Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminars

  • The Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminars are opportunities for fun, hands-on learning without the added pressures of grades or homework.
  • These courses meet once per week, and rotate through three topics of study each year: Health & Wellness; Cultural Competency; Foundation in Language and Logic; Introduction to Research; Python and Machine Learning; Engineering and Design Thinking; and Entrepreneurship.
  • These themes were chosen based on their broad applicability to adolescents and their importance in preparing students for their futures as responsible, productive citizens in society.
    • If families have more specific questions about the class curriculum:

The Health & Wellness unit offers engaging lessons on physical and emotional health and wellbeing with special attention to topics of relevance to today’s teenagers, including nutrition; mental health; sexual health; social interactions; and social media and technology use.

Foundations in Language and Logic introduces students to concepts of written argument and style. This unit aims to develop an early awareness in students of words as both fun and powerful, and of the ways in which language and logic are working on us every waking hour.

It is critical that bbin娱乐平台 students learn to be thoughtful, informed, and culturally competent citizens in an increasingly diverse world. The Cultural Competency unit provides a chance to discover our common humanity through active, experiential workshops exploring identity, empathy, stereotypes and bias, and the eight core cultural identifiers.

In Introduction to Research students will learn a number of skills that are transferable across disciplines and bear fruit throughout their academic careers: finding reliable and relevant sources; navigating research databases; reading journal articles and other academic literature. Skills aside, the content of that literature will also support their journey, as it will focus on how we learn.

In Python and Machine Learning, students will work with researchers from BU’s Software & Application Innovation Lab to learn the fundamentals of coding through interactive lessons in Python and doing hands-on work in machine learning.

Engineering & Design Thinking leverages two partnerships at BU. For half of the unit, students will learn the basics of fabrication at BU’s 15,000-square-foot makerspace, the Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC). In the other session, students will work with mentors at Innovate@BU, the University’s innovation and entrepreneurship center, practicing design thinking and applying that methodology to real-world problems.

Entrepreneurship explores teamwork and leadership that foster creative thinking and entrepreneurship. Through interactive exercises and hands-on activities, students will discover their strengths and weaknesses in their personal leadership styles and delve into strategies that will help them become more effective leaders and team members.