Revisit day was a frightening experience for me. Everyone was at an event called "school meeting." The big room everyone was gathered in got louder and louder as more and more students and teachers joined. All of the boys were dressed in sweaters and khakis. I was not used to this. I would wear sweatpants and sweatshirts every day, so khakis were something I wasn't used to. Everyone there seemed so much bigger than me as well. As school meeting started I became more comfortable. Everyone there seemed to be having a good time. During revisit day, St. Mark's was a dream, but it now felt like reality.
School
meeting is a St. Marks tradition that has been going on for years. The
eight monitors run school meeting. The monitors are handpicked seniors
that are leaders at the school. These monitors sometimes have fun games
or competitions at the school meetings. This usually is to get a laugh
out of the students and faculty before the meeting starts. There are
announcements that are made to tell the students about events or opportunities
that are going on around the school. The captains of athletic teams tell
the school what time their games will be going on, or teachers give leadership
opportunities for fellow students. The headmaster sometimes has to give
the dreaded SDC talk. The SDC is the Student Disciplinary Committee.
If a student acts up then they shall go to trial with the SDC. The
headmaster will give the results at the next school meeting. This is what
goes on during school meeting.
There
is a specific spot where the people in your form sit or stand to listen to the
school meeting. Third formers are supposed to sit or stand in the upper
part of the center. They may also watch on the stairs that connect the
upper center to the lower center. Fourth formers are able to stand in the
lower part of the center. This is the same for the fifth formers.
The sixth formers are allowed to sit on the couches in the lower part of
the center. Fifth formers can sit on the remaining couches. These
rules are not written in stone, but are unwritten rules. A couple years
ago, the center was different than it is now. Third formers were barely
able to even see the school meeting that was taking place. The center has
changed a lot from years past.
During
revisit day, one of the main reason’s why I chose St. Mark’s over all of the
other schools was because of school meeting. I came in not knowing
anything about what goes on during the school day until this revisit day.
When I went to school meeting my perspective changed completely. School
seemed so much fun, and all of the students were having a blast. This was
what I didn’t see as much of at the other schools. School meeting is an
event that definitely made me want to go to St. Mark’s.
This is a view from where the third formers would be at school meeting.
This is a picture of the center in 1910.
This is a view of the third formers from the lower part of the center during school meeting.
