Enrichment

Tide PoolChinese AcrobaticsJapanese DrummersTanglewood MarionettesImprov BostonCrab and Tide Pool

Gifford’s Enrichment Programs brings interactive educational experiences to the school community. Throughout the school year, we have many live events covering art, science, culture and nature.  The school community gathers to participate in presentations and broaden our educational experience through visual and hands-on learning. Here are a few of our regular Enrichment Assemblies:

Explore the Ocean World  - Tide Pool Experience 
Biologist Ellen Goethal engages students with an interactive presentation on sea life. This is an annual favorite, and the “Tide Pool Lady” as Goethal is affectionately known to Gifford students, always keeps it fresh and interesting. Students learn about salt marsh ecology, conservation, commercial fishing and detailed information on all sorts of sea creatures.  The animals range from the common sea star to the deep-water sun star, spiny crab, and horseshoe crab. At the end of each talk, the students get their hands wet, and are encouraged to handle and examine both live and frozen sea creatures.  

Birds of Prey
Naturalists from the Mass Audubon Society at Trailside Museum share facts and stories about the different birds of prey each year. Each Lower, Middle and High School program had a chance to learn about the ecological role played by these great birds of prey. The program concludes with a live animal encounter featuring the bird of prey being discussed. 

Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics with Li Liu   
The whole school community gathers to be delighted and entertained by the demonstration of an art form requiring years of disciplined physical training and grace. Li Liu amazes us with her talent including hand balancing, plate spinning, artistic cycling, Chinese yo-yos and ribbon dancing. She invites student volunteers to join her in this interactive presentation about Chinese art and history and even teaches us a few phrases of Mandarin!

Improv Boston
Each year, Gifford hosts Improv Boston to enhance our anti-bullying curriculum. This assembly is just one part of our comprehensive efforts to promote learning and to prevent and eliminate all forms of bullying and other harmful and disruptive behavior. Improv Boston uses improvisational techniques to discuss the difficult topic of bullying. The actors seek student participation to further engage them in the conversation about how to recognize bullying behavior and provide them with strategies to keep themselves and others safe.