to perform a line or scene, students have to consider what the words mean to make thoughtful performance choices.”
💼 Business in Boston: Former Beaver parents Lian Donohue and So-June Min hosted the Entrepreneurship with a Purpose class at their venture capital firm .406 Ventures. The visit was an opportunity for students to learn more about startup funding and what makes Boston a hub for startups.
🔎 Students propose reforms: After weeks of research and preparation, Theories of Punishment students presented their work on the Research Level during an exhibition open to the community. Each student shared slides, posters, and documents highlighting systematic failures of the criminal justice system—and how they can be addressed.
👟 Stepping through history: Historian, researcher, and cultural enthusiast Vincentt Craft Sutton II spoke to students at an Upper School meeting about the intersection of sneaker culture and history. In anticipation of the Black Student Union’s upcoming Mix & Kicks Ball, Vincentt traced the evolution of sneakers—from the founding of Adidas and Puma to the role sneakers have played in shaping social movements—and emphasized the power of self-expression. Vincentt hosted a Mini Studio later in the day for students interested in learning how to design and paint their own sneakers.
✈️ Around the world with Beaver: Students finished preparations for several upcoming trips across the country—and around the world.
- Beaver’s robotics team—BeaverAUV—will be headed to Florida to compete in RoboNation’s annual RoboBoat competition. This will be the group’s first time competing at the event after pivoting their focus from submarines to boats. To follow along, check out the team’s Instagram, @BeaverAUV!
- Students studying French will make the journey to Quebec for an immersive, week-long exploration of the area. In addition to testing out their language skills and seeing the sights, students will also participate in home stays with local families. Nate Howard ’28 and Lauren Wagner ’26 will be taking over the Beaver Instagram (@bcdschool) to document the experience!
- Students studying Chinese will also expand upon their language skills during a trip across China. From the Great Wall to the Forbidden City, students will see various cultural monuments and participate in meaningful exchanges with Chinese students.
🤥 Fighting fake news: Director of Teaching and Learning at MIT Dr. Ruthann Thomas visited the The Literature of Lies class to talk about fake news. Ruthann leveraged her training as a cognitive psychologist to detail how fake news hijacks the brain—and what we can do to combat it. Her visit comes after the class did a deep dive on infamous fabricated stories, which you can read more about here.