Tutorials are student-led, in-depth courses that allow sixth formers to explore an area not usually offered by the school without the constraints of a larger class size or a rigid syllabus. This fall, three sixth form groups will pursue tutorials of varying topics: organometallics, solo acting, and special relativity.

Organometallics

Alison Brown, Montanna Riggs, Gus Vrattos, and Brian Xiao ’19 will  dive into organometallics, the study of the principles governing chemical reactions, this fall. This group of Organic Chemistry alums have naturally chosen Dr. Nathan Lamarre-Vincent, an experienced chemistry teacher, as their faculty advisor. When asked as to what prompted these four students to select such a rigorous course, they  explained that it felt only natural to continue on the path to a more advanced chemistry tutorial. According to Alison, their love for organic chemistry stems from the ability to explain the fundamental principles of the subject, which their tutorial will extensively address.

Solo Acting

Julien Alam ’19, who starred in Twelfth Night, Cabaret, and The Women of Lockerbie last year, will use his tutorial as an opportunity to delve deeper into solo acting, which he considers one of the hardest parts of being on stage.  After taking every theater course Groton offers, he is enthusiastic about a new challenge. In addition, because drama teacher Laurie Sales is on sabbatical this year, Julien is also looking forward to working with her replacement, Andrea Underhill, and getting a new perspective.  Due to the individual nature of his tutorial, Julien plans to spend most of his time on monologue pieces, as he considers them to be very relevant in everyday life.

Special Relativity

With the support of Dave Prockop, Marianne Lu ’19 will study special relativity, or the relationship between time and space this fall.  Propelled by a long-standing curiosity about the physical world, she took Physics Mechanics in fourth form and Electricity and Magnetism in fifth form.  She is particularly intrigued by the twin paradox, a hypothetical theory that claims if one twin stays on earth while the other travels to space, he or she would return to find  their sibling more physically aged than themself. Another topic that has piqued Marianne’s interest is time dilation, which explores how factors such as speed and gravity affect how time is experienced and measured, even causing it to change speeds.