Service Days
School-wide events twice during the year in which all students and teachers set out in their advisory groups to give back to the communities in which we live. On these days, among other tasks, we serve at soup kitchens, provide manual labor in community gardens, supply boxes of meals for food pantries, and offer our services at homes for the elderly, community centers, and elementary schools. See pictures from our 2005 service days.

Core Values Curriculum
The year-long English and social studies curricula in which students learn to identify and understand how Watkinson’s core values function in their own lives, in the lives of others, and in the life of the school community. Students make this study through reading, writing, and various multimodal activities and assignments throughout the year.

Archaeological Dig
A several week project in studies in which students learn the basics of how archaeologists hypothesize about and confirm ideas about other cultures based on fragments of evidence of the arts, religion, economic and political systems, etc.. Students read about the processes of archaeology, then “invent” their own ancient civilization and bury artifacts from it for other students to dig up and study. 

Storm Drain Stenciling

Stenciling storm drains in local neighborhoods saying: “Dump No Waste Drains to River”

Every bit of water that finds its way down a storm drain eventually ends up in Long Island Sound. Whenever it rains, the water goes down a storm drain which first leads to the Park River. (The Park River is a river that runs through and under parts of Hartford). The Park River then leads to the Connecticut River, and then finally follows to Long Island Sound. Long Island Sound is the nursery and habitat for many living sea creatures. Storm drains take the job of dissolving runoff water, but it can also carry nonpoint source pollution. Nonpoint source pollution is storm water that is infected, and can carry extra nitrogen, causing fish and other sea creatures to develop tension.

 

You can reduce nonpoint source pollution by doing the following:

• Wash your car at a car wash where the water is cleaned and collected afterwards. This way, the soap won’t drizzle into the storm drains.

• Pick up your pet’s waste. Pet waste can give bacteria and additional nitrogen to the water.

• Clean the litter and organic matter that is clogging up the storm drains.
See photos from the 2010 storm drain stenciling day. 

Around the World
A trimester-long project in geography class in which students become virtual tourists and explorers of the world through researching different global physical and cultural geographies, creating travel itineraries, and writing travel-log entries of their adventures and discoveries abroad.

Sample Travel Itinerary for North America
By Brett G. ’10
From CT, I’d travel to New Hampshire to see the state capital, Concord. Then I’d travel to New York City to see, among other things, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, From there, I’d continue to the capital of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. Then it’s on to George Washington’s House in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Next, I’d visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore is the next stop on my cross country trek. From there, I’d visit Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Continuing my journey, I’d check out the Petrified National Forest in Arizona. Santa Fe, New Mexico’s state capital, is my next stop. And last on my trip is The Alamo is San Antonio, Texas.

8th Grade Exhibitions
A year-long process in which students look at themselves as learners through the lens of C4S and create individual projects that incorporate and demonstrate their findings. Students receive one-on-one coaching throughout and present their projects to parents, teachers, their peers, and 7th graders—an audience of about 15 adults and students.

Shakespeare Monologues
A several week project in English class in which each student is assigned 30 to 60 lines of a Shakespearean monologue to analyze and understand fully, and then to memorize and present to the rest of the middle school and the 8th grade parents. Watch a video of Brutus’ funeral speech here.

Thumbprint
The first step in the four-year process that maps every student’s potential, possible, and realized paths throughout their Watkinson experience through considering their strengths, needs, intentions, and passions—bringing to light long- and short-term goals; projecting academic class schedules, activities, and weekend or summer opportunities; and attending to each student’s progress towards meeting Watkinson’s mission, C4S, and core values.

10th Grade Exhibitions
A year-long process in which students become collectors, evaluators, and exhibitors of their own 9th and 10th grade work in the areas of writing, applying the research method, problem-solving, and collaboration. Students receive one-on-one coaching throughout and present their findings to a small and focused audience for feedback and commendation.

Immigration Fair
A trimester-long assignment in American History in which students deeply explore the history and culture of an immigrant group of their choice through first-hand interviews, historical research, and written and oral presentation to other students and teachers.

LEAP Day
The official “kick-off” day for the college process in which the students retreat off campus to learn about resume and college essay writing, to practice interview skills, and to receive information about pieces of the college process such as filling out application materials, teacher recommendations, and financial aid. This event is followed up at Watkinson by evening informational events for parents, one-on-one college counseling, and college fairs.

Graduation
Unlike other graduations, ours puts the student at the center by having no VIP speaker. Rather, we invite our students—as many as want to—to speak or perform; the program thus develops organically and individually, from year to year. With as many as 17 of their peers taking center stage before the awarding of diplomas, all students come away feeling that this final rite of passage was truly their own.