Sidwell Friends.
10th graders will attend six workshops focused on AI, civics and media literacy.
On Sept. 15, 10th-grade workshops launched as part of the sophomore curriculum, offering lessons in media literacy, artificial intelligence and civics during free periods throughout the year.
Sidwell faculty introduced the workshops after identifying a gap in the sophomore experience, noting that rapid technological advances — especially the growing role of AI in academics — make it essential for students to learn effective and productive use of these tools.
“There was a sense that the world was getting more complicated,” Upper School Principal Robbie Gross said. “The faculty as well as the students themselves were asking for skills on how to use AI among other subjects like information literacy and civics to prepare for the future.”
A panel of faculty members from different departments and students worked to design the topics and logistics of 10th-grade workshops.
The panel provided observations on how students have been behaving around current events and technology.
“It was so important to format the workshops around student input so that we could fill in what [the students] thought was missing,” 10th Grade Dean Meghan Mulhern said.
“The general consensus was that there was more that needed to be taught apart from the traditional subject offered,” Mulhern added. “What was brought up the most was AI, but health and civics were brought up too.”
The workshops will also further students’ understanding of how to navigate media and politics in ways not taught in the classroom.
“Government is evidently covered in U.S. history classes, but we as the faculty thought that the fundamentals of how and what shapes our government could be further explained,” Gross said.
Increasing students’ media literacy skills will allow them to identify fact from fiction.
“It is so important to [consume] media productively,” Mulhern said. “The workshops will serve as a way for students to acquire [information literacy] skills and better prepare them for their lives as young adults.”
Faculty members have affirmed that the workshops are not simply a continuation of 9th Grade Studies. Instead of a weekly meeting, they are held three times per semester. According to Gross, “they are not going to be a place where students learn about learning. They are going to be more hands-on.”
Despite this, many still see it as redundant.
“It’s nothing new, we learned it all in 9th-grade studies,” sophomore Elena Gullo said.
Sophomore Julia Pitt added that the 9th-grade studies workshops didn’t contribute to her learning and only taught very basic skills.
When sophomores first learned that these workshops would take away a couple of free periods, many expressed disappointment.
“I think that free periods are very useful for managing the workload, on top of sports being a time commitment. So the loss of a free period is a little frustrating,” sophomore Leo Zanello said.
According to Gross, however, 9th-grade studies occupy freshman free periods, and “college workshops will occasionally eliminate a free period in 11th and 12th grade, so it makes sense to include something in the 10th-grade schedule as well.”
While student enthusiasm is limited, there is optimism that the workshops will deliver their intended benefits.
“I’m looking forward to learning about topics I wouldn’t normally encounter,” Zanello said.
Mulhern added that the workshops will also provide a chance for students to interact with teachers and faculty whom they normally would not have interacted with.