Families Visit For Weekend, Observe Class
Over 1,500 family members from all around the world congregated at Phillips Exeter for Family Weekend last Friday. Guests were given a front row seat to a day in the life of Exonians. Many sat at a Harkness table for the first time, while others tried their first bite of a grill cookie.
Coinciding with the middle of the term, family weekend also provides much-needed respite from the daily rhythm of Exeter: hurried sprints across the Wetherell quad for 8:00 am class, lively conversations around Elm Street dining halls and debates around the Harkness table.
Raymond Yin, father of prep Audrey Yin and upper Dylan Yin, has so far attended three family weekends, and each year looks forward to seeing his children's’ classes in action. “It's really attending the classes, living the same life as an Exonian, that was the most exciting part,” he said. Yin expressed his delight over being able to meet Audrey and Dylan’s teachers, and sit in on their discussions.
For new and old families alike, the ability to observe Harkness in action, (or get to become a “fly on the wall,” as Diana Dai, mother of Dylan and Audrey Yin put it) for a day was an unforgettable experience. “It’s been great just to see the exchange of ideas, and how kids come up with different solutions. And see the teachers and kids interact with each other, to discuss and solve these different issues, is really exciting to see,” prep Alex Kechriotis’ father John Kechriotis said.
“It’s been great. Very organized, beautiful weather, we’ve loved sitting in on the classes. Everyone seems helpful and happy. It’s good, it’s been a good experience.”
Teachers endeavoured to include parents in the class atmosphere, by creating activities for them to engage in. In the classes of French Instructor Sheryl Dion, students and parents sang a french song to perfect their accents. “I just love meeting the parents, it’s so great to see them in class. And to have them participate is fun too, even if it’s just a little singing. Whatever we can do to incorporate them, I try to do[so].”
Normally, family weekend consists of classes on both Friday and Saturday so that family could visit each of their relative’s classes. This year, however, Saturday classes were cancelled because of scheduling concerns. Many believed this was solely because of the standardized testing going on on Saturday, but Dean of Students Melissa Mischke said, “[the schedule of] family weekend is decided not because it was the weekend of the PSAT’s, but by the three schools that coordinate their family weekends, and all the sports. Because we play a whole slate of sports, that’s all decided several years in advance; the PSAT’s and SAT’s are all decided the year of or the year before,” she said.
Mischke believed that the even longer weekend came with many benefits. “I think it’s good because everybody pauses for a day,” she said. “We literally have two full days of nothing and no commitments.” Campus had differing feelings on this matter: some students were happy they didn’t have an extra day of class, but some were disappointed that they couldn’t show their parents all of their classes. For example, the Yin family wasn’t able to attend every one of their kids’ classes, and instead had to split up their time between the two. “Logistically it’s difficult for families with more than one child. Both of the kids have overlapping classes,” Dai said.
In addition, students who did not have every class on Friday weren’t able to show their parents all the classes that they had anticipated. Prep Alana Yang had looked forward to introducing her parents to Harkness in English class, but was dismayed to find that her schedule on Friday did not include it. “I think it would be kind of nice to see two days of class, because her schedule today doesn’t have English, and I’m really interested to see English with harkness,” her mother, Frances Yang, said. Prep Alana Yang said that, for her, English class would be the best class to show to her parents.
Linda Garey, mother of upper Abigail Garey and prep Nicholas Garey felt as though the cancellation of Saturday classes could also have an effect on the number of parents who could attend. Since parents are more able to get off work on Saturday, family weekend was much more accessible in past years.
“I work full time, so I had to take a day off to go to their classes today. And the other three years, I just went to the Saturday classes. So for me, it’s not so great.” Her son, prep Nicholas Garey, disagreed with his mother’s sentiment, advocating for his free Saturday. “I’m very happy that there aren’t Saturday classes.”
As a result of both the lack of class on Saturday and the free Monday, students got the opportunity to go off campus, whether it be with family or on a school-sanctioned trip. Prep Maia Lemos travelled back home to see loved ones. “I’m going home so I can see my parents, and my friends!” she said. Some enjoyed doing small things with their parents, such as Prep Yuvy Sethi, who was “excited to get some Chipotle with his parents.”
Senior and international student Olivia Lei’s family paid a visit from Switzerland this past weekend, and the family took a trip to Connecticut. “My brother goes to Wesleyan University, so we’re going to meet up with him,” she said. Since it is her last year, her parents made the trip to the US; however, they were unable to in past years.
For most international students, it is logistically impossible to unite with family over family weekend, whether because of distance, busy schedules or financial inability. “I know it can be really hard for international students, just because most of their parents won’t come because it is so far,” Lei said. According to Lei, a member of the International Students Organization, the ISO makes huge efforts to help international students feel as though they are especially loved over the weekend. ISO did little things such as “give [international students] little gift bags in their PO, and there’s a Boston trip which I took last year when my parents weren’t here,” Lei said. “So we are trying to make them feel like they are still loved, and have a family at PEA even if their parents can’t come, which is important for them to know,” she continued.
International student Chiara Perotti from Ecuador remarked on the struggles to reunite within her family, “My dad can’t come up because of work, and my mom is on a trip with my other sister, because I’m part of a family of five, so it’s hard to be with everybody at the same time,” she said. International student and Upper Amelia Lee’s family was also not able to attend, “purely because financially, despite the fact that a lot of [students] don’t get financial aid here at Exeter, it’s still a conscious decision that it’s costly for your parents to come halfway across the world to visit you.”
Despite the inability of some parents to attend family weekend, around 1700 enthusiastic family members roamed campus with their students last Friday. New parent Maureen Kechriotis spoke of her first experience at family weekend fondly. “It’s been great. Very organized, beautiful weather, we’ve loved sitting in on the classes. Everyone seems helpful and happy. It’s good, it’s been a good experience,” she said, before setting off to accompany her son to his next class.