Immersives Intrigue Individuals

On Friday, September 20, Gilman held Immersives for the first time ever. At the beginning of the year, Assistant Head of Upper School Jeff Gouline ‘00 introduced the Immersive program to foster connections within the Gilman community, allowing people to bond over common interests. During 30 minutes of community time, teachers share their experiences, games, and life skills with students. Almost 500 students across 31 total Immersives participated. From studying the gastronomy of Baltimore to playing three-on-three basketball, immersives provide a wide range of entertaining and fulfilling activities. 

Some Immersives, according to a News survey, are more popular than others with the number of enrolled students per immersive ranging from one to over 60. In order to visualize the popularity of different Immersives, we categorized Immersives into four main categories: sports, entertainment, learning, and skill development. Sports were by far the most popular immersive, accounting for 40% of enrolled students, followed by skill development with 25%, entertainment with 20%, and finally, learning with 15%. The data tells us that students prefer sports-related activities as a way to relax and spend their community time. Of all the Immersives, the top three most popular were 3v3 Basketball (Matt Baum ‘93 and Laura Soden), Wiffle Ball (Brian Ledyard), and A Gastronomical Tour of North Baltimore (Russell Wrenn ‘96 and Amy Nichols). 

Student satisfaction with Immersives was overwhelmingly positive, with the average rating across all immersive at around 8.5 out of 10. The best-rated immersive (with three or more responses) was a Gastronomical Tour of North Baltimore, with an average rating of 9.75. In second place was Introduction to Forensic Science with Christine DiMenna, with a rating of 9.57; third was Introduction to International Football with Matt Zealand, with a rating of 9.33. On top of this, there was a correlation as the more enrolled students in the immersive, the higher the average rating was. For example, the top three Immersives had an average rating of 8.93, well above the overall average of 8.5.

In general, most students seemed to enjoy Immersives so much that many students have commented that they would like Immersives to meet more often or to be able to attend more than one Immersive. Indeed, Immersives only meet once a month, and feedback indicates that increasing their frequency could provide a more fulfilling experience.  In the survey, one student stated, “Lower School Visits is an enjoyable experience, but it happens way too little. I think it should occur more often.” Offering more opportunities to participate in these shared activities could enhance the effectiveness of the Immersive program in helping students and teachers form strong connections over common interests. 

In only one session, Immersives have won over the student body and helped foster community. This program represents Gilman’s pursuit of a strong community, and its success demonstrates how much students want and enjoy this sense of community. The Immersive program has been a great success and has achieved its goal of bringing the Gilman community together.