by Alia Baig
Have you ever wondered what it was like to go to another school? Well, I interviewed a Hawken student to find out:
Interview:
- What school do you go to?
- Hawken School
- What grade are you in?
- 11th
- What are your preferred pronouns?
- She/her
- How long have you gone to your school?
- 3 years
- Is your school one building?
- Multiple buildings but one main one.
- Are the middle school and prime also located there?
- No, separate.
- What does your schedule look like?
- 7 blocks – 4 per day 80 minutes per class. We typically have 2 breaks 30 minutes long and 30 minutes for lunch.
- Does your school use an online program (Haiku. myschool)?
- There are GOA courses available; we all use canvas to submit homework.
- how much homework do you get per subject/hours per day?
- Usually 40 or more minutes per subject but because the days are split so you don’t have every subject due the next day it’s usually 2.5 hours of homework.
- What is it like to have boys at your school?
- It’s useful because you obviously have to work with and interact with more than one group of people.
- Does your school celebrate women’s day?
- They acknowledge it, at least but there isn’t an assembly or anything.
- Does your school make it a point to talk about social issues?
- To an extent; there is a student-run club that talks about current issues which is really valuable to me.
- Does your school lean left or right?
- Left!
- Is your school diverse?
- Not very. Majority of upper-class white students.
- What is lunch like at your school?
- There’s always the main course, pasta options, a salad bar, and a sandwich bar
- Do you have morning meeting?
- Yes on Mondays, sometimes Thursdays, and Fridays.
- Do you have a student senate?
- Yes.
- How do you elect your president and the people that lead your grades?
- Students vote after the individuals running give a speech.
- Do you have an assembly period?
- Yes, for special events
- What kinds of speakers come in during your assembly period?
- Typically they are student-run we have only had a few speakers coming in – some on social media, healthy relationships, and different alumni speeches.
- How long are your classes?
- 80 minutes.
- Do you prefer longer classes?
- We get used to it and it’s nice not having every class every day.
- What science subjects does your school offer + during what year do you take those classes?
- Physics as a freshman, Chemistry as a sophomore, and Bio as a junior. Seniors can take a few different advanced stuff and also Psychology.
- How many people go to your school?
- A little over 1,000.
- Do you have a program similar to our Global Scholars program?
- We have travel intensives.
- What are intensives?
- Intensives are 3-week courses designed to fit a semester worth of work in – speakers, projects, field trips, sometimes travel intensives within the US and even to the Bahamas, Spanish speaking countries; one class the whole 3 weeks.
- What can you study during these?
- Some are required intensives like for Humanities 9 and 10 but there are many choices for each subject. I’ve taken Irish Immigration, Seneca Falls (women’s rights travel to NY) and Creative Process (exploring creativity and traveling to Boston).
- Are debate/mock trial popular at your school?
- In Humanities classes and a large percentage of our students do debate.
- Is your school big on sports?
- Yes, especially swimming
- Does your school have a dress code?
- Yes, but not that strict – no sweatpants, no logos, no tears
- Is it strict?
- No, not at all.
- Is there a teacher who is known to dress code?
- A few – deans and front desk.
- Wait, you can wear leggings?!?
- You betcha !!!!
- Can you use social media at school or is it blocked?
- It’s blocked on the wifi.
- Do a lot of students drive to school?
- Oh yeah, the junior lot is a disaster especially when it’s muddy they’ve had to give school meetings about the way people drive.
- Do you have any special ceremonies during the year (1st day of school, Winterfest…)
- Yes, we just had a Chinese New Year assembly which was lit we all performed and did dances and stuff it was really cool we’re actually going to the lower school tomorrow to perform too.