Themed “Dream Big, Grow Together,” this year’s Community Day on Feb. 12 featured school-wide competitions at assembly, upperclassman and underclassman dodgeball games against faculty, and 67 student-led workshops, ranging from discussions in affinity groups to creating crafts. —Ayana Karthik ’26.
Valentine’s Day Gingerbread Competition
This year’s Community Day featured new interactive and educational workshops, including a Valentine’s Day gingerbread house building competition. In the activity facilitated by Zoe Pincus and Syrah Gill (both ’28), competitors raced to decorate candy houses and win a prize.
Zoe said the facilitators wanted to come up with an activity that would allow students to make new connections in a more laid-back setting.
“A lot of people collaborated with people they wouldn’t normally talk to,” she said.
Syrah said the competition went well as a whole despite some setbacks.
“I think that overall, the workshop was a success,” she said. “I wish it went smoother because our gingerbread houses, a lot of them, were broken. I would also change the groups because we had a lot of people in a group with their grade, which wasn’t really the goal.”
Sabrine Said ’28, who built the winning gingerbread house, said she enjoyed bonding with more of her community in a less educational setting.
“It’s like both getting to make new connections but also getting to take a break from your academic pressures.”
—Malik Shadid ’28
Challah Making with the JCC
Challah braiding at the Jewish Cultural Club’s (JCC) Community Day workshop allowed participants to learn about the history and importance of the activity within Jewish culture. The activity was open to both Jewish and non-Jewish students at the school in an eff ort to foster connections within the student body, JCC Co-President Lucy Forman ’25 said.
“We want the next people of the JCC to lead it more into a cultural direction and be celebrated and celebrate,” Lucy said. “The JCC doesn’t get to do a lot of whole school community things, and leaders this year wanted to shift from affinity to cultural, so we thought that community day would be a good day to do that.”
Participant and JCC member Leah Cooper ’28 said making challah at school was an especially impactful experience.
“It was an activity that I’ve done before at my house and with family, so doing it at school made me feel like there were people at my school who could connect to experiences I have at home that relate to my religion.”
Leah appreciates Community Day’s values, specifically its ability to open students’ eyes to the interests and cultures of their peers, she said.
“People are able to connect not just on an academic level but get to learn about things others are interested in, like aspects of other people’s lives.”
—Alice Chung ’28
Science in Slime
In the Science in Slime workshop, a sticky situation was at hand. Glue, baking soda, and saline solution engaged students as they precisely mixed commonly unrelated substances to create soft and stretchy slime. Led by Princess Adeoye and Harper Dubovik (both ’27), the interactive workshop brought students together to take a break from school and experiment.
“The environment was really fun and relaxed,” Harper said. “We were able to kind of hang out and talk and just have fun.”
Beyond the fun, students in Science in Slime were able to meet and bond with their peers in an affinity-style space, Harper said.
“Because the workshop was an affinity space for female-identifying students, participants felt comfortable to share anything in the space.”
The workshop was organized into two sections: First, participants created a batch of slime through experimentation. Then, they made a second batch, improved by trial and error and more information, Charlotte Dahl ’28 said.
“It was a perfect balance of having a workshop that was educational but also fun.”
—Lauren Kim ’28
Bridging Cultures
Drawn by a shared interest in learning how to communicate effectively with others, Upper School students gathered in the Bridging Cultures: Mastering Interpersonal Communication in a Global World workshop during Community Day. Workshop facilitators aimed for participants to understand and leverage their distinct communication styles, allowing them to have deeper conversations with others and overcome cultural differences.
Facilitator Hale McGivern ’25 said the workshop’s goal was to apply this understanding to the way students communicate across their unique styles, especially between people from different backgrounds.
“The lessons that we learned through this workshop will help BB&N students in the long term create communities where they can effectively communicate with each other,” Hale said.
The workshop started with a Buzzfeed-style quiz that identified the students’ communication styles. Afterwards, students participated in an open discussion. The workshop was a success overall, Hale said.
“People were opposed to different communication styles and thought of them in a negative light,” she said. “But our goal was for people to know that any communication style is perfectly good.”
—Lauren Kim ’28
Celebrating Lunar New Year
The Asian American Student Association (AASA) hosted a Celebrating Lunar New Year workshop on Community Day. The affinity space hosted a few rounds of Pictionary before moving onto a potluck.
“Everyone brought a dish that they enjoyed, or a particular snack. And then we all lined up, took food, and hung out in little circles,” participant and AASA member Violet Zhang ’27 said. “I think that’s such a big part of Asian culture in general, where at the dinner table everyone can talk to each other, and I feel like it’s just a special connection that everyone has in that workshop.”
The affinity-based activity was focused on making sure people could relax and socialize while also building community among the school’s Asian-student population, according to AASA Co-President Jodie Chen ’25.
“I saw a lot of people getting together and talking across grades, across friend groups, and kind of just enjoying time over food,” Jodie said.
Over the years, Community Day has created opportunities for students to bond across various interests and identities, she said.
“It’s really important to facilitate community and celebrate a lot of different activities and passions of students. It’s definitely a yearly thing now.”
—Alice Chung ’28
