Morning Euclid & Off to the Clark!

This morning, students rose with the sun to attend the early Mass and to review their Euclid props. With only one class today, their attention was focused, as they were eager to present their propositions flawlessly. 

In the classroom, discussion turned to the intricacies of Euclid’s logic and reflection on the symmetry of equality and division. Proposition 4, the side-angle-side postulate, invited students to consider what it truly means for two triangles to be the same, and how a single angle, flanked by equal sides, secures congruence. Proposition 9 demonstrated how to bisect any given angle by using Euclid’s first and fourth props and constructing a right-angled triangle to create two equal triangles, thus proving the angle bisected, while Proposition 10 showed how to find the exact midpoint of a line. Students spoke not only about the how of the constructions, but also about the why and the relationship between the props.

When the class drew to a close, the programmers filed out of St. Gianna Hall and quickly returned to their residence halls to change. Excitement stirred in the air — an adventure lay ahead! Soon, they boarded buses bound for the Clark Art Institute, where a different kind of order and beauty awaited them in galleries of light, shadow, and brushstroke.

Come back to the Summer Program Blog tomorrow to read all about their afternoon among the works of history’s greatest artists!