CCDX Week

CCDX is an experiential learning week that began as an outgrowth of Country Day Forward, the school’s long-range plan that has launched several initiatives aimed at enriching our students’ learning. This year, CCDX 3.0 took place the week before spring break and students from 18 months to 18 years participated.

“CCDX Week is the future of school,” said Head of School Rob Zimmerman ’98. “It’s exactly the kind of thing our school should be doing. We are always thinking of ways we can off er more learning like this throughout the year to make it foundational to the learning experience we provide.”

From building and launching rockets to hosting a Naturalization Ceremony or participating in a “Law and Order” courtroom trial, students learned a plethora of new skills during CCDX Week. For months, teachers and students worked hard to develop a variety of classes and projects across all divisions and disciplines.

The scope of this CCDX course was to introduce basic building techniques to a small group of Upper School students that had expressed an interest in working with their hands. The main objective of this course was to expose the students to hands-on learning beyond the textbook or curriculum, giving them the chance to implement creative problem solving and fi ne-tune their hand-eye coordination.

Throughout the week, the students learned practical skills of building and construction. Their culminating project was the installation of a shower stall, including framing, plumbing, tiling, electrical wiring, and drywalling.

“This was an intensely deep dive into the world of design and building technology,” explained Eric Day, Country Day parent, owner of Transom Design/ Build, and course facilitator. “The aim of this project was not just to expose students to construction; the experience could start a possible career path spark to so many fi elds – project management, architecture, product design, graphic design, engineering, real estate, industrial arts. Our hope was that by the end of the course, the students would be able to master some new skills to apply around their own homes, understand the career possibilities in the construction industry, and feel more confi dent in their desire to learn with their hands.”

Throughout the course, Day emphasized to the students that they could take what they learn from the course and apply that creative thinking process to other facets of their lives – from class projects to college research papers.

“Knowing that the students now feel more confi dent in using these unique skills in their everyday lives was defi nitely rewarding. But the smiles on the kids’ faces was the best part of the course for me.”

Benchtop Shower Module

Students learning basic building skills by participating in the Benchtop Shower Module course.

Hosting a Naturalization Ceremony

“Here today there is only happiness.”

- U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott

This is what CCDX Week is all about – making lifelong memories and learning about moments bigger than us. As part of the third grade students’ project on immigration, the school hosted a Naturalization Ceremony in our own backyard. Representatives from Senator Sherrod Brown’s Offi ce, Senator Rob Portman’s Offi ce, Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, the American Red Cross, and more also participated in this special day. 50 applicants from all over world became citizens in the Carey Family Amphitheater as students, staff , and faculty watched and cheered.

Follow the Leader – YOU

Angela Joiner, director of EDI & SEL, said she and Melynda Bowers, our Children’s Hospital mental health therapist, created this course off ering for Middle School students because “we wanted to create an experience for students that spoke to our new mission.”

From Day 1, that is exactly what the course did. On the fi rst day, the students participated in formal leadership training at Camp Kern. For the rest of the course, the students took their learning back to school and created a plan to apply what they learned to an experience on our campus. Their idea was to create a leadership challenge course.

“At Country Day, we recognize that life is full of challenges, and we want students to take advantage of those challenges as opportunities for growth, learning, and leadership,” explained Joiner. “Leaders become successful by following, leading, and taking healthy risks, and that is what these team-building activities aimed to accomplish.”

Students learn even more about the power of teamwork in the Follow the Leader - YOU course. The students identifi ed the course location, objective, and team-building activities while having fun outdoors and developing physical and mental toughness. They also created refl ection questions the teachers could ask their students after they completed the course.

“Everyone in the CCDX course took a leadership role in one way or another,” said Joiner. “Everyone is a leader, and everyone can lead. Throughout CCDX Week, these students recognized their own leadership skills and those of their peers. It was powerful to see.”

Wilderness & Remote First Aid

Led by Upper School teacher John Christiansen and Will Griffi n ’23, this course aimed to teach advanced skills for use in remote emergencies when help from professional fi rst responders may be far away.

“Last year at my semester boarding school in Idaho, I took a wilderness fi rst aid course and that is when my passion for wilderness medicine was ignited,” said Griffi n. “I learned important lessons about how to manage risk safely in the wilderness and these guiding principles are the main reasons I’ve stayed relatively uninjured in the backcountry.”

So, when Mr. Christiansen approached Griffi n about this opportunity, he couldn’t resist.

“I wanted to educate some of my likeminded peers and hopefully impress upon them the importance of risk management,” continued Griffi n. “One of the important skills this course teaches is how to conduct yourself in stressful situations. My goal for teaching this course was to make sure my peers learned how to safely recreate in the wilderness and apply the methods they learned in the course to not do dumb things because of a lack of knowledge.”

Griffi n said he learned a lot by teaching the course as well. “After the course ended, I felt really fulfi lled by accomplishing what I set out to do. I feel confi dent that I can improve as an instructor and businessman and am excited for the potential this course has. So much so that I contacted my boss at True Community, and we came up with a plan for how to run these classes on a more continued basis.”

This CCDX course was based on the Boy Scouts of America Wilderness First Aid Curriculum and Doctrine Guidelines and aligned with OSHA’s Best Practices for Workplace First Aid Training Programs. It also is not taught anywhere else in the Midwest. As a result, Griffi n worked with the school to change that. With the inaugural course off ered this past May, Griffi n now off ers fi rst aid wilderness training once a month on our campus. It is the only place in the Midwest to take this course.

Will Griffi n ’23 sets the stage for practicing remote fi rst aid with a little help from theatrical makeup.

“I think CCDX Week allowed me to express myself and my interests. At my previous school, this type of expression wasn’t common and I’m so thankful Country Day has supported me in this process of self-expression. I feel like this course embodies Country Day’s motto of Virtue in Action, not only in respect to promoting morally fulfi lling skills, but also community service in wilderness education. Th e inspiring cohort of Country Day teachers has infl uenced my passion for teaching and has guided me i n gaining an outlet to do so. Th is type of support is uncharacteristic in most high schools and I’m so thankful I’m now at a place where I can express myself and grow as a teacher and businessman.”

Beth has always enjoyed time with her colleagues. Pictured here at a Reds game circa 2002 with Andrea Rogers, Theresa Hirschauer, and Dan Wood.