In just five years, Commonwealth’s Dive In program has grown from a small group of five students to a bustling cohort of thirty-two eager young learners. High-achieving middle schoolers from low-income households join the free program and embark on a transformative academic journey in preparation for high school and beyond.
This past summer, Dive In students were excited to learn from four Commonwealth alumni/ae who, not too long ago, walked the same halls. Ellie Laabs '17, Ayla Denenberg '23, Jordan Dowd '17, and Alec Bode Mathur '20 came back, not just to teach, but to reconnect with their own formative experiences and inspire a new generation.
Cultivating Creative Expression: Ellie Laabs '17
Ellie spent her summer teaching Creative Writing to rising seventh and eighth graders. Her classes were an exploration of short-form or “micro-style” writing—a journey through poems, flash fiction, and sentence-level writing. For Ellie, the goal was to equip budding writers with a diverse set of expressive tools, nurturing their innate creativity and helping them build a literary toolbox. While explaining her ties to the creative process, she says, “I’m captivated by most anything: I swoon at a good question and grimace at an easy answer, regardless of discipline. And I’ll give at least five dollars to anyone who can describe the sky to me in a true way I haven’t heard before. I want the predicament, the nitty gritty of humanity! This likely hasn’t changed from who I was back when I attended Commonwealth.”
Throughout the summer, she immersed students in exercises that prompted them to explore the depths of their creativity. For instance, eighth graders craft their own versions of George Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From,” a well-recognized poem that begins each line with “I am from…,” leaving space for the students to fill in sensory details of their upbringing. Ellie asked them to read their pieces aloud, and the class explored the effects small details can have. What happens to a line of poetry when a word is removed, or added? When a comma is included or maybe a line break? She shared her excitement about working with younger students, emphasizing the unique perspectives they bring to the classroom: “I’m captivated by [their] imagination and creativity…These students see, immediately, in a sentence, a whole world—whole worlds.”
Ellie’s teaching approach was grounded in her own experiences at Commonwealth and her love for creative expression. Her classes were designed not just to teach writing techniques but to inspire students to recognize their potential as writers and thinkers. Reflecting on the experience, she notes, “Dive In is lovely, and the students are lovely. That’s the most important thing to say. Any environment where there are people willing to spend their summer learning is a worthy one—and anyone who hasn’t taught won’t know exactly how much of a gift it is to have students who want to learn from you.”
Sparking Scientific Curiosity: Ayla Denenberg '23
Ayla was a substitute ninth-grade biology teacher for just one week, and her path to applying for the position highlights the importance of Commonwealth’s close community. Her own academic journey was deeply influenced by her advisor of four years, Emma Sundberg, for whom she also became a lab assistant. “She was the person who changed my mind from being a ‘humanities student’ to a ‘science person,’” Ayla says. “I’m now a biochemistry specialist at university.” Ayla was eager to help out when she learned Emma would be absent for a week of Dive In.
Even in that short time, Ayla showed her students how to tackle complex scientific concepts, grappling with ideas that usually come later in their academic careers. “It takes so much integration of what you’ve done in the lab, the theory that you learned in class, what you can observe, and what you can write about—there’s so much synthesis going on in your head, and to be able to do that before you’ve even stepped foot in high school is amazing.”
With her background in biochemistry and a deep appreciation for hands-on learning, Ayla guided rising ninth graders through the fascinating world of lab-based biology. In turn, the Dive In students pushed her to remember the nitty-gritty details of her own biology education years prior, and she encouraged students to talk through difficult concepts as a group. “It makes it a lot more fun when you can ask an open-ended question and receive debate from your students,” she says.
Inspiring Historical Insight: Jordan Dowd '17
Jordan brought his knowledge of history to Dive In, teaching a course to rising seventh graders focused on U.S. immigration policy and its historical context. Jordan’s goal was to help students see the connections between historical events and current issues, fostering an understanding of how past events shape present-day realities. Speaking about his fondness for teaching history, he says, “A, it’s interesting. And, B, it’s not settled business. It's controversial business. People interpret [historical events] differently today, and their interpretations lead to very different ways of thinking about the world.”
One of Jordan’s hopes for the summer was to gain expertise working with a new age group. As a current public policy Ph.D. student, he was used to teaching university courses but felt that teaching middle school would be valuable as well. ”It’s really important to me as an early career educator to develop proficiencies—not just teaching research methods and technical things, but historical and political backgrounds—with students of all ages,” he says. He noted that teaching twelve-year-olds and thirty-year-olds was actually more similar than different. Much of teaching is trial and error: determining appropriate readings, assigning the correct volume of reading, choosing good discussion questions, and keeping his class engaged.
Jordan valued the moments when students took charge of their learning, leaning into unexpected related topics. “When a student connects the content of a lesson to something else that they had an interest in, historical topic or current event, that’s a good feeling. They’re locked in on the material, and it’s relevant and interesting. That’s when they’re most engaged. That’s when the best conversations happen.” he says.
Guiding Artistic Exploration: Alec Bode Mathur '20
Alec returned to Commonwealth in a unique capacity: as a field trip chaperone for Dive In. Fresh off graduation from NYU and contemplating his next steps, he saw an opportunity to reconnect with the school community that had shaped him. “Coming back to work at Commonwealth for a little bit felt like it would be a great way to remind myself of the things I’ve loved doing: working with kids, the arts, and the city.”
Alec’s work involved guiding middle-school students through museum visits and art explorations, fostering an environment where they could engage with art in their own ways. “We treated them, as much as possible with some of the younger students, like Commonwealth students—with trust in their ability to explore independently, confront the work on their own terms, and pursue their own particular interests,” he explained. His aim was to help students explore and engage with art and culture in a meaningful way, reinforcing the value of independent exploration and critical thinking.
“Working with Dive In was a great experience, a moment to reaffirm my new place as a college grad in the Commonwealth community, and a chance to work with some really bright kids. There’s something about talking to middle schoolers that made me feel both so old and very young at the same time—an always-interesting mix of out of touch and relatable, experienced and just starting something new.”