After meeting in their clusters one last time to discuss, in whispered tones, their strategies for winning the Walk-a-thon competition, the students leave for the afternoon, allowing their teachers to hold their daily staff meeting.
Conversation in the circle of high school and college students turns to logistics, the week’s strengths and weaknesses, and specific problems that some students have encountered. By 6 p.m., the staff heads home, into the wet evening, to recover from the day’s challenges and plan for the next.
“In a city where so many are getting a liberal arts education, it’s a question of where is the practical application,” Kavaney says. In spite of Cambridge’s overall affluence and educational accomplishment, a number of public school students still do not attend college, she says.
“As long as that isn’t happening, we need to be here,” she says.
—Staff writer Nathan J. Heller can be reached at heller@fas.harvard.edu.
