POMFRET — From Dc. 2 through 17 students and faculty at Pomfret School were “at” school, but not, in the conventional sense,”in” school. In place of structured class time and homework, students were instead tackling one of 27 innovative exercises in learning that saw plenty of overlap between academic disciplines.

Caed Anthony-Jones of Pomfret Center, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Pomfret Mini Golf Course,” in which the students designed, engineered, and built two miniature golf holes, complete with fake turf and a so-called water hazard.

Colby Breault of Putnam, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Once Upon a Time: Creating Children’s Books,” in which students were responsible for the entire creative process, from developing the characters and storyline to illustrating and reading their finished stories to area schoolchildren.

Rebecca Bullied of Pomfret Center, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Form and Function in Living Systems,” a combination art and science project that had students selecting an organism in an ecosystem and drawing a series of macro- to micro-sketches that progressively zoom in on their subjects.

Abigail Byrnes of Woodstock, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Y Yoga,” in which students explored (and practised) the “history and evolution of yoga as it travelled over time from East to West.”

Kailey Castle of Pomfret Center, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Stopping Time: Physics and Photography,” in which the students studied and recreated the iconic Edgerton photo experiments done at MIT in the 1930s, recording a variety of phenomena shot at shutter speeds down to a thousandth of a second.

Alexander Chase of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Y Yoga,” in which students explored (and practised) the “history and evolution of yoga as it travelled over time from East to West.”

Davis Chase of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Form and Function in Living Systems,” a combination art and science project that had students selecting an organism in an ecosystem and drawing a series of macro- to micro-sketches that progressively zoom in on their subjects.

Brody Childs of Eastford, a member of the Pomfret class of 2016, participated in a course entitled “Stopping Time: Physics and Photography,” in which the students studied and recreated the iconic Edgerton photo experiments done at MIT in the 1930s, recording a variety of phenomena shot at shutter speeds down to a thousandth of a second.

Evan Cunningham of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Saving Private Ryan: World War II, History, and Hollywood.”

Benjamin DiIorio of Pomfret Center, a member of the Pomfret class of 2016, participated in a course entitled “The P-Files: The Truth is out There,” an in-depth examination of the appeal and prevalence of conspiracy theories in the American culture.

Sydney Fisher of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2016, participated in a course entitled “Building C.O.U.R.A.G.E. (Conversations On Understanding Racial and Gendered Experiences),” in which students were assigned the challenges and responsibilities of developing, scheduling, and marketing a conference/retreat that will explore issues of race and gender. The event will be hosted by Pomfret School in the summer of 2015.

Nickolas Fulchino of Pomfret Center, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Identity of the American Indian: Examining American Indians’ Struggle for Cultural Preservation.”

Abigail Horst of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Building C.O.U.R.A.G.E. (Conversations On Understanding Racial and Gendered Experiences),” in which students were assigned the challenges and responsibilities of developing, scheduling, and marketing a conference/retreat that will explore issues of race and gender. The event will be hosted by Pomfret School in the summer of 2015.

Gillian Horst of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2018, participated in a course entitled “The P-Files: The Truth is out There,” an in-depth examination of the appeal and prevalence of conspiracy theories in the American culture.

Olivia Kremer of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Gol: A Global Passion,” in which students investigated the history and culture of the game of soccer, and explored the phenomenon of its tremendous popularity worldwide.

Genevieve LaBeef of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Once Upon a Time: Creating Children’s Books,” in which students were responsible for the entire creative process, from developing the characters and storyline to illustrating and reading their finished stories to area schoolchildren.

Matthew Ouellet of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Stopping Time: Physics and Photography,” in which the students studied and recreated the iconic Edgerton photo experiments done at MIT in the 1930s, recording a variety of phenomena shot at shutter speeds down to a thousandth of a second.

Seoyeon Park of Pomfret Center, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Music and Myth,” in which students studied the history of the storytelling power of symphonies, operas and movie scores—myths set to music—from Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelung” to the more contemporary soundtrack from “The Lord of the Rings.”

Rebecca Pempek of Putnam, a member of the Pomfret class of 2016, participated in a course entitled “Form and Function in Living Systems,” a combination art and science project that had students selecting an organism in an ecosystem and drawing a series of macro- to micro-sketches that progressively zoom in on their subjects.

Shuonan Peng of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Music and Myth,” in which students studied the history of the storytelling power of symphonies, operas and movie scores—myths set to music—from Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelung” to the more contemporary soundtrack from “The Lord of the Rings.”

Lucy Richards of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Y Yoga,” in which students explored (and practised) the “history and evolution of yoga as it travelled over time from East to West.”

Cristiano Rovero of North Grosvenordale, a member of the Pomfret class of 2016, participated in a course entitled “Saving Private Ryan: World War II, History, and Hollywood.”

Molly Schroder of Woodstock, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Reading the Landscape of Pomfret,” in which students worked to piece together a narrative, from both natural history and ecology, of the transformation of the 500 acres comprising the Pomfret Campus. Information was obtained through both observation and what archived documents revealed.

Connor Shea of Putnam, a member of the Pomfret class of 2015, participated in a course entitled “Unheard Voices: Stories in LGBT History and Evolution of Acceptance.”

Aaron Soucy of Thompson, a member of the Pomfret class of 2017, participated in a course entitled “Teaching the Kids Next Door,” a collaborative teaching project in which the students created a lesson plan, incorporating math, writing, and science, for second- and third-graders at the nearby Rectory School.

Kayta Tsemo of Pomfret, a member of the Pomfret class of 2018, participated in a course entitled “In Their Own Words; Project: Pomfret,” in which participants were tasked, as digital, photo- and social media journalists, with documenting the twenty-seven stories of Project: Pomfret.

Now in its second year, Project: Pomfret is an experimental retooling of the 121-year-old school’s academic matrix. It was harvested two years ago from the self-examination that resulted in a new strategic plan for the School. The experience is based on the principles of project-based learning (students engage to the fullest when they can experience and solve real-world problems). The goal: to make the learning viable and real.

Head of School Tim Richards, himself the parent of a Pomfret student, made a point of thanking the faculty for their hard work. “The recent Project: Pomfret period,” he said, “echoes loudly and clearly that this kind of work—thinking, learning, playing, and creating together in such unique and collaborative fashion—has the potential to be extremely and powerfully transformational for students and teachers alike.”

 

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