Malcolm GauldRight about now, the seniors at many schools are chilling out. They’ve heard from their colleges and now it’s time to set their cruise controls and… wake me up in time for graduation!
Not only would that not be the case at Hyde, our seniors are gearing up rather than settling down. The gear-up is for senior evaluations — “evals” as they call it — the phase of Hyde when the seniors critique their own character growth as well as that of their classmates. All told, the seniors and faculty will spend as much as 50 hours together exploring this stuff between now and graduation.
In recent years, we have also asked the underclassmen to offer some of their own assessments of the seniors. After spring break, we asked our 9th and 10th graders to offer comments for each senior and then hold a consensus vote on one of three performance categories: Doing Well – Mediocre – Struggling. To give you a feel for the process, I provide the table below, a sample of actual comments and performance categories for the Class of 2013. (I’ve changed the names.) Check it out:
| Senior | Comments | Performance |
| Cora Courage | Passionate, good advice, caring to some, insightful, arrogant, selective groups, double standards, uncommitted, no priorities, irresponsible | Struggling |
| Ira Integrity | Helpful, leader, “dorm mom”, positive attitude, goes extra step, caring, supportive | Doing Well |
| Leo Leadership | Gave up on himself, irresponsible, rude, no compassion, no priorities, disrespectful | Struggling |
| Carl Curiosity | Role model but off-track, humility, good energy, sociable, smart but goofy, caring, concern, easy to talk to, positive outlook, immature | Mediocre |
| Conny Concern | Irresponsible, poor attitude, poor influence, bade role model, dishonest, under the radar | Struggling |
| Dina Destiny | Relatable, friendly, role model, helpful, enthusiastic, rude, entitled through role in school, better than others, self-centered | Mediocre |
| Hugh Humility | Outgoing, leadership could improve, role model, prompted by Hyde, motivated, knowledgeable | Mediocre |
| Troy Truth | On right track, has matured, good advice, relatable, open to share experiences | Doing Well |
| Conan Conscience | Responsible, keeps others on track, consistent leadership, approachable, senior presence, respectable, role model, relatable, no clique, mentor/big brother, easy to talk to | Doing Well |
| Brody Keeper | Good leadership, effort in class, dedication, goals, relatable, easy to talk to, caring, respectable | Doing Well |
| Myra Mansion | Lead by example, positive impact, honest, humble, pushes for others’ best, ability to talk to others, personable, helpful, enthusiastic, role model | Doing Well |
| Woody Woodstock | Good advice to younger peers, insightful, concern, balance of fun/rigor, caring | Doing Well |
| Debbie Deckhouse | Leader, reaches out to others, no attitude, honest, facilitator, serious vs. fun balance, eliminates cliques, role model, authority | Doing Well |
| Sy Sagadahoc | Good leader, friendly, listens, wisdom | Mediocre |
| Wes Westhaver | Voice in school meetings, low leadership in dorm, invisible on campus, short-tempered, inconsistent, to himself, senior?, trustworthy, selective groups, concern for others, basic expectations?, unsociable, unorganized | Struggling |
| Red Apple | Helpful, focused on goals, kind, concern, leadership? | Mediocre |
| Susie Smith | Kind, leader, branches out to all, selective, ambitious, negative attitude, looks down on others, disrespectful | Mediocre |
| Will Woolwich | Stubborn, off-track, non-caring, lazy, nice, concern for others | Struggling |
| Paul Putnam | Seriousness?, non-caring, irresponsible, poor attitude, uncommitted, disrespectful | Struggling |
| Pete Pomfret | Controlling, defensive, cannot take criticism well | Struggling |
| Bill Brunswick | Good advice, respectable, role model, trouble balancing serious vs. funny | Doing Well |
| Bob Bowdoin | Holds people to standard, responsible, no voice, not serious, lack of presence, no confidence, no enthusiasm, peer group choice | Struggling |
| Nick Nichols | Doing well in dorm | Mediocre |
| Casey Colby | Mature, disciplinary in dorm, helpful, reliable, sociable, inspirational, good effort, high expectations, caring, comforting, humble | Doing Well |
| Bo Bates | Negative attitude, selectively sociable, argumentative | Struggling |
| Ann Hurst | Role model, open, listens, unsung hero, helpful | Doing Well |
| Hank Harvard | Pretentious, disobedient, entitled, lacks respect, 4 years?, rude, unhelpful, lazy, poor leader | Struggling |
| Kyle Yale | Negative attitude, unmotivated | Struggling |
| Hobie Hartwick | Presence in dorm, responsible, leader, hard worker, high expectations, personable | Doing Well |
| Will Williams | No leadership, dishonest, senior?, too quiet, unmotivated, no changes, no maturity, pessimistic, avoids responsibility | Struggling |
As you can see, our seniors cannot be accused of coasting to the finish line. They sprint until the final whistle!
Onward, Malcolm Gauld
