On Wed., March 19, Benjamin’s students had a much-needed day off from classes. This day broke up Chillin’ and Grillin’ week, which is also the week before Spring Break. During this free day, each grade had a different activity to participate in. For some grades, this activity was purely academic, but for others, it was a day of fun and giving back.
The freshmen were given a free day, during which they could catch up on homework or make plans with friends. This day was a good way for these new high schoolers to recharge and finish the last few days of school before break strong.
“Having Wednesday off was helpful as I was not only able to catch up on homework but also go to the mall with my friends,” shared freshman Payton Welke.
The day was focused on getting the sophomores prepared to choose a standardized test to take during their junior and senior years. These tenth graders had Pre-ACT day, in which they took a practice ACT to get experience taking a long standardized test and to get used to the question types.
Sophomore Grace Bischoff thought this experience was beneficial: “I thought the Pre-ACT was a good learning experience. I feel prepared for the questions and timing I will face when I take the exam my junior year.”
“I did a good amount of practice on Test Innovators, and so I felt prepared to take the practice exam. I felt like it helped because I can now compare my PSAT and PACT scores to see which is better,” explained junior Willow Staples.
As college applications are right around the corner for juniors, the College Counseling Department hosted a college boot camp called Junior Jumpstart on Wednesday. This day not only helped juniors gain exposure to topics for their Common Application and supplemental essays but also allowed these Benjamin students to participate in mock interviews. These interviews, hosted by Benjamin’s parents, alumni, and faculty, acclimated students to potential questions and experiences of college, job, and internship interviews.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the Common App essay workshop because Mr. Morrin provided a unique perspective on writing a college essay that I had not seen before. He also showed us the usual prompts as well as some sample responses,” shared junior London Allen.
The seniors traveled to the Lower School, where they hosted the annual “Springstival.” At this carnival, these upperclassmen played games and ran different stations for the elementary school Bucs.
Dr. Peruggia, Dean of the Senior Class, gives his highlights of the carnival, “The tiny hearts of our pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st-grade friends were clearly overfilled with happiness and excitement because of the seniors’ patience and generosity while painting faces, playing catch, golfing, fishing, coloring, running, jumping, laughing, magic-ing, twister-ing, pig-passing, and musical chairing.”
He continued by sharing the impact that the seniors had, “They showed our youngest students the strength and power of school spirit and truly inspired some lil’ Buc Pride.”
Although each grade-level activity had a different purpose, they were all beneficial and a nice way to change up the everyday routine.
