Middle School Exploratory Electives

A general course that focuses on sewing/crafting for the family and creating project budgets. This course is for 6-8th grade students and there is a $10 fee for supplies.

A general course that focuses on cooking for the family and creating a household budget for meal planning. This course is for 6-8th grade students and there is a $10 fee for supplies.

In this class, students will explore various cultures around the globe through the lens of literature as they analyze influential short stories, poems, traditional songs, and other forms of literature. The focus will be on the impact of each work’s historical and social context. This course is for 6th graders.

Using the design process, students brainstorm, research, develop ideas, create models, test and evaluate design ideas, and communicate their solutions to solve problems. Students will also be working with robots and programming them. This is a project-based class for 7th and 8th graders.

This course emphasizes the practical application of music design, production, and technology to workplace readiness skills through classroom digital projects that would be seen in the real/corporate world.  The students will delve into creating audio/visual designs for most media production elements using both individual and group creation and production. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

Students will learn the basics of creating a digital 3D model that can then be printed. Students will be assigned projects to model on the computer that will then be printed. Students will have the opportunity to create their own project. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

In this class, we will learn the basic techniques and history of Isshin-Ryu, a style of karate.  This class will be treated like a Physical Education class, which means you will need to change into appropriate athletic clothing every day in order to participate.  Each class will begin with basic stretching and light exercise and then we will practice techniques like kicking, punching, and blocking.  As the semester progresses, we will also learn a choreographed sequence called a kata and may eventually practice breaking boards.  Because you will be learning techniques that could potentially be dangerous if used improperly, I will only accept students into this class that can show self-discipline and can be trusted to use what they learn responsibly. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

History Through Film and World History Through Film are both semester-long courses. During each semester we will watch historical films, each dedicated to an event, person, or era of world history. Prior to watching the films, students will learn about the geographic and historical factors that combined to create the historical topic of the film. They will use maps, and primary and secondary source documents, to create a framework for understanding the area and time period before watching the film. This course will give a base of knowledge for history classes, as well as offer insight into social issues and to promote character development. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

In this class, students will improve endurance, overall fitness level, and athletic performance. Strength training will help protect their ligaments, tendons and bones from injury due to being in the best physical condition possible. Students will be able to apply what they have learned to their everyday lives, so as to be physically fit when they are adults. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

Life Skills is a class that teaches students the fundamental skills they will need in everyday life as well as skills to help them achieve their life goals.  This includes: budgeting, money management, comparative shopping, job searching, resume building, interest surveys, executive functioning skills, social-emotional learning and emphasizing the importance of education and goal-setting in reaching both short-term and long-term goals. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

In this class students will delve into stories from across the globe. We aim to explore the culture, traditions and mythology tied into folk tales and via reading and creative writing. Through the course of this semester, we will read a wide variety of texts from culturally diverse backgrounds, identify common trends and themes, and complete several writing tasks including journaling, literary essays, and a short story. Stories we will look at include (but are not limited to) Grimm's fairy tales, Aesop's Fables, Native American Folktales, and Mythology from around the world. This course is for 7th and 8th graders.

This class is designed to improve student’s worldwide cultural awareness.  The class will study a variety of cultures with an emphasis on how the cultural development was influenced by the region’s geography, climate, available food sources, religion, language, history, and traditions.  The class will highlight how, and why, each region developed unique cuisines.  The regions may include areas of Australia and Oceania, Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Sub-Sahara Africa, North Africa, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States.  The class will include aspects of Language Arts, Geography, International Studies, and will help develop student's critical thinking skills. This course is for 6th graders.

This class is designed for beginners. We will look at and create jewelry which focuses on the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. Students will be learning about different jewelry making techniques, art history, creative thinking, problem solving, writing, and reading. This class will explore various techniques of jewelry making. Students will be designing and creating bracelets, pendants, necklaces, earrings, and more. Units will include fibers, metalwork, and mixed media. There is a $10 fee for supplies in this class.

This class will look at and create artworks which focus on the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. Students will be using a lot of different materials and tools. Students will be learning about art-making techniques, art history, creative thinking, problem solving, writing, reading, and discussing artists and artworks! This class will explore 2-dimensional art such as: drawing, painting, pastels, collage, printmaking, design, and 3-dimensional art such as ceramics, weaving, found objects, sculpture, and more.

This class will look at and create artworks which focus on the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. Students will be using a lot of different materials and tools to create 3D artworks. Students will be learning about art-making techniques, art history, creative thinking, problem solving, writing, reading, and discussing artists and artworks! This class will explore 3-dimensional art such as: ceramics, weaving, found objects, sculpture, design, fibers, and more.

Students will be introduced to computer science in collaboration with Project Stem. Students will go through lessons that will teach various things including coding, programming, problem solving, and AI.

Students will focus on being active while working with their peers to solve problems during various sports and activities. During the school year we will focus on exploring and understanding new sports and activities. Aside from skills, we will also spend time analyzing different strategies and similarities that can be transferred amongst different sports/activities.