“This Winter Term,” wrote one of our seniors last week, “my favorite experience was a job shadow at a firm that practices criminal, civil, and family law. I had the opportunity to meet judges and analyze depositions and trial transcripts. I also sat in on a client meeting and attended both a criminal jury trial and a family law trial. One highlight was meeting the new St. Louis County Prosecutor, who shared valuable insights and even provided me with further opportunities for job shadowing or interning. The experience deepened my understanding of the legal field and solidified my interest in pursuing similar experiences in the future.”
We’ve had a promising start to the spring semester this week at MICDS, if “spring” is not too preposterous a word to utter in these frigid conditions. We are back to business as usual, and the climate on campus—well, let’s call it the mood—is palpably happy and energetic. Before this year’s Winter Term recedes too far into memory, though, I thought I should share some of our students’ firsthand perspectives on the program. The thoughtful and appreciative reflection with which this letter begins was one of hundreds of responses to a question I posed to Middle and Upper School Rams last week: “What have been some of your favorite experiences during Winter Term this year?”
Many students opted for brief replies like these:
debate • the Colosseum • friends • Muggles of Messing • programming • less stress • no homework • swimming!! • App Makers • the imperial treasury at the Hofburg Palace • Engineering Challenges • Mock Trial • learning with students in other grades • Coach U • painting • Frozen JR. • choices
Others responded at greater length:
- “I loved hanging out and making new friends while learning things I never thought I would be interested in. I would learn magic in my first class and would go on to show the tricks to my friends in other classes. Just seeing their clueless faces was a big highlight!” (Eleventh-grade student)
- “I really enjoyed Winter Term activities this year! I loved making a banjo in Instrument Design. Muggles of Messing was a fun Harry Potter experience, and Broadway sing-along was amazing. I loved belting in the morning to Hamilton and Wicked!” (Blair, sixth grade)
- “Something new I tried this Winter Term was being a teacher’s assistant at Wyland Elementary School. It was such a fun and warm atmosphere to be in. I was so sad to leave the class, and I would definitely go back!” (Eleventh-grade student)
- “I enjoyed exploring how ethical decisions can be made in the context of vaccine allocation and other medical aspects of society.” (Tenth-grade student)
- “Winter Term is a great way to grow stronger relationships. I also love experiences that are not as academic so I can learn about unique and different things that interest me.” (Tenth-grade student)
- “Short story writing allowed me to dive into the world of storytelling and develop my own narratives. I really enjoyed the challenge of crafting engaging plots and characters within a short space. There was a lot of room for creative freedom, and this is a good course for any skill level in story writing.” (Ayaan, eighth-grade student)
- “It was so interesting to be in the OR for several surgeries (laminectomy, discectomy and fusion) for the first time!” (Amisha, twelfth-grade student)
- “I enjoyed arguing for Australian support in Vietnam, otherwise known as MACV-07, to be approved in Roleplaying History.” (Cam, tenth-grade student)
- “My favorite thing about Winter Term was not only learning things I never thought I would at school, but also building relationships with other people in other grades.” (Eighth-grade student)
The Strategic Plan that has been in development since last year—and which our Board and administration are excited to share with the School community soon—specifically identifies opportunity, character formation, purposeful effort, and service as key priorities to guide and shape student learning and growth now and in the years ahead. Winter Term manifests all of these strategic priorities, as our student testimonies here make plain.
As essential as a rigorous academic program is to our work and identity at MICDS (see “business as usual” above), we would all do well to remember, too, the observation of the Harvard University behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner in the pages of New Scientist in 1964: “Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” An “education” by this definition is broader than the sum of our academic experiences alone. Winter Term, in its small way, stretches the span of that which will survive being forgotten for our students as they grow into adulthood. It is another kind of enduring imprint for them from their years at MICDS, another kind of gift.
Always reason, always compassion, always courage. My best wishes to you and your families for a happy winter weekend.
Jay Rainey
Head of School
This week’s addition to the “Refrains for Rams” playlist: U.S. Blues by the Grateful Dead (Apple Music / Spotify)
Lead photo taken by Hale Foster ’25