In a unique twist on teamwork, Grade 9 science students partnered with Grade 3 counterparts on a science project. The idea of the cross-divisional work stems from a summer professional development course that brought faculty from different divisions together to explore new ideas and best practices for teaching boys. 

“Vivian (English, Upper School Science Teacher) does a project where the Upper School boys work on the body systems of animals. They get to choose which animal they would like to research. We then paired them up with the smaller boys for this assignment,” Grade 3 Teacher Stevie Brown explained. 

English said the goal of the project is not only to learn research, writing, and presentation skills, but also to understand and know your audience when you are doing that work. 

“One goal I had for my guys was to experience varying degrees of the same lesson as well as have the same opportunities to socialize, learn, and grow with the third-grade boys in one classroom,” said English. “I also believe this collaboration with the Lower School has helped the Upper School guys to understand how important it is to communicate as well as learn how to break down the assignment or project into understandable concepts for the third-grade boys.” 

For the youngest Bears, Brown believes the lessons are invaluable. 

“The little guys are learning to work hard on something to not disappoint the Upper School boys. They are learning to work on a project with others. They are learning to have a timeline and stick to it. They work on their presentation skills,” she said. “Most importantly, they are learning what it means to be a Landon boy and hopefully having some fun along the way!”