On October 19-20, members of the MICDS International Board of Visitors (BOV) traveled to campus for their annual meeting. A group of talented and dedicated alumni who live and work across the country and around the world, the BOV was tasked this year with examining how we can best balance the humanities and STEM as we fulfill our mission to prepare students for “lives of purpose and service.”
“We see that the world our students inherit will be different than the one earlier generations have encountered—a world that is increasingly complex given heightened competition for resources and jobs, quickly evolving technologies and roles, and elevated stress surrounding lifetime earnings potential,” said Brian Thomas, Assistant Head of School, as he invited the BOV to help navigate MICDS down the road ahead.
During the week, the BOV heard from panels of students and alumni, visited classrooms, discussed articles and best practices and held strategic brainstorming sessions. At the end of the two-day visit, members of the BOV recommended several strategies for balancing the humanities with STEM education, including strengthening our interdisciplinary course-offerings, service-learning opportunities, partnering with alumni and faculty to engage students in career-readiness conversations and more. The BOV also talked about how to add conversations about ethics, empathy and what it means to be human and humane in each course—from science to math to history and English.
“The International Board of Visitors wrapped up their time on campus early this afternoon with an unparalleled expression of gratitude for what we as a community were able to show them of their old School. At the same time, the BOV provided us useful feedback on the questions we asked them to consider,” said Thomas.