Primary Classes
Diplomacy – Juarez Newsome
Week 1 and 2
For those interested in mastering the art of negotiation, thinking strategically, and developing a greater grasp of geography, this class is for you. With rising tension throughout Europe at the turn of the century due to imperialism, nationalism and the thirst for supremacy on the continent, conflicts emerged among the seven European powers. Diplomacy, a game of alliances and promises kept and broken, attempts to recreate the diplomatic type-roping to solve, perhaps, the impending crisis through the art of negotiations. As one of the major powers - England, Germany Russia, Turkey, Italy, France and Austria-Hungary - a skilled diplomat will realize when help is needed from others and when not to trust “so called” allies. Remember, you are a diplomat first, a commander second. To fortify skills as a negotiator, students will study several texts that define artful negotiations and provide background information regarding previous European conflicts. Let the games begin.
Discovering Art in Nature - Beth Caylor
Week 1
Discovery can come from following your sense of awe and wonder about the natural world. From Da Vinci to Audubon to Haeckel, many scientists have applied the precision of scientific observation to studying the beauty of nature, creating knowledge and art simultaneously. Learn about the flora and fauna of the central coast of California while practicing basic drawing and watercolor skills and creating a field journal, primarily through quiet observation in the field mixed with classroom work identifying individual species and investigating their biology.
Ready, Set, Action! Screenwriting for Young Adults – Zohara Zamor
Week 1
In this class, students will explore the film as story. Students will analyze what makes a good script great, practice the art of design thinking, and collaborate with peers on screenwriting an original short film. Bring your eagerness and positive energy to make the classes fun.
The Brain and Behavior Lab - Renee Mack
Week 2
This inquiry-based course introduces students to the neurophysiological systems and how they affect mood, thinking, and behavior. We will explore the concepts of neuroscience and how brain mechanisms interact and mediate sensation, motivation, emotion, learning, and abnormal behavior. Hands on activities include dissections, neuroscience labs, and understanding personal learning styles and strengths.
Word Play! – Jana Ransom
Week 2
This is a writing workshop with a twist. Through games and engaging activities, students will exercise their creative writing abilities and build their vocabulary, all while having fun. We will explore poetry and prose, first by reading model texts, and then by crafting and drafting our own. From prompts and ideas to polished drafts, we will dabble in both classic and non-traditional forms, including black-out poetry, sentence composition, spoken-word poetry, flash fiction, editorial blogs, and even Tweets. In addition to our writing workshops, we will play tournaments of word games, from classics like Scrabble, Boggle, and crossword puzzles, to new favorites such as Bananagrams, Quiddler, and Balderdash.
Electives
Computer Coding Creation: Creating Stories and Video Games – James Gribble
Week 2
Do you want to bring your stories, imagination and ideas to life on a computer? In this class, students will use colorful coding blocks that fit together like puzzle pieces and digital paint tools to create a story (make your own cartoon) using Scratch programming. Next, students will learn how to create a math game with +, -, x, or /. Then, we will learn how to make our own video game! Students will all get to code their own stories and games while sharing ideas with friends as they go!
Leadership and Design Thinking – Bryan Rodriguez, and Margot Dorion
Week 1 and 2
This class draws upon the curriculum from Cate School’s leadership program and the teachings of Stanford University’s d.school. Through the model of service-leadership, students explore their own values and styles of being a leader, all while developing greater empathy for others. Through the creation of greater group and self-awareness, students engage in leadership as a deliberate practice. With these tools, students also start to explore the world of design thinking, a process which draws on methods from engineering and design, and combines them with ideas from the arts, tools from the social sciences, and insights from the business world to solve challenges and problems in an empathetic and creative way.
Mock Congress – Santina Olney
Week 1 and 2
Students-turned-U.S. Representatives and Senators will get a first-hand experience of the process of how a bill becomes a law (or dies in committee!). The objectives of this Mock Congress class are to bring to life how the legislative branch works and to understand foundational Constitutional principles. For the final project, students will craft and propose their own bills and will defend their legislation on the Congressional Floor. In doing so, students will be identifying and producing solutions to national and global issues.
Social Discourse – Jose Vega
Week 1
Join together with new friends from all around the world to select, explore, and discuss issues meaningful and impactful to you. Students will generate and explore these issues each day through the use of varied social discourse and academic debate methods. While students ultimately hold the power and responsibility to direct the curriculum, some topics for study in the past have included: climate change, the existence of zoos, social media usage, global politics, dress codes, and ocean protection. Social discourse will assist with building literacy, reading comprehension, critical thinking, problem-solving, and oral expression while also encouraging students to form close bonds and supportive relationships with their classmates. For our culminating project, we will be creating a newspaper which will be distributed at the concluding ceremony.