Every Upper School student at Gilman takes part in Seminar as part of the curriculum. For seniors, the first half of the year’s lectures are led by the College Counseling Office, supporting them along their application journeys. Second semester lessons are designed to provide both practical and social-emotional support around the transition to college. In addition to lessons on personal finance and mental health, health educator Bessie Oster covers topics like substance abuse on college campuses, consent, and nutrition. “This year, I wanted to make Senior Seminar more experiential,” said Oster. When they learn how to sew a button, she has each boy complete the task on a piece of fabric she passes around the room.

To whet their appetites for preparing their own meals, she organized a class with one of Gilman’s own experts — Directory of Student Safety Oversight Emily Bose, who also happens to be a chef. It was entitled “Gourmet Cooking in a Microwave” and included instructions for making meals for an entire day using the one appliance colleges make available in their dorm rooms.

Working in small groups in Gilman’s dining hall kitchen, seniors selected cuisines from a Chef Bose-curated list of recipes, preparing fare such as an egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel, pizza in a mug, and chocolate lava cake. Each group chose an executive chef and a team name. Because dorm rooms aren’t typically stocked with a professional kitchen’s set of utensils, Bose intentionally didn’t provide proper measuring cups and such. Instead, students estimated ingredient measurements using a regular spoon or a drinking cup. They also played a “Price is Right” style guessing game to quiz them about food costs.

Oster said she heard that on the gradewide group chat, students were declaring the cooking lesson “the best seminar of the year.” She plans to replicate the lessons next year with a few changes, perhaps adding a judging element.

The series of life lessons doesn’t end in the kitchen; next, she hopes to take students on a field trip to the Athletic Center to show them how to use a washing machine!

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