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4/17/2019 9 January Term 2020 - Curriculum Guide - Google Docs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_yW6WZ7Ucvt1Aac6KEkPbnA7OzX3W7j-6n581SidHWE/edit 1/12
4/17/2019 9 January Term 2020 - Curriculum Guide - Google Docs
April 2019
Dear EA Classes of 2020 - 2023 and parents,
We are excited for the inaugural January Term that will be held in the 2019-2020
school year. Our faculty members have been hard at work for over a year in
planning this new program as well as the specific set of courses that will be
available during this first year. Along the way, we have consulted and engaged in
activities with University High School in Carmel, IN, an independent school that
has had a successful January Term program for almost twenty years.
This booklet provides students and families with an overview of the January Term
program as well as the specific course offerings for January Term 2020. I
encourage you to read it cover-to-cover to learn more about the opportunities that
await Upper School students. We are confident that the January Term will be a
transformational one for our students as they engage in unique, immersive
classes designed to fulfill Elgin Academy’s unique mission of Inspiring students to
become our creative, courageous, and compassionate future.
Sincerely,
Doug Sept
Upper School Director
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Calendar for January 2020
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 7 Jan 8 Jan 9 Jan 10 Jan 11
Last Day of January 1st Semester
Winter Term begins grades and
Break at 9:00 a.m. advisor
letters
distributed
at the end of
the day
Jan 12 Jan 13 Jan 14 Jan 15 Jan 16 Jan 17 Jan 18
January
Term trips
can depart
starting
today*
Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 21 Jan 22 Jan 23 Jan 24 Jan 25
No School Last day for January
Martin January Term trips
Luther King Term return by
Jr. Day today*
Jan 26 Jan 27 Jan 28 Jan 29 Jan 30 Jan 31 Feb 1
No School 2nd January
for Upper Semester Term
School begins at Symposium,
8:15 a.m. time TBD
*Note that classes J2008, J2009, and J2010 are the only classes with trips
Daily Schedule
7:30 - some AP classes may meet
8:15 - some AP classes may meet
9:00 - January Term classes begin
11:30 - break (advisory, assembly, clubs) and lunch
12:30 - January Term classes resume
2:45 - end of school day; Winter Sports practices and games begin
A schedule of AP class meetings will be created and published prior the start of January
Term. Upper School students will be expected to arrive on campus by the time of their first
obligation. Attendance will be taken in 7:30 and 8:15 AP classes as well as at 9:00 for
January Term classes. Students without AP classes who arrive earlier than 9:00 are
welcome to congregate in Upper School common areas.
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January Term Policies
Course Grades and Graduation Credits
During this three-week program, January Term courses will meet for approximately
the same amount of time as a one-semester course. Therefore, students will earn
grades on the standard EA Upper School grading scale:
97-100: A+ 87-89: B+ 77-79: C+ 67-69: D+ 0-59: F, no credit
93-96: A 83-86: B 73-76: C 63-66: D I = Incomplete, no credit
90-92: A- 80-82: B- 70-72: C- 60-62: D- W = Withdrew, no credit
P = Pass, with credit
Students who successfully pass a January Term course will earn 0.5 graduation
credits. This grade and credit will be reflected on official EA student transcripts,
although the January Term course grade will not count in a student’s cumulative
grade-point average.
Over the next several years, the number of required graduation credits will change
according to this plan:
Minimum graduation requirement (numbers increase due to January Term):
● Class of 2020 - 25.0 credits
● Class of 2021 - 25.5 credits
● Class of 2022 - 26.0 credits
● Class of 2023 and beyond - 26.5 credits
For more information about graduation credits, please see the 2019-2020 Upper
School Course Catalog.
Experiential Learning
January Term courses are designed to include numerous experiential learning
opportunities on and off campus. When appropriate, local field trips ranging from
partial to full days will be included in each class. Students and families will be
informed of these plans prior to the days they will happen.
January Term Symposium
Shortly after the end of the January Term, families will be invited to campus for a
Symposium to take place during the school day. During this Symposium, students
will share their January Term experiences. For this coming school year, the
Symposium will take place on Friday, January 31 at a time to be determined.
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Attendance
Attendance during the January Term is crucial to a student’s success. Missing one
day of a January Term course is equivalent to missing one week of a course on a
regular semester schedule. Much of the learning taking place during January Term
is experiential in nature and cannot be duplicated outside of class through make-up
assignments. Therefore, students must make every effort to attend each day of the
January Term. While we will explore makeup options with any students who are ill
or have other medical or family issues arise during the January Term, students who
are excessively absent during those three weeks may have to complete an alternate
project in order to earn their January Term graduation credit.
School Cancellations
In the event that school is canceled for weather or another reason during the
January Term, that day will not be made up. January Term will still end on Friday,
January 24, and the second semester will still begin on Tuesday, January 28
regardless of the number of cancelled days.
Illinois High School Theatre Festival
In recent years, the Illinois High School Theatre Festival has become an integral
part of our co-curricular program for a number of students. This event takes place
during January Term on January 9-11, 2020. Students who enroll in the course
J2005: Identity: Portrayal of Self Through the Fine Arts will be attending this event as
a part of that class. Students who enroll in other January Term courses will be
allowed to also attend Theatre Fest as an excused absence from their January Term
class, if interested, at an additional cost. More information will be available in Fall
2019.
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Course Selection Process
In April, students will be given a January Term course selection form on which they
will identify and rank their top four course choices. These forms, with parent
signatures, are due to the Upper School office by Wednesday, May 1. Students
whose first-choice classes have an additional fee should also bring a check for the
May 1 deadline.
Students whose forms are submitted by the deadline (and fees paid where necessary)
will be given priority in the course scheduling process, starting with the Class of 2020.
However, efforts will be made to balance the course rosters among the different grade
levels, so no student is guaranteed to get placed into their top choice.
Questions about the course selection process should be directed to Doug Sept at
dsept@elginacademy.org.
Payments
In January Term 2020, three of the courses have extensive travel resulting in
additional costs. These course costs are noted in the descriptions on the following
pages. Students and families who register for these courses are committing
themselves to make payments in a timely manner so that travel arrangements can
be finalized. For any course with additional costs, EA offers the following payment
cycle:
Payment Deadlines (approximately of the cost is due by each deadline)
Course May 1 September 1 November 1
J2008: Northern $350.00 $350.00 $300.00
Minnesota Winter
Experience
J2009: Take Me Out $350.00 $350.00 $300.00
to the Ballgame
J2010: Ocean $1200.00 $1200.00 $1100.00
Studies & SCUBA
Checks made out to Elgin Academy should be brought to the Upper School office
prior to or by each deadline. Families who are using an Elgin Academy Tuition
Payment Plan should contact Marnie Kut at mkut@elginacademy.org if they wish to
have their January Term payments applied to their Payment Plan.
Missing payment deadlines will likely result in a student being switched into a
different January Term course.
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January Term 2020 Course Offerings
Courses with No Fees
J2001: Comic Books
The Comic Books course will focus on the creation, history, and cultural impact of
comic books from the early 20th Century until today. We will learn about a wide
variety of comic book publishers, writers, artists, editors and others who
are/were involved in the creation of comic books. Opportunities will be provided
for students who are interested in writing and drawing their own comic books.
Over the course of this class we will read a considerable number of different
comics from various publishers and different time periods.
J2002: Cooking and Cultures
Food is all around us: it is one of the most basic parts of our lives and helps us feel
at home. At the same time, how and why food is made can sometimes be a
mystery. In this course, students will develop basic cooking skills and learn about
the basics of menus and nutrition, as well as about the business of food and
restaurants while exploring the cultural background of certain foods. In the first
week, participants will spend one week talking about the fundamentals of
cooking, looking at a staple such as bread, and coming to understand the varieties
of bread, the reasons different forms of bread developed, and how different
breads are made. Approximately one week will be spent considering how to
make a multi-course meal or construct a menu. The final week will consider the
cultural realities that make different cuisines unique. There will be
approximately two field trips each week to local grocery stores for supplies as
well as to restaurants around the Chicagoland area to sample cuisine and discuss
the business of food with entrepreneurs and chefs.
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J2003: Forensics
Have you ever wondered how crimes are solved? What exactly are crime
scene investigators looking for when they are examining evidence? How is
this evidence used in a court of law? In this course, students will learn how
to examine and document a crime scene and investigate a wide range of
evidence including fingerprints, hair, fiber, blood, ballistics, and
handwriting. Through conversations with experts in the field and through
practical lab experiences, students will immerse themselves in all branches
of forensic investigation. Disciplines from anthropology to psychology to
computer science to linguistics all contribute to make a strong legal case or
refute one. This hands-on course will study real-life cases from the origins of
forensic science to cases currently in the news. Finally, we will analyze a
variety of evidence pertaining to on-campus “criminal” activity! The study
of forensics allows for a major emphasis on complex reasoning, critical
thinking, and creative synthesis, skills that are indispensable in any
discipline.
J2004: Hard-Boiled Fiction and Film
Hard-boiled crime fiction often features as the protagonist a private detective
who has been hired by a woman in trouble and the police either can’t or won’t
help her. Of course, there’s more to the case than the client lets on. He’s dealing
with killers, so, the private detective acts tough and talks that way, too. He’s a
loner, who has a code of honor that may not be strictly legal, but it is moral. He
can handle threats and take a beating, so don’t expect him to give up a case or
betray a client. He’s a smart-aleck and talks that way. Battling a corrupt political
or criminal organization, he prevails because he’s true to his code. Gritty as
sandpaper, these stories took the detective out of the parlor and into the city
streets. We will read a few of these novels, such as those by Raymond Chandler
(The Long Goodbye, The Big Sleep) and Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon, The
Thin Man), and watch the movies inspired by them. We will look at how the
hard-boiled private detective influenced comic-book characters, such as Batman
and The Watchmen’s Rorschach. We may also read a novel or two from the
related genre of the roman noir, where the self-destructive protagonist is not a
detective, but instead a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator of a crime. Such books
(and movies) could include Dorothy Hughes’s In A Lonely Place or James Cain’s
Double Indemnity. Some afternoons we will play whodunit board games. Field
trips will consist of one or two escape room experiences.
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J2005: Identity: Portrayal of Self Through the Fine Arts
Many artists use their work to express, explore, and question ideas about identity.
Identity is the way we perceive and express ourselves. Factors and conditions
that an individual is born with, whether physical, psychological, or cultural, often
play a role in defining one’s identity. However, many aspects of a person’s
identity change throughout his or her life. People’s experiences can alter how
they see themselves or are perceived by others. Conversely, their identities also
influence the decisions they make: Individuals choose their friends, adopt certain
fashions, and align themselves with political beliefs based on their identities.
Artists also often explore the idea of group identity-- expressions of how people
see themselves as part of a nationality, a religion, a region, or other cultural
sub-group.
In this interdisciplinary course, students will address the idea of identity by
questioning commonly held assumptions about stereotypes, self-awareness, and
what it means to be an artist. Students will both create art and experience the art
of others, and make connections between the two. Students will evaluate and
analyze the artistic processes of multiple artists from different artistic spectrums.
From this exploration, students will gain a better understanding of different
modalities of expressing identity. The classroom component will include
experimentation in various fine arts disciplines, centered around the theme of
identity. Students will be focused on the process of creating, whether that be a
painting, a scene, or a song. These classroom experiences will be paired with
field trips to see professionals working at their craft at Chicago theatres, concert
halls, museums, and workshops, as well as observing the work of their high
school peers at the Illinois High School Theatre Festival.
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J2006: Natural and Artificial Intelligence
Talk about artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere these days.
Businesses all want it, some people dread it, and others can’t wait for it to
arrive. But what is it, anyway, and how is it related (if at all) to human
intelligence? When will it come, or is it here already? Should we be excited
or worried? How will it affect our lives? In this course, we will consider all
of these questions. We will investigate the meaning of AI, and try to get a
better understanding of the current state of the art, and of the likely future.
We will examine where and how it’s being used today. We will look at how
writers in the past thought about it, and see how accurate their predictions
were. We will even try to build our own AI device.
(Note: this is not a computer science class, so no prior programming
experience is necessary.)
J2007: Student Internships
This offering is available to seniors and juniors only; space will be limited.
Students who are selected for this program will complete a deadline-driven
application process prior to the summer. Should a student miss a deadline or
have their application denied, they will be placed in an alternate January Term
course choice.
Students who express interest in the Student Internship program must be
self-starters who have a passion for or interest in learning more about a
particular career, business, or organization. Students spend each day of January
Term off campus, working with an individual (excluding immediate family
members) or an organization. Elgin Academy will not provide transportation for
students to and from their internships. The time spent at an internship should be
equivalent to a typical school day.
Students are responsible for making their own arrangements, but they will
receive the guidance and support of the Student Internship Coordinators.
Students will submit a daily electronic journal entry at the end of each day. In
addition, each student will articulate his or her personal experience and evaluate
his or her work during the internship through a longer written piece and an oral
presentation at the end of the experience.
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Courses with Fees
J2008: Northern Minnesota Wilderness Experience
Additional Cost: $1,000.00
We will spend the first two weeks of this class exploring the history of the
Great Lakes region: geologic/glacial; Native inhabitants; and French
explorers/fur traders. We will then travel to the Boundary Waters area of
northern Minnesota, where we will stay in a cabin. We plan to depart school
early Monday morning, January 20 (Martin Luther King Day) and return to
school late Friday evening, January 24.
While in northern Minnesota, we will engage in outdoor activities will allow
us to experience how Natives and others may have traveled in cold winter
conditions, including snowshoe hiking, cross country skiing, and dog
sledding. Equipment for outdoor activities will be provided, although
students will need to provide personal winter clothing.
J2009: Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Additional Cost: $1,000.00
This course will be enjoyable for anyone ranging from hardball novices to
passionate baseball enthusiasts. We will gain a better understanding of the game
of baseball and its influence on our society. We will learn about the history of
Major League Baseball as well as other leagues that have existed in the past.
Prominent historical players will be discussed for their influence on the game as
well as in our larger culture. Students will also learn the mathematics behind the
immense world of statistical analysis and the “business” of baseball, including the
memorabilia market. This course will culminate with a week-long trip to the
National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
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J2010: Ocean Studies / SCUBA
Additional Cost: $3,500.00
SCUBA diving is an intense and amazing aquatic experience, allowing divers to
see fish, rays, coral, and shrimp in their native habitat. Students taking the Ocean
Studies class will learn SCUBA skills as well as valuable background on reef
ecology and conservation.
The first two weeks of this class will focus on two components: science/ math
education and local pool training for SCUBA. The classroom component will
include discussion of coral reef ecology and raising student awareness of the
critical health of coral reefs. Reefs are also a focal point for recreational diving
and a tourism opportunity that not many are able to experience. We will also
learn about decompression tables and the mathematics involved in the physical
impact of SCUBA diving on the body.
The second major component of the first two weeks will be local pool instruction
on open water swimming and SCUBA skills. Students interested in this course
should be comfortable in water, but only need basic swimming skills. Advanced
Open Water Certification will be available for students who are already SCUBA
certified through PADI.
The course culminates with an educational dive trip to Belize where students will
complete their SCUBA certification and work with a local reef ecology group
including participation in reef conservation efforts. When back in Illinois,
students will complete a final project to raise awareness for reef and ocean
health.
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