Reflecting on MIDterm

Dear Prospective Family, 

This past week was a full one for our students as they were in the midst of MIDterm. As you likely suspect, MIDterms (or Midland Term, if we're being formal) look a little different here. For us, it means five days of experiential learning that give our students and faculty the opportunity to adventure, focus deeply on new and old passions alike, and continue to build community in mixed-grade groupings.

As longtime Midlander and our former Dean of Studies, Lise Goddard, put it, MIDterm was conceived based on “our collective desire for purpose-driven choice-based learning that played to Midland strengths.” It not only plays to our strengths and desires, but also to the needs of our students — to have choice and freedom to explore their curiosity amidst the confines of the pandemic. We recommend reading ahead for some delightful excerpts from this year's MIDterm!

Going into the weekend, we are grateful for a full week of diving into your intriguing applications. While we knew the broad strokes of what we had in store — thoughtful recommendations, delightful essays, and learning all about what makes you you — the details were full of surprises. We’ve said it before and we will undoubtedly say it again: we have been absolutely loving getting to know you all better through your applications!

And so, we wanted to thank you for the intention and sincerity with which you tackled your applications, from the parent and student essays to the supplements to tracking down teachers to ensure that we had recommendations from them. We are filled with wonder and excitement as we continue through our reading process.

We hope that your upcoming weekend and week are likewise filled with wonder and excitement and that you are feeling proud of having completed your application to Midland. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions at all.

Warmly,

Cierra & Lydia

Midland's Admissions Team

Horse & Ranch Intensive MIDterm

In the Horse and Ranch Intensive MIDterm, Gina Butala, Director of Horse Programs and Rangeland Management & Conservation, led students through a skills-expanding course. Together with their horses, students rode the ranch, checked fences, moved cattle and conducted ranch work. The group culminated the week in an on-campus camp-out with their horses. 

Want to learn more about the rodear work students were learning in this MIDterm? Click here.

Linoleum Printmaking MIDterm

In the Linoleum Printmaking MIDterm, Faith Nygren and Paul Gelles led students through a weeklong art intensive.

Together, they learned how to create images that communicate an idea or message for the audience to reflect upon, how to carve their sketches into linoleum, and then using their carved linoleum for printing.

This multi-media experience focused on improving drawing and sketching skills, learning to use linoleum carving tools, color theory and color scheme printing for visual compositions. And, students had beautiful artwork to show at the MIDterm showcase at the end of the week!

Luke '21 Leads Trail-Making MIDterm

As part of his senior project, Luke '21 invited students and faculty to join him for a MIDterm focused on building a new trail connecting Rain Gauge trail to the Res Road. Alongside Luke and faculty members Genevieve Herrick '97 and Samson Finkelstein, students learned how to plan & build a new trail and did a lot of hard, gratifying work! 

Bike, Surf & Hike Adventure MIDterm

When pandemic safety protocols precluded MIDterm groups from using cars, this coastal-loving crew got creative! Rather than drive to the coast for a surfing experience as we might have done any other year, this year's group biked and hiked their way to the coast (and back!).

From Midland, they biked 15 miles to the base of the mountains that separate us from the ocean, hiked up 4 miles to camp, biked 8 miles the next day down to the beach, and then surfed & kayaked for 2 days on the coast... then biked and hiked it all in reverse to get home.

A pretty spectacular multi-faceted MIDterm adventure!

Guided Reflection in Nature MIDterm

As we navigate a particularly challenging year, conversations about mental health and wellness practices have abounded both on campus and in our wider communities. Drawing inspiration from the increased need for self-care and self-knowledge, Ami Adams and Lynda Cummings led a Guided Reflection MIDterm.

Students spent the first two days hiking, doing yoga, writing, drawing and completing place-based art -- all potential self-care skills for future use.

Over the last two days, students prepared for and engaged in a 48 hour solo camping experience, creating time for individual rest, reflection, and intention setting.

Privilege & Boarding School MIDterm

Drawing inspiration from The Coronavirus Monologues, the Privilege and Boarding School MIDterm group -- led by Alison Nikitopoulos and John Isaacson '94 -- interviewed Midlanders of various backgrounds and experiences, turned those interviews into scripts and acted out the scripts in front of a camera, and they filmed & recorded their documentary-theater film to share with campus at this evening's Showcase. We can't wait to see and learn from their final product!

Campus Exploration MIDterm

With nearly 3,000 acres to explore, Midland's campus hides many fabulous nooks and crannies that students rarely have the chance to access in their day-to-day lives. So, Nick Tranmer and Matt Hagen wanted to offer students a Campus Exploration (camping and campsite restoration) MIDterm to students. Together they explored hidden gems across Midland's campus!

Yurt Building MIDterm

Students in the Yurt building MIDterm -- led by Dan Susman and Ellie Moore -- first learned to construct a pre-fab Yurt before heading to the woodshop to begin building their own from scratch. The final result? New woodworking and craftmanship skills, plus a 16-foot Yurt to add to Midland's campus!

Founding Figures Afloat in U.S. Studies' "Mobilography" Project

Studying colonial history in 2021 can often be a hard sell; puffed wigs, tariffs and Constitutional Conventions can feel like stale irrelevance to the life of a Gen Z adolescent. This year, however, the political turmoil of our recent Presidential election presented no shortage of opportunities for modern day connection to the tumultuous time between the Glorious Revolution in Europe and the American Revolution. Continuing our guiding principle of dominant and counter narratives, students analyzed Washington Irving and Paul Revere's depictions of the Boston Massacre to discuss dueling colonial sentiments of British rule in the Americas. Students discussed how images of protest can be weaponized for one aim or another, comparing these images with media coverage of Black Lives Matter protests. Students made nuanced critique of duplicitous political arguments in a strange time when colonists both identified as slaves to the British crown (for being taxed without representation), while owning and profiting off of African slaves themselves. Students analyzed political cartoons to identify evolving colonial notions of power, and then compared those with contemporary political cartoons. As they studied the chronology of colonial protests and boycotts, they contrasted these with the recent Capitol riot. 

As they picked apart Lockean Enlightenment philosophy manifest in the new Constitution - recognizing that the American promise was not originally as inclusive as the words would indicate - they compared aspirational visions of America in John Winthrop's "City on a Hill," Reagan's farewell address "Shining City on a Hill" and our most recent inaugural poet Amanda Gorman's poem "The Hill We Climb." 

Students wrestled with what qualities they deemed crucial to leading a country through the 1700s - and compared that with some of the challenges facing present-day America. 

Finally, students picked a biography of a Founding Figure to read throughout the unit. As they read, they identified key attributes and accomplishments of their figure, in hopes of better understanding this decisive time in U.S. history when so much was determined by so few. To synthesize their learning, they each created a "mobilography" - a hanging mobile with symbols representing the most important characteristics of their figure, and how they impacted the founding of this new country called "America."

The final piece of the project involved weighting the mobile like the scales of judgement according to their own values; how should this founding figure be remembered? As a patriotic hero? A duplicitous politician? Something else entirely? In one final showcase, we “suspended our judgements” and artworks on an aerial lattice in the Haybarn, and presented a one-night-only showcase of the "Founding Figures Mobilography Museum of Dangle." Dressed to impress, these young scholars expounded on their learnings to peers and faculty against a carnivalesque background of classical music, twinkly lights and found object art. As with many things Midland, it was an event almost outside of time - or perhaps, a moment of strange historical synthesis. 

- Ellie Moore, Dean of Academics