Students showcase Rivers and Twice Told Tales programs at school committee meeting

Students from the Rivers/Revolutions and Twice Told Tales interdisciplinary programs presented to the school committee, describing hands-on projects, journals and fieldwork that connected math, history, literature and the arts.

Ashley Cohen, who runs the Rivers/Revolutions program, introduced students who shared classroom experiences such as measuring river flow, sketching local sites, creating illustrated maps of Concord and maintaining daily journals that combined math, creative writing and observations. Student speakers Lucy Frank, Phoebe Lewis and Omar Nunez described how the program made learning more engaging and helped them build confidence and deeper connections to their community and coursework.

Twice Told Tales students (Claire Raser, Elias Schwartz, Sarah Nodzo and others) summarized a cross-disciplinary class that meets for two blocks and pairs English and social studies instruction. Students described group work, museum visits to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and a curriculum that links literature to historical and psychological frameworks.

Committee members praised the programs for their student engagement and presentation skills, and the committee acknowledged these programs as examples of innovative district offerings that prepare students for college and careers.