Graduation Ritual at The Mead School

Graduation Ritual is a longstanding Mead School tradition that encapsulates a series of challenges a Mead student must complete to graduate. This time-honored and rewarding rite of passage requires students to synthesize different elements of their education at Mead and reflect upon how they have grown. Because of the nature of this challenge –tackling a large, long-term project with many facets – each student works closely with two faculty or staff members. One of those adults focuses on the Mastery Challenge, and the other, the support person, facilitates work on the essay and reflection piece and provides overall assistance with planning and time management.
 
The four components:
MASTERY CHALLENGE – Each student begins by identifying an area of passion or passions that they will, with the guidance of a faculty member, dive into and explore in depth. A teacher or other community person partners with the student before designing a challenge tailored to that student’s strengths and interests.

REFLECTION ESSAY – Students write essays in which they reflect on themselves both as people and as students at Mead. They are asked about first impressions, significant memories and relationships, how they learn best, and what they understand about their learning styles. They conclude by examining their core values and how those values will guide their decision-making in the future, identifying any hopes and dreams.

REFLECTION PIECE – After students complete the reflection essay, they create an art piece – in the medium of their choice, e.g., art, drama, music, dance, writing, etc. – that symbolizes their growth at Mead, accompanied by an artist’s statement describing their process, their chosen medium, and any symbols they have included to convey their message and share how their art piece is symbolic of their reflections captured in the essay.

IT ALL COMES TOGETHER – The Graduation Ritual Panel is the culmination of all this focused and challenging work. Students appear before a panel – consisting of Peter Herzberg, Paige Fischer, John Zwack, and Amy Kyle Parker – to present their work and engage in a dialogue with the panelists. Each student’s mastery challenger and support person are also present for the panel.
 
Moving through this capstone project requires a tremendous amount of work and can certainly feel daunting at times. Once on the other side, Mead students often reflect on the process itself and how it stretched them beyond what they imagined they could do. They take this new knowledge of self and sense of accomplishment with them as they venture from these halls to the next stages of their lives.

Amy Kyle Parker