Discovering Sora High School
By Sora Schools
On January 17, Nova middle school eighth graders joined the high school faculty and students at an exclusive Eighth-Grade Discovery Day! This event was designed as an overview to provide current eighth-grade students with the opportunity to explore and learn more about the high school.
After a lovely welcome from Jonathan Oglesbee, High School Director, Rachel Reed, Family Relationship Manager, and Jane Castro, Student Experience Manager, students interacted with high school faculty, staff, and current students, participated in expeditions, attended project presentations, engaged with student life, and experienced Sora high school for themselves. It was an exciting day!
Demo Expedition #1: Humanities
Marina Soucy, a High School Humanities Learning Expert kicked the day off with a demo expedition called “Narratives Beyond Borders: Memoirs, Immigration, and Identity.” Students shared their thoughts around what it means to be an immigrant and even shared some family stories.
Student Life Introduction and Club Expo
The future high school students met with high school leaders of a variety of clubs: Queer Straight Alliance, Zoology, Tabe Top RPG, Fashion, and Doodle. Sora students propose their own club ideas if there are topics or interests they want to explore that are not already represented.
Porter, the leader of Table Top RPG, shared “My group had many questions about Dungeons & Dragons and other table top games, also offering me some game recommendations! Ten outta ten experience.”
Student Project Showcase
Three Athena high school students shared projects that they worked on for Expeditions, including “Wait…A Comfortable Pointe Shoe?,” “Deciphering Radiation’s Health Secrets with AI,” and “PFOS Contamination: A Silent Menace.” This gave the eighth-grade students great examples of the types of work they will prepare in the Athena campus.
Demo Expedition #2: STEM
Next, Diego Echanove, a STEM expert, demonstrated the “Commotion in the Ocean” expedition, in which students explore ocean acidification and develop a public service announcement. Diego posed the question “is the ocean a soup?”
Demo Expedition #3: Math
In the sample Math expedition, Zack Boboth gave an overview of “Math and the Ethics of Staterun Lottery.” Students discussed the effects playing the lottery may have on individuals.
Student Ambassador Panel
Our high school student ambassadors, Harper, Porter, Avery, and Lotta, jumped in with the Nova students and responded to their pressing questions about the transition to Athena and their high school experiences.
Following the event, the high school ambassadors expressed that they loved sharing and talking with the eighth-grade students.
Oh, I just loved being present at the 8th grade discovery day! As a club leader and a student ambassador, I got to pop in multiple times. Everyone had amazing questions and I loved talking about how much I love this high school and how it’s working for me! All of the 8th graders are so amazing, I can’t wait to see each and every one of them next year!
Harper
I agree, it was amazing! The middle schoolers are very lively and sweet, very inquisitive. I’m incredibly excited for when they come over to the high school.
Porter
I had a blast soaking in all the awesome personalities and energy from the incoming students. Being a club leader, a student ambassador, and even presenting one of my projects to them was so much fun. I loved every minute of chatting with them, answering their questions, and finding out what they're totally geeking out about. Talking about my experiences on the ambassador panel and diving into the details of the Zoology Club was a highlight for sure. We all had a ton of fun, and I'm psyched to catch up with them again next school year. Can't wait to see what adventures and cool stuff we get into together!
Avery
Sora’s 8th grade Discovery Day was an exciting and immersive experience that I am grateful to have taken part in. Speaking to the 8th graders, as well as hearing their questions and insights was enjoyable as they are a very kind, thoughtful, and fun group of students. I expressed my blissful experience of joining Sora rather than staying at a traditional high school, addressed many of the different types of fascinating student life opportunities available, explained how clubs are run, and also spoke on a few other topics that make Sora’s high school so unique.
Lotta
My appreciation toward the Sora community deepened due to the genuine sense of unity I experienced at Discovery Day, despite many of us meeting for the first time. I am ecstatic to have noticed a cohesive community in such a short period. I had many engaging conversations with the 8th-grade students, and I cannot wait for them to join the Athena Campus!
Eighth Grade Students Loved Discovery Day!
In addition to these exciting experiences, students played games with the high school student ambassadors during a break, were introduced to Sora high school Houses, and attended a live checkpoint, giving a direct peak into high school life. Following the student portion of the event, parents joined for a wrap party.
The experience was so fascinating, and it was so cool seeing all of the teachers and different things I am going to learn about next year! As a student ambassador myself, it was really cool being on the other side of the ambassador panel, and having student ambassadors speak to me about the amazing things in high school.
Emery