InsideEXP 2026 Issue04

INSIDE 2026, Issue 04

COUNTDOWN TO THE GRAND FINALE It is almost impossible to believe we’ve reached our final days together! It feels like just yesterday our students were arriving on campus with excited, nervous smiles. Fast forward through three weeks of rocket tests, game plays, rain-day indoor activities, and weekend adventures, and those initial firstday jitters have transformed into deep friendships and an electric sense of community.

As we approach the finish line, campus is buzzing with a special kind of magic. Walk through the halls of the Koch and Library right now, and you’ll hear critiques of food, code being tested, finishing touches being made to architectural masterworks, and case presentations. Our students have poured their hearts, curiosity, and creativity into everything they've done, and the countdown is officially on for the EXP Showcase this Saturday, July 25th!

We have students attempting activities they wouldn’t normally engage in. One of the best things about EXP is that it is a space for middle school students to challenge themselves and take a risk on something that is interesting.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE What’s inside this program update: Club Update Co-Curriculars Update Leadership in Community Mid-Week Field Trip EXP at Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA

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MID-WEEK EXCURSION : THRILLS & CHILLS AT SIX FLAGS! On Wednesday, our students headed out for their final major outing of the summer: an epic trip to Six Flags New England!

It was the ultimate day of fun, bonding, and adrenaline-pumping excitement. students spent the day navigating the park in groups, cheering each other on to tackle towering roller coasters, cooling off with classic park snacks, and making unforgettable mid-week memories. Whether they were thrill-seekers braving the biggest drops or simply enjoying the lively park atmosphere and arcade games with friends, it was the perfect celebratory adventure to kick off our final few days together!

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LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNITY Leadership in Community focuses on communication, ehtics and values During Tuesday's session, students participated in a series of engaging challenges designed to strengthen their communication and teamwork skills. In one activity, students worked together to recreate a Lego model. While only one group member could see the design, they were not allowed to touch the pieces, making clear communication and active listening essential for success. It was wonderful to see students collaborate thoughtfully, involve every team member, and celebrate their successes together.

Students then put those skills into practice in a second challenge: building the tallest possible tower from spaghetti and marshmallows. As an added incentive, Mr. L. promised to sing karaoke in the dorm if any team could construct a tower taller than two feet. In a thrilling finish, one group rose to the challenge, building a tower that measured 2 feet 2 inches and earning both a victory and a memorable reward Throughout the program, it has been inspiring to watch students develop confidence, leadership skills, and stronger connections with one another. We will conclude our time together on Thursday by exploring personal ethics and values and considering how these principles shape the way we lead and support our communities.

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ALL X This week, our EXP students gathered for their final All X meeting, centered on the theme of The Power of Reflection. The session began with a collaborative indoor rainstorm activity, where students worked together to create something far greater than any one person could accomplish alone, a wonderful reminder of the strength of community.

The excitement continued with a series of lively improv games that had students acting out hilarious and unexpected scenarios without using a single word. Their creativity, confidence, and willingness to step in front of their peers were truly impressive, and the audience had a blast trying to guess each performance.

As students enter the final week of the EXP, we explored how reflection can be a powerful tool for growth. Students spent time thinking about their experiences so far,

celebrating what they've learned, and setting personal goals to help them finish the program strong.

Many challenged themselves to step outside their comfort zones and make the most of every remaining opportunity.

We wrapped up All X with a crowd favorite: the Sibling Game! EXP siblings took the stage to answer fun questions about one another, generating plenty of laughter and cheers from their fellow students. Whether guessing favorite snacks or imagining how they would spend $100, participants showcased their sibling connection!

It was an inspiring and joy-filled gathering that highlighted the creativity, courage, and camaraderie that have made this year's EXP such a memorable experience. We can't wait to see how students make the most of their final week together!

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CLUB SPOTLIGHTS As our three weeks together wind down, student-influenced and interest-driven Clubs reached their grand finale! Whether students were putting the finishing touches on hand-crafted art projects, baking delicious treats, mastering new tabletop board game strategies, or collaborating on creative passion projects, club time was the ultimate space for students to relax, connect across dorms, and bond over shared hobbies.

Mindfulneess with Tyler & Lila

Board Game Club with Izzy & Luca

This week in Mindfulness, we practiced kindness by connecting with nature through a collaboration with the Wilderness Club.

Students decorated plant pots before carefully filling them with soil and planting seeds, taking their time to create something that will continue to grow long after the activity ended. The experience reminded us that even small acts of care can have a lasting impact. Although it rained throughout the day, the weather added to the peaceful atmosphere and encouraged us to slow down and appreciate the beauty of the natural world around Deerfield’s campus.

After finishing our planting, students wrote haikus inspired by nature and gratitude. This creative reflection allowed everyone to pause and think about the importance of giving back to the environment and caring for the spaces we share.

At our most recent meeting, we introduced the students to our final project. We prompted them to come up with a game of their own, and with little to no restrictions or rules, they immediately brainstormed ideas.

While walking around, we were impressed with the amount of creativity they had, and after letting them know the sky's the limit, we saw them dive even deeper into their projects. Within the five groups, we will see beefed-up versions of Monopoly, Floor Is Lava (board game version), building games, and more. Today, we will see them bring their games to life and hopefully play them with each other. We are proud of the way they worked together to start their projects with excitement, and we can not wait for them to show off what they came up with.

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CLUB SPOTLIGHTS Instant Engineering with Vicky & Sammy

Film Club with Gavin & Jesse

Instant Engineering is continuing to excel at EXP! In our second week, students tackled more hands-on challenges, working together in small groups to solve problems on the fly.

We started off each session with teambuilding activities, like untangling a human knot and word games. Then, the students were presented with challenges, such as building a throwable airplane to hit a set target, a catapult launcher, and a loadbearing boat race. For each challenge, students learned to collaborate to make important decisions under pressure, such as the utility of materials, time constraints, and which idea would get their team to the finish line. We saw many innovative solutions; one team made their airplane a ball (which improved throwing distance dramatically), and another created a barricade to prevent the aircraft from sliding off the target. The students are bringing an incredible spirit of enthusiasm and confidence to each club meeting, showing how much they have accomplished in such a limited time!

Over the past two film club sessions, students came together to shoot all the scenes for the film. First, we entered the hand prop storage closet so every person could choose a prop for their character. We also managed to snag a few large costume pieces and hats from the costume storage. With no time to waste on a film set, students dove right into action, shooting the film chronologically around campus. With little direction, only a basic skeleton of each scene, students drove the scenes forward with their unique characters and big acting choices. Every student got involved on camera in some way, and nearly every student got a chance behind the camera as well. We only had time for one take per scene, so we had to make every moment count. Everybody was all in and completely focused when the camera was shooting.

Today, we will splice the film together and work on editing/scoring/coloring so that it is ready to go by Saturday. Bravo film club!

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CLUB SPOTLIGHTS Wilderness with Melody & Julian

Cooking and Baking Club with Haley & Lance

This week, students in the Wilderness Club continued to impress us with their curious and adventurous spirits! With its abundant natural scenery and river, Deerfield and Western Massachusetts more broadly have been a fantastic place for students to engage with environmental stewardship and the outdoors.

What a flavor-packed second week for our Cooking and Baking Club! We started off the week by taking over the griddle tops to cook up golden, fluffy stacks of homemade pancakes. The kitchen was buzzing as students got creative with their toppings, overloading their plates with fresh blueberries, rich chocolate chips, mountainhigh whipped cream, and plenty of maple syrup. For our grand finale, we teamed up with the Mindfulness Club for an epic collaboration focused on sweet treats and relaxation, decorating delicious cookies! The students truly let their artistic flair shine, turning plain cookies into absolute masterpieces with some seriously awesome and intricate designs. Between their pancake-flipping precision, creative flair, and undeniable passion in the kitchen, these students are officially proving themselves to be top chefs in the making!

When it lightly rained on Tuesday, Wilderness Club collaborated with the Mindfulness Club, planting wildflowers and decorating flowerpots with acrylic markers.

Then, in the Greenhouse, we explored the crossovers between gardening, seeding, and self-care. Clubtime finished with a quick trip to the Koch Starfield, where we shared nature haikus and appreciated each other’s inner poets.

From our first day reflecting on what we love about the wilderness to our last, getting hands-on and competing to build the sturdiest shelter, our club members have learned so much. Not only have they immersed themselves in the bits and pieces of wilderness that Deerfield has to offer, but they have also shown a great deal of enthusiasm and reflection. We are so proud of our Wilderness Club students!

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CO-CURRICULAR ACTION Our afternoon Co-Curriculars kept the high energy pumping right up to the finish line! From rallying on the tennis and pickleball courts to cooling off with free swims and high-diving off the boards, students brought immense spirit, athletic effort, and sportsmanship to every session. It’s been incredible watching students try new activities, cheer on their peers, and build confidence through movement every day!

Team Sports I with Sammy & Ellie

Racquet Sports with Lance & Izzy

Team Sports had another successful week together! We were lucky enough to have such a wonderful group of students! Our group was enthusiastic, attentive, and open to trying new things. Volleyball was a popular sport for the group, and everyone participated with competitiveness and intensity. On Monday, the group split into two teams and participated in a game of handball, gaga ball, and soccer. Although only one team came home with the victory that day, it was awesome to watch the group try handball and learn new skills. The group enjoyed a game of ultimate frisbee and mastered their frisbee throwing skills, and also took it to the rim with an intense game of basketball. Our group of students grew immensely through teamwork and collaboration. It was amazing to watch them foster their friendships with one another through each sport they played.

With a new racquet sports group, we’ve had the pleasure of going through our four games again (Tennis, squash, ping pong, and pickleball). On the first few days, we did a bit of review: how to hold your racket, where to aim when you serve, and more. But as their confidence and love for the game grew, we began playing matches. We’ve loved having a range of experience within our group. And what we have enjoyed even more is seeing the students help each other out on the court.

While the students may prefer to play squash because of the air-conditioned courts, they always come to co-curricular excited for the games we play, and even more on the days we play King of the Court. As the week goes on, we are excited to play mini tournaments with them and see how they work together when we create random teams.

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CO-CURRICULAR ACTION Team Sports II with Haley & Jesse What an incredible run we had with Team Sports this summer! It was such a massive hit in the first half of the program that we had to double the fun for the second half, expanding the program into two full sections. We kicked off our first session in the field house with an epic lineup of smallspace games, diving right into hacky sack, high-stakes juggling competitions, minisoccer, and, of course, the ultimate summer staple: gaga ball!

For our second session, we cranked the energy all the way up and took over the turf field for soccer. After locking down our fundamentals with passing, dribbling, and throw-in drills, we launched into a full-field scrimmage that got so intense it rivaled the World Cup, before capping it all off with some nail-biting penalty kicks.

We kept that momentum rolling in our third session as we hit the basketball court at full speed, sharpening our layups, crisp passes, and three-point shots before jumping into

some high-level gameplay. It was thrilling to watch the students compete, and they brought that same relentless fire when we transitioned to volleyball, where they completely dominated the court with amazing bumps, sets, and spikes! We then played kickball, which the students called baseball but not, and it was an absolute blast as students brought high energy to the field, kicking big homers, tearing around the bases, and showing off some amazing teamwork!

On our final day, we tackled Ultimate Frisbee, mastering complex throwing techniques and strategic field formations before putting it all to the test in a fastpaced final match. The amount of growth, hustle, and skill development shown over just a few sessions was beyond impressive.

This second section was a smashing success, and it was so rewarding to see these students bond, build each other up, and master the true meaning of teamwork and communication!

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CO-CURRICULAR ACTION Swimming with Gavin & Melody Swimming co-curricular splashed into yet another refreshing and lively week! EXP students continued to bond over pool games, with Sharks and Minnows resurfacing as a group favorite. Deerfield’s diving well and 25-yard swimming pool have offered no shortage of fun, energy, and friendly competition: every day, students enter the equipment room to gather water polo balls, don fins, and gear up with inflatable floats and pool noodles.

Whether it’s playing catch with water polo balls, dolphin kicking underwater, diving off of the one-meter board, or giving each other freestyle swimming sets, students have been especially eager to coach each other and learn new water skills. Finally, to end each session, we wind down in the Greer with the pool and foosball tables.

It’s been so heartwarming to see everyone’s progress and, most of all, their teamwork and willingness to teach and cheer each other on. We will miss the buzz and enthusiasm they bring to the pool!

Arts and Crafts with Tyler & Lila The second week of Art Cocurricular was filled with even more fun! We started the new week with a few similar activities with the new group, like a team-bonding drawing exercise and vision boards to set the tone for the rest of the program. After the initial meeting, we played a short game of Guess Who, artists edition, that even included some of our work! The students took inspiration from the works shown and created their own masterpieces. Self-portraits were next, and they killed it; the students got creative with backgrounds and colors to show not only their physical appearance but also the things you can’t always see on the surface.

Besides structured activities, they’ve also gotten plenty of free draw time to let the skills they’ve learned show through their own completely original work. The highlight of every day is the presentations at the end of cocurricular time where each student presents what they’ve worked on that day; they’ve built quite the portfolios!

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CO-CURRICULAR ACTION Athletic Conditioning with Luca & Julian Athletic Conditioning continued to build on last week’s momentum with another fun, active week. We started off in the Field House, where students worked through line sprints, relay races, and laps before ending the day with a game of kickball. The group worked hard throughout the workout while continuing to encourage one another and keep the atmosphere light and enjoyable.

The second day, we returned to the track, where everything ran much more smoothly than last session. Students rotated through cone relay races, line sprints, hurdle drills, and 100-meter races, giving everyone a chance to challenge themselves while improving both their speed and coordination.

On the third day, we headed to the cycle room, where students completed interval workouts and rode roughly six miles each before finishing the session with a game of basketball. On the fourth day, we were in the erging room, where students learned proper rowing technique before racing one another and trying out some of the games built into

the machines. By the end of the workout, everyone had rowed around four kilometers (around 2.5 miles) before heading back to the Field House for a game of soccer.

On the fifth day, we trained in the Kravis Wrestling Gym with a mix of weighted exercises, including medicine ball throws, farmer’s carries, and weighted squats, along with calisthenics such as wall sits, pull-ups, planks, and push-ups. We wrapped up the day with basketball. And on the sixth day, we finished the week by repeating the same circuit from day one.

Students compared their times from the first day and saw big improvements in their performances. With another session coming to an end, We are sad to see this group leave both Athletic Conditioning and camp, but happy with their progress. They consistently showed great effort, positive attitudes, and excellent sportsmanship, and it was rewarding to watch them improve over the course of the week.

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IMPORTANT DATES & REMINDERS

📸 Daily Photo Updates

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Don't miss a single moment! We post fresh photos daily. Check out Big Green Photos and follow us on Instagram to follow the action of EXP!

🌐EXP Summer Portal

The EXP Summer Portal is your central hub for accessing all the need-to-know information and important program links without digging through your email inbox or logging into CampDoc.

📞Call Home Schedule

The final call home is tomorrow night, Friday, at 6:15 PM EST. Please take this opportunity to confirm departure and travel plans with your students.

🗓️ EXP Showcase

We are thrilled to invite families to campus for the EXP Showcase on Saturday, July 26th, starting at 1:00 PM! This is your front-row seat to celebrate the incredible products of your students' hard work, creativity, and dedication over these three weeks. From interactive design displays and scientific demonstrations to live performances and creative projects, prepare to be absolutely amazed by what our students have built. We can't wait to share their achievements with you!

Your students have been hard at work!

🌙 Planning a Saturday Night Departure?

For families who prefer to check their students out on Saturday night, the check-out window will officially begin immediately after dinner (6:30 PM EST).

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