ATHLETICS SEMINAR PROGRAM

Honors Dance 4: Dance CompanyPhysical Education (year-long) (9-12)*

Performance Required.

Prerequisite: Company members are required to formally re-audition each year and undergo an individual evaluation to ensure appropriate placement.

Dance Company is a rep performance class for our most advanced and dedicated dancers, selected by audition or by invitation. Through a series of short-term residencies with some of the most accomplished artists in the business today, students maintain a rigorous technical foundation and create and perform commissioned choreographic works. The challenging nature of this course prepares students for college-level dance programs and careers in the arts. Students have the choice of receiving credit for Physical Education or Performing Arts when taking this class. If a student chooses to take P.E. credit, they must choose another arts class and must still attend class when involved in an after-school sport. Performance required.

Statement Of Purpose

At Windward, we care about who students are as well as what they learn. Seminar is a dedicated gradelevel class where we examine the overlap between identity and learning. We tackle topics that are relevant to students’ lives -- their inner life, family life, social life, and school life. Seminar creates time and space to practice essential skills necessary in a community that values understanding ourselves and others.

The 7th-12th grade Seminar program is developed and implemented by each Division Team to ensure that the curriculum is responsive to the needs and interests of students in challenging as well as joyful times. In weekly meetings, students learn about health, human development, equity, racial awareness and personal accountability, as well as other aspects of their social and emotional development. Seminar facilitates growth in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decisionmaking. We are all works in progress and we celebrate that.

Requirements

All students are required to participate in Seminar. By Division, the Seminar Program accomplishes its purpose with a developmental focus:

Middle School Seminar

With our youngest students we begin the guided exploration they will make throughout the Seminar program at Windward. Students will develop their understanding of others and strengthen their social emotional vocabulary in an effort to explore their own identity and voice. Who am I? Who do I want to become within my community?

Prep Seminar

Because a consistent percentage of our population in Prep (in 9th grade) is new to Windward, we revisit and extend the curriculum of Middle School Seminar. Prep students (in 9th & 10th grades) are developmentally ready for greater autonomy within the guided curriculum. Our approach to the goals of the Seminar Program responds to the growing need for voice, accountability and advocacy.

Collegiate Seminar

To fully support students’ transition beyond high school, Collegiate Seminar emphasizes choice and voice to help students develop the independence, self-discovery and critical thinking necessary in adulthood.