Meet the 2018-2019 6th Grade Class

Development, Identity, and Progress

Our sixth-grade journey centers around helping students explore issues of identity. Students are asked to challenge their notions of who they are and what they’re capable of from the very first day of school, when they begin learning how to use power tools to design and create functional go carts. A study of how the brain works, and how they can take ownership over their own learning, develops into a full-fledged study of human biology. They become anatomical experts, confidently representing their knowledge through in-person medical board exams with real doctors. In fact, learning to “stand and deliver” what they know through public speaking is a major focus for our sixth graders, whether the topic is their own mathematical thinking, an art project, or a thesis-driven argument. Each sixth grader is responsible for facilitating an all-school Community Meeting and sharing a presentation on the topic of their choice, as well as eliciting participation from the entire school. With their increasing independence, SGS sixth graders become very intentional in how they push themselves as readers and writers, setting meaningful (and very public) goals. Toward the end of the year, they learn to repair bicycles, as they train and prepare for their three-day bike trip across Lopez Island. By pushing themselves and encouraging each other, their bike trip is the perfect culmination for their year’s journey.