WHERE STUDENTS LOVE TO LEARN
Purely Amazing MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT-LED “EACH ONE TEACH ONE” WORKSHOPS
In the fall, Middle School students had the opportunity to teach or attend peer-to-peer workshops ranging from arts and crafts, cooking and baking, sports, and self-improvement to podcasting, gaming, magic, wellness, and advocacy. Middle School Principal Debby Previna explained, “The term ‘Each One Teach One’ comes from the long tradition of African Americans relying on each other to learn to read and write, using education as their act of resistance and liberation.” Each “one” enslaved person who managed to learn to read—despite the dangerous obstacles to literacy—took on the community responsibility to teach the next one. Debby created “Each One Teach One” at GDS because the model speaks to “the importance of democratizing education in order to encourage meaningful, purposeful, and collaborative learning.” Students identified their areas of expertise, many volunteered to teach a session, and all students decided for themselves which workshops they wanted to attend. The model encouraged students “to be self-reliant, laying the foundation for a lifelong love of learning,” in keeping with the final promise of our School’s mission. Students met each other’s pets while learning about animal rights advocacy or headed into a session about DIY tie-dye. They cooked mushroom gnocchi with Alessandro Alfandari
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’25; baked with Helena Seiken ’28, Ella Maas ’28, Rachel Hellman ’28, and Lara Belayachi ’28; and learned about improvisation from Liv Glendinning ’28. Marcus Waziri ’28 discussed the importance of civilized conversations across political differences, and Lexi Berzok ’25 and Lulu Tirado ’26 taught a session on embracing confidence. The virtual workshops proved valuable for students not only due to their entertainment and educational value, but also as a way to build student connections, confidence, and leadership skills. In the yoga session, Dhilan Desai ’25 could be heard instructing participants to “inch your way over and feel the weight go all the way down—it’s OK if you can’t reach all the way,” even as he demonstrated moving through downward dog and cobra poses. Asa Previna ’28, who attended “You Can Do Magic” with Paul Sussmann ’28, said, “I thought Paul was doing a great job teaching me magic.”
Alessandro Alfandari ’25—Making Gnocchi with Mushrooms
Helena Seiken ’28—Making Easy Pie Dough from Scratch
Paul Sussmann ’28—You Can Do Magic!
“I would be happy to do this again,” said Tyler Smallwood ’25, who enjoyed the opportunity to connect socially “as well as learn something new and exciting.” Student feedback featured enthusiastic use of ALL CAPS and an abundance of exclamations. “I enjoyed doing the finishing yoga poses!” Tessa Lipman ’28 wrote. “It really helped me get some type of exercise in. THE BAKING ONE WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!”
Dhilan Desai ’25—Yogis Welcome
Isaac Seiken ’25 wrote, “AMAZING PURELY AMAZING (that’s why I used caps lock).” Charlotte Lee ’26 said, “I would like to give a shoutout to all the people who hosted a workshop! Thanks for acting with courage and helping take care of our community.”
Luke Myre ’27—The Art of the Candle
