“Your team did a wonderful job of exposing our incoming freshmen to new ways of thinking about themselves, others and the world around them through the QUESTion workshops. We are excited to see how this new cohort grows intellectually, socially and emotionally through the coming years, and how they may continue to engage with the QUESTion project! Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you around BCSM this school year.”

– Teacher Coordinators of the Hayden Bridge Program

This week, the QUESTion Project Summer Interns completed their third and final QUESTion Class workshop for the Hayden Bridge Program at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. It has been an inspiring experience and we were very grateful for the opportunity to work with incoming freshmen. We were impressed by the rigor, thoughtfulness and care that everyone brought to the Hayden Bridge Program and were happy to contribute.

It was an empowering journey for all: the Student QUESTion Ambassadors who led the workshops were able to practice their leadership and mentorship skills and the incoming freshmen were able to engage with one another as confident and friendly citizens of the classroom!

In the first week the students broke the ice and got a taste of exploration of big questions through a fast-paced ice-breaker activity. In the second week they wrote down and shared their most pressing questions in their lives right now.  In the last week, they engaged in a significant debate on the topic: “Is life about me or is life about others?” All of these activities centered on the upcoming transition from middle school to high school. We considered why it is important to approach this transition with openness and curiosity; we questioned how to best manage time; we thought about what qualities to look for in new friends; and – through all of this – we started building a culture where the well-being of the community grows in tandem with the success of the individual student.  It was remarkable to witness how these students established new connections with one another based on meaningful interactions where they could recognize their similarities and appreciate their differences. We’ve left confident that the new class of freshmen will spread a trend for social and emotional openness.

Special thanks to Ms. Cobb and Ms. Barker from BCSM for their support with the planning and execution of our program this summer!