Books without Bounds: In this class, we have read so far: Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. Many of our discussions have been around the protagonist's ways of being brave during the novel and recognizing these key moments. Due to the last two books having a younger teen protagonist, we have also discussed what family looks like in these novels as well as how they are very coming of age stories. For a few in-between book discussions, we have mentioned how the author can be separated from the book. Also known as "Death of the Author" as well as how sometimes monsters in novels can become the main romance. The current novel we are reading is A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.

Dungeons & Dragons: In this class, teens are able to use their imagination, think about morals and ethics, as well as get to be a whole new person. I find that this class is especially important during the time of COVID-19 because it allows for a space of escapism. Dungeons & Dragons is a great way to be a part of a team. And as a team, or even as an individual, you think about how you would like to act. Are you going to save the innocent child? Will you fight the dragon? Will you rescue the Princess or save a town? There is no need for technology (except for in our Zoom age world) as it is pencils, papers, dice, and your creativity! This group is figuring out how to defeat a Vampire Lord who brings sorrow to the land of Barovia.

Sex is a Funny Word So far in this class, we have discussed topics such as how sex education looks like in the U.S., basic guidelines for the class (such as What's Learned Here Leaves Here, What Shared Here Stays Here), consent and the vast majority of ways this can look even in day to day life, gender vs. sexual orientation, gender identities, sexual orientations, female anatomy, and menstruation and the female-bodied cycle. I have shown videos in this class, asked questions, created lectures, and even made a game which was a gender identity Wheel of Fortune! 

Bread: We started the year as we always do, with basic White Sandwich Bread. Since then, we have alternated weeks to make quick breads and yeast breads. Recipes we have tried include Corn Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Pumpkin Bread, Soft & Fluffy One-Hour Dinner Rolls, Apple Fritter Bread, Anadama Bread, Cream Tea Scones, and Pan de Muertos. Student bakers in the class have experimented with adapting their own home versions of the recipes according to dietary restrictions and the ingredients they have available.

Art Projects: In September and October we had a weekly Art Projects class outdoors. We experimented with a different medium or method every week, including Acrylic Pour Painting, Metal Stamping, Watercolor Pencil, Tissue Paper “Stained Glass,” Handmade Cards and Envelopes, and Pumpkin Carving.

Shakespeare and Being Human In September and October our Shakespeare & Being Human class jumped right in to learning a bit about the history of world theatre and then focusing in on the European evolutions that led to the English Renaissance and the theatre of William Shakespeare and his company of actors. We learned about Elizabethan culture, including aspects of religion and medicine that powerfully influence Shakespeare's works, as well as the deeply multicultural and international reality of Elizabethan London. We learned about how previous pandemics (i.e. The Plague) affected Elizabethan London and theatre specifically. We learned about poetic verse structures and footnotes and the evolutions of "you" and "thou." Beginning our consumption of Shakespeare's cannon with his tragedies, we read and discussed The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice and watched many clips of various performances of Othello. We learned a bit about how Othello fits into Shakespeare's overall chronology of playwriting, and how it compares to other of his tragedies. We started learning about how white supremacy and patriarchy show up in Shakespeare's works (from the 1500s to today) and how his works are used as tools of both of those oppressive systems. Whew - has it really only been two months?! These students have all gone deeply into all of this truly intellectual and philosophical literary exploration with curiosity and maturity.

Earth Science This class began in person and we made full use of the rich geological features of the area surrounding North Star. We used topographic maps and GPS to locate two USGS benchmarks in the neighborhood. We made compasses out of magnetized pins floating on corks and then checked their accuracy by determining north using sticks and shadows. We also learned how to take bearings and triangulate locations on a map. We walked down by the CT River and hiked up Mt Sugarloaf where we discussed the last 200 million years of geologic history in the CT River Valley. We also examined some rocks and minerals and learned the basics of rock identification and formation. When we transitioned to online, we were able to welcome new members to the group. We began our virtual class with an overview of the origin and history of the universe. We will try to continue with as many hands-on activities as we can over the internet and class members are also invited to practice notetaking skills during presentations.

Math 1 Number Relationships This class met in person for the first two months, with occasional online meetings during inclement weather. We have been focusing on basic concepts and operations, trying to understand them in new and deeper ways. Our first topic was positive and negative numbers and we used walking back on forth on chalk number lines to demonstrate why, for example, subtracting a negative number is the same as adding a positive. We also played with the idea of a “zero pair” to understand the concept in a different way. Moving on to multiplication led us down an interesting tangent where we explored the idea of dimensions and the four-dimensional hypercube. We drew hypercubes, made soap bubble hypercubes on cube shaped bubble wands, and watched animations of 4D cubes unfolding in 3D space. When we transitioned to online we continued exploring multiplication through the visualization of modular multiplication on a circle and the related concepts of cardioids and fractals.

Math 2: Mathematical Models We’re exploring the ways math is used to describe and make predictions about our world. Using internet memes and graphs in the news, we have discussed the ways data also can be presented to manipulate and misinform. We’ve created and analyzed histograms and bar graphs using an online tool on the Math is Fun website. We have also used data from a banana-ripeness survey to learn about measures of central tendency, variance, and normal distributions.

History of Rock and Roll We began with an overview of the various musical traditions in the US prior to and in the early days of recorded music including blues, jazz, folk, country, and religious music. Study of the music industry included sheet music publishing, radio, records and record charts. We traced the evolution of the “race” and “hillbilly” charts to “rhythm & blues” and “country and western” and the emergence of rock and roll as a reinterpretation of rhythm & blues music marketed to a teenaged audience in the mid-1950s and the associated styles of rockabilly, ska in Jamaica and skiffle in the UK. Then we examined the time period between 1959 and 1964 when a variety of pop styles vied for chart dominance including girl groups/Brill building, surf rock, Motown and soul. Currently we are studying the blues revival in England and the folk revival in the US, particularly in Greenwich Village, NY.

Harm and Punishment We have begun our exploration of the topic of “Harm and Punishment” by looking at issues of harm and victimization: we have read or listened to stories from people who experienced burglary and other forms of theft and from family members of murder victims, and have considered questions like: Who is affected by acts of harm? What kinds of things do victims need in the aftermath? What is it like when the perpetrator is never identified? We have read an interview with Susan Herman, who originated the concept of parallel justice, and looked at how parallel justice is being practiced in Burlington, VT. We are now beginning to look at material related to punishment and will be diving into those issues in the coming weeks. The group of teens is impressively able to share their thoughts and listen to one another even in the Zoom format. We have begun our exploration of the topic of “Harm and Punishment” by looking at issues of harm and victimization: we have read or listened to stories from people who experienced burglary and other forms of theft and from family members of murder victims, and have considered questions like: Who is affected by acts of harm? What kinds of things do victims need in the aftermath? What is it like when the perpetrator is never identified? We have read an interview with Susan Herman, who originated the concept of parallel justice, and looked at how parallel justice is being practiced in Burlington, VT. We are now beginning to look at material related to punishment and will be diving into those issues in the coming weeks. The group of teens is impressively able to share their thoughts and listen to one another even in the Zoom format.

Election 2020 How does the electoral college affect the presidential election? Which states are swing states, and why are the candidates ignoring Massachusetts? Also, what is happening with the Senate? How is that important? What are other topics and referenda are part of this election? Meanwhile, what was going on with the Supreme Court this fall. We had a weekly conversation to understand the headlines and delve a bit deeper into a topic each week.

Hiking Group We had a regular group of 7-10 hikers every week in September and October, weather permitting. Our hikes included Sugarloaf, the Sunderland Cliffs, Mt. Toby, Rattlesnake Gutter, the Leverett Peace Pagoda, and Wendell State Forest. We hope to continue the hikes every other week whenever we can throughout the winter.

Music Group We had a fun music circle on Monday mornings during our in-person time. In those circles we focused on improvisation, sharing songs, jamming together, and trying out new instruments. It was fun experimenting and seeing what music we could make out of what had. Thanks to Johnny Williams for helping facilitate the circle. Now that we have moved online, the group has transformed into a music worksop. Our format now is to learn some basic music theory each week, listen to songs and instrumental pieces together, and share music we are each working on individually. It’s a fun, relaxed approach to learning and sharing music.

Holistic Self-care This has been a small but enjoyable class, working with skills such as meditation, breathing, self-massage, and yoga to reduce stress, and take of our personal well-being.

The Great Matters This is an informal philosophical discussion group, addressing the big questions, such as the nature of reality, the nature of consciousness, ethics and morality, and so forth. Each week we begin by introducing a key idea or perspective, and then launch into lively, mind-expanding discussions.

Genetics and Society Our class began by learning what some philosophers postulated about the nature of inheritance and reproduction. We learned about the theory of pangenesis, the theory of preformation, and other theories postulated by men like Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates. Then we learned about some of the key figures and scientific discoveries that led to the development of the field of genetics. We learned about Gregor Mendel, Thomas Morgan, and etc. We briefly covered the experiments they worked on up until the early 1940’s. Then we moved onto the history and ethics of the American Eugenics movement. Currently we are working on further analyzing the reasons why the American Eugenics movement came to fruition and its ramifications on our society.

Systems of Oppression In the beginning of this class we focused on the dynamics of oppression. We discussed where we may see it and what groups are often described to be at the blunt end of the dynamic in our society. Then we moved onto examining the relationship between the Civil Rights movement that occurred in the mid-20th century and the current Black Lives Matter movement. Together, we learned about the era of the Civil Rights movement through the lens of acclaimed American author and social commentator, James Baldwin, who lived through that era. Then we looked into some of the legal mechanics that existed in the 20th century that played a role in the disenfranchisement of Black Americans. This included housing discrimination and exclusion of certain jobs from the Fair Labor and Standards Act of 1938. In our last class we learned about how the devastating, oppressive regime in control in North Korea deprives its people of basic human rights and the effects it has on them. We also discussed the role media plays into what we know and therefore how we may perceive North Korea and its people. 

Geocaching During our time outdoors, we explored various spots around Sunderland in the search of hidden geocaches. Sometimes we succeeded, but other times we failed to find them. One of the geocaches that eluded us was the multi-geocache at Buttonball Tree. We culminated in hiding our very own geocache at the end of our in-person time.