Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminars

The Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminars are opportunities for fun, hands-on learning without the added pressures of grades or homework. These courses meet once per week, and rotate through three topics of study each year: Health & Wellness; Cultural Competency; and Computer Science. These themes were chosen based on their broad applicability to adolescents and their importance in preparing students for their futures as responsible, productive citizens in society. 

Educating and supporting the whole student is a fundamental part of our philosophy at BUA. To that end, the Health & Wellness unit within the Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminars will offer engaging lessons on physical and emotional health and wellbeing with special attention to topics of relevance to today’s teenagers, including nutrition; mental health; sexual health; social interactions; and social media and technology use. BUA will partner with The Social Institute, which offers a gamified, online learning platform, to help students safely navigate their digital social world.

It’s not enough that BUA students are academically prepared for college and beyond; it’s equally critical that they learn to be thoughtful, informed, and culturally competent citizens in an increasingly diverse world. The Cultural Competency unit of the Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminars will provide a chance to discover our common humanity through active, experiential workshops exploring identity, empathy, stereotypes and bias, and the eight core cultural identifiers (ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic class/status).

Computer Science is a passion for some students, and a mystery to others. Regardless of experience with or affinity for the subject, Computer Science has broad application in today’s job market, and is a key life skill no matter what field of study one chooses to pursue. Within the Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Seminar and in partnership with a Boston University CS professor, students will learn the fundamentals of Computer Science through interactive lessons in coding (using Python) and other basics. A grounding in Computer Science may pave the way for students to pursue more advanced CS coursework at BU and beyond.