After completing the Walden "Connections" unit, the humanities disciplines split up and students rotate through intensive "Focus" courses in English, Science, and History. These courses continue to build on the big questions posed during our exploration of Walden: Who am I? Who do I want to be? How do my life experiences and memories define me? What informs my unique moral code? What is my personal relationship with the natural world? How do my actions and decisions affect the natural world? Throughout each unit, students are invited to engage in projects that intersect their creative, artistic skills with their academic and intellectual capabilities.
In the English course, students focus intently on writing, using personal memoir and various book forms as tools to delve inward. The culminating project is to create a personal narrative rooted in memory, and to construct a book that acts as a vehicle for housing that evolving, living, personal history. Above is a spread from Justin's final book.
The Science course begins with
each student “adopting” a plot of Oxbow soil, which they steward for the rest
of the semester. Using their plot as a microcosm for global agricultural
systems, students explore the soil ecosystem—through a series of tests and
observations, students examine the way environmental conditions, nutrient
cycles, and microscopic soil life-forms affect plant life in their plot.
Students then create a comprehensive soil profile, which they use to
determine their soil’s fate, eventually deciding how to amend the soil and what
to plant in it. By engaging in a “plant it forward” mentality, students
literally sow the seeds that will become food for their Oxbow successors.
Each section rotating through Science also gets a special focus—this semester the themes were worms, chickens, and bees. The first section studied vermicomposting, explored the worm bin, and dissected lumbricus terrestris. The second section spent a lot of quality time with the new baby Ox-Chicks, studied chicken anatomy, and engaged in lively debate around the moral, ethical, and agroecological implications of eating animals. The final section has been learning about Colony Collapse Disorder and hive anatomy, and will soon try their hand at beekeeping as we peek into the Oxbow bee colony.
The History course is a journey into the philosophical and moral underpinnings of our society. Each student develops a lens through which they can study history in such a way as to not repeat the mistakes of the past while still honoring the achievements of our local and global communities. Each student also creates a zine, a self-published booklet of ideas, drawings, musings, poetry, and other original work aimed at addressing social or political issues important to each scholar.
The zines are fun and creative compilations of the deep thought and writing that each Oxbow student engages throughout the course. This semester's zines continue the tradition of creativity, fun, and civic engagement that are emphasized in our historical inquiries. The images you see here were made by Sam W. as part of his zine.
