The Power of Shared Experience: Inside Form Experiences Day

A day in the Poconos white water rafting. Exploring Philadelphia’s historic landmarks. Time devoted to college applications and essays. Collaborating to create art and beautify campus spaces.

One day, four different activities devoted to creating bonds and shared experiences among each grade level (“Forms” at Lawrenceville), this year’s Form Experiences Day provided another layer to the strong foundation built during the School’s opening week activities.

“Our Form Experience Day is designed to help the entire community come together in grade groups through a unique experience beyond the classroom, and for our Third and Fourth Forms, beyond the gates,” said Holli Olson, assistant dean of students and math teacher “This is a critical day where shared experience making memories unites our grades, strengthening the foundation we built throughout orientation.”

Olson accompanied Third Form students on a rafting trip in the nearby Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

“We shared in making memories on the water, getting to know a small group of 5-7 students on a raft,” she said. “The energy was unmatched throughout the day with water splashing and peace making (what happens when your boat doesn't want to be splashed)!”

Associate Dean of Students and English teacher Lindsay Mulhern joined Fourth Form students on a trip to Philadelphia.

“The day was branded as a choose your own adventure, where students could pick one of five experiences: The Constitutional Walking Tour, the American Revolution tour, the Museum of Illusions, Independence Hall, or Penn Museum, the University of Pennsylvania's archaeology museum,” she said. “After spending time at their various locations students met up at the historic Reading Terminal Market to enjoy food from around the globe.”

“Given Lawrenceville's unique geographical location we believe it is vital to the development of the whole student to get out and explore the wonderful cities we are close in proximity to,” Mulhern added. “As the majority of our Fourth Form is studying U.S. History, what better way to engage more deeply with the content you are studying than to walk the very streets where our history was founded?”

Back on campus, Fifth Form students dug into college applications through workshops with the College Counseling office, while Second Formers gathered in the Heely Room to kick-off rounds of workshops focused on creating a shared tapestry and revitalizing the School’s Zen Woods.

Building on the work that began during orientation and through their Cornerstone cohort groups, students engaged in activities designed to reflect on the link between their personal values and Lawrenceville’s community values, strengthen their understanding of our mission, and establish deeper relationships that will guide and shape their year together. Cornerstone is a new program designed to support Second Form students as they learn to live the Lawrenceville mission and acclimate to the school’s culture, expectations, and rigor.

Second Form Level Director and science teacher Johnny Clore set the tone for the day’s activities, drawing from the words of Lawrenceville’s school song, “Triumphant Lawrence.”

“Today is meant to be a day at the intersection of bringing out the best in each and best for all - following the School’s mission and doing activities to help you live out that mission,” he said. 

Referencing the song lyric “unfurl thy banners wide,” Clore explained that tapestries are meant to tell a story, to say something about our community.

“[Tapestries] tell a story so people who wouldn’t have been able to read a written history would have a sense of the shared history and values…something internal about us, what values we bring to our community.

“Today when we build our tapestries, we will highlight the shared values of our community that we bring and that give our community strength,” he said.

Guided by art teacher and interim director of Gruss Center for Art and Design Michelle Kasmarek, students chose a meaningful value and constructed an 8”x 8” square representing their commitment to that value.

Kasmarek then taught students how to stitch their squares into larger grids, which will ultimately create a full tapestry that will hang in Tsai Field House throughout the year.

“My goal was to teach students how to sew, work with their hands, and explore an art form that’s less traveled,” she said. “[Students] learn practical fixes like sewing a button, and they 'sew' much appreciation for the creative process... an experience is always a bit more memorable when you encounter a few pricks along the way.”

While half their class worked on the tapestries, the other half accompanied Phil Jordan, chair of the religion and philosophy department, to the woods around the School Pond, where they worked together to revitalize the School’s Zen garden.

Jordan told students how elements of the garden, pebbles, rocks and moss, a mix of form and empty space, work together to represent the concepts of yin and yang.

Jordan explained how the garden came to be in the late 1990s, through work with the Asian Student Organization. The garden was the site of poetry readings, a dharma talk by a visiting monk from Sri Lanka, a Buddhist tea ceremony, and other mindful activities.

Students helped weed and prepare the area, wash and lay pebbles, rake trails and pathways, and plant moss that had been gathered during an activity earlier in the week.

“When we make a rock garden, we take a totality of things and bring them down into a little space so we can get a sense of the whole,” he said.

See more photos from Form Experiences Day here. 

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.