Spring 2016 Intensive Learning Options: Local
Improv with Issues
Students will start the week playing games and learning improvisational theatre techniques, including time spent in Philadelphia with professional actors. The rest of the week will be spent using those techniques to explore social issues chosen by the group. There is no theatre experience or interest required – we will not be doing any traditional “performance.” Previous groups have explored issues such as race, class, and drug and alcohol use/abuse. If you’re interested in trying a new way to discuss difficult but important topics, please sign up!
Bayshore Discovery Project
At Bayshore Discovery Project in Port Norris, MFS students learn about the Delaware Bay wetlands ecosystem and oyster industry and help restore New Jersey’s tall ship, the A. J. Meerwald. The group provides hundreds of hours of service work aboard the Meerwald, scraping, sanding, painting, and varnishing the boat to prepare her for the next sailing season when she is used for fundraising and educational programs.
Habitat for Humanity
Students will work with Habitat for Humanity on site and at their Re-Store. Students will learn about home construction; in previous years we have done demolition, roofing, electrical work, plumbing, and foundation work. We have shoveled driveway stones, painted, and moved an entire warehouse. This year we are also planning a day of service at a local residential living environment in Collingswood.
Let’s Sew for Babies!
Not all babies and toddlers living in South Jersey have access to adequate food and clothing. Some live in public shelters or foster care, and others are helped by a variety of non-profit organizations. Whether you have strong sewing skills or have never sewn, you can help provide adorable duds for these children to help them on their way. We’ll spend the week sewing sweet little clothes for them, and in the process learn something about sewing and the organizations designed to help children in our area. At the end of the week, we’ll join with the quilters to appreciate our creations, pack them up, and celebrate with brunch.
Quilting
You will make a baby quilt for newborn babies. These babies receive the support of the Nurse Partnership program, which guides their mothers through pre-natal care and continued care after they are born. You will design the quilt, sew it and then machine quilt on a special longarm machine at local quilt store. At the end of the week, we’ll join with the Let’s Sew for Babies IL to appreciate our creations, pack them up, and celebrate with brunch.
A Unique Pine Barrens Experience
Come learn the unique history and culture of the nearby “Pinelands,” the first National Reserve created by Congress. The area has also been designated by the United Nations an International Biosphere Reserve, yet the area is little known, even to people who live nearby. We will spend time hiking and exploring the forest as well as learning about the intriguing history of the area, including the Jersey Devil and the indigenous “Piney” population.
Social Psychology: Canine Corner
The unique aspects of canine intelligence will be explored through consideration of current research on human-canine interactions, dog training, therapy dogs, service dogs, and canine-related laws here and abroad. Students will earn service hours during trips to local animal shelters. Design projects will focus on the design of dog spaces, dog products, dog breeds, fund-raisers for dogs, and a dog service business. As we will be in close contact with dogs and other animals, please do not sign up if you have allergies to animals.
An Exploration of Sacred Spaces in Philadelphia
[quote]”The quantity and variety of significant religious landmarks in Philadelphia is unsurpassed in the nation. The early establishment of religious freedom in William Penn’s colony allowed people of many faith traditions to construct houses of worship.” These congregations and their meeting places have remained an integral part of the city’s physical and spiritual fabric for more than three centuries. PHPC[/quote]
Students will explore the places held sacred to a selection of world religions and gain insight on the diverse ways in which people worship. Students will have the opportunity to visit largest Friends meeting house in the in the US, Arch Street Friends Meeting House, a Buddhist Shrine, a Mosque, and Congregation Mikveh Israel. Spirituality through art may also be experienced by viewing the French Cloisters, and visiting medieval and Renaissance Catholic art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In addition, students will have the opportunity to become acquainted with Interfaith Community Center of Philadelphia. Finally, students will have the opportunity to reflect on what they consider sacred and possibly construct their own sacred space within our school.
South Jerse
y Service
South Jersey Service will provide an opportunity for students to volunteer and serve at a variety of organizations with varying missions. Students will learn how they can serve in multiple ways and about the different kinds of need in our region.
Asian Culture
We will explore Asia, including Eastern Asia, Southern Asia, South-Western Asia, and Western Asia. Students will learn the traditions, food, clothing, arts, music, architecture, and so on. This program will include trips to local Asian communities in the area and feature guest lecturers on campus.
MFSpanish
Students will provide an opportunity for students to visit various Latino community organizations in the greater Philadelphia area. Some of our visits will include museums, a bilingual elementary school classroom, community center and of course a sampling of some of Philly’s tastiest Latino restaurants.
Art and the Environment
The Environmental Arts program is a locally based program in which we will be creating a variety of works of art that create a relationship with the environment in which they will exist. Construction of the sculptures will take place on and off campus. We will be working on the campus, Jersey Shore, Pine Barrens and Philadelphia (weather permitting) to install & create our works of art. We are scheduled to be off campus for at least three of days and will be returning in time for all athletic events.
Global Youth Leadership Institute
The Global Youth Leadership Institute (GYLI) offers students the opportunity to develop leadership skills by exploring their own attitudes in the company of other students from around the country. Students involved in GYLI can take part in a three-year sequence of summer experiences: year one takes place aboard a sailing schooner off the coast of Connecticut, year two takes you up into the mountains in New Mexico, and year three travels to Costa Rica. In each of these places, the program challenges you to stretch yourself physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually (though this applies to atheists as well as believers of all sorts).
This Intensive Learning project, co-led by a student who has completed the three-year sequence, will introduce students to the ideals and practices employed by GYLI, in hopes of inspiring participation in the three year sequence. It is aimed primarily at 9th graders, since the first year takes place after your first year in high school, but students at any level are welcome to come and take part in this exploration of self and collaborative leadership.
The group will take part in a variety of off-campus experiences, including service projects, as well as on-campus activities and discussions around developing self-awareness and the ability to lead others in ways that, we hope, will make the world a better place.
Spring 2016 Intensive Learning Options: Overnight
Give Kids the World
Service trip to Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, Florida. Give Kids the World is a 70-acre, non-profit storybook resort located near Central Florida’s most beloved attractions where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are treated to a weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacations. Students will volunteer on-site for the week. They will have 1 day at Disney World to celebrate their week.
San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Service
Full day of service, a day of touring San Francisco (Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf), and then fun exploring towns and companies in Silicon Valley: Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Jose, among others.
Spring 2016 Intensive Learning Options: International
Pronica in Nicaragua
Students will learn from the examples of the grassroots leaders who are life-long activists in community health, children’s rights, domestic violence advocacy, and more. This will be a true service learning experience as Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Organized through a Quaker organization in Nicaragua, Pronica, students will participate in two service projects which could include working on sustainable agriculture or working in a women’s health program. Students will see a side of life that tourists rarely do — the “daily life” reality of poverty in a country where 48 percent of the people struggle to live on less than $1 a day. They will also experience the ecology of Nicaragua by visiting a coffee plantation, a volcano, and the northern part of the country.
Math and Science in Germany
Students will visit science museums, car factories, a soccer stadium and other cultural locations in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, Bremen, and Wolfsburg.
China: Service and Culture
Connect to a deeper side of China through a group travel experience you will never forget! This journey through China is highlighted by an exploration of Beijing, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. A trip to Beijing would be incomplete without a visit to the Great Wall punctuated by a thrilling alpine slide back down at the end. We will take the time to give back through a community service project with a local orphanage. The group next departs Beijing to explore a quickly developing city named Xi’an. Xi’an is also home to a number of famous sites — the Terracotta Warriors, Big Goose Pagoda, and Great Mosque!
Andalucía Culture and Service
Southern Spanish Culture and Architecture. Join us on a journey through Andalucía, Spain that most tourists never see. Travel from the vibrant Mediterranean city of Málaga through the cathedrals and historic sites of Sevilla. In Granada we partner with a local nonprofit to provide assistance to families in need. In the process we hone our Spanish skills while becoming part of a greater community. Get your dancing shoes on for an amazing night of live flamenco music and be prepared for the culinary adventures that await you in Andalucía’s local eateries. This Spanish program is a tapestry of culture, language immersion, and community service throughout a diverse and enchanting country. Students will spend a day volunteering at Fundación. An unique opportunity this year is that we will be in Spain during the last 3 days of Semana Santa, an event that literally transforms towns and cities across this region. For more information on Semana Santa click here.