Connections Center
The Arts Experience
The main goal of “The Arts Experience” is to connect students to the arts community through artist workshops, gallery tours, arts college visits, and other community events. Introducing students to the potential of art as a means of self-expression is the second goal of this connections class.
In the classroom, students will work to engage their imagination and curiosity in giving their ideas aesthetic form through a variety of projects and experiences. This class is designed to foster independent and flexible thinking, as well as risk-taking and perseverance. I encourage students to reflect inward, to demonstrate commitment, curiosity and craft in creating their work, and to trust the process of experimentation.
This class includes projects, workshops, discussions and critiques, presentations, sketchbook and other writing assignments, artist statements, “art experience” projects, and field trips. The students will be presented with opportunities to experience the four components of art: music, dance, theater and visual/graphic art while advancing their community involvement in the arts.
During each of the four years that students are expected to take this class, students will be expected to work independently in developing a creative and challenging concept for their projects. Students will create an electronic portfolio that reflects their growth and development in the areas of art that have interested them. The expectations for the portfolio will be determined in a 1-1 interview with the instructor.
Students in Foundations classes will work with media in visual arts in addition to obtaining an exposure to music, dance and theater. Students will be given the opportunity to gain an appreciation for art through community-focused field trips, professional recording, theater and dance workshops.
Students in Diploma classes will complete independent projects of personal interest to them in all areas of the arts, participate in art college visits, exhibit work with professionally written artist statements and write an artist research presentation. Seniors will be required to complete a portfolio review with the instructor and present their portfolio to the class.
NOTE: Taught with sheltered curriculum for students who are classified as English Language Learners or who have an Individual Educational Plan.
College and Career Readiness
This unique class is offered each year for four years and links students with college admissions staff, college students, health care professionals, and community volunteers who provide them with personalized advice, insights, coaching and contacts to help them build the connections to college and career that most of our students (and their families) have difficulty establishing on their own.
The curriculum includes practical issues such as writing a personal resume, preparing for ACT and SAT tests, evaluating colleges, and obtaining scholarships and other sources of financial aid.
The course will also provide significant opportunities for experiential learning, especially oriented toward the healthcare professions, through community outreach and service activities, as well as support for placing students in vocational workshops, job shadowing, and internships.
NOTE: Taught with sheltered curriculum for students who are classified as English Language Learners or who have an Individual Educational Plan.
Health and Wellness
Wellness for Life
This course reflects one of the Academy’s key visions called the “Nine Dimensions of Wellness“, which comprises: emotional, physical, social, intellectual, financial, familial, vocational, spiritual, and environmental health. This course addresses each of these nine dimensions in teaching students how to develop physical habits and habits of mind that will foster and sustain wellness for the rest of their lives.
This course offers both classroom and experiential learning in nutrition, physical health and physical activity, mental and emotional health (including therapeutic interventions), personal health, alternative health, alcohol tobacco and other drugs (ATOD), culture and health, health and war, environmental health, and reproductive health. Students will be trained and certified in basic first aid and CPR. Work in this course will be integrated along with that in the other Connections courses, into the student’s e-portfolio.
Students are expected to take this course each year for four years with the hope and expectation that continuing participation will produce significant, lifelong changes in the student’s wellness habits.
The Fitness Habit
NOTE: Taught with sheltered curriculum for students who are classified as English Language Learners or who have an Individual Educational Plan.
