Although Cookies has been a curricular facet of the Upper School experience since 2001, “we honestly were at risk of it not happening,” Upper School Coordinator Rolanda Shepard said. The program is inspired by the progressive educational ethos of Flora J. Cooke who served as principal of Parker for thirty three years. From its first day in 1901 to her retirement in 1934. The program aims to create an impactful learning experience outside of the classroom, both led and driven by students. Shepard believes that Cookies instills a sense of empowerment, leadership, and partnership in students, providing the unique opportunity of being able to learn from their peers.
Historically, students have had the autonomy to design a course, but over the last five years or so, “it’s been a struggle to get students to want to create them, and want to create them with enough rigor and substance that actually made it worth having a day off of school or two days off of school,” Shepard said. The need arose to revamp the program and led the Curriculum Committee to work in partnership with the faculty, brainstorming and iterating upon a new structure that would better serve the mission.
The committee presented two ideas to the faculty: addressing the lack of rigor by having people already at the helm of student organizations, such as club, affinity, and committee leaders to organize Cookies, or by having teachers come up with the programs and then selecting students to lead them through an applications process. The first proposal was accepted, and became this year’s Cookie’s structure.
“They [the faculty] just felt like it [Cookies] lost its luster and rigor over the years, and culturally, it’s now become two days off of school, when that wasn’t the intention and that’s not what it should be,” senior and Curriculum Committee Head Dhruv Moorthy said. Shepard concurred, underscoring the displeasure of teachers giving up several days of coursework just to watch students not take the opportunity seriously. “These [new] programs will hopefully be carried out in a way that the faculty intends it to. And in a way that the faculty supports,” Shepard said.
During this year’s proposal process, several Cookies were missing key components, and proposers were given an opportunity to rework them. However, around four groups chose not to explore further, and did not respond to communication from Shepard and Upper School history teacher and fellow Curriculum Committee Advisor Kevin Conlon.
“It’s [Cookies] not living up to what it had in the past,” Shepard said. However, the Curriculum Committee and Shepard and Conlon are optimistic about the future, and the potential of an incredible year in its new format.
“All Cookies are about inclusivity, but it’s about trying to have all of these different communities come under one umbrella to see how we relate to each other, and it’s kind of like a jigsaw puzzle,” freshman and Asian Student Alliance Cookie organizer Siobhan Tran said. Tran went on to describe an initial fear of offering too niche of an experience, and a sense of purpose to design a program that “would encapsulate more of the community and engage them,” Tran said. The Cookie has plans to visit Zumwalt Acres, a Queer and Jewish operated farm, providing produce for people who can’t afford mainstream grocery store prices, and cultivating harvests not typically found in this region. “My Cookie encapsulates a lot of the Parker community,” Tran said.
The heads of the Like Minded Club, who are leading the Lending a Helping Hand Cookie, are energized about the opportunity to connect with students across grade levels and foster relationships. “You can go off campus…but even just staying here and making those connections is very special,” sophomore and Like Minded Club HeadTyler Jones said. The group is excited to get involved wherever they can. hether it’s supporting teachers as they introduce students to material and facilitate lessons, supporting classroom clean up, or assisting in printing and other administrative tasks.
From Moorthy’s perspective there’s a chance that Cookies could evolve even further. He believes that the new structure, as well as changes to committee requirements and offerings in the Upper School Student Government Constitution, could establish Cookies as a requirement later down the road. However, a lot is at stake, and the pressure is significant for the program to deliver on its expectations this year. “If this Cookies doesn’t go well, then I feel there’s a chance that it would be cancelled altogether, which is unfortunate,” Moorthy said. There is so much potential for the program, but to both Shepard and Moorthy, it comes down to how the student body shows up, and if there’s a willingness to make an effort and derive value from this unique learning opportunity.
