The Social Studies tour took teachers through classes in the Lower, Middle and Upper School divisions to observe the continuum of how students learn social studies at CA — showing faculty how their work in Pre-K through 12 builds on that of previous teachers' and how that work helps students’ thinking evolve. 

 

The tour began in the Lower School where teachers observed a class discussing stereotypes after reading Max: The Stubborn Little Wolf, and continued all the way into the Upper School, where they observed students debating the justification of U.S. Imperialism versus its consequences. 

 

After the tour, many teachers observed the common thread of student teamwork and discussed how to intentionally teach collaboration across the different divisions.

 

The program, which is organized by Upper School History teacher Paul Kim, along with Middle School English and social studies teacher Eric Augustin and fifth-grade teacher Mary Singer, has become synonymous on campus with the number 1,837: the combined years of teaching experience at Colorado Academy.

 

“Project X seeks to mine this untapped resource,” says Kim. “Together, we can figure out how to evolve smartly and improve our students’ learning experience… from the arts studio, to the gym floor, to electives in the humanities.”

 

The Social Studies Tour is the second for Project X. It follows the Literature Tour, which took some teachers through every division to observe English classrooms teaching anything from Beatrix Potter to Lord of the Flies all the way to Thoreau. The Literature Tour was described by one participant as a “half-day of top-notch professional development on campus at no cost.”

 

Says Kim: “By working from within the faculty, we hope to create structures and opportunities for teachers to work together to maximize the depth of resources and knowledge and commitment to excellence that defines Colorado Academy.”

 

The next Project X event will include an Empathy Tour, “Student for a Day,” where faculty will “shadow” students, attend their sporting events and also do their homework in order to better understand the demands of student life.