At the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, a much-anticipated trip helps keep seniors motivated. The private school, which serves students in kindergarten through 12th grade, graduates its seniors in February, then sends them to Eastern Europe and Israel for three months.
This “Senior Experience” trip combines visits to Holocaust sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, including Nazi concentration camps and historic synagogues, with time in Israel exploring Jewish culture, traditions and history. Activities might include living on a kibbutz or spending a week participating in mock training with the Israeli army.
The trip is optional, but at least 90 percent of students go, says Upper School Principal Michael Kay. It’s “a transitional experience of individual learning before going off to college,” and it allows them to find out what it’s like to live with others and away from home.
“It makes second semester of senior year perhaps the most energizing time in high school,” Kay says.
Andy Siegel of Bethesda, a 2011 Upper School graduate who now attends George Washington University in Washington, D.C., says the trip brought him closer to his heritage. “A lot of the Jewish education that I had at my school became real,” the 18-year-old says. “We got to see the places our ancestors had been.”
Though public school students don’t have that particular option, Hawkins of the National Association for College Admission Counseling says it’s OK for seniors to plan a final year in which they focus more on themselves. “It might pay to think differently about school in your senior year—what am I interested in, what am I good at,” Hawkins says. “There can be some interesting discoveries senior year.”
In hindsight, Lisa Fisher of Bethesda realizes that’s what was going on with her daughter. Anne-Marie, a 2011 Walter Johnson graduate, seemed to be spending too much time on cheerleading activities during her senior year.
“She was constantly making T-shirts and making things that were part of getting ready for an event,” Fisher says. “I was thinking she was just avoiding what needed to be done to get her through [the year].”
Now Fisher knows there was more to it: Anne-Marie eventually realized she wanted to major in sports and event management at the University of South Carolina.
In Zachary Green’s case, he took a less rigorous course load his senior year and ended up with better grades than he’d gotten his first three years. He handled the college application process on his own, then enjoyed every social opportunity that senior year had to offer. He has no regrets, figuring he had the “right” to slack off at that point.
“Pretty soon, this person you raised is going to be on their own,” Hawkins says. “It’s important to let them follow their own calling. To let them wrap it up on their own terms may involve such choices that the student ultimately will have to account for. Parents have to let go at this point.”
Julie Rasicot is an associate editor and writes the “Education Matters” blog for BethesdaMagazine.com. To comment on this story, email comments@moco360.media.
