History, Leadership and Big Ideas: Learning by Doing in the Middle Division - Stevenson School Skip to content History, Leadership and Big Ideas: Learning by Doing in the Middle Division At Stevenson’s Middle Division, the most powerful learning moments don’t always happen at a desk. From immersive historical simulations to student-driven exhibitions, Middle Division students are asked to do something more than memorize facts: they’re asked to think, question, create and lead. Stepping Into History: The Grade 7 Great Depression Project Each year, seventh graders don’t just study the Great Depression, they live it. In one of Stevenson’s most beloved interdisciplinary projects, students are assigned a character drawn from real census data: a farmer from Oklahoma, a factory worker from New York, a military officer from California. From there, they research, write and think their way through one of the most challenging periods in American history – not as observers, but as participants. Through journal entries written both in character and as modern-day historians, students develop a rare kind of empathy, learning to hold two perspectives at once, asking both “what happened?” and “what would it feel like to live through this?” The project spans history and math, with students managing household budgets, navigating the stock market crash and calculating the economic realities of the era. The culminating event is a Town Hall Meeting where students, fully in character, propose and debate a fictitious “Third New Deal” – drawing on their research to make the case for policies that could help Americans survive the Depression. A field trip that takes in Goodwill, a local grocery store and the Monterey Museum of Art brings the project into the real world, connecting classroom learning to the textures of everyday life in the 1930s. Reimagining History: The Grade 6 World’s Fair Grade 6 students approach history from a different angle, one that asks not just what happened, but who was left out. After researching inventions from the late 18th to early 20th century, students select innovations that shaped the modern world and reimagine them as part of a more diverse and inclusive 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair. Through original exhibits combining historical research, critical thinking and creativity, students grapple with questions of representation, exclusion and what progress really means, and for whom. Learning to Lead: The Leadership Elective Middle Division students also have the opportunity to explore leadership as its own discipline. In Stevenson’s Leadership elective, students move beyond the idea that leadership is about titles or authority, and into the daily habits that define it: how you show up, how you communicate, how you include others and how you take responsibility when things go wrong. Through real-world scenarios, collaborative problem-solving and reflective journaling, students build the self-awareness and practical skills to lead with integrity and purpose. At Stevenson, these experiences aren’t add-ons to the curriculum – they are the curriculum. By the time Middle Division students move on, they’ve already practiced thinking like historians, advocates and leaders. That’s not preparation for the future. That’s the future, happening right now. An independent Pre-K–12 boarding and day school located on California’s Monterey Peninsula Carmel Campus Grades Pre-K–8 Street address: 24800 Dolores Street, Carmel, CA 93923 Mailing address: P.O. Box AP, Carmel, CA 93921 T: 831.574.4600 Map/Directions Campus Map Request Information Pebble Beach Campus Grades 9–12 3152 Forest Lake Road, Pebble Beach, CA 93953 Need Pebble Beach access? Contact us before visiting. T: 831.625.8300 Map/Directions Campus Map Request Information Copyright 2025 | Stevenson Boarding & Day School | Policies Ethicspoint School Directory Employment Notice of Non Discriminatory Policy: Stevenson School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. Page load link Go to Top