Intriguing Immersive

Mind, Body, and Spirit: these are the things in which Gilman hopes to educate its students. To achieve this abstract goal, Gilman has implemented a plethora of programs. However, there is one particular program that succeeds in educating boys in all three of these domains: Immersives. Returning for its second year, the reformed Immersives program is more successful than ever. 

Probably the most noticeable change is its restructuring. Instead of meeting inconsistently around once a month last year, a schedule which hurt the program's ability to establish further community, the program now meets in two separate sessions each year. Each session consists of 5 weekly meetings taking place every Friday during community time. Assistant Head of the Upper School Mr. Brooks Matthews explained, “Putting them in consecutive weeks allows both the teachers planning it and the students to get more out of the program.” While the first session recently ended, the second session will begin in January, right after the end of winter break. 

Besides the structure, both the offered Immersives have changed, as well as which the student body preferred this year. To better visualize the types of Immersives offered, The News divided all offered Immersives into four categories: entertainment, sports, skills, and learning. 

This year's largest genre, entertainment, has increased 75% from last year, signifying students are looking to utilize their Immersives to relax. Immersives in this category include corn hole with Mr. Scott Van Zile and the Star Wars Universe with Ms. Kimberly Hammer. 

Trailing behind the entertainment genre was the sport-based Immersives, of which roughly 30% of the student body participated. Leading this genre was 3x3 basketball with Ms. Laura Soden and Mr. Matt Baum as well as College Sports Roundup with Mr. Smythe. 

Finally, in third and fourth place are learning and skill-based Immersives. While they are quite similar, the difference between these two categories is that skill-based Immersives generally include learning a specific competence, such as how to use a spreadsheet, whereas learning-based Immersives tend to focus on gaining information about a specific subject, such as Roman Catholic Christianity with Dr. Mojzisek. From these groupings, The News concluded that most students want to use their Immersive time to relax through either entertainment or playing sports.

To evaluate whether students enjoyed their Immersive, The News surveyed 104 Gilman students. The average rating given by the students surveyed was 8.59 out of 10, a marginal improvement from the average rating of Immersives last year, which was 8.53 out of 10. Students’ free responses reflect this high rating, with a 3x3 basketball participant stating, “It is very relaxed and a good way to unwind on a Friday,” as well as spikeball players commenting, “Nice break in the day.”

While almost every Immersive performed strongly, there were a few in particular that stood out. With a perfect rating of 10 and a response rate of roughly 50%, Spikeball with Ms. Anna Follensbee takes the number one spot. One student had a particularly glowing review: “Spikeball was more than just an Immersive—it was an experience in which we could truly encapsulate what it means to ‘be Gilman’ and have a true Gilman experience… The sense of community and friendship built within this one Immersive will last us all a lifetime, teaching valuable lessons to hold onto forever.”

In second place was the Star Wars Universe with Ms. Hammer, rated at a 9. One student commented, “Although I was only present for two of our meetings, Mrs. Hammer’s Star Wars Immersive gave off super chill vibes, and I loved attending when I could!” Also tied for second was chess with Mr. Shattuck. In this Immersive, students particularly enjoyed the learning aspect, with one reflecting, “I loved my Immersive because I wanted to get better at chess and playing the more experienced players there, or just the regular people really helped learn how to adapt and play good chess.” 

Apart from entertaining the student body, the Immersives program has also achieved another one of its goals: to “engage members of the community from different parts of the community around a shared interest.” One student from the spikeball Immersive said, “It was a great opportunity to meet more people while learning teamwork and collaboration within the game of spikeball.” Another example comes from a very enthusiastic student who was a part of the Lower School Visit program: “I liked engaging with the entire school community!!” Students also appreciated a diversity of opinions, with one student from the stories of Genesis with Mr. Gouline stating, “I liked how there [were] a lot of people with different faith backgrounds all having mature conversations about God.”

Clearly, the Immersives program, besides just being plain fun, has also succeeded in its goal of further interconnecting and uniting our community through shared passions.