Ma’avar: The Senior Culminating Program

Ma’avar is a six-week academic and experiential program for graduating seniors. Students choose to study in seminars with their teachers, explore a topic in depth through a senior project, or experience the world outside of school through an internship. On Fridays, all students are at Gann Academy for an Israel Seminar taught by the History Department faculty, as well as transition sessions on finance, college life, and street smarts. All students are graded in their chosen modality of the program and, in addition, present themselves before a panel of faculty to reflect on their experience.

Seminars: A variety of seminars are offered by faculty, ranging from Logic and Knowledge and Medical Mysteries to Music of Spain and Theosophic Kabbalah as well as Islam and Contemporary Middle East and Great Master Painters of Hispanic Art. Students continue in AP Calculus, may take arts and elective classes as well as participate in varsity sports and Playhem (student directed one-act plays), as part of their schedule. Students will choose to prepare a small project in one of their seminar classes which they will present to a panel of faculty members and will be part of their grade in the seminar.

Internships: Internships allow students to experience the working world, explore an area of interest outside of school, and develop professional skills. Students commit to a predetermined site with an expectation of working up to 27 hours each week over four days. Recent interships include Waltham Recyling Center, Newton Tab, Science or Medical Research Laboratory, Elementary Schools, The David Project, Kiss 108, Facing History and Ourselves, and Gateways. An evaluation from the internship supervisor is part of the transcript grade.

Senior Projects: Students have the opportunity to focus on one idea or project, and to develop it in depth producing a final product. Student proposals are submitted in the early fall and go through a rigorous drafting process prior to final approval. Projects may be by an individual or a group and each project is assigned a faculty advisor. Each project is evaluated by a three-person panel of faculty/staff members who judge the project based on its process, product, and the reflection of the participants.  Recent senior projects include Admissions Video, Ceramic Sculpture on Israel theme, Must Read Books for High Schoolers, Game Theory Exploration, Wonderland—a Musical Review, and Original Music Recording.

Senior Week: The Ma’avar Term concludes with the Senior Retreat, Senior Night, and Commencement. The Senior Retreat brings the class together one last time to reflect on their four years, to prepare their siyum for graduation and to spend time together before graduation. Senior Night is designed to share with parents and family examples and highlights from the Ma’avar term. All students in seminars or internships prepare portfolio pages about their experience that are displayed at Senior Night. Students also reflect on their Jewish journey during their four years at Gann Academy, as well as write a short reflection on their Gann experience for the graduation program book. Commencement includes a siyum (concluding presentation) that is prepared by the class which captures the character of the grade and conveys those values and ideas of the class as well as the contributions made to the Gann community.