CLASS DESCRIPTION

Essentials of an Intercultural Friends Community (EIFC) is an introductory course for all ninth-grade students. It provides academic and executive-functioning coaching, as well as orientation to the social and philosophical expectations of their new community. EIFC offers an introduction for students to life at George School and to the application of Quaker practices and principles as a framework for living. It emphasizes self-awareness, motivation, goal setting, organization, communication and the establishment of a growth mindset through research-based practices.

Teachers:

Deirdre Best, Tom Hoopes ’83, Robert Mooney, Arden Rossi ’03, Cori Serayderian ’91, Scott Spence and Ginny Waller

---

COURSE HIGHLIGHT

In EIFC class, students are given a pound of clay at the start of the course and invited to create a “gratitude container.” It can be a cup, bowl, box, lotus flower, hand, head, ship, garden … whatever their imagination and skill produces! Their containers stay in the classroom and harden in the open air. Then, over the course of the term, students are regularly invited to write a personal affirmation or expression of gratitude on a little slip of paper to place in their container. Writing these repeatedly helps to develop the habit of gratitude, which has been shown to correlate with a sense of personal well-being.

At the end of the course, students are invited to go back and re-read all of their affirmations from the term, to remind themselves of their journey. Then, as a final act, they are encouraged to destroy their clay containers, as a reminder of the impermanence of life and the importance of embracing the present moment. The broken bits of clay are returned to the Ceramics studio, where they get re-absorbed into the stream of clay there, to be used for the creation of student work going forward.

---

HEAR FROM OUR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

Note: With emphasis on personal growth, EIFC requires the establishment of trust and a safe place for sharing. Students quoted here, therefore, are intentionally cited anonymously.

Understanding life has to be one of the most important, yet hardest, things I think a person could ever do. Especially being a teenager, with so much more life to live, realizing that my life doesn’t just have to be a classroom or tests and sports, realizing there is so much more is such a blessing. I am so incredibly grateful that EIFC is required because I truly believe that anyone and everyone can benefit from it.”EIFC Student
'29

EIFC is graded Pass/Fail, with a very light homework expectation, creating a great deal of safety for students who are brand new to high school (and for many of them, brand new to the U.S. and/or a college-preparatory environment). It allows space for them to feel safe to make 'mistakes,' which is an essential pre-condition for ‘learning.’”Tom Hoopes '83
Religions Department Head

I think that this term of EIFC has taught me more about who I am and how I like to do different things, like studying, learning and even which ways to eat food. Also, through this unit, I have developed meaningful relationships with my peers and adults by opening up in responses to different prompts, and just opening up in general. I also think that in this class I learned a lot about the culture of Quakerism and George School history." EIFC Student
'29

Director of Learning Center Services Chris King and I developed New Student Seminar (NSS) to provide help with executive functioning, strategies for effective learning and structured time to do homework and collaborate with fellow students. In our first year, we saw so much overlap between the work we were doing in NSS and EIFC curriculum. In the fall of 2025, we infused EIFC with the NSS curriculum and have been happy with the results."Becky Hutchins
Science Teacher and Learning Center Associate

Explore courses at GS