I started working at CTRA January 9th last year. Since then I have worked to align myself with the school’s theme and values. discovered that talking about sustainability with scholars fit naturally within my classes. As I became more comfortable with the school I learned more about the school’s values of awareness, diversity, and action. This year I discovered an opportunity to grow as a member of the CTRA staff. I joined the school recruitment team along with two other educators. For many schools recruiting is a very important part of life and CTRA is no exception. I decided that to do this job well I would have to immerse myself into our school’s philosophy and experience everything unique we have to offer.
One thing that I always talk about with prospective students and their families are Magnet Theme Days. Roughly once every month there is a special day where as an entire school we shift our focus from individual classroom lessons to wider lessons centered on our schools themes and values. These days are a great deal of work to organize but we usually get a good return on scholarly engagement. These MTDs provide our scholars with opportunities to experience things they normally might not ever try like putting on waterproof gear and walking the edges of the CT River cleaning trash. More importantly these days provide the scholars something meaningful they can reflect upon as seniors completing their capstone projects. A major portion of capstone require thoughtful reflection to identify growth.
Being able to tell prospective parents about the entire continuum of experiences we have planned from the start of school to the end is great. MTD also have another level of complexity because as a scholar progresses through their years the MTD progress with them. As they get older and mature their responsibilities during the days grow. Specifically our November MTD “The Day of Sharing” is dozens of workshops created and run by the senior class. The message I give to prospective parents is we expect a great deal of leadership and responsible risk taking from our scholars, but we do not expect them to spontaneously grow. Through four years of curated experiences and opportunities we try to create scholars that will use their gifts to contribute to a just and sustainable world!