Exploration Week 2019

Each year, during the week before Spring Break, when grade 7 is in Washington, D.C., the Middle School conducts Exploration Week for students in grades 6 and 8. The goal of Exploration Week is to expose students to a variety of learning opportunities and experiences to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of their studies across disciplines.

The theme of this year's week was a deeper exploration of the school’s year-long theme of empathy. Students explored empathy from the global scale to the local scale of the Brimmer community. Over the course of the week, students engaged in several simulations from the Facing the Future Curriculum that challenged them to think and act as global citizens when considering the use and access to shared resources such as fossil fuels, fisheries, forests, and food. At the local level, students conducted a week-long STEAM Design Challenge in which they interviewed Brimmer faculty members to learn about a problem they face in their daily lives. As a team they designed, tested, and marketed a product to solve the problem and help the Brimmer community member as well as others facing similar challenges. Other programming included sessions with Partners in Sex Education, a scavenger hunt in Boston, and trips to the Museum of Science and the Museum of Fine Arts.