Intersession 2011
For this year's Intersession, students chose two half-day courses from a list of diverse offerings.
Arts and crafts workshops included: wood carving, making wool hats and other recycled clothing, farm crafts (like candles, soap, and cheese), paper marbleizing, amateur filmmaking, beading and jewelry-making, model building, and pottery. Many students opted for an arts class in the morning and a physical activity like old-time skiing, basketball, or African drumming and dancing in the afternoon.
Several service-oriented sessions had a focus on construction and carpentry. Two groups worked to renovate the woodshop, adding a new set of stairs, a railing for the second floor, and two long storage cabinets. Others built sets and props for the spring play, including a timber framed pirate ship. Students helped the farm staff to tap trees and hang buckets for the coming maple sugaring season.
An eclectic group of offerings—building a model combustion engine and learning the physics of a car, a micro-farming project, making soups (that were served at lunch each day) and tying fishing flies and baking bread—rounded out this year’s Intersession courses.
As in past years, several local artists came to campus to lead workshops. Designer and jewelry maker Jennifer VanBenschoten returned, blow-torch in hand, for a second year of making glass and other beads for earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and watches. James Gann and Dusty Grant together taught the African dancing and drumming; their evening performance at the end of the week rocked the Quonset and drew wild applause from the audience of students, staff and day parents.
Our students always benefit from the presence and mentoring of professional artists. They pass on new skills, stretch imaginations, and help illuminate viable career paths. But the talents of our own faculty also are on full display. That we can offer so many engaging workshops, covering such wide-spread interests, speaks to the rare group of skilled adults we are fortunate to have working with our students day in and day out, all the school year long.
Check out two slide shows: Intersession Workshops and (Some of) What We Made.
Don't miss the student-made videos created in the filmmaking course or the African dancing and drumming performance.
