At the beginning of each year, students write their hopes and dreams. Well, teachers have hopes and dreams for the students who grace our classrooms as well. Here at Georgetown Day School, our collective dream has been synthesized into a list of tenets that we strive to instill in our students each day. We work to ensure that throughout their time in this fine institution,
a GDS student will…
- Build networks and collaborate across difference
- Innovate and create
- Take risks, tolerate failure, and learn from failure
- Self-advocate
- Think critically
- Communicate clearly and powerfully
- Tackle complex problems
- Learn actively and resourcefully
- Engage as a just, moral, ethical citizen
- Lead
This year we are embarking on a project to engage the students in defining what these goals mean to them. Students from pre-K to 5th grade are participating in activities and discussions designed to deepen their understanding of “A GDS student will…” and allow them to share their interpretation with the greater school community.
First graders learned to “take risks” by jumping off the climbing structure on the playground, experimenting with tasting new foods, and singing on a stage. Download a presentation of their activities. (4.7 MB) Third graders demonstrated how to “build networks and collaborate across difference” as they pretended to survive on a desert island with only the support from their teammates and a few randomly chosen objects. As the eldest members of the Lower School community, 5th graders actively brainstormed ways they could demonstrate leadership, and identified how and where they could “lead” the way.
Soon we will share the results of this dynamic project in the words and pictures of the students to show everyone just how incredible it is to be a GDS student.