How We Do It

Learning By Doing

From their first day of preschool through 8th grade graduation, Evergreen students learn by doing.

In our BIG Lab (Build Imagine Grow), on overnight trips, during Adventure Days, on the capstone Global Studies trip, and every day in and beyond the classroom, students not only think deeply about ideas and information—they put them into practice.

Our version of “experiential education” embraces trial and error to build creativity, persistence, and good citizenship. Empathizing and collaborating with a variety of communities, students identify real-world problems and construct innovative solutions—while seeing, hearing, and feeling how seemingly abstract principles actually work.

Surrounded by peers, teachers, and families who share their boundless curiosity, students take risks bravely and judiciously, viewing setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow. And when they achieve the goal they’ve set—or create something even better than they had previously imagined—we all share their pride and delight.

Take a look at some of our favorite Evergreen experiences and projects.

Casino Night: Experiential Learning in Action

Casino Night is the culminating project of our 6th grade probability unit. To explore the underlying concepts of probability—such as theoretical versus experimental probability, and independent and dependent events—students design their own games of chance. In creating the games, they learn what makes a game “fair” and how to compute the odds and payoffs, all the while utilizing fractions, decimals, and percentages.

Over the course of the unit, teachers work with students to further develop the mathematics needed to formulate their game design. Students develop a construction plan, create a prototype, and then test and refine their games as necessary. Finally, in an exciting event, they share their games with the school community on Casino Night.

Field Experiences by Grade

K	Camp Long	1 day
1st	Camp Casey	1 night
2nd	Camp Sealth	1 night
3rd	Camp Killoqua	2 nights
4th	IslandWood	3 nights
5th	Northwest Maritime	3 nights
6th	Camp Seymour	4 nights
7th	NatureBridge	4 nights
8th	Global Studies (abroad)	4 weeks

Field Experiences: Beyond the Classroom Walls

Evergreen’s field experiences take our curriculum outside of the classroom and provide opportunities for hands-on learning and personal growth.

Each camp is a progressive step toward independence. In our first overnight camp in 1st grade, students have one adult each along for support. Then, in 2nd and 3rd grades, the classroom teachers are joined by six adult chaperones, and the time away at camp increases.

The intention behind the gradual addition of days and nights away from home is to build resilience and self-determination, as students connect to the world in which we live.

By the time students move to the Upper Division, they are confidently taking part in three nights away from school with only limited parental involvement. The confidence that our 8th graders show as they embark on their month-long global studies trip exemplifies the value of these intentional, incremental steps toward independence.