To no one’s surprise, both floors of Westover’s dormitory have been relatively quiet and empty this fall because of the School’s hybrid learning program during the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean the Residential Program hasn’t been busy offering opportunities for students and dorm faculty to connect during the evening hours.

Heather Capitanio, the Director of the School’s Residential Life program, has been working this fall with dorm faculty and proctors to organize an ongoing series of activities intended to give students a taste of what life in the dorm can be like, especially when homework and projects are done for the day.

“My hope in structuring our Virtual Residential Life activities,” Heather explained, “was to help our boarding community, which is currently scattered all over the world, meet and begin forming connections before they arrive on campus in January.”

Several nights each week this fall, a different dorm faculty member has been paired with two proctors to host hour-long activities over Zoom for interested students. The sessions are a chance for new students to meet all the dorm faculty and proctors before they step on campus, and give returning students opportunities to reconnect with one another and with new students outside of class.

While some of the sessions this fall have focused on playing games — such as Pictionary, Spooky Bingo, and the Match Game — other virtual activities have included:

• Meet the Pets! — Students brought their pets to Zoom so everyone could meet them

• Vision Boards — Using Google Slides, students made slides of who they are as a person and what they like

• “What’s the Tea?” — Basically, a tea time chat

• Kahoot Trivia — Westover and general pop trivia questions in a fun, fast-paced format

• TikTok Shade Room — Students chatted while watching their favorite TikTok videos

• EPuzzle with Music — Students completed a jigsaw puzzle online

• Social Justice Talk — A chance for students to talk about the Brianna Taylor case

• Bachata — Dance lessons for Hispanic Heritage month

“The most successful activities are the ones where students have discussions with each other,” said Kira DeSimone, a dorm faculty member and Inclusion Program Coordinator for the Rasin Center for Global Justice.

“I led a discussion about TikTok with two proctors that was a wonderful experience,” Kira said. “Seeing students laughing and connecting despite being virtual was really heartwarming.”

Proctors Jade-Noelle Samuelsen ’22 and Rachel Lartey ’22 hosted the event with Kira. “I think that all of the events that I have been a part of have all been successful in their own right,” Jade-Noelle said, “but my favorite would have to be the TikTok Shade Room. I think just interacting with everyone as if we were all back on campus is what makes it work well. We’re all in a tough spot, and creating a comfortable atmosphere for students to connect is so important.”

“Another activity I did,” Kira added, “was playing the online video game Among Us, which has gained quite a bit of popularity recently. Students were able to not think about school or academics for that hour and instead could connect, laugh, and work together to figure out who the impostors among us were.”

Dorm Faculty Member Marcie Bruder has found that “the more successful activities have been the online games. The games have a way of bringing people together to enjoy a challenge while being able to connect and talk about what is going on in their lives.”

Dorm faculty and proctors get together a day or two beforehand to plan an evening’s activity. “I really want the proctors to take the lead and voice what they want and are interested in doing,” Kira noted. Some activities require a couple hours of preparation, Marcie added, while others involve “just taking an idea and running with it.”

Jade-Noelle said, “I always post on my Snapchat story that I’m on duty and text friends and tell them to come and have fun. The participants vary from activity to activity, but I think the proctors and the dorm faculty members make a good space to unwind.”

Sometimes the planned activities actually don’t even happen — and that is just fine, Marcie noted. “People are just interested in chatting and catching up. Those are the ones that are spontaneous and relaxing. I think just having a time and space for people to connect is the best way to build a virtual community. They know they have a place they can come to.” 

And not all of the activities offered have been light-hearted. After Kentucky officials announced that only one police officer would face charges connected to the death of Breonna Taylor during a police raid on her apartment in March, Jade-Noelle, Dorm Faculty Member Sarah Mannella, and Proctor Lexis Lokko ’21 arranged for a virtual discussion about the case.

“That was much more serious than the other dorm activities I’ve done,” Jade-Noelle said, “but I am really proud of the mature and well-thought-out conversations we had during that activity.”

“Even though we are not physically at the dorm,” Lexis said, “our main goal as proctors is to continue to build a strong virtual community.” Reflecting on the success of the first virtual activity she helped organize — a Match Game with Kira and Proctor Nadia Tavares ’21 — Lexis said, “it shows how resilient Westover students are. Even though we cannot physically be with each other, every person who showed up was ready to learn the game and have fun with people they know, and also create bonds with those they do not know.” 

“The activities are not just for boarders,” Heather added. “All are welcome. There are also special guests from time to time — (science teacher) Heather Nuzzo stopped in to do a puzzle one night with some of the students.”

Kira said, “Ben Lewis, the new math and physics teacher, and Genna DeSimone, my sister from the Class of 2012, joined in to play Among Us. When I asked the students if they were comfortable with a faculty member joining us, they seemed very into the idea. When Ben turned on his camera, one of his students got very excited and was laughing very hard.”

The numbers of participants for the activities have ranged from just a handful to as many as 15, with most sessions drawing about half a dozen students.

“We are working on adjusting the time and number of activities offered during the second half of the term to see if we can draw in others who have not joined us yet,” Heather added.

“I am very proud of the creativity and hard work of the proctors and dorm faculty so far,” Heather said. “I love that it has also become a place for returning students to reconnect outside of school, with a few new students regularly joining in on the fun.”

“There are definitely some folks who keep coming back,” Kira added, “but I also see some new faces. These activities have been great for connecting new and old folks.”

As a new dorm faculty member, Kira said, “It has been really lovely to get to know some of the proctors through working with them. I didn’t know any of them yet, so this has been a way to meet them all and hear all about being a proctor and working with dorm faculty members from their perspective.” 

Heather said, “I believe those who come usually leave with a smile on their face and deeper connections to the community than when they signed on an hour earlier.”