Senior Reflections

The Class of 2025 looks back on their academic experience

by Annie Glosky, Associate Head of School for People & Program

As we reflected on and refreshed Greensboro Day School’s Core Values over the past school year, one value stood out immediately: Relationships for Life. When I sat down with members of the Class of 2025 last spring and asked them to share what had shaped their academic journey at Greensboro Day School, nearly every senior began with the same answer: their teachers. It was their relationships with mentors who challenged, supported, and believed in them that made the biggest impact.

This insight was one of six key themes that emerged from those conversations, each offering a window into how our core values—Relationships for Life, Strength in Differences, Intellectual Curiosity, Citizens with Purpose, and Culture of Wellbeing—come to life through our academic program. Together, they reveal what our seniors have valued most about their academic experience at GDS.

Supportive and Accessible Teachers

When interviewing seniors, I opened by asking them, “What’s made the biggest impact on you or stood out to you the most about your academic experience at GDS?” Without hesitation, the seniors declared, “My teachers.” Students described their GDS teachers as dedicated to their subject areas and the craft of teaching, accessible to students during numerous times of the day for extra help, and determined to provide students with individualized support to help them succeed.

Cameron Hanley ’25, for example, noted that “the accessibility of teachers really helped me. They are willing to work with you independently to catch you up if you miss class, and they’re always willing to come in early, stay after class, or meet after school for help on an assignment.” John Stroud ’25 reflected on the importance of teachers’ expectations for students, saying that “how much the teachers want you to succeed makes a difference. They are always willing to meet you where you are and to do whatever it takes for you to meet a challenge.” For Wade Legette ’25, the teachers’ content mastery also stood out. He shared that the GDS faculty “teach at such a high level, and the ceiling is so much higher here than at other schools in terms of the time we have with teachers. We get a lot of attention from them. My experience with my GDS teachers influenced my college choice because I want the same experience in college because I have liked it that much here.” Through their time and attention to the students, our teachers have built the foundation for Relationships for Life, and it’s also clear that the students feel the attention to a Culture of Wellbeing through the individual preparation and support the faculty gave them.

My experience with my GDS teachers influenced my college choice because I want the same experience in college because I have liked it that much here.

Wade Legette ’25

Real-World Skills and College Preparedness

Many seniors also shared how their academic experiences prepared them for college, careers, and life outside of school and work. Makiya Berry ’25 pointed to the time management skills she acquired at GDS. In discussing the flexibility of schedules and the related amount of freedom that the schedule provides to students, Makiya explained, “If you aren’t used to the freedom, at first you might not be able to manage it well. But you learn that the freedom is good because you learn to balance your time well. This definitely helped to prepare me for college because I won’t be in a class period every hour of the day next year.” Michael Juergens ’25 shared that he has “learned to set priorities, seek out help, and see teachers when you need them. There are a lot of opportunities to be successful at GDS.” Jaden Palmore ’25 agrees that GDS students learn skills in self-advocacy. For Jaden, “the access to teachers at GDS will help me in college. I know that I need to seek them out in the first place because that’s the way to stay on top of things.” By developing students’ skills in independence and self-advocacy, GDS is fostering a Culture of Wellbeing because these skills help students to manage their time and balance studies with other aspects of their lives.

The rigor of the academic program at GDS gives students the confidence to meet the expectations of college-level studies in their intended majors. Madi Jones ’25, for example, explained that she pushed herself to take challenging courses, such as AP Biology and AP Psychology. Because she is interested in majoring in nursing in college, Madi also took two Anatomy & Physiology classes at GDS, along with Sports Medicine and Biomechanics. She feels confident that she has a “strong foundation going into college” and her major of choice.

Nick Moule ’25 and Jamal Akintayo ’25 found that their classes inspired their critical thinking skills in ways that changed how they view the world. For Nick, the data analysis skills he acquired in AP Human Geography made him “think about the world in a new way.” For Jamal, the experience of working on a business challenge for the local company Cheesecakes by Alex in the Entrepreneurial Problem Solving class had a long-term impact on him. He explained, “Now I analyze commercials in light of what I learned from that project about marketing and how companies are trying to influence people.” The GDS values of Intellectual Curiosity and Citizens with Purpose overlap in the experiences of these two students as they considered how their learning relates to decision-making and civic responsibility.

Allie Patrick ’25 also experienced another overlap between these two core values by pursuing an internship in the Student Life program. Through this internship, Allie worked on planning events and service opportunities that we offer in partnership with local nonprofit organizations. Allie shared that she has a “greater understanding of how to get the community involved in public purpose” because of her internship.

Academic Choice, Flexibility, and Challenge

Seniors valued the opportunity at GDS to customize their academic experience, which supports the school’s core value of Intellectual Curiosity. Isabella Thongteum ’25 reported that she loves to challenge herself as much as she can, so she typically chose “the most difficult classes” when building her class schedule each year. While she managed the challenge of numerous AP classes in math and science, Isabella remained committed to studying Chinese and taking Band class through her senior year as well. Isabella shared that these classes gave her the opportunity to take a language that she finds really interesting and allowed her to communicate with friends who are international students from China at GDS, to play multiple instruments, and to build diverse, close-knit communities for herself through her classes. Helen He ’25 commended GDS for providing her the opportunity to pursue her love of math by not only taking AP Calculus, but also pursuing online coursework in Multivariable Calculus and Data Science. For Jacob Kranz ’25, the range of course offerings was one of the most valuable aspects of academic life at GDS. Jacob explained, “There’s not just one path to pick. It’s more like ‘build your own path.’” 

Interest-Driven Learning 

For many of our students, a college major or career interest was sparked by a class they took at GDS. For Ellie Felsen ’25, taking Physics I in ninth grade shaped her future. She explained, “This class got me absolutely hooked on physics. It inspired me to take Engineering and Astronomy classes in later years, and now I want to study astrophysics in college because it combines all of this.” Ford Bell ’25 expressed gratitude for the opportunity to take our Globalization, Commerce, and Trade class during his senior year because it provided a solid foundation for understanding the relationship between business concepts and current events in preparation for his studies as a Business major in college. Aidyn Oborne ’25 explained that the support that she received in art classes was instrumental in her decision to major in graphic design in college. Aidyn reflected that she has “grown as an artist in skill and in creativity” while at GDS and sees a career in graphic design as “a way to do what I love” with flexibility in her professional life. These varied student experiences all demonstrate the variety of ways that GDS cultivates Intellectual Curiosity while also reflecting our school’s core value of Strength in Differences, as each student’s intellectual interests are valued and supported.

Strong STEAM and Humanities Foundations

Our seniors valued their opportunities across academic disciplines. When interviewing the seniors for this piece, I was struck by the variety of classes they mentioned when talking about their most influential academic experiences at GDS. While many students mentioned STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Design, and Math) classes, just as many mentioned Humanities classes—and many mentioned both. For some it was the discussion-based Humanities classes, while for others it was the opportunity to study numerous areas of math and science. There were the students who made time for chorus, band, and visual arts classes every year. There were the students who took Global Online Academy classes in subjects such as Computer Science: Game Design or Introduction to Legal Thinking. There were students who would “double up” in world languages, math, or science by taking two classes in one academic department in the same year to pursue their passions. Our seniors found that GDS worked to support their academic interest, no matter what it was. Seniors commended the school for this variety because they were always able to find classes in subjects they were “naturally interested” in, as Addison Newkirk ’25 phrased it. As their schedules were built to support these individual, varied interests, GDS cultivated both Intellectual Curiosity and Strength in Differences.

Community, Belonging, and Personal Connection

When discussing class experiences that stood out to them, seniors often used the word “community” to describe their classes. They also mentioned that through collaboration, they learned more about not only the subjects they studied, but also about their classmates. For Isabella Thongteum ’25, Band class was “a community of people who love music, which helps to bond you,” and Chinese class “feels like home.” Allie Patrick ’25 explained that the AP European History class was a “close-knit group” partly because “each table group takes a turn explaining concepts to other students, so it’s a great opportunity to be interactive and engaged with each other.” Of course, the dedication and support of teachers contributed to the students’ sense of community and their knowledge that each student was valued as an individual in the classroom. Our seniors felt a personal connection to the subjects they studied, their classmates, and their teachers. These connections all demonstrate how GDS enacts the values of Relationships for Life, Strength in Differences, and Culture of Wellbeing.

As the Class of 2025 prepares for their next chapter, their reflections serve as a powerful reminder of the depth and impact of a Greensboro Day School education. What they shared confirms that our core values aren’t just words on paper—they’re lived experiences in our classrooms, shaping confident, curious, and compassionate graduates ready to lead with purpose.