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SelfDesign High Workshops

All courses for a graduation program can be offered as a workshop!

4-credit workshops in Nelson start February, see workshop descriptions below.

Workshops offered change each season depending on mentor availability and student enrollment.

Workshop courses are designed to give learners the opportunity to collaborate and contribute to discussions, etc in a group setting, yet, move through the course content at their own speed using the courses available on-line. Workshops are ideal for learners who benefit from the structure and rhythm of a schedule and who crave connections with others in order to fully realize their individual learning.

Learners enrolled in workshop courses work independently online and meet in a small group with a mentor once per week for 2-3 hours for 12 weeks.

The beginner guitar, pottery and drama are our only courses that are exclusively offered as workshop courses. The rest of our courses are offered as online courses.

Join a scheduled workshop, or if you have a group of 5 or more friends interested in doing a course together, contact the VGO (Virtual Guidance Office) about the possibility of finding a mentor to support a workshop in your area.

Pottery 10/11/12 with Diane Walters

Materials cost $90 (glazes and firing fees)
Mentor: Diane Walters | www.earthstudiosonline.com

eARTH Communicty Clay Studios, 1116 Latimer St (in Nelson)

Get your hands back into the eARTh!

eARTh Pottery studios is a community pottery studio which holds pottery 10/11/12 classes through SelfDesign High. This workshop course allows you to create your own dishes while teaching you handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques. Learn about clay DNA and live chemistry through glaze technology when glazing your work! Ideas abound every Wednesday from 3:30-5:30. 4 credits. $90. clay glazes and firings.

If you are a novice or have some pottery experience, high school students now have a studio where they can learn all about the properties of the world of clay while achieving high school credit. Artist, potter and SelfDesign High mentor Diane Walters, will guide you to shape your world through shaping the world of clay DNA. Her passion for geology and glaze chemistry surfaces through to a living understanding of how these sciences come alive under your fingertips and through the world of artistic endeavors. This class is held for two hours every Wednesday afternoon for one semester and offers you the opportunity to create without boundaries! Class size is limited to 9 learners for the winter session.

Drama 10/11 with actor Jordana Bartinger and mentor Barbarah Nicoll

Mondays & Thursdays 3:30pm to 5:30pm, February 20 to May 24 (24 meetings, no class during spring break March 12 to 23)

Acting is the art of self-discovery. The SelfDesign High Acting Class is designed to break-down the learners inhibitions to aid them to better understand their relationship with themselves and with others. Each class will begin with a physical warm-up; stretching, voice work, improvisational or theatre games. We'll begin with building the class as a group to create a safe place for students to express themselves fully and artistically. Then we'll move into individual poetry and monologue exercises where students will begin to build the confidence and courage it takes to be vulnerable . As the class progresses we'll switch over into scene study work where students will be able to take what they've learned in their individual work and bring it to a scene with another actor.

English 12 with Earl Hamilton

Wednesdays 3:30pm to 5:30pm, Feb 22 to June 6

In this course learners will learn to experience language in its full range of contexts and purposes. These will include developing skills in informational and literary communication. Learners will read works of fiction, poetry, and view documentary films with the goal of developing their critical and analytical thinking and written response.

Literary devices will be explored, supporting the learner’s experience of how language plays a role in shaping thought through reading essays, short novels and poetry.

World Music 10/11/12 Marimba & Percussion with Barbarah Nicoll and special guests from Mushana Marimba

Mondays 3:30pm to 5:30pm, Feb 27 to May 28

Learn basic percussion techniques on the drum, marimba and hosho. Be part of a marimba band that will work with guest teachers from Zimbabwe, perform at local events and grow into the future.

Studio Arts 10/11/12 with Amber Santos

Tuesdays 3:30pm to 5:30pm, Feb 21st

This is a series of hands-on workshops around the theme of culture of resistance. This theme is inspired by artists worldwide that promote peace an social justice through their art. Learners will learn about movements and artists whose worldwide activism inspires dialogue and action. Learners will have the opportunity to experiment with a number of art-making processes and and propose their own independent project dealing with a local or regional topic or issue. Selected local artists will be invited to share their work with the group.

Photography, Film, Street Art, Recycled Materials, Video, Zines, Capoeira

Peace Studies: Be the change you wish to see in the World, with Mentor Alison Talbot-Kelly

Thursdsays 4:00pm to 6:00pm, Feb 23rd to May 31st

Do you ever catch yourself saying: “How can I, one person, make a difference?” or, “Unless everyone joins in, nothing will ever change”? Perhaps you feel stuck, wanting to help but unable to convince yourself that there’s a way that actually works toward building more peace in the world? Instead of noticing the ties of violence connecting peoples and countries from around the world into a web of suffering and deprivation, we can decide to look closer and notice the weave of countless acts of individual bravery and kindness, millions of organizations and policies committed to change and transformation. It’s a choice – once you decide to look. Come jump in on what is now identified as the largest social movement for change in the history of the world. There’s so much we can do to insist on change and so many committed people around us from whom to draw courage and inspiration. Discover how you can transform frustration and passivity into deeper understanding and engagement. One small step at a time. From analysis to action, we'll decode how socio/cultural resistance and transformation happens. We’ll collectively decide local initiatives with which to engage that the potential for far reaching effects.

Earth Science 11: Gaiasophy, with Diane Walters

Thursdays March 1 at from 1-3 p.m at the BackAlley studios

"The stars, earth, stones, life of all kinds, form a whole in relation to each other and so close is this relationship that we cannot understand a stone without some understanding of the great sun. No matter what we touch an atom or a cell, we cannot explain it without knowledge of the universe." - Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential

Earth Science/Gaiaosophy is the study of the earth and her processes through time and space.

In this course we explore the ever-changing face of Earth, our home planet. The term “Gaia,” (who was the Greek Earth-goddess) implies a holistic view of our planet. Everything is connected; every creature on earth, and every physical function belongs to one efficient, self-balancing organism. The word “Sophia” or “-sophy,” comes from the Greek word meaning “wisdom.” This Earth Wisdom is our central tenet, our modus operandi. Yes, we study plate tectonics and earthquakes, and yes, we study the atmosphere, thunderstorms and the changing of the tides, but using the idea of Gaiasophy, we look at the big picture. How does it all fit together? And perhaps most importantly, what is our role, as humans, in this big picture.

Provincial Exam BootCamps - An intensive for any student from any school, no charge.

Exam Dates: BootCamp Dates: April 9 & 10 Monday and Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30
April 12 – 13, 2012
Thursday – Friday for
Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics 10
Foundations of Mathematics and Pre-Calculus 10
Science 10
English 12
Social Studies 11
English 10

BootCamp Dates: May 14 & 15 Monday and Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30
Exam Dates: May 17 – 18 , 2012
Thursday – Friday for
Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics 10 Foundations of Mathematics and Pre-Calculus 10
Science 10
English 10, 12
Communications 12
Socials 11

BootCamp Dates: June 13 & 14 Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30
Exam Dates June 18 – 22, 2012
Monday – Friday
Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics 10 Foundations of Mathematics and Pre-Calculus 10
Social Studies 11
English 10 and Communications 12
Science 10
BootCamp Dates: June 13 & 14 Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:3