Project Exploration is a hands-on, project-oriented mini-term between winter and spring trimesters. For two and a half weeks, 5 to 10 hours a day, students expand their global awareness through intensive travel abroad trips designed around interdisciplinary themes focusing on community service, in-depth cultural and language studies, and environmental science and sustainable living. If they choose to remain on campus, students explore a particular topic or creative art form in depth. The program concludes with a Project Exploration Showcase, where students display their work and give presentations to the rest of the school and outside community.
Each year courses vary. Past courses have included:
Global Awareness Trips- The school sponsors either two or three trips abroad each year to France, Spain, Ecuador, Quebec, Africa, and other destinations. Students travel within the country to historical and cultural sites, attend a school and live with a local family during their stay in country.
Community Service - Students go to a Habitat for Humanity site in West Virginia and learn not only how to build and refurbish homes, but also about the giving nature of volunteer work. Students live in an African village and volunteer at an orphanage in Zambia.
Studio Art Immersion - Students may create and polish work for inclusion in an art school entrance portfolio, complete a photographic series project or engage in extended work in pencil, pastel, collage, or oil paint .
Maritime Studies- Students explore topics in maritime literature, oceanography, nautical science, sailing, navigation, and culture of the sea.Trips to maritime museums and environmental centers help students gain experience in nautical topics and ahve hands-on experience with marine ecology or oceanography studies.
Musical Production - Selected by audition, students act, dance, and sing in shows such as The Wiz (2006) or Buggsy Malone (2007). Those interested in technical theater build sets and handle lighting, while others make costumes and assemble props.
Project Exploration is a hands-on, project-oriented mini-term between winter and spring trimesters. For two and a half weeks, 5 to 10 hours a day, students expand their global awareness through intensive travel abroad trips designed around interdisciplinary themes focusing on community service, in-depth cultural and language studies, and environmental science and sustainable living. If they choose to remain on campus, students explore a particular topic or creative art form in depth. The program concludes with a Project Exploration Showcase, where students display their work and give presentations to the rest of the school and outside community.
