Last year, Ward Melville developed a new program called the Sophomore Seminar. The program splits sophomores into groups of about 10-15 students, with a teacher or faculty member leading each group. The seminars consist of talking and participating in different activities, whether it’s asking questions or just listening.
The first seminar was a school tour and introduction to the WM environment. This would have been more beneficial to students if it had been during the first couple of days of school. However, it had already been two or so weeks, so everyone already knew the general wings and where their classes were. The tour did help with locating certain rooms, like the testing center and guidance office.
During the second seminar, students went to the LGI and several representatives from various school clubs explained what their club was about. Learning about the clubs, especially from a student perspective, was helpful because it allowed students to get a sense of the activities and events of the club, as well as the type of people in each club. Students asked questions, such as “What should we prioritize in high school?” and “How do you balance school work with extracurriculars and sports?”
In the following seminar, students again visited the LGI to meet the principal, John Holownia. Each student was handed a slip of paper with a question to read aloud for the principal to answer. These questions ranged from “Where would your dream vacation be?” to “What’s the biggest difference between Ward Melville when you went here [as a student] and now?” The answers were interesting and helped students understand the principal on a more personal level.
Having these seminars allow students to get a break from gym class. Although gym can be fun, sometimes it’s just nice to sit and relax during that period. The seminar itself is usually very laid-back. Students either sit in a classroom or office and go around answering questions or interact and learn in the LGI.
There are no obvious disadvantages of the seminar, so whether it stays or goes is not a big issue. Personally, I don’t mind the sophomore seminar, and even though it can be boring for some people, students can only learn from it. Would the students be completely fine without this seminar? Probably. However, there most likely won’t be another opportunity to ask the principal any question you want or be in a room with different club representatives learning about the clubs.
In all, the sophomore seminar was an interesting introduction to the next three years at Ward Melville.
