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Celebrating Curiosity Beyond the Classroom

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Celebrating Curiosity Beyond the Classroom
Celebrating Curiosity Beyond the Classroom
As students enter the fifth and sixth forms, they are encouraged to expand their intellectual pursuits beyond the core curriculum offerings thanks to the School’s series of collaborative programs. The impressive output of many of these student-driven programs was on full display at the Celebrating Curiosity Beyond the Classroom event on Tuesday, April 30. The evening provided students and faculty an opportunity to share the results of their hard work to the larger Belmont Hill community. 
 
Gathered in Kraft Theater, students from the Advanced Action Research, Advanced Science Research, Senior Thesis, and Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship programs presented their work and findings. The topics covered a wide range of disciplines and included research into access to the Massachusetts commuter rail via autonomous vehicles, architecture in the Dutch Golden Age, the connection between athletics and mental health at Belmont Hill, and the business model for a successful car detailing start up.
 
“It’s incredible what can happen when a talented faculty and curious student body come together to collaborate on meaningful work,” said Dean of Academic Affairs Eric Smith in his closing remarks. “The goal of the collaborative programs is to provide the boys with a course of study that imparts essential skills and values, nurtures character development, stokes curiosity, and bridges the gap between abstract inquiry and concrete real-world experiences.”
 
The collaborative programs on display during the event are part of the School’s expanding initiative to create diverse academic pathways of study for students. These developing pathways include dynamic coursework in classes like Biomedical Engineering and Experimental Neuroscience, robust independent study programs, and AP courses such as AP Art Portfolios and AP American Studies. These opportunities provide students the avenues to further pursue their specific interests with intention and intellectual rigor. 
 
While this was the first edition of the “Curiosity Beyond the Classroom” showcase, it embodies a storied tradition at Belmont Hill of challenging students to embrace critical thinking, hard work, and the agency to see their ideas through. Next year, a fresh crop of students will bring their own perspectives and interests into these programs, creating a whole new set of findings to celebrate.
 
Learn More About Programs:
 
ADVANCED ACTION RESEARCH (AAR)
The AAR program emanates from its membership in the School Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC), a consortium of 11 independent schools in partnership with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. The purpose of this partnership is to provide diverse groups of students with college-level social-science research skills and experience to improve school culture, policy, and practice.
 
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jeanne Tift
 
Form V:
Alexander Chen
Andrew Gilmore
Jack Good
Jonathan Hunnicutt
Yamin Ibrahim
Ryan Kelly
Liam MacLean
Riley Marth
Leandro Nuernberg
David Robinson
William Skordos
Hunter Steeves
Declan Woolbert
 
ADVANCED SCIENCE RESEARCH (ASR)
In the ASR program, students build on their scientific knowledge through research in fields rarely accessible to high schoolers. They work with professional scientists in local labs, completing a six-week summer internship after junior year and continuing with weekly research sessions as seniors, gaining firsthand experience alongside mentors.
 
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Jake DeCaprio ’16
 
Form VI:
Eita Fuse 
Jai Somani  
Nathan Zhang 
 
 
DESIGN THINKING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
This senior elective empowers students to solve real-world problems through an interdisciplinary, human-centered approach. Partnering with entrepreneurial mentors, students identify a personal passion, develop professional skills, and prototype solutions. The course transitions from a weekly seminar with site visits into a dedicated inquiry, culminating in a formal exposition where students pitch their final designs to a public audience.
 
Faculty Advisor: Mr. George Sullivan ‘07
 
Form VI:
Alex Black
Ned Butterworth
Matthew Carolan
John Coughlin
Noah Gleason
Tiago Matos
John Pena
Jack Santonelli
Jason Thibodeau
Alex Zhang
 
 
SENIOR THESIS
This program serves as a capstone to a student’s Belmont Hill career in the humanities or arts, while introducing the process of completing a thesis or similar project in college. Students choose between two tracks: an academic option culminating in a 30–40 page research paper, or a creative project such as documentary filmmaking, creative writing, music composition, or playwriting.
 
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Christopher Bracken ’15
 
Form VI:
William Achtmeyer
Bradford Adams
William Butler
Lucien Davis
Ethan Ho
Scott Moreau
Eli Norden
Jack Ramanathan
Tyler Smith
Ethan Xie
 

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