As I pondered what course(s) I might design for next year’s Intersession, I came across  this New York Times article about the value and importance of “tinkering” in education. On one level, Intersession itself represents “tinkering” writ large; in creating Intersession, we are tinkering with both curriculum and instruction at our school. More importantly, Intersession courses will involve “tinkering.” In these courses, students will explore a particular topic by directly doing the work associated with it. If they want to learn about astronomy, they will be up late with a telescope; if they want to learn about film-making, they will make films, and so on. Even those whose topics are less hands-on will be tinkering as they conjure up a way to present their work to the rest of us.

At Avon Old Farms, it was ever thus. Theodate Pope Riddle’s vision of school work was that each boy would complete a major project every year. It might be a thesis-style essay, an epic poem, or a watercolor masterpiece, or it might be successfully raising chickens or building a boat. For Mrs. Riddle, the “Maker Movement” would be nothing new.