Have you ever wondered about the new Beekeeper Program at Seven Hills? The Beekeeper Program is an interactive program between freshmen, juniors and seniors. The program is run by Mrs. Stier, the 11th and 12th grade counselor.
Upper School Counselor Christine Stier decided to start the Beekeeper Program because there was a “gap in the mentorship program.”
“My goal is to primarily help freshmen feel welcome and included and like they’re part of the community,” Mrs. Stier said. The program is also good for juniors and seniors to develop good leadership skills and help provide guidance and good advice to freshmen.
Last year, Mrs. Stier had small “focus groups” and interviewed some students about belonging and how we could improve that at Seven Hills. Students liked the idea of having a mentorship group.
“I really wanted it to be something that the student wanted,” Mrs. Stier said. She got some help from Upper School history teacher Eric O’Conner, English teacher Tricia Hoar, computer science teacher Marcus Twiford, and math teacher Cassie Levesque who were helpful guiding Mrs. Stier since they have been here for longer.
The program included an application for students asking them about their engagement in the community. Mrs. Stier looks for students who want the school to be a better place, and also would like to have a diverse group of students who have different interests so they can relate to freshmen in a lot of different ways. There are currently 26 beekeepers. In terms of activities, the goal is to have the keepers stay consistent in how many times the beekeepers go into the freshmen advisories.
“My goal that I’ve set for the beekeepers is to have one time where beekeepers go into freshmen advisories and run the advisories, and one time where they run a social activity during class meeting time, every month,” Stier said. Stier and the beekeepers are getting feedback of what the ninth grade advisors like and don’t like in terms of activities, or their preferences.
Even though the Beekeeper Program is new, Stier is always looking for ways to improve the program. One way she is thinking of changing the program for next year is by having it be more conversational and less structured, but no major changes have been planned yet.
“We’re doing lots of changing as we go, but overall I think the big themes I’ve been pretty happy with,” Stier said. “I’m so happy this year with my current beekeepers. I think that they show up with so much enthusiasm and leadership and so many good ideas,” Mrs. Stier said. Mrs. Stier is looking forward to continuing this program in the future here at Seven Hills.
Senior beekeeper, Alice Bachelder, enjoys the Beekeeper Program.
“I like to be involved in [the] school community,” Bachelder said. Bachelder decided to join the program because as a freshman, it was hard for her to make connections, so she wanted to help with that, and overall she was excited about and interested in the new program.
Bachelder thinks that the program is going well so far. She, as a beekeeper, has also gotten to collaborate with other students, which she enjoys.
“I’ve enjoyed getting to work with other upperclassmen that I don’t see as often,” Bachelder said.
Bachelder understands how it can be hard to come to a balance where what people feel like what they’re doing is worth their time; however, she admires how Mrs. Stier is trying to cultivate the community while making it fun at the same time. Alice enjoys working with everybody, and the great communication factor of the program. She also thinks that freshmen feedback is very helpful.
To apply, you only have to write a short paragraph. Alice likes that the Beekeeper Program has a broad group of people, and the fact that it is not extremely selective. She said that there were a few goals of the beekeeper program.
“The primary goals would be to cultivate an enhanced sense of community at Seven Hills especially between populations that might not interact as often,”she said. Another goal would be to help engage students in different ways here at Seven Hills and to help everyone get to know each other more.
There is not much Bachelder would change about the program as of right now and would like to see how some of the future activities go. She stated that when the beekeepers do more with the freshmen, the stronger the program is. Bachelder also stated that the program would’ve helped her during her freshman year of high school.
“That’s one of the reasons I decided to do it [the Beekeeper Program]…I do think it would’ve been nice to get some advice and be exposed to that side of high school,” she said. Bachelder said that she didn’t know many juniors and seniors, and the social aspect of high school might have been better with a program such as the beekeeper program.
Overall, Bachelder enjoys being a beekeeper and enjoys the Beekeepers Program.
From a another perspective, freshman Madison Zortman appreciates having the Beekeeper Program.
“It’s helping bring us together as an advisory,” she said. Zortman also likes being able to talk to upperclassmen and finds it helpful.
Zortman stated that she might become a beekeeper when she’s older because she is interested in the program and wants to help overall. She also likes to do activities with advisories and thinks it will be fun in the future. Zortman likes having the beekeeper program, as it has helped her in various ways.
“It’s helping me open myself up more to new people,” Zortman said. The program has also helped her connect more with her advisory, and she thinks that it’s a good program for the future.
In terms of feedback, Zortman recommends doing activities more often such as two or three times a week instead of once every couple of weeks. She also recommends doing more activities instead of discussion such as games against other advisories, as it would be more fun.
So far, the Beekeeper Program run by Stier, has had many positive reviews and has a bright future.