Sixth graders tackle two major Middle School projects simultaneously, stretching their creative writing skills and global knowledge.

The youngest Spartans have excelled in their first two weighted academic projects, which recently culminated with a showcase of their hard work on display in Gunn Hall.

Global Connections: Monument Walk & Nations Day

Led by instructor Octavia Sadler, Global Connections takes students through an immersive month-long research project and international talent show designed to teach them about countries outside of the United States.

Students start by choosing a country that piques their interest. Next, they are tasked with researching the country and creating an infographic in their Expeditions class. The visual representation of data and information rolls into the next phase known as the Monument Project where students design and create an original 3D model of a monument related to their country that does not currently exist, and decide where it should be placed and why. 

Parker Brigtsen ’32 chose Rome, Italy, for his love of researching European countries.

“I always like dioramas and creating, and I love history and geography so when I got the assignment I was really ecstatic about it,” said Brigtsen. 

For the monument, Brigtsen honed in on Vatican City after reading stories about several money laundering scandals in the city that is home to the Roman Catholic Church. He built a mini washing machine, added a Pope Mitre (hat) on top to represent the Catholic Church, and added fake money inside. The ring around the front of the machine was also rusty looking to symbolize filth and age, since the scandals have been going on for many years.

Sadler, who’s facilitated the project for more than two decades, says the initiative teaches planning, research and design skills; all skills students need to be successful in Upper School and college.

Once the monuments and their description cards were completed and displayed in Gunn Hall, classmates had a week to tour the projects.

Parents were also invited to experience the Monument Walk right before spring break. 

The entire unit concludes in the dining hall with an event known as Nation’s Day. The talent show-type event gives students a chance to showcase their cultural skills, through dressing up in cultural clothing, cooking food from certain countries, dancing, singing in different languages and playing musical instruments. Students also paint and hang flags from other countries in a designated area of the dining hall. Parent volunteers play a big role in the celebration as well, assisting and coordinating food preparation with the dining hall team.

The Book Project Lives On

While the Monument Walk was happening, students and parents were also wowed by more Spartan work in the upstairs lobby of Gunn Hall as they flipped through original stories written by 6th graders. “The Book Project,” started by English teacher Meg Phillips decades ago and revived last school year by English instructor Claire Zagrodzky ’16, challenges students to learn and put into practice key elements and stages of a compelling narrative — exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. 

Rushmi Kumar P ’32, ’29, ‘27, the mom of a current 6th grader, was thoroughly impressed by the students’ work.

“The books are so creative,” said Kumar. “I particularly love seeing the backs of each of their stories where they tell a little bit about themselves and summarize their stories.”

Students were given full creative control and wrote across every genre, from thrillers to science fiction to thought-provoking narratives. They also designed their own book jackets — which involved illustrating the front and back cover art, and writing a short book teaser and “About the Author” section. Each page was laminated and bound together to preserve its quality, and longevity.

Students leaned on personal experiences, emotions and current events to inspire their writing, making each book uniquely different.