Clash of the Classes

It’s time to put to rest the burning question that every member of the Gilman community has asked themselves: What is the best graduating class in Gilman? Is it the wise seniors or the naïve freshmen? The Gilman News was determined to finally put this age-old question to rest through the use of cold, hard facts and logic.

In order to definitively determine the best class at Gilman, the Gilman News conducted a survey among Gilman upper school faculty. The survey was extremely simple and only consisted of two questions: What is your favorite grade, and why did you choose that grade specifically? We chose to only survey the upper school faculty because they interact with all of the grades and therefore have a more balanced perspective when it comes to choosing favorites. While some bias certainly emerged from teachers who specifically teach one grade, the alternative of surveying the students would lead to a much more skewed result. Many teachers understandably had their reservations about answering such a controversial question on a survey, so The Gilman News collected all data anonymously, and we were able to receive roughly thirty responses in total.

In last place, the freshmen received a meager 16% of the total votes. This is unsurprising when one considers that the freshmen have only had a year to garner support from the teachers. Teachers who voted for the freshmen described the freshmen as having a connected community and strong spirit. This support is clearly portrayed in a response from one teacher who wrote: “ great spirit of love, cooperation, and enthusiasm!” Overall, the freshmen have shown great potential and should keep working hard to fully realize their potential.

The senior class has underperformed in the polls, receiving 20% of the vote. Many teachers supported the class of 2025 because of the long relationships that they have forged with the seniors. One teacher beautifully articulates their support for the senior class by writing, “I have taught many of the seniors since the 5th/6th grade and have a deep respect for their energy, talents, and respectful dispositions.” Another simply cited their support for the seniors because “They're just built differently.”

Solidly defeating the senior class was the junior class, which only lost to the sophomores by two votes, securing 28% of the votes. In general, this shows that juniors have good relationships with both past and present teachers. Most supporters of the juniors cited their good energy, likability, and respectful nature. One teacher said this about the juniors, “They are a really funny class and have great positive energy. I really enjoyed teaching them last year.” Similar to the seniors, some teachers preferred the juniors because they started teaching the same year that the juniors started high school. This creates a special relationship between the teachers and the grade as they have both learned and grown together throughout the past three years. 

After collecting all the data, the results were clear; the class of 2027, the sophomores, are the best grade according to the upper school faculty. The sophomores were able to win 36% of the total votes. This is even more surprising considering the fact that the sophomores have only been in the upper school for two years, giving them relatively little time to build relationships with teachers compared to the upperclassmen. Most teachers justified their support for the sophomores because of their hardworking, respectful, and engaging attitude. One anonymous teacher sums up this opinion perfectly: “They [the sophomores] are super hard-working, generally most respectful, and fun to talk to!”