After just three days of fully using the Commons (thanks, Polar Vortex), we held the grand Commons Unveiling opening events for our Harley community! The day began right off with a full school assembly to honor and thank all of the people who have invested time, thought, effort and money into building the Commons. Our Head of School, Ward Ghory, gave a warm welcome to all who were present, then turned over the microphone and the bulk of the speaking to sophomore, Seeley Taylor, who has been involved in the building and managing meetings from the very beginning. Her heartfelt words of thanks and gratitude set the tone for the rest of the day-long celebration. You can watch the assembly in full by clicking on the link below.
Assembly to Thank Commons Donors and Workers
Immediately following the assembly, the donors and their families were given a guided tour of the now-completed Commons. Ken Huth, photographer, captured some great moments both in the assembly and during the donor tours.
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- Waiting before the assembly
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- Ken and the Nichols team
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- The Deane family
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- Pre-assembly chat with Seeley and Mr. Ghory
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- A view of the amazing people we were honoring
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- The heavy hitters! Ken Motsenbocker, CFO; Chris Costanza, 9×30 architect; Tom Johnson, amazing aesthetic guidance; Ward Ghory, Head of School; and Jim Burm, NIchols site manager
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- A tour of the workshop space
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- Chris Hartman and Seeley Taylor sharing information
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- The McNally, Platt, Hartman and Willsea family representatives
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- Demonstrating the lathe
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- Oak craftsman
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- A glimpse at the cool activities set up in the Project Space
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- Interactive information screen in the lobby between the science classrooms
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- The Harkness table and beatiful vaulted ceilings in the CMEE
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- Meeting some of the hospice students
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- A view of the Briggs Center from the loft
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- The Leit family with James D’Amanda
The morning and part of the afternoon were spent with classes of Lower School and Fifth and Sixth grade students touring the Commons and bringing their time capsule contributions to Flag Hall. Each class was met by members of the Sixth Grade who have spearheaded the efforts to collect meaningful and representative items from each class and grade for the commemorative time capsule. The capsule (or perhaps multiple, depending on the quantity of items contributed) will be housed in the ceiling of the middle floor of the Commons and will be opened again in 2064.
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- Primary C delivering their time capsule materials
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- Primary A presenting their class books for the time capsule
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- A writing prompt up all day in Flag Hall for “what else would you put in the time capsule?”
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- Primary A settling into the Center for Mindfulness and Empathy Education
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- Nursery Yellow exploring the space
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- Learning a song with Mr. Brennan
The Commons Festival was held for all 7th-12th grade students during the afternoon Flex Time/Advisory period. This fantastic event featured interactive and engaging activities in each of the spaces of the Commons, led by students, and enjoyed by all. These same activities were open to the parents and families during the 3:30-5:00 time, as well as guided tours hosted by students from the Living Building class. The building was buzzing with excitement and activity, and there was something for everyone to explore and enjoy!
Workshop and Project Space:
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- Generating a body temperature graph in the Control Room
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- Metal-bending equipment in the workshop
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- Lathe demonstrations
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- Planting basil in the Greenhouse
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- Washing sulfur from the clay balls
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- A view of the action from the mezzanine
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- Snappy planters
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- Sixth grade design thinking workers
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- Color combining experiment given just primary colors, empty cups in between, and paper towel bridges to join them
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- Creating floating devices to go down the water chute
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- Newpaper tower challenge
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- Homemade wind tunnel
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- Building a prototype
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- Testing the design
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- Success!
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- Clay boats designed to carry marbles over water
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- Upper School robotics team demonstration
To see a video of the robot in action, follow this link: Robotics Demonstration at Commons Festival
Science Classrooms:
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- Reaction in a bag! What does adding the indicator do?
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- Checking out system simulations with PHET
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- Pasta and marshmallow structure challenge
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- Trying different supports
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- Another design
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- Managing the materials–only 25 pieces of pasta per person!
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- Checking and reporting genetic traits
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- They can curl their tongues!
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- “Leaf your Mark” oak tree with thumbprint “leaves” of everyone who came through
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- Fun with LED lights and batteries!
Third Floor: BCCE and CMEE
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- Live feed for the Commons Festival Yapp
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- Community art project
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- Diversity Roundtable hosted “three words that describe me”
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- Student Council table promoting upcoming events
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- Try out different layouts for the Briggs Center with Legos
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- “Human barometer” table where everyone weighed in on some issues
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- The board with people’s opinions about whether illegally downloading music is ok
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- Community art table drew many in
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- Beautiful string quartet music in the CMEE
Flag Hall and Beckerman:
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- Gathering ideas for what else people would put in the time capsule
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- Feedback on the experience after touring and exploring
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- Students were asked what else they’d like to see in Beckerman
All in all, it was a grand opening for our Harley community. We were delighted at the turn out by families from all divisions! What was perhaps the most inspiring part of the day was that the events and activities stemmed from the students, were led by the students, and were energized by their participation. If this is any glimpse into how fully and enthusiastically the building will be used, we can all look forward to an amazing ride!
