Acting Adventures (Ellen Morbyrne)
In Acting Adventures November-December we dived more deeply into Anne Bogart's Viewpoints and Composition work, applying LeCoq's tensions and Laban's efforts to lists of ingredients from the world of Viewpoints and then working in teams to create small, complete pieces of theatre. We edited these drafts of tiny plays and practiced making more and more effective choices in how to convey story through our bodies with gestures, timing, props, etc. At the end of December we took one day to briefly introduce the complex world of Tadashi Suzuki's theatrical method, a highly demanding physical technique rooted in traditional and contemporary Japanese performance. January saw us turn our attention to the vast potential of the human voice - we've been using techniques from Linklater, Wolfson, Rodenburg, and Bogart to explore our breath and vocal ranges and our capacity to articulate meaning. We've also used practices from Stanislavski to explore objectives and tactics and operative words, and finally we began layering Laban efforts onto text to push our ability to use text creatively and effectively. Onwards to characters and scenes and monologues!

Math (Melanie Dana)
The square root of 2 came up while we were looking at patterns made with the most basic Tangram shapes so we watched a Numberphile video about the square root of 2 and about A-series paper that keeps the same proportion when folded in half. We explored the properties of the square root of two and followed a proof that it is an irrational number. Next, we challenged ourselves to make perfect squares using a straightedge and compass. We also made paper snowflakes based on hexagons. Since the winter break, we’ve been exploring ratios and linear relationships with word problems, ratio tables, linear equations, and graphing.

Community Stewardship (Melanie Dana)
Since the Halloween party, we have made a suggestion box in the common room, organized and created décor for the Staff Appreciation Party and Variety Show in December, and strategized about ways to make eating outdoors more pleasant during the winter. Currently we are investigating ways we might be able to set up a Minecraft server for North Star members who would enjoy playing together online.

Open Maker Room (Melanie Dana)
So far this year teens and small groups have done some woodworking and building repair/maintenance, painting, collage, beading, hand-sewing and on the machine, exploration of magnetism and electricity, made posters, and built miniature scenes.

Science (Melanie Dana)
Since the weather has driven us mostly inside, we’ve been looking at self-contained ecosystems, inspired by one made by a North Star teen seven years ago that is still thriving. We made several terrariums and plan to make several more. We also learned about the Biosphere 2 project in the early 1990s and the ways it was a successful experiment and some of the flaws and missteps that tainted their research. That led to a close viewing of the film, The Martian, about an astronaut who must survive after being stranded on Mars. Much of the film is scientifically accurate and explores some of the same themes we are learning about closed ecosystems. We will be using simulated Martian “soil” to experiment with growing potatoes (or some other plant) as the protagonist did in the movie.

History of Rock and Roll (Melanie Dana)
After looking at the British Invasion and Folk Revival of the early 1960s, we took several classes to watch and discuss the documentary Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World about the contributions of Native Americans to early roots music and rock and roll. After that we turned to the emerging rock genres at the end of the 1960s/early 1970s, especially space rock/psychedelic rock, glam, prog, and singer-songwriters. We also looked at the influence of synthesizers on music of the 60s and 70s, particularly Stevie Wonder’s collaboration with Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil, and the TONTO synth. Currently we exploring the legacy of disco music and a return to more danceable rock in the early 1980s.

Band (John Sprague)
We have launched the new year with a new set of tunes. It is a bit challenging, singing through masks, but we are beginning to get settled with the first two new tunes, and looking forward to expanding as we go. This is a fun an cooperative group, and everyone is learning a lot about being in a band together.

(Johnny Williams)
The North Star Band performed three songs at our December concert for the Staff Appreciation party; "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads, "Cloud 9" by Beach Bunny, and "Mamma Mia" by Abba. We spent all of our rehearsals in November and December working on these songs. After a delayed return to the studio following the Omicron surge, we have been rehearsing "Paint it Black" by Rolling Stones and "Not Too Soon" by Throwing Muses on Mondays, and plan to add two additional songs to our set list for the Shindig. We have consistently had 7 members actively participating in the Band with a couple of personnel changes over the past couple months.

Philosophy (John Sprague)
Philo-sophia -- the love of wisdom. In this discussion group we explore core philosophical topics as a vehicle for discovering and following the path of wisdom in our own live. Come join the fun!

Games (Ken Danford)
Thanks to Janet, we had some exciting games of Pictionary during our weeks of remote interactions. Back in person, we have played Bananagrams, Uno, Charty Party, and much more. Good times on Friday morning.

Social Issues (Ken Danford)
We are keeping up on the major conversations in the news: Covid-19 policy, the January 6th investigation, the Supreme Court resignation and pending nomination, the fate of Build Back Better, the fate of the Voting Rights bills, the situation in Ukraine, along with lighter-hearted stories and events.

Volunteering at Amherst Survival Center (Loran Saito)
Our group of steady volunteers continued working weekly at Amherst Survival Center, with a hiatus of about a month during our holiday break and the Omicron surge. We worked outside on sorting and preparing fresh food for distribution, and inside bagging pet food.

Bread (Loran Saito)
Breads we made during this period included Cranberry Orange Bread, Yeast Donuts, Cheese Biscuits, Grissini, Herb Cheese Biscuits, Gingerbread, Schiacciata, Lemon Bread, Beignets, and Chocolate Yeast Rolls. We also made our own Sourdough Starter to make Sourdough Bread.

Hiking Group (Loran Saito)
During this period we hiked at White Rock, Mt Toby, Amethyst Brook, Roberts Hill, Buffam Brook, Sugarloaf Mountain, Riverside Cemetery (Sunderland), and Bullitt Reservation. Our numbers have dropped off a bit since the cold weather arrived, but we still have a substantial group of committed hikers that fills 3-4 cars every week and always makes it a fun time.

Art Projects (Loran Saito)
We worked on a variety of projects, including mosaics made with ModPodge and decorative papers, making homemade clothing patches, hand-lettering projects, stenciled watercolor holiday cards, and more.

Food and Culture (Loran Saito)
In this period we started an exploration of the street foods of Thailand and Japan. We watched some episodes of the series “Street Food Asia” and some other shows about street food culture, and we experimented with cooking such foods as Drunken Noodles and Okonomiyaki. When I returned from Italy we switched gears and started discussing Tuscan food culture.

Sex is a Funny Word (Kizzi Collier)
We have gone over a lot of different topics in Sex is a Funny Word. I brought someone from Tapestry Health in Greenfield, and the teens were happy to hear more about services that they can get access to. We have gone over abortion, Roe v. Wade, and what is going on in the current state of the world with these discussions. Other such topics have been differences between romantic and sexual attraction, asexuality, miscarriages, technology and sexting, masturbation, and gender-affirming surgeries. It’s always great to see who joins in on the class, and I appreciate it when the members mention topics they’d like to discuss.

Consent in the Romance Novel (Kizzi Collier)
During the year, this book club has gone through a few books. We have read Red, White, and Royal Blue, One Last Stop, Get a Life, Chloe Brown!, Howl’s Moving Castle is the class’s current book, and then we will be going to Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. I am happy to have the members of this class always give me suggestions on romance books that they are itching to read, while also giving my own suggestions. The teens have created a very mature space around the content of the material, and I am always impressed with their thoughts around scenes with the protagonists. We continue to point out scenes where people feel there is consent, lack of consent, none at all, etc. and how reality and fantasy play into a lot of the themes or stories. We discuss the formula of the romance novel as we read each new book and always add diversity to our next piece of literature.

Herbalism 101 (Kizzi Collier)
The Herbalism class didn’t go online during our few weeks away from the building, however, for a while now, we have been having lots of fun cooking up a storm in the kitchen! We have made fire cider, a cacao/raspberry granola, golden milk, a blackberry/sage limeade, teas, and more. It has been lots of fun looking at different recipes with the teens and seeing what they would like to cook or make that week. There are many ways herbalism or using herbs for everyday health can look. And I am glad to see this class shift into a lot of herbal preparations as well as discuss why we are using those particular plants.

Writing Your Life (Susannah Sheffer)
Some exercises and prompts over these weeks have included using questions in writing, six-word stories (about our own lives), incorporating or starting with less familiar words, and generally exploring our options when turning our own thoughts and experiences into written pieces. The group has become skillful at using the week’s prompt to experiment or step outside their own comfort zone while also staying aware of their own goals and desires about what to work on that week. This group of writers is also particularly skillful at offering thoughtful comments on each other’s work.

Let’s Build a World (Aaron Damon-Rush)
Let's Build a World is going great! We've selected the ingredients for our fantasy world and now we're beginning to mix them all together and create a map. We'll also be playing the first of a few different role-playing games designed to help generate elements of our world.

Cultural Anthropology (Tonya Bushway-Flynn)
Since the last support reports, Introduction to Anthropology has continued to explore a modge-podge of anthropological research and areas of study. These have included early Viking settlements in North America, non-binary gender categories in different cultures, different winter Solstice celebrations across the world, North Sentinelese Islanders and their history with outsiders, genetic and cultural adaptations to very hot and very cold climates, as well as some current events in archaeology.

Anatomy & Physiology Is Just the Beginning (Ylfa Perry)
We are having a great time in our Anatomy & Physiology class. We having been moving through the body, system by system. So far this year we have explored the heart and circulatory system, the entire gastrointestinal tract and accessory organs, and we are currently studying the respiratory system. We have looked at beautiful illustrations of anatomy and watched videos of real medical procedures and surgeries so students get a sense of what things look like in real life (never as pretty and clear as the illustrations!). This includes endoscopies showing the inside of the nose, throat, vocal cords, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. We have watched heart surgeries as well as laparoscopic and open surgeries of the abdomen and lungs. We also dissected pig and lamb hearts. So fun!

Critical Eyes on American History (Jesse Gwilliam)
In Critical Eyes on American History we looked at the abolition of slavery and the politics and importance of the Reconstruction Era United States. We have also moved through the Spanish-American war, imperialism and anti-imperialism, late 19th century labor struggles, the great depression and the United States’ entrance into the first world war. 

Fire! (Jesse Gwilliam)
In Fire!, we cooked some more meals over the flame and learned how a roaring fire is not the best to cook over if the intention is not to burn the meal! During the remote time in January we listened to a podcast about the importance of fire and cooked meals in the development of early humans which was also a topic covered on the first day of class. We also watched two documentaries about fighting forest fires. One of the teams was based out of South Africa, and the other was an elite crew called the “Hot Shots”. The class saw the complex relationship between natural environments and forest fires as well as how difficult being a specialized forest fire fighter can be.