Welcome to June Term 2015
(click here to register)
Pathfinder: Adventures in Imagination and Problem Solving!
Week One: June 1-5 Beginners | Week Two: June 8-12 Veterans
Michael Hendrix & Bill Tobin
In what ways do mathematics, critical thinking, and literature integrate themselves into popular gaming culture? How has culture changed gaming in the last fifty years?
Do you crave adventure? Have you ever wanted to be the hero in your own exciting story? Well, now’s your chance. Sign up for “Pathfinder” today. Develop your skills in socialization, team-building, problem solving, optimization, visualization, mathematical modeling, creative writing, cause and effect, and imagination. This class will teach you to think critically and solve problems while learning a character based, table top game called Pathfinder. Set in a fictitious world of magic and adventure in the spirit of stories like “The Hobbit,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Percy Jackson,” and “Harry Potter,” you will engage in a variety of reading from creative fiction to technical writing. You will develop a working understanding of simple statistics and probability, as well as practice applying abstract formula and rule systems to a variety of situations. Besides learning the rules of the game, you will also learn how to write about interesting and complex characters who become the heroes in these stories. Playing Pathfinder will also help you feel more comfortable using mathematics in situations outside of class and will help you to better understand things like formulas, measurements and probability. So take a chance, try something new, and sign-up to become an adventurer today!
Frolic and Fling! Adventures in Scottish Country Dancing!
Week One: June 1-5
Bill Tobin, Kait Nascimento
How does social folk dancing bring generations of people together through a shared cultural heritage?
Scottish Country Dancing is a centuries old cultural tradition that is practiced all over the world. We will learn over eighteen traditional and modern Scottish dances as well as study some of Scotland’s culture. We will practice dances at the Wiley Building in Cabot, attend a class in Fairlee Vermont and culminate the week long experience at the White Mountain Scottish Country Dancer’s 20th Spring Frolic on the evening of Saturday, June 6th in Lancaster, NH.
The Forgotten: Abandoned and Haunted Places of Vermont
Week Two: June 8-12 Jenn Lindert + Lee + Charlene
What draws us to explore abandoned/haunted places?
There’s a term used for those who enter abandoned places: Urban Explorers. During this one week excursion, we will visit abandoned settings where not much of the original structures remain, but the history of each place is kept. Spend a week hiking through various areas, touring possible haunted buildings, and sharing some legends or ghost stories with each other.
Some night time events may occur.
Creating Creative Play: a teaching, building and community service project.
Week Two: June 8-12
Dave Schilling, (in collaboration with Alison Bergman, Lynn Talamini, Laura Lacroix)
How can we combine art, building skills, nature and play to create an exciting, inviting playground for Cabot’s youngest citizens?
If you remember when a line of tires was the Great Wall of China, or a box was a ship, we need your help! For years, our youngest students have been running around in the grass, imagining the world around them. This week, we’ll take hammer in hand and build a series of simple, nature-inspired play elements on campus for the young’uns.
Radio Lab
June 1 – 5 Brian + Friends
Interested in Drama? Visual Art? Music? Writing? Audio Engineering? Theater Tech? Developing original sound effects? Light Shows?
During this week we’ll setup shop in Goddard College’s awesome production studio, The Pit, to create one or two original live radio shows with a visual component – this could be animation, “live art,” shadow puppets . . . whatever! We’ll play with words, ideas, music, digital music production, instruments from around the world, visual imagery and stories to create our Radio Experiment. The sky is the limit. For this production we will also develop sound effects, work with audio engineering and stage lighting design too.
On Friday evening we will open up the doors to The Pit and perform our Radio Experiment to a live studio audience (and possibly live over the air too).
No experience in music or performing necessary. All are welcome!
Dance!
Week 2 (full day? half day?)
Kait Nascimento
What is art and how can we make it? What can we learn about ourselves by moving in new ways?
Come ready to challenge yourself physically and to move in new ways! In this one week course you will learn basic technique, challenging phrase work and… create a dance! Open to those with and without dance experience alike!
Escape to Grand Isle
Julia + Lee
June 1 – 5
How does our environment determine how we live our lives? How does living simply change us?
Do you love the outdoors? Reading, writing, and talking about deep philosophical topics? Writing and performing original poetry? Then pack your bags for a 4-day, 3 night adventure to beautiful Grand Isle State Park in South Hero, Vermont where we’ll camp on the shore of Lake Champlain. There we’ll read selected works by naturalists, philosophers and writers, including Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wendell Berry, Kate Braestrup, Galway Kinnell, John Muir, and Rachel Carson. Inspired by their ideas, we’ll develop our own writing prompts and experiment with a variety of genres and styles. On the final evening, we’ll share our work in whatever format we choose – a slam, a reading, or a Moth-like celebration of stories. We’ll look closely at what it means to live simply, preparing our own meals, hiking park trails, swimming in the lake, and reflecting on our experience. Fishing excursions will be available for those with Vermont fishing licenses.
The Cabot Summer Writers’ Collective
Julia
Week Two: June 8-12
How can a small community of motivated writers work together to make meaning, express it precisely, and share it widely?
Love reading? Want to write so that others will want to read what YOU’ve written? Join this course to work with other motivated, dedicated writers to pursue your talents. We’ll read what other smart authors have to say about the craft, take a look at some successful models, and write prolifically in writing genres and styles to be decided upon by the group. Individual choice and a willingness to try new experiences in writing and reading will be essential as we explore possibilities including personal narrative, memoir, fiction, non-fiction, prose, and poetry. We’ll become more and more adept at careful, constructive critique and will revise our work with reader response in mind. If logistics allow, possible off-campus opportunities incude a trip to Groton State Forest and a writing marathon in Montpelier, where we will write and share our work with each other in a variety of inspirational locations, from coffee shops to the State House lawn. Finally, we’ll publish a printed anthology of our work and also post it to the school website, preparing accompanying audio files of selected work if time allows.
To that end, we recruited the Twinfield HS chorus, Cabot’s AP Environmental Science and HS Studio Art classes and a handful of guest artists and professional musicians.
cabotarts 