THE ELDON FORUM A.E S.

Alejandro Enrique Shakespeare

“My favorite memory was getting to know my forum in freshman year on that first Forum Day. It was around the fall season, so it was a bit chilly, but the scenery was beautiful. Our forum planned to go to an older forumette’s house and spend the night. I remember being very nervous; I wasn’t even sure if I was at the right house. At that time I honestly hadn’t spoken to any of my fellow forumettes, which only added to my nervousness. But once I got there and started talking to people, I began to warm up to everyone. One very vivid memory I have was honestly [the forum] just standing around the campfire trying to make it ignite. Ultimately, we couldn’t get it to ignite, so we went to a park and played on the merry-go-round. Even though we weren’t successful, the struggle brought the forum together. Forum Day was definitely the catalyst that got me closer to my forum. My favorite part of Community isn’t anything special — the block scheduling. Everyone knows about the longer class times and the extra freedom, [but to me] it’s about how much we just get done in a single class period. I think it helps us, students, connect with teachers more deeply. Because we have more time, we can go on tangents with our teachers and just talk about something that wasn’t in the lesson, building those personal connections.”

F.M.FLYNN MALCHOW

“My favorite memory at Community was freshman year Forum Day. It was my first year, so I wasn’t in touch with anyone. It was around the time of the year when the leaves were falling and the weather was nice. [As a forum] we ordered a bunch of food and made a campfire. We went to the local playground and played “Cards Against Humanity.” Spending time with these people I didn’t know was a really good bonding experience. We spent the night at our forumettes house, and all I remember was waking up to the smell of pancakes. My old forum leader, Matt Johnson, had bought doughnuts from a local orchard and made pancakes for us. I think that was the day I realized Community was different from other schools. One of my favorite parts about Community is the trust they give the students. Our open campus is a clear example; it allows for a sense of autonomy and responsibility. Students have more [opportunities] to meet new people both in and around our Community. I think the sense of freedom and responsibility that comes from our open campus shows how much trust Community has in the students. Another example is that we can call the teachers by their first names. It’s another way [the school] helps foster our trust and create a casual relationship between the teachers and the students. Ultimately this trust leads to a greater freedom of expression throughout Community.”