Give students a reason to step outside their usual circles.
CORE DAY
Core Day is a three-hour, facilitated student experience that gets students moving, talking, working together, and connecting with people they may not normally spend time with.
Through activities, challenges, conversation, and reflection, students find common ground, see one another differently, and consider the role they play in creating a more connected school community.
SEE CORE DAY IN ACTION
Core Day makes more sense when you see it.
Core Day is active, relational, and built around participation. Students move, laugh, work through challenges, talk with people outside their usual circles, and make time for conversations that do not always happen during a typical school day.
This short film offers a look inside the experience.
Three hours built around participation, not presentation.
Core Day brings a group of students together for a facilitated experience built around activities, challenges, conversation, and reflection.
Students are regularly mixed into different groups and given reasons to interact with people outside their usual social circles. Some activities are energetic and fun. Others slow things down and create space for students to listen, reflect, and have more meaningful conversations.
Throughout the experience, facilitators help students connect what is happening in the room to the way they communicate, treat others, handle discomfort, and contribute to their school community.
Students aren't expected to perform, share personal information, or be vulnerable on command. They are invited to participate at a level that feels appropriate while still being encouraged to step beyond what is familiar.
WHAT IS CORE DAY?
GRADES 5-12
Designed for middle and high school students.
UP TO 120 STUDENTS
Ideal group size for maximum participation.
3 HOURS
A focused experience that makes a real impact.
FACILITATED BY US
Your staff participate alongside students as our team leads the experience.
Students can spend years in the same school without really knowing many of the people around them. Familiar groups form, routines settle in, and it becomes easy to make assumptions about people we rarely interact with.
Core Day interrupts some of those patterns.
Students are intentionally given opportunities to work with different people, discover common ground, listen to perspectives beyond their own, and participate in experiences together. An activity that begins with laughter or a simple challenge can create an opening for a conversation that might not otherwise happen.
WHY THE EXPERIENCE MATTERS
Small interactions can change the way students see one another.
STEP OUTSIDE THE FAMILIAR
Students interact with people beyond their usual friend groups and social circles.
The activities are not the point. They give students a reason to interact. What happens between people is where Core Day begins to matter.
FIND COMMON GROUND
Shared experiences give students opportunities to notice connections that aren't always obvious from the outside.
SEE PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY
Conversation and reflection can challenge assumptions and help students consider experiences and perspectives beyond their own.
WHAT STUDENTS TAKE WITH THEM
Three hours can create a different kind of school experience.
Core Day does not promise to change a school in a single afternoon. What it can do is create experiences students do not always have during a typical school day.
A student may talk with someone they have passed in the hallway for years but never really known. They may discover something unexpected in common with a classmate, hear a perspective they had not considered, or realize how their own choices affect the people around them.
Those moments may seem small. But they give students something real to carry back into their classrooms, relationships, and school community.
NEW CONNECTIONS
Interact with classmates outside their usual circles and discover unexpected common ground.
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Hear from other students and reconsider assumptions they may have made about people around them.
PRACTICE SHOWING UP
Take part in conversations and experiences that ask them to listen, participate, contribute, and sometimes move beyond what feels comfortable
A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
Consider how their choices, interactions, and behavior contribute to the kind of school community they are part of.
WHAT EDUCATORS ARE SAYING
Within the first hour, I saw students participating and making connections with students they may not have otherwise interacted with.
Within the first hour, students are participating and making connections in ways that I have not witnessed before. By the end of the program, whether it's two hours or a whole day, I watch students walk away with new understandings of themselves, of their peers, and of their ability to connect with one another in an authentic and compassionate way.
Advisor, Teton High School
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BRINGING CORE DAY TO YOUR SCHOOL
Core Day is facilitated by The Core Project, so your staff does not need to plan activities, prepare lessons, or lead the experience themselves.
Before Core Day, we work with your school to understand your students, schedule, space, and goals for the day. We provide guidance on what is needed and help your team prepare for the experience.
During Core Day, our facilitators lead the group while school staff participate alongside students. Having familiar adults in the room matters. Their involvement helps make the experience part of the school community rather than something happening around it.
We lead the experience. Your school helps make it possible.
BEFORE CORE DAY
We work with your school to plan the schedule, space, student group, and other details needed for the day.
DURING CORE DAY
The Core Project leads the experience. School staff participate alongside students and support the group as needed.
AFTER CORE DAY
Students and staff leave with shared experiences and conversations that schools can continue building on after the day ends.
TRAIN YOUR TEAM
Bring the Core Day experience in-house.
Schools that want to facilitate Core Day themselves can have their staff trained by Greg Sommers.
The training gives your team firsthand experience with Core Day, guidance for facilitating it with students, and the materials needed to lead the experience at your own school.
Train one or more of your staff
Learn the facilitation process
All facilitator materials provided
One experience can give you a place to start.
CORE DAY + CORE LESSONS
Core Day gives students a shared experience with the same kind of active participation, discussion, and reflection used throughout Core Lessons.
For schools using both, that familiarity can make the transition back to the classroom feel natural. Students already understand that they may be asked to participate, work with different people, reflect on what happened, and connect the experience to their own lives.
Core Lessons gives educators a practical way to continue creating those opportunities throughout the school year.
BRING CORE DAY TO YOUR SCHOOL
Ready to explore Core Day for your students?
Every school is different. Tell us a little about your students, what you’re hoping to accomplish, and what you’re considering. We can help you determine whether Core Day is a good fit and talk through the options for bringing it to your school.
Looking to train your own team?
Ask us about Core Day facilitator training with Greg Sommers.
