Journeys Symposium
Entering a new school (and an on-line one to boot!) can be a difficult transition. The Journeys Symposium Middle and High School programs blend a robust on-line learning introduction with help in establishing academic, social, and emotional skills to best prepare students for success in middle school, high school, and beyond. Students meet in on-line classrooms with their Journeys instructor and classmates and build a sense of community and camaraderie as well as essential skill sets. The Journeys Symposium Middle School program is composed of two, consecutive year-long seminars.
GRADE 8: JUMPING INTO JOURNEYS
Jumping into Journeys alludes to the 8th-grade transition into high school. This course challenges 8th graders to become leaders of the middle school community and actively map out their plan for academic success, including course scheduling and progression, career exploration, self-reflection, and preparing for the rigor of high school.
GRADE 9: CAREER PLANNING: ENVISIONING, EXPLORING, EVALUATING
Students explore and evaluate their interests, habits, and preferences through career exploration tools and guided experiences that give them greater insight themselves and each other. Part of this “immersion in self-awareness” is an assessment of their learning styles and needs. Each student emerges with a concrete set of goals as well as an initial career preference.
GRADE 10: SERVICE TO A CAUSE: COMMUNITY, COMPASSION, COMMITMENT
Incorporating their developing self-awareness into the realm of team and community, students engage in a direct, hands-on service experience of their choice. Critical to this endeavor is in-depth analysis and reflection on the dynamics that lead to effective team action and community involvement. The result is a blueprint that students can use for skillful and responsible stewardship in the future.
GRADE 11: LAYING THE POST-SECONDARY FOUNDATION: VISUALIZING, PREPARING, PLANNING
Students continue to apply their sense of self and community by building—and telling—their own unique stories. This year in the Symposium stresses the conviction that every individual adds a distinctive, vital chapter to the whole human story. Through an iterative series of writing challenges, presentations, and discussions, each student crafts a powerful personal narrative that can be used as his or her college essay. Additionally, each student’s journey culminates in 11th grade with their postsecondary plan.
GRADE 12: THE CAPSTONE PROJECT: ACHIEVEMENT INTO ACTION
This final journey includes a practical focus on the college application process as well as a completion and defense of a senior year Capstone project. Students research, examine and report on various examples of courage, motivation, influence, triumph, and legacy fulfillment—current and historical—made more immediate and relevant through their pursuit of a self-selected, hands-on leadership opportunity in their area of concentration.
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