Students Say...
Day in the Life
A Day in the Life of an Olney 10th Grader
¿De dónde eres? (“Where are you from?”) is one of the first phrases you learn in an entry-level Spanish class. If you were to ask sophomore Maria Jones this question, you’d get an interesting answer. Her immediate family lives in Connecticut, and that is where she typically goes on breaks, but her extended family is from Guatemala.
Maria attended a public middle school before coming to Olney as a freshman. When asked what the biggest difference was between that school and Olney, her reply is, “The size. I’d see new people every day. Here, I know every single person, which is good…” she laughs, “and bad.” Not surprising, since her former school contained nearly 1700 students!
In her spare time, Maria enjoys writing, singing, and playing the ukulele!
Tuesday September 4, 2012 - Maria’s Day…
7:00 AM (Optional) Breakfast in the Kitchen
At Olney, breakfast is always optional, and always delicious! Students and faculty come together for food and fellowship before Morning Collection. Milk, juice and tea are available every morning, and breakfast items include (but are by no means limited to!) cereal, fresh fruit, pancakes, sausages, eggs and toast. Homemade cinnamon rolls are a favorite on Saturday mornings.
8:00 AM Morning Collection and Morning Announcements
At Morning Collection the whole school comes together in silent fellowship for about 10 minutes. Some gather their thoughts, some worship, some share a message if they feel so led. At the conclusion of Morning Collection, morning announcements are made. After announcements, everyone leaves for their respective classes or work.
8:20 AM Study Block
After Morning Collection, Maria has a study block. Today she decides to go to the library and research colleges she may want to apply to in the near future. She examines the veterinary programs at Louisiana and Iowa State Universities.
9:06 AM Quakerism
For second period, Maria has Quakerism with James Gosselink. A graduate of the Westtown School in Pennsylvania, James is also a Quaker. Today they are talking about the beginnings of Quakerism, focusing particularly on its founder, George Fox. Maria compares him with Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-Day Saint Movement (Mormons) by pointing out how they both started their respective movements seemingly alone.
9:52 AM Humanities
Today Maria has a double block of Humanities with Jamie Zavitz ’83. Tenth grade Humanities focuses on European history, so they start class with a quick map quiz of various bodies of water throughout Europe. This is followed by a discussion of Act II, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. In this scene, Lancelot Gabbo, the Fool, has a debate with himself about whether or not he should remain in service to Shylock, and Jamie points out that this may be where the “shoulder angel, shoulder devil” shtick originated from. After that, the class migrates to the computer lab to write papers on feudalism.
11:24 AM 5th Block
The period before lunch, commonly referred to as “5th block,” is a time that is used differently each day. Some days are used for labs, and others for meetings. On Tuesdays, each grade level convenes to discuss class traditions and plan activities.
Today, the 10th graders did not meet, but if they had, Maria imagines that they would be discussing the upcoming Pumpkin Festival hosted by the Village of Barnesville.
12:10 PM Lunch Time
Students and adults are assigned lunch tables; the assignments rotate every three weeks so everyone has a chance to get to know others. The lunch menu frequently features homegrown and/or home-cooked foods, including farm-beef burgers and salad greens from the garden.
12:40 PM Office Work
After lunch, everyone has Office Work or Dish Crew. Maria’s current Office Work assignment is cleaning the library alongside new 10th grade girl Kefan from Kunming, China.
1:15 PM Conceptual Physics
Maria’s afternoon begins with Conceptual Physics, led by Steve Martin, math and physics teacher. The class is reviewing how to calculate the velocity of an object in motion. They will get to see this principle in action when Steve showcases his potato launcher in this Thursday’s lab!
2:00 PM Study Block
2:47 PM Pre-Calculus
In Pre-Calculus, taught by James Gosselink (also an experienced math teacher, having taught at Darrow School among others) the class is learning about the domain and range of functions and the quadratic equation. A real-life application of the quadratic equation is predicting how a body accelerates. Perhaps Maria will use this in her Conceptual Physics class when they test the potato launcher!
3:29 PM Snack Time
Time for a quick bite before the last class of the day!
3:40 PM Meeting Block
Like 5th block, 9th block is used for different meetings, classes, and labs each day.
Maria did not have any meetings today.
4:30 PM P.E. Block
Maria’s chosen sport for the first quarter is yoga. Anne Marie Taber ’78, librarian and health teacher, and Katie Shaw, humanities and ESL teacher, lead the class. Yoga was the most natural choice for Maria. Why? “My mom’s a yoga instructor!”
6:05 PM Supper and Dish Crew
Supper is served buffet-style and students sit with their friends. When supper is over, plates are stacked and announcements are made.
7:00 PM Study Hall
Study Hall is scheduled Sunday through Thursday for all students. Some are assigned to a proctored, structured study hall, while all others are expected to work quietly but may choose their location of study — library, classroom, dorm. Writing and math teachers are available to help with assignments. Tutoring is available, too.
8:30 PM Evening Collection
Evening Collection happens Monday through Friday. Like Morning Collection, this is a time of quiet reflection.
8:50 PM Free until Dorm Time
10:00 PM Dorm Time
10:30 PM Lights Out
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