Last Tuesday the 8th grade had the opportunity to visit Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston! It was an amazing experience and was full of excitement and educational value.
Before hopping on the bus and heading into Boston we all read a short paper on AI, the main topic that as “senators” we would be discussing. The paper prepared us with a little background knowledge on what AI was and how America is currently handling it. Going into the debate with some background info helped boost our confidence and gave us textual evidence to back up our claims.
At first, we didn’t really know what to expect, so, when we walked into a replica of the actual Senate Chamber, we were blown away. Our class was in a group with classes from a couple of other schools, not just Montrose. After dropping off our belongings, we each went to a desk where we each received a tablet that told us what party we were.
We learned what different opinions each party had on the topic and our “background” so- to-speak, as a senator. Our background told us what state we were individually representing and what different takes we had on the topic of AI.
After an introduction on what the rest of the day was going to look like, we all split up into smaller groups depending on which party we were. In the small groups we discussed all of the different amendments. Afterwards we met up with other people in our party to decide on what amendments that we should try to convince the other party to vote for. We then talked with the other party to state our reasonings and try to persuade them that what we picked was the right choice. Afterwards, we had a small debate and voted on which of these we wanted to put into effect. Chloe Tiu ‘30 8th said: “I really liked how you were acting as a senator and also how you could start off with a small discussion before moving to the real thing.” She was right! Everyone working there addressed us all as “senator” which really helped get us into the mindset of being a senator.
For the final vote, all the schools came together in the chamber to let a couple people form each party debate what they thought was the right choice. It definitely took guts to speak up in front of over 80 other students and teachers! While voting, they wouldn’t say the yes and no like we say everyday; they say Yea or Nay! Our final vote was yea to add a law for AI.
We learned lots of things that day. Our class really enjoyed the field trip! Sarah Tea ‘30 remarked: “I liked how immersive it was! Going into it, I originally thought it would be one of those field trips where the adults talked AT us, but it instead was an experience where they talked WITH us. It was very formal and sometimes stressful, but I liked how we got to roleplay actual senators and make decisions based off of real evidence. I learned so much that day, and it was amazing to see what we’ve been learning in Civics class in action. It overall was a very rewarding experience, and I’m glad we had the opportunity to go there!”
Others express: “It was so character building to debate in front of other people.” Ananya Dandekar ‘30 commented: “I loved being able to speak publicly in front of people and being encouraged to form opinions and vote for what we thought was right!”
In all, our field trip to Edward M. Kennedy Institute was one of the most wonderful and educational experiences of our life!
