By Liz Leamy
Last Friday, dozens of students from The Mead School, ranging from the Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) through the seventh grade, along with their friends, family members, teachers and other supporters, ushered in the spring season with a memorable ‘Exhibition of Curiosity’ event that kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
This event, which is in its third year running, was held at the bucolic Mead School campus on Riverbank Road in Stamford and marked a lively immersive and interactive student showcase involving approximately 80 learners whose presentations were centered around different questions, investigations and discoveries covering a wide range of topics and subjects and featured all the stuff of a gold-star event.
Attendees of this event, who included current and prospective school families, alumni, community partners, teachers, along of course, with all of The Mead School students, could be seen buzzing about the venue’s expansive white hallways checking out the many different and fascinating projects, which made for quite a dynamic atmosphere.
“The students all the way up from Pre-K through Grade 7 find an essential question that they’re curious or passionate about,” said Paige Fischer, Director of Admission and Enrollment at The Mead School. “They research it for about five weeks, dive as deep as they can and have a product that they then present.”
For this event, the school’s Pre-K and Kindergarten students produced a series of team projects based upon the concept of ‘wonder,’ while the first graders explored the captivating notion of orca community living.
At the same time, each student in the second through seventh grades did an individual project inspired by the concept of a ‘great question’ with the notion that this topic serves as a base foundation for all research.
All the while, the entire eighth grade faction, who comprise The Mead School’s highest grade, spent time working with all the presenters and teams leading up to this memorable annual exhibition.
“These are amazing kids who have different passions and I think they’re really excited to show who they are in a different way through the exhibition,” said Fischer. “They’re able to see their creativity, not only for themselves and their classmates, but also for everybody who’s come to the exhibition. There’s so much enthusiasm and inspiration happening and it’s wonderful to be part of this whole event.”
Notably, some of the featured projects at this exhibition included an investigation on the power of music (what makes a song stick in your head?), different animal habitats, a deep dive on the formation and structure of rainbows and an investigation into the engineering of hydroelectric dams, among other matters.
In formulating their presentations, students were asked to think about their project’s source of inspiration, amount of work it involved, its various challenges and its most important takeaways along with other things.
“It’s about helping the student to think differently, ask questions and then to go from there,” said Fischer.
The Mead School, which has a current student population of nearly 90 individuals based all over Fairfield and Westchester Counties (with many from Greenwich, Stamford, Pound Ridge and Bedford) has been in existence for more than 50 years and is an independent and progressive program for students ranging from the Pre-K through the eighth grade levels.
Founded in 1969, The Mead School is rooted in a whole-child philosophy and provides students with an environment in which they are encouraged and empowered to question, investigate and shape their learning experiences through project-based work, interdisciplinary learning and a commitment to emotional intelligence.
Further, the Mead School, with its wonderful atmosphere of energy and optimism is dedicated to nurturing curiosity, creativity and confidence among its learners through a wide arrange of experiences and activities, including field trips to such places as nature centers, whale watching locales, local farms and museums along with other fun and interesting venues.
For more information, please contact The Mead School at:
www.meadschool.org
1095 Riverbank Road
Stamford, CT 06903
203-595-9500
Paige Fischer
Director of Admission and Enrollment
The Mead School
paige_fischer@meadschool.org
203-883-0506
