I’m Curtis Sullivan, and I am in Workshop.

Workshop is a small group that attends a three period meeting, once a week, to work on a projects like filmmaking, designing utopias, creating debate teams, or working on another topic of special interest. We solve puzzles, we talk with each other, and we hang out.

However, rumors and questions have started spreading about “Workshoppites”: how people got into Workshop, what goes on in Workshop, and who Workshop kids are.

Most of these are false. This is actually what goes on in Workshop:
A normal day in Workshop starts when you enter the front door of room 107 at the beginning of second period, just beyond the cafeteria. Yes, I am telling this in the second person for the sake of explanation. You signed out of your classes during homeroom. A puzzle and picture is displayed on a board next to the SMART Board. Here you must solve the puzzle, and write a caption for the picture. If you complete both, you get a Jolly Rancher. Next, we have a meeting. Here we talk about what we did over the weekend, read a text, and discuss lots of topics. Okay, it’s second period and now we go to work on our projects. These next two periods are spent improving and discussing our work. We don’t just “watch YouTube,” we actually do projects, and we learn things about ourselves from these projects, like how I can get engaged in cool topics and end up hurrying to get my actual project finished.

How we got into Workshop is hard to explain, but I will do my best. It all starts in second grade. A few things happen here. One time we get pulled from classes for 45 minutes a week to work on a packet. I remember being pulled to take that packet. It was hard, challenging, and seconds turned into hours. Some were easy, some were challenging. Another thing was the OLSAT testing. And finally, there are teachers looking at how students spend their free time. It’s a complicated process. And that shows Workshop students don’t know how to get into Workshop either. So to people asking us, “How do I get in?” The answer is that we do not know, and you should ask Mrs. Rao, the Workshop teacher.

We are also subject to stereotyping.

Everyone always says “You’re so smart ‘cause you’re in Workshop.” We are not necessarily smarter than anyone else. I know a lot of BMS students who are super smart but aren’t Workshop; we just take learning a different way. So please do not accuse us of anything, we are just like you.

One time, we were doing group work in LA, and my partners handed me their sheets saying “Yo, you do this. You gotta be smart, ‘cause your in Workshop.” Ugh! Not this again! I thought. We eventually worked something out, but just know, we are not in Workshop because we are smart; it is because we take learning a different way and show extreme interest in learning about our passions.
Rumors about Workshop, they are pretty much myths. Being called names like “Filthy Workshopian” and “Smart Alec,” as well as expecting us do all the work are common occurrences for people in Workshop, and it is mean-spirited behavior. A lot of Workshoppites get offended by this and it must come to an end. Therefore, I am writing this article not just to Workshoppites, but to the haters, teasers, and doubters.

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