Learning Through Experience WINTERIM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS AT GPS By Lucy Morris Blancett ’09
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED WEEKS of the school year for GPS students is Winterim. Held in mid-February, Winterim is an opportunity for students to experience learning outside of the traditional classroom setting. In fact, many alumnae report that their Winterim experiences had an impact on what they chose to do in college and beyond.
Winterim experiences for Middle and Upper Schoolers are structured differently. In the Upper School, students can choose from a variety of on- and off-campus learning opportunities based on their interests. For example, this year some students visited Puerto Rico to work on their Spanish and engage in Spanish culture; others learned to scuba dive, visited the Florida Keys, participated in service-learning at Lula Lake, or learned how to adult thanks to lessons on financial responsibility, cooking, car care, and more. In Middle School, the Winterim experiences are curated at the grade level by class deans, so students can learn alongside their classmates. This provides an opportunity for girls to get to know their classmates better while expanding their horizons and taking what they have learned in the classroom and applying it in the real world.
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