Dear SUA Community,
It feels like just yesterday we were welcoming students back to campus and getting caught up on “what they did” over the summer. Now, we have finished Fall Break and are talking about Halloween and the holidays. I thought it might be helpful to pause for a few minutes and place ourselves with where we are in the school year.
The middle of the fall semester was actually Friday, October 3rd. That means that we are over a quarter of the way through the school year with the first semester ending right before Thanksgiving break. One advantage of our new schedule is that semester exams are no longer right before Christmas break, a time of year that comes with many additional time demands and extra activities outside of school. Students will take their semester exams right before Thanksgiving break and enjoy a few extra days after the holiday: Thanksgiving break runs Wednesday, November 26 - Tuesday, December 2. A grading day and inservice day for teachers precede the start of the minimesters on December 3, allowing teachers to wrap up the first semester and be ready to launch their new minimester courses.
Throughout the school year teachers and staff have continued to put the finishing touches on their minimester courses, and we are so excited for our students to experience them for the first time in December! I mentioned last week that I had the opportunity to recently attend the Ursuline Education Network (UEN) conference. An interesting fact shared by a speaker really stuck with me: Singapore consistently performs at or near the top on several measures evaluating worldwide educational systems, specifically the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment.) I was curious to learn more.
There are several fascinating reasons contributing to the success of Singapore’s educational system, but a notable one is its focus on applied learning, which connects education to the real world by developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Of course, I immediately thought of how our minimester courses share the same philosophy. Built on experiential learning, our minimester courses combine high-quality curricular work with hands-on, real-world experience. Singapore’s focus on applied learning has the added benefit of students who demonstrate increased engagement in their learning and an underlying curiosity. When students find meaning and relevance in what they are studying, they begin to experience the joy of learning. That sense of enjoyment does not lessen the seriousness of their work; rather, it deepens it. Our minimester program embraces this idea - that learning can and should be both challenging and enjoyable. I am so proud of the ways that our SUA faculty are incorporating experiential learning into our semester courses as well.
As December approaches, I am grateful for our students, faculty, and staff who bring curiosity and engagement to their learning each day. I look forward to seeing how the minimesters will only enhance that!
Go Bulldogs!
Kathy
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