On Friday, October 25, following participation in the newly named Sr. Eileen McDevitt Day of Service, Upper School students returned to campus to participate in the first Centennial Academic Series event. The series will include three more similar events throughout the year. The goal is to thread the centennial theme into the school curriculum through a set of fun, engaging, and challenging workshops.

Primarily by advisory groups, but with seniors providing leadership in each, grades seven to 12 were dispatched to attend one of nine separate workshops — each requiring a unique academic skill set. The communications team will share more on each workshop as the year progresses. For this inaugural event, we share details on three of the nine:

Math-sterpiece: The School Logo 
Students were given a handout containing decades-old instructions that diagram the concepts behind the geometric shape that comprises the Holy Child Seal. Using these instructions and with the aid of a compass, students carefully reconstructed their versions of the seal. They decorated the interior with a mathematical expression that simplified to 100. Some used basic math, while others used complex formulas. Based on the student’s ingenuity, the Math Department will select finalists for each grade level and award prizes for the most decorative and creative mathematical expression.

100 Years of Fitness and Fun!
This energetic activity in the Tisdall Gymnasium introduced attendees to physical fitness as it would have been practiced during Oak Knoll’s founding decade — the Roaring Twenties. In the Dance Studio, students learned the various steps of the famous Charleston dance. Meanwhile, on the gym floor below, classmates played musical chairs, had fun with Hula Hoops, played double dutch with a jumping rope, learned the intricacies of Pick Up Sticks, and practiced making Domino runs.

We Are One (Hundred!)
Students in this workshop exercised their creative arts skills to decorate centennial-themed tiles on heavy-duty paper. The Art Department will eventually affix the tiles to three large cutout numbers — “100” — and mount the final work of art in the Mother Mary Campion Center for the Performing Arts. The mosaic quilt will represent each student’s individual creativity and the community’s collective creativity as each tile adds to the bigger picture.

Stay tuned for more descriptions of the captivating Centennial Academic Series workshops as this milestone academic year unfolds.