We’re putting together our 2020-2021 lineup and want your input!
Confirmed courses so far are:
Course possibilities in the works are:
Contact us and tell us your favorites! Or, let us know what else you’d like us to explore!
We’ve been so busy at TEEN DAY this past semester, there’s been no time to post! But don’t think we’ve been just resting on our laurels. Please enjoy the Fall HIGHLIGHT Photo Reel for a snapshot of what we’ve been up to!
We officially made it through Day One of the 2019-2020 academic year! We wrangled 25 participants between the ages of 12 and 17, 10 instructors, and various parents and siblings.
Classes were taught.
Books were received.
Art was created.
Friends were made.
Lunches were eaten.
Soccer was played.
And we laughed and we laughed and we laughed. (Especially those crazy Debate kids…)
And we all left somewhat overwhelmed, but so happy to be back. Sigh.
I joined the staff of facilitators of learning experiences at TeenDay for the 2018-19 year. As a homeschooling parent (though my spouse has primary responsibility for these efforts) for all of my two boys’ “school” years, and as a teacher at the collegiate level for 20 years, I have long thought that the word “teaching” does not adequately convey the relational dynamic that is at the heart of meaningful learning. Nor does it embody a clear enough sense that the spirit of inquiry primarily comes from the learner, a spark that a good facilitator of learning can fan and shield and help to develop into a flame. Or maybe an all-consuming blaze. Or maybe nothing. That’s part of the dynamic too. Moreover, a teacher/learner binary tends to obscure the fact that one of the purest joys in my life is how often I learn from and with my students.
In planning “Being a Citizen,” the class I guided in 2018-19, I knew that I would gain valuable insights into the ways young people perceive our system of government, and maybe by seeing government and civic engagement through their eyes I would see anew the possibilities in our politics. Moreover, I knew that the learning experience would refresh my own understanding of the Constitution, of the form of government it guides, and of the state and local systems of government most of us experience more directly.
The experience exceeded my expectations in every respect. Continue reading “On Facilitating Learning at Teen Day”
Eight TEEN DAY fifth-period participants attended the Cornell Model United Nations Conference April 11-14 right in our own backyard. CMUNC is an annual high school model UN conference hosted by the Cornell International Affairs Society (CIAS) at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. CMUNC is a simulation of the United Nations and other international bodies, which allows students to take on the roles of diplomats from around the world.
Model UN seeks to promote awareness of the many issues facing the international community, and to give students the opportunity to engage in critical thinking about how to address those issues. Students or “delegates” must step into the shoes of the country or position they are assigned. Participants research their assigned country, write a country position paper for submission, get to know their particular role/committee, and finally, spend the weekend as a part of a simulated delegation at this international conference!
TEEN DAY delegates, from left to right:
Gina, MUN advisor; Emily, Delegate of Bolivia, Organization of American States (OAS); Naomi, Co-Delegate of Iran, United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ); Riley, Delegate of Hungary, Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC); Lillian, Delegate of Yemen, World Health Organization (WHO); Blake, Delegate of Philippines, United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW); Drew, Delegate of Burkina Faso, African Union; Liam, Co-Delegate of Iran, United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ); Samuel, Delegate of Iran, Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN).
TEEN DAY will offer Model UN again in 2019-2020, and we plan to attend CMUNC again in the spring. But this session showed us we may be ready to take on a few more conferences. We’ll keep you posted (or JOIN US next year to see for yourself)!
Join us!
The Intro to Programming class is back, and this time with midterm projects! Check out what they were up to over the winter break. Note: The website is sometimes glitchy. Click the green flag on the upper right to reload the project, if needed.
Several groups of students from Teen Day’s Writing class entered WSKG’s “An Ear for Drama” radio contest last year. In a post at the end of the academic year last year, we announced that one of the Writing class groups – Torin Knapp, Riley Knapp and Oswald Tay – WON the contest! WSKG 90.9 FM produced the drama over the summer, with several students and siblings of students voicing characters, in addition to some of WSKG’s professional actors.
It was JUST released on the radio this past weekend, and it’s fantastic! Listen for yourselves! https://wskg.org/uncategorized/how-to-win-at-business-student-radio-drama/
For the next few weeks, we will highlight each of our classes to offer a snippet of what is going on at TEEN DAY this year.
An entirely new realm for Teen Day this year, the 2018-2019 offerings include a beginning course on computer programming, led by local tech guru Timothy Weber. The class uses Snap!—a visual, drag-and-drop programming language comprised of a number of pre-written nuggets of code emblazoned on multicolored digital blocks that can be assembled to form coherent lines of instruction.
Check out the code on the right. This is a snapshot of what the pieces of assembled Snap! code look like. The pieces can be assembled in a near-infinite number of ways to produce different results every time. Using the block of code on the right as an example, this code actually creates THIS.
The full title of this class is Intro to Programming: Beauty, Power, and Creative Magic. Instructors select the names for their own courses, knowing far better what they will entail than anyone. But this particular title was pretty mysterious. Computer programming definitely seems practical. It seems marketable. I’d even go so far as to say fun. But beautiful? Creative magic?
However, as the semester wears on, I have become more convinced. The Intro to Programming class submits the following evidence of an aptly named course. You be the judge.
For the next few weeks, we will highlight each of our classes to offer a snippet of what is going on at TEEN DAY this year.
The fall semester of the TEEN DAY Art Block is the Botanical Illustration in Watercolor class. The class is led by world-class botanical illustrator Milly Acharya. Now, I’ll come clean right from the start: I initially categorized this class as an art class. You know, watercolor work with a specific theme in mind. That sounded fantastic, just as it was. What has become clear, however, is that it is also a botanical specimen survey, in equal parts technique and design as scientific study.
The course has focused on observation of natural specimens—scouring them for small details, determining what are the most important features to capture. Participants often observe their specimens through hand lenses (magnifying glasses) to observe the minutia missed by their naked eye. They also keep a sketch book with pencil drawings of things in nature.
Additionally, study has gone into working with the watercolors themselves—mixing colors, achieving the right saturation levels, how to remove paint from the page. Achieving illustrations of such fine detail requires a lot of control over the medium and a lot of pure trial and error. Class participants spend time in class observing new techniques, rehearsing them, and then incorporating them into their own work during class and throughout the week at home.
The Botanical Illustration class has an art exhibit up through the month of November at the Tompkins County Public Library. Find student work in the glass cases at the rear of the library atrium, near the Teen Center and the Ezra Cornell Reading Room. Artwork is available for viewing anytime during regular library hours.
Family, friends and community members are invited to join us Saturday, November 17, 3-4:30pm for an artists’ reception and celebration in the BorgWarner Community Room (East). Meet the artists. Ask questions about the display. Enjoy a snack.
See closeups of all the work in the show HERE.
TEEN DAY Ithaca 