EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION-PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS2011-2012 Project Dates: (Dec. 9th, Jan. 27th, Feb. 3rd, Feb. 27th, Apr. 23-26th) Presentation Day: May 1st 11am-3pm
Grade: 5th Team Members: 5th Graders Faculty: Elin Kuffner, Daria Brandt Title: Who Am I? : Finding myself through Horse Haven
Description: For our project, students will be working with Hooves with Heart at Horse Haven in Bothell, Wa. While caring for and interacting with horses, students learn much about themselves. At Horse Haven, experiences in the classroom, barn and arena enhance self-discovery and selfawareness. Students take away tools and techniques that help them create better relationships with family, friends, teachers and other adults. Students will share the various work they have done using a variety of digital and non-digital forms of media. These include presentations about the various horses they have built relationships with over the course of the experience, reflections on what they have personally learned about themselves as individuals and as group members through this work (personal journey), an educational slideshow on composting horse manure, creating planting markers from recycled horseshoes and rebar and much more. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) The mission of this program is to build leadership, responsibility, creativity, courage, and compassion, points that dovetail with our mission points to act responsibly and lead compassionately. How does this project tie into the Big Question? The 5th grade big question is “Who am I?” This project focuses on students working in the barn and learning “the care, safety, language, and leadership required to be with horses.” The goal is not riding; the goal is for students to
understand human relationships in the context of group dynamics; by building relationships with horses students gain insight into their own interpersonal relationships. The program also explores “healthy” versus “unhealthy” relationships and the process by which unhealthy relationships can be turned into positive working relationships.
Grade: 6th Team Members: 6th Graders Allison Luhrs, Amis Balcomb, Karen Mills, Laurie Benaloh, Michael Cruz Title: Improving of What the World is Made Description: Students discussed their Big Question, “What is the world made of?” and came up with three major areas: People, Animals, and the Environment. They researched organizations that help in each of the areas. There will be a half-day to full-day service project in each area and each student will chronicle his or her experiences in pages of a graphic novel. As part of the planning process for the graphic novel, students will gather their ideas in written form through a mind mapping activity and refine their ideas experientially through an acting exercise where they’ll use their bodies to physically build the images they’ll draw. For their animal-related project, Max Mobile from the Humane Society came to talk to the students about preventing animal cruelty. Students will be making blankets and toys for the animals at a shelter. The specifics for the person- and environment-oriented projects are still being determined. To cap off the year, students will attend a 3-day, 2-night Outdoor Education Program at Camp Killoqua outside Everett. The last night of the retreat students will spend in their own homes. Camp Killoqua’s goals and objectives are as follows: The Outdoor Education Program encourages students to become ecologically literate, responsible citizens, in an experiential learning environment. The program utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to promote the appreciation of our natural surroundings and the values of community living. Our aim is to teach students the concepts of sustainability and interdependency outside of the classroom walls. (http://www.campfireusasnohomish.org/outdoored.htm, accessed Dec 1, 2011) On the final day of the retreat, based here at EPS, students will put the finishing touches on their graphic novels describing their year-long experience.
How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) Think Critically: Where are needs the greatest? Which organizations fit our desires the most? How do I represent the information I want to convey? Act Responsibly: The service projects will show students that though they may be young, they can have a positive impact on their community and world. Lead Compassionately: The service projects themselves show the compassion of the students for animals, fellow humans, and the environment. Students who are particularly interested in one area over the others will be leading their classmates. Innovate Wisely: Many students initially thought of holding fund raisers or food drives to help the selected causes. With those avenues not being possibilities, the team has had to think innovatively about how 43 mostly-under-12-year-olds can contribute. How does this project tie into the Big Question? The areas for the service projects came from the students’ answers to the Big Question: their worlds consist of people, animals, and the environment.
Grade: 7th Team Members: 7th Graders Kelly Fox, Kip Wassink, Eric Claesson, Katie Dodd Title: FOOD (How did it get here?)
Description: We’ll be exploring topics related to food and food production with a focus on the issues of Animal Cruelty, Pollution and Hunger. Our project will involve visits to area farms using sustainable and cruelty-free practices, screenings of documentaries detailing the problems related to factory farming, and discussions with local organizations working to provide fresh food to low-income populations. Our retreat will take place at Camp Seymour and will offer us an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the topic for four days, including another farm visit, a lesson about the camp’s very sophisticated composting systems, a Zero Food Waste competition, and lots of time to work together to finalize plans for our presentation during the fair. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.)
This project will encourage students to THINK CRITICALLY about how their food got to their table and how the choices they make about what they eat contribute to larger societal issues. Students will ACT RESPONSIBLY by doing service work with local farms and non-profit organizations working to provide healthy food to all people while protecting the environment and respecting animals. Students will LEAD COMPASSIONATELY by bringing the information they learn back to the student body and, hopefully, presenting a proposal to Dr. Macaluso about how to set up our future food service in the new cafeteria. They will INNOVATE WISELY by participating actively in the planning not only of their response to their learning, but also in the process of their learning as well. How does this project tie into the Big Question? This project is firmly rooted in the 7th grade Big Question: How did we get here? One way of looking at the question is: How did we get here, to a place where we are totally separated from the reality of where our food comes from and how it arrives on our table? How did we get to be a society in which many people can’t afford to buy healthy food? How did we get to a place where animals are widely abused and mistreated for the sake of satisfying society’s demand for cheap and abundant meat, dairy and eggs? How did our world become a place where some people can buy caviar and others die from malnutrition? The other way of looking at the question is asking it from the food’s perspective (we hope the kids may tackle their presentation from this angle): We (chicken, milk, grain, etc.) are on your table. How did we get here?
Grade: 8th Team Members: 8th Graders Faculty: Hayes, Kruse, Tillemans, Hagen Title: What Is the Human Experience?
Description: Students will be designing and participating in several experiences intended to help them answer their big question, “what does it mean to be human?” Early in this process, students self-selected research groups to participate with. These groups focused on specific aspects of humanity (being human, from a scientific, social/cultural, and creative/artistic points of view). Then they planned one Experiential Education Day each.
Once the individual Experiential Education Days were planned the group turned its attention to planning the spring retreat. Groups worked to design proposals to share with their classmates. Once proposals were prepared groups presented their ideas and took questions, then the students voted. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.)
Think Critically - Students have planned every aspect of this trip from initial brainstorming to research and price comparisons. Act Responsibly – Students will be operating in city environment (Portland) and will have to act responsibly as a large group. Lead Compassionately –Each of the groups took a leadership role for one day of the experience. Innovate Wisely –Several aspects of the project did not work out as initially planned. Students had to reassess and redesign.
How does this project tie into the Big Question? The 8th grade project’s main focus is the Big Question. That was the driving force behind all human experiences.
Grade: 9th Team Members: Aaron Bernhard; Akshay Chalana; Alden Chatfield; Braydon Hall; Emaan Rasool; Esther Gilbert; Izzi Durham; Jack Miller; Jakob Salazar; Jill Zimmerman; Joshua Lucero; Kaitlin Kirkpatrick; Kayla David; Luis Salazar; Sari Brashem; Savanna Ellis; Szymon Sarnowicz; Tenley Weinstein; Will Hamilton; Xandria Korn Faculty: Chris Dartt, Jessica Heaton Title: Operation: End Depression!
Description: Operation: End Depression will give awareness and support to teens on one of the biggest causes of teen death, depression and suicide. We are going to raise awareness about teen depression and the specific work we’re doing and create a large event that will educate teens about depression and encourage a positive environment where one feels comfortable discussing their life and emotions with others. We will be working with professional mental health experts from Teen Link and will also contact an independent mental health professional to mentor our program. We will provide the option for teens to join small student-led groups that meet
regularly and will cultivate a safe place where people will connect and discuss their lives. These groups will let people know that they have a support system that knows and cares about them. We will also build a website that will be designed in tandem with mental health professionals to provide a “therapeutic forum� where teens can chat with people while having the safe feeling of anonymity. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) We will think critically in developing and organizing the project using the design process. We will act responsibly because we must be cautious when handling such a sensitive subject that is so personal. We will promote leadership roles because we are creating opportunities for people to talk to others and create new groups that can help depression. We will innovate wisely by applying support and different ways to comfort, alleviate, and educate people about depression. How does this project tie into the Big Question? We are approaching this problem from an atypical standpoint and using unconventional means. We are taking such a broad topic and using critical thinking to narrow it down and address it in a way we can be effective.
Grade: 9th Team Members: Theron Cross, Emma Ferguson Title: EPS Student Store
Description: Design and plan a school store to sell healthy food and snacks, drinks, and school supplies. We hope to design a prototype school store model that we run for the Spring Trimester. We hope that we can demonstrate the viability of a school store and demonstrate that it can be used to provide a service to our school community and produce excess income that can be donated to charities that the school has worked with in the past like Hopelink. This prototype will include an internal transaction point of sale program and a full report on the success of our business plan. A mobile cart or temporary setup of tables will be our first
prototype but a stable location on campus is the long-term goal for the future of this project. Online orders through wholesale suppliers, selling during free period/study hall, and making possible connections with local producers will be in student control (with adult supervision) for this project both under Experiential Ed and long term. The first prototype will be put into action just before or during finals week for winter trimester to look at the store in action over the Spring Trimester. Funds earned from the store can be donated to scholarship funding for EPS tuition for those in need, or donated to local charity. These options need to be discussed in detail with administrators. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) Think critically - strategize stocking, decision making on supplies and pricing, and managing, Act Responsibly -- working at a job requires responsibility, keeping records, preparing supplies Lead compassionately -- managing and helping peers to run the store. Innovate wisely -- use space we already have and make something new out of it while filling student needs. Add new life/space to the school. How does this project tie into the Big Question? Just about every phase and piece of this project will require Critical Thinking in order to discover what students most need at a school store, how to price it, and how to organize a schedule of sellers. Knowing what to sell and when will require thinking critically about a student’s school day.
Grade: 10th Team Members: Stephen Benaloh, Max Bright, Erik Burns, Noah Ching, Charlie Miller, Ben Nussbaum, Andrea Piacentini, Bryan Sevener, Karl Vyhmeister, David Weber-John, Shaheen Yasseri Faculty: Doug Blair, Patricia Ferreyra Title: Windmill Power!
Description: This project is to use the design process to build a small vertical power-generating windmill to be put at a school within Washington State or near our retreat location. It is built out of plastics that will last so that it will produce power for many years. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) This project ties into the entirety of the mission: we are acting responsibly and innovating wisely by creating windmills which are environmentally sustainable. We are thinking critically in the process of designing the windmill: using materials efficiently in the building of the windmill and determining where to place the windmill. Taking charge of an environmentally friendly project as well as working well together is leading compassionately. How does this project tie into the Big Question? How do you define responsibility to the community? This project is considering responsibility to the environment by providing sustainable energy, as well as to the larger community of schools in the Pacific Northwest by giving a long-lasting generator to a school.
Grade: 10th Team Members: Kieran Swan, Chandler Lawrence, Marta Picoto, Trevor Hedges, Danny Stark, Kallista Dietz, Kathleen Reina, Jordan Decker, Max Sheffield, Jing Xu, Taylor Wilke, Katia Nalimova, Sonia Dailey, Warren Chen, Angelica Eden, Keith Nussbaum, Katie Sputh, Sophie Miller, Matt McMillan, Aaron Eskenazi, Sage Walund, Myles Kerrigan, Cascade Lineback, and Kristen Pike Title: Teen Feed/ Artists in the Round.
Description: Our group has determined that homelessness, particularly amongst teens, is a major problem in the city of Seattle. An estimated 620 youth under 18 and another 1,380 young adults ages 18-21 are homeless in the Seattle and King County area. This time of year is especially difficult for them. We can do something about this. During the month of January, we propose to run a supplies drive for Teen Feed and possibly donating half the supplies to another organization by the name of Peace on the Streets by Kids on the Streets. We would like to make this drive a competition between advisories. Given that this is a school project, we are not just going to send
out an email and ask for stuff. We hope to educate those in the community and contact local business and our neighbors for help. On Feb. 3rd we plan to work with Operation Sack Lunch, and we also plan to drop off the supplies from the drive to both organizations on this day. The rest of our experiential education days will be spent planning the Youth Artist in the Round and hopefully volunteering and visiting with Seattle organizations that help homeless youth (Sanctuary Art Center, Youth Care, the ROPES, and Teenfeed). We are partnering with the Fremont Abbey to put on the Artists in the Round Event, and the next steps for the Round are to contact other schools, decide who we want the event to sponsor, get performers, and advertise the event in local newspapers, radio, and with social media. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) We will be leading an event, Youth Artists in the Round. We are innovating by helping more than one organization, and doing more than volunteering. We’re thinking critically by planning and organizing the supplies drive and Artists in the Round. And we are acting responsibly by helping homeless teens in Seattle. How does this project tie into the Big Question? How do you define responsibility to the community? We’re responsible for our community and we want to make it a better place. And by helping homeless teens, in our community, we will, in turn, be helping our community.
Grade: 11th Team Members: 11th Graders Faculty: Adam Waltzer, Jess Mabe, Adrienne Behrmann Title: 11th Grade Experiential Ed Project Description: The main 11th grade project is community service. The students are working in groups to identify needs in the community, design programs to meet those needs, contact organizations and arrange their experiences. These activities will take place both on the service/experiential education days and outside of school time. Several programs have already been scheduled with the Boys and Girls Club with the students leading athletic and arts and crafts programs. A second project the students are working on is the planning of the spring retreat. Each student will accept responsibility for planning one or more activities
over the three-day period. Features include presentations on topics of personal interest, teaching miniseminars, organizing recreational activities, cooking and cooking classes.
On December 9th, students will decide where they want to spend their retreat time and how they wish to organize their service opportunities. They will contact service organizations, set up volunteer time and organize ideas for their retreat. On the other days, they will either be volunteering, or working on retreat activity organization. How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.) By designing their own retreat, and creating their own menu of possible activities, sponsored by individual kids/groups, the students will have to think critically about what they are offering and why it has value. They will have to act responsibly in the planning process and in their service project, lead compassionately as they take their friends through their chosen activity and serve the community and also innovate wisely by creating something that is fun to do. How does this project tie into the Big Question? Since each student is responsible for a portion of the retreat, they must all find ways to lead. They will be showing compassion in their service to the community.
Grade: 12th Team Members: 12th Graders Faculty: Matt Delaney, Lauren Formo, Bart Gummere, Elena Olsen Title: Senior Projects
Description: In the 12th grade, all seniors take part designing and completing an individual project. EPS promotes inter-disciplinary learning. It is our firm hope that seniors embrace this concept and create a project that ties together multiple facets of their educational experience. Each 12th grade student has few boundaries on what s/he can propose. Projects are naturally diverse in both direction and finished product. A central prompt to each student is, “design something you can’t wait to do in your free time.� How does this project tie into the mission of EPS? (T.A.L.I.)
The plan is designed to capture the EPS mission in one culminating project. Students Think Critically to choose a project and set a course of action. These projects inevitably require huge amounts of time; students must Act Responsibly to fit in all this work among their many other responsibilities. Constructive criticism from their peers is vital to the process and requires compassionate leadership on the part of all. Finally, given the wide-open nature of the instructions, each student is forced to innovate personally, and wisely. How does this project tie into the Big Question? Students “innovate wisely� and independently on their projects. Projects serve as a culmination of their learning experience at EPS. Projects range widely in subject but narrowly in purpose and self-reflection.