Academics
Balancing his athletic commitments with strong academic discipline as a fifth-form (8th Grade) student at Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA.
Expand the sections below to read what Briggs' teachers have to say about his academic performance.
Pre Algebra Trimester 1, 2025
Grade: A
What his teacher had to say:
Briggs finishes the trimester with an impressive A, characterized by a perfect homework average, strong participation, excellent test results, and a 100 on the final exam. His enthusiasm for learning and willingness to embrace challenges are truly commendable. Briggs's continued growth in confidence, persistence, and accuracy is evident. He exemplifies the balance of enjoying learning while taking academic responsibilities seriously. His natural curiosity drives him to grasp not just the steps of a problem but also the reasoning behind them. His positive attitude is infectious and creates a motivating environment for his peers. I am excited to see him continue to shine in the next trimester.
Grade Breakdown
Homework: 100
Participation: 93
Tests: 94
Final Exam: 100
Overall Grade: 96
Jack Faulstick, Pre Algebra Teacher
Grade: A-
Briggs is highly engaged in class and is often one of the first to raise his hand to answer or ask questions. He completes his homework thoroughly and on time, showing responsibility and commitment. While his writing and speaking are strong, he sometimes makes small syntax mistakes. Briggs encourages classmates and contributes positively to our class community. He attempts to use Spanish in class as much as he can, which is fantastic. Briggs asks questions to learn more that go beyond only clarifying expectations.
Colby RunkSpanish Teacher
Grade: A-
Briggs brought a lot of background knowledge to class this fall, and he also displayed very good study skills in history class. His assignments were always completed on time and with great care, and he, at times contributed thoughtful questions and comments during discussions.
While he could get a bit sidetracked with friends, Briggs always was able to refocus. He worked well in any pair or group activities, and he often showed his leadership skills by getting others to do their best. Near the end of the trimester, he organized a very informative presentation on parts of Reconstruction. He spoke clearly and with ease in front of his peers. His last quiz score was a bit below his usual score, and he did not show his normal level of detail. Hopefully this winter, he returns with renewed focus, as we tend to go faster.
David Goodrow
Modern American History
Grade: B+
Briggs brought a commendable level of effort to Fifth Form English this fall term. In class he sets to work quickly, asks for feedback, and takes instruction well. In class discussions he answers questions and offers his own thoughts on our readings. As the class worked on new expository writing skills, such as paragraph unity and compare and contrast structure, Briggs demonstrated an understanding and ability to put those skills into practice; though his sentences and paragraphs remained fairly basic and unpolished. In the latter half of the fall term Briggs engaged productively, offering his suspicions and reactions to the twists and turns of our mystery novel. The culminating essay was a big step up for Briggs-he admitted it was the first essay he'd been assigned-and I was proud of how he took it on: asking for support, thinking creatively about the book, and putting extra effort into getting the major components of the assignment onto the page. I look forward to working with Briggs next term and supporting his continuing development as an English student.
Myles Olmsted
English V
Grade: A
Briggs enjoys laughing and having fun, so this is a great class for him. He has said several times that it is one of his favorite parts of the day.
Some of the highlights have been our sillier games, such as creating a survival plan for a zombie apocalypse and playing online, group Jackbox games that require impromptu responses. At the end of the term, Briggs and I teamed up for a debate on the difficulty of playing hockey. I was very impressed by his ability to come up with our four main points, each of which was clear and distinct. He did good research to support the two points he was arguing. Overall, Briggs had a great term.
Karen PleasantDebate and Public Speaking
Grade: B+
Briggs has displayed diligence and determination to succeed in Earth Science this fall. He comes to class each day enthusiastically and is prepared to learn. Briggs asks fantastic questions that show a deep reflection in his assignments which contribute to greater understanding of course material. He is excellent in partner work and strong as a notetaker and occasional contributor to class discussions. He has shown a mostly strong understanding of course material throughout the trimester. During the first unit, Briggs demonstrated a high level engagement but incomplete understanding of the scientific method and unit conversions. At this point in the term, he doubled down and began seeking extra help and asking more clarifying questions during class time. Each of his next two assessments performances on chemistry and minerals showed a growing understanding of material where he continued to refine his blossoming study skills for Earth Science. The strongest performance of the term for Briggs came during the rock identification, where he took advantage of review sessions and showed a mastery of material. He maintained a strong level of performance on the final assessment on rocks. A unique trait which Briggs' possesses is his innate curiosity in the natural world. He thrived during extension activities and field trips in nature at the end of the term as he was able to connect concepts from class to our natural world. I encourage Briggs to continue bringing this curiosity to class and allow it to be a vehicle for continued success in the classroom during the rest of the year. It was a pleasure teaching Briggs this fall and I look forward to seeing his continued success over the remainder of the year.
Michael Armstrong
Earth Science
Grade: A
In Making Stuff, we investigated together the world of creative technologies, exploring different mediums of technologies from digital making using Adobe Illustrator and Autodesk TinkerCAD to 2D/3D fabrication using 3D printers and laser cutters. It has been a pleasure exploring this amazing universe with Briggs. In every class, he was always ready and willing to investigate and learn the subject at hand. To kick start our adventure together for our first investigation, we explored 2D making and fabrication using the application Adobe Illustrator to design our creations and we used Glowforge to laser-cut the creations. In order to understand the landscape and procedures/processes to get our creations fabricated, we learned how to prep our designs so the laser-cutter would understand what areas to engrave, vector mark, and/or vector cut—our first mini project was to design a stylized camera. At first, Briggs did not trust his abilities, but over time, he got familiar with the user interface, tools, and color differentiation. Before he knew it, Briggs finished his stylized blocky geometric digital camera. This was a springboard for Briggs, and he designed and fabricated a name tag that adorned a hockey stick. He also created a patriotic key with plenty of stars. Over the course of this medium's investigation, Briggs fell in love with this craft and created awesome pieces, including a self-portrait, his grandmother's dog, and his favorite hockey player. For our next adventure, we explored Digital 3D modeling, and the first project we modeled together was creating a die in TinkerCad-this project helped us to understand the basics of navigating through digital 3D space and to learn the systems to create 3D objects. I wish I could say the same with this investigation, but unfortunately, Briggs did not enjoy this part of our journey. Briggs was challenged with navigating digital 3D space, which is understandable because it is mind-boggling to see a 3D world through a 2D screen. But, with determination, he pushed through and digitally 3D modeled a die! Afterwards, he modeled Thor's hammer, a trophy, and for his final digital 3D modeling project a star fidget toy, which he 3D printed! With perseverance, Briggs became a trooper in digital 3D modeling. Briggs is well-liked in the class and brings a bright energy to the group. He is very friendly with his classmates and relatively quiet. Most of the time, he focuses on working on his creations. Briggs maintained his blog documenting his process and progress, writing mini blurbs about his successes and failures in his creative journey. Overall, Briggs is a great student and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. Keep up the great work!
Nicholas Sadnytzky
Making Stuff