Time to Try Something New!

Reporting and photography contributed by students in the "Going Viral: Marketing Winter Term" class. (View their Instagram content).

During our annual January Winter Term, things operate a little differently at Brooks. For three weeks, there are no traditional classes, no block schedule and best of all, no need to fear failure in trying something new!

The intense, one-topic course of study, held this year from January 7 to January 24, is all about students deeply exploring a subject or skill in a different way than they do in the standard academic daily schedule. What they dive into can vastly vary.

One student may learn tactical strategy in the “Dungeons & Dragons & Board Games…Oh My!” class, while another opens their eyes to the world of nonprofit fundraising in the “Passion to Pass It On” philanthropy workshop.

At the same time, programmers-in-training experiment with coding to create video games of their own design in “Game Development,” novice snowboarders get their feet under them in “Shredding 101,” alpine enthusiasts try ice climbing in “The Great Outdoors,” and "Going Viral" marketing students take over Brooks School's social media for the month after a visit to Gillette Stadium to pick the brains of The New England Patriot's social media team.

View the 2025 Winter Term Course Catalog

HOW IT WORKS

Winter Term courses are categorized in one of three immersive learning skill areas: inquiry (in which students explore topics by asking questions, researching, making connections and reflecting), adventure (in which students move beyond their comfort zones and learn through action) and service (in which students learn to understand their role in the community beyond Brooks).

As early as September, when the course catalog is published, students start to consider how they want to spend their Winter Term. This year, courses that offered three or more overnight travel days locked in their rosters in early October. Examples include:

• “Fair Winds,” that engaged students in crewing a tall ship in St. Croix,
• “Guardians of the Sea,” in which students earned SCUBA certification during a trip to Cayman Brac,
• “France: Through the Eyes of Immigrants,” that provided the opportunity to explore Paris, Avignon and other areas, and
• "El Camino," during which Brooksians walked the iconic, 98-mile "El Camino de Santiago" in Spain.

NEW SKILLS

Molly Sullivan ’28 is among the “Passion to Pass It On” crew who developed new skills including public speaking, presenting and lobbying through their work representing a local charity in the class contest for a $5,000 grant.

“We learned how different nonprofits work and what their missions are,” she explained before pitching Lazarus House Ministries to a panel of judges who decided how to distribute the grant among the three charities that the “Passion” students represented.

Harryns Cantave ’26 also earned professional experience this January. “Something new I've learned in Winter Term, being a part of 'Leading a Legacy,' he said, “was how to start a business and be an entrepreneur.”

NEW TERRITORY

In “Walking Boston,” the growth opportunity was in getting familiar with unfamiliar geography. “We've been walking around Boston,” said Noah Walker ’26. “I've been trying to learn new streets and neighborhoods, try new cuisines. It's been all about that. I've been having a good time.”

NEW CAREER EXPLORATION

“I learned a lot of things,” said JJ Dixon ’28 of his time in “Game Development” — that includes using Unity for animations, how to script and manipulate “prefabs” and sound, all of which sparked his creativity. “I might continue to do something like this!” he said.

Discovering all that goes into creating a video game also made an impact on Dixon’s classmate Alan Tratz '28. While he marveled over the way a guest speaker shared how they “create their own little microsystem within the game with a traffic system and whole world inside that’s built by 5,000 people,” Tratz said he now understands enough about game design to rule it out as a possible career path.

NEW FUN ACTIVITIES!

In “Dungeons and Dragons,” Jack Rousmaniere ’28 and his classmates grew through play, learning how to master new games and advance in D&D, which he said, “I wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t joined.”

Michael Buscaino ’28 echoed the sentiment. He said that the class “exposed me to a bunch of new board games that I haven't tracked before.”

That move — to take on novel games, activities and challenges is Winter Term’s mission, accomplished. Take it from Luke Ferrone ’28.

“Sometimes you don't even realize that you're trying something new. You're just trying something that looks fun,” he said.

His words of advice for future Winter Term-ers? “Always give second chances,” said Ferrone. “If you haven't found something you've liked before, maybe if you give it a second chance, you might find you like it.”

Next year, Ferrone said, he may try a class like this year’s “Haunted Hotel,” that enlisted students in making a horror film. “I've never made movies before,” he said. “But it looks fun!”