2/8/2006 11:25:00 AM Jefferson Community School students plan expeditions
All 37 students enrolled in Jefferson Community School are preparing to embark on one of three, two-week expeditions in March: to Pha Pang in Thailand, Puerto Penasco in Mexico or the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. The trips are in partnership with WSU Jefferson County's 4-H program.
In preparation for the trip, the students take a journaling workshop this Friday with journal writer Susan Zwinger and local salmon restoration biologist and scientific illustrator Audrey Miles Cherney. All students in the private, grade 6-12 school handbound their own field journals with the help of parent and book artist Eric Witherspoon.
The expedition program began in January, when students began their integrated studies about the cultures and environments of the various destinations. Students in each group have been immersed in studies as diverse as Thai epic poetry, Gullah cuisine, and Sea of Cortez ecology.
Each expedition group is composed of 12 students of diverse ages. Jefferson Community School (JCS) does not cluster students according to their grade level but rather sees the multi-aged learning groups as an opportunity for all students to challenge and support each other, explained teacher Christie Kisler. The club is co-sponsored by Jefferson County 4-H.
This year, expedition destinations were chosen based on the passions and experiences of the teachers. Robbie Roberts has, for several summers, been leading groups with his YMCA Expedition Program to the village of Pha Pang in Northern Thailand. Jefferson Community School students will stay with host families and teach English in the village school.
Math/science teacher Libby Palmer had previously taken student groups to the CEDO Marine Research station in Puerto Penasco and felt a trip there would dovetail beautifully with the JCS students’ local oceanography studies with the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.
Julie Marston chose her trip as a follow-up to the school’s fall theme of Africa. Marston asked herself how she could help students make the intellectual transition from Africa to the African-American experience. Gullah and Geechee culture took root during the enslavement of African people in America. This culture is directly related to some of the African traditional cultures of West Africa. Due to isolation of the islands, the African people there were able to maintain their culture, language, and traditions; this makes the Gullah culture in the Sea Islands a unique historical and cultural bridge.
Students will carry their field journals on their expeditions and return with sketches, writing and life lessons to share with each other and the wider Port Townsend community.
“There is a grand tradition of scholars who kept natural history field journals – Da Vinci and Darwin, for example,” said Kisler. "These student journals will be places to observe, question and record new experiences."
Community members and local businesses that have pledged to help fund the expeditions will receive gifts of gratitude in the form of student writing or art, and the school plans a community performance in late March or April to celebrate and synthesize the students' expeditions.
To learn more about JCS, located in downtown Port Townsend, call 385-0622 or visit jeffersoncommunityschool.com.
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