Creative
Academic
Creative intersessions allow students to explore a new or perhaps a familiar creative project. These intersessions will use hands-on activities to help students gain knowledge on specific creative subjects. Throughout creative intersessions, students will use the skills that they have gained to create an artifact that represents all the knowledge they have acquired on the subject.
Examples: Mrs. Pauer’s cardboard intersession, Dr. Naimie’s go-kart intersession
Academic intersessions are designed for students who wish to obtain tangible knowledge on a particular subject. These intersession activities will each have curriculum that are based the teachers’ passion and interests. This will make it fun and engaging for both the students and the teachers. Students will explore new subjects and develop knowledge through various fun and engaging activities, like film viewing and readings.
Examples: Dr. Cohen and Mr. DeAngelis’s code-breaking intersession, Dr. Cohen and Mr. DeAngelis’s Hollywood film intersession
Community service intersessions will allow students to make a difference in the communities around them. The students participating will have the opportunity to directly impact the world and the lives of people around them as they engage in hands-on work. Community service intersessions provide a cost-effective way for students to learn the value of service to others while gaining community service hours required for graduation.
Examples: Coastal Cleanup, Habitat for Humanity
Experiential intersessions will use the value in new experiences to create an alternative curriculum with a more casual environment. Fields explored can range from new recreational activities, like sailing, to unfamiliar cultures of other countries. Rather than having a planned outline of lessons, experiential intersessions use exposure to new concepts, ideas, and endeavors to further a student’s understanding of that domain (subject, activity, country, etc).
Examples: Belize, Houston, New York City, Boston, white water rafting, Newport
Community
Service
Community
Service
Experiential
Types of Intersessions
Intersession activities fall into four main categories: Academic, Experiential, Creative, and Community Service. Often, an intersession activity may blend more than one. The below descriptions explain the core learning concepts and values behind these types of intersessions.
These descriptions were developed by Sarah L (2015) and Katie P (2015).