All class: Exeter aces orientation
Class Day kicks off the new year, offering connection and renewing shared values
After three terms on campus, lowers at Phillips Exeter Academy have found their footing at the Harkness table, tackled the new world of Exeter math and cracked the code of a byzantine block schedule.
Beating a jump rope? That’s harder.
Twenty feet of nylon humbled a squad of Exeter 10th graders Thursday, but not even soggy weather dampened spirits on the latest edition of class day activities. Now in its 10th year, the orientation program — made possible through the support of a generous donor — allows members of each grade to meet or reconnect before the school year commences.
Exeter’s four class years conquered awkward silences and a series of brain-teasing challenges to ace orientation day ahead of the start of the academic year.
Exeter preps and lowers negotiated a series of icebreaker activities and challenges — including that tricky jump rope — presented by a team from the University of New Hampshire’s Browne Center for Innovative Learning, an experiential program that fosters team building, communication, empathy and trust. The Browne Center has been part of Exeter’s class day activities since 2017.
The upper and senior classes each encountered something new. Our 11th graders heard from a group of Exeter alums who returned to campus to talk about their experiences at the Academy and beyond and how they have found meaning and purpose in their lives in a variety of paths and opportunities.
The seniors were put through their paces by professionals from iO Theater Chicago, who led a series of improv-style games to enhance skills around listening, responding and collaborating — reinforcing the Academy’s core values in the process. Among iO Chicago’s notable alums are entertainers Tiny Fey, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis and Stephen Colbert.
By the end of the day, any awkward silences and nervous smiles had yielded to the shared comfort of adolescents in it together.