GC Hardwick Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Hardwick began the Fall Term sitting outside at Greensboro Bend Church learning to tell stories about their lives and personal histories. This Our Stories unit inspired the group to share story-telling techniques, which evolved throughout the term into in-depth personal stories. Chris decided to use video to tell the story of his work at Applecheek Farm. A film of his daily work was recorded and shared with the class. Annie created posters of her life and favorite activities. She cut out magazine pictures to describe some of her habits and what she likes to do. The Our Story theme will continue to weave throughout the curriculum in Winter Interim and Spring Term 2011.

Midway through Fall Term, after the campus numbers grew to twenty-two participants, Global Campus Hardwick decided they had outgrown the space at Greensboro Bend Church. The group settled on a new space at the Greensboro Fellowship Hall, which has a large common area, kitchen and dance floor! The group was sad to leave Greensboro Bend, where they have many memories, but the new space fits well with the campus dynamic.

Global Campus Hardwick began a new routine of creating their Campus Seminar agendas as a group before class. The group takes turns leading the campus and the leader writes the agenda onto a white board. The campus is very vocal and often spends a lot of time talking during Campus Seminar, thus cutting into their class time. We discussed whether to add more time to the seminar or to continue to cut ourselves off after a half an hour of discussion. The group decided to keep the discussions short, when possible!

Global Campus Hardwick took their course offerings to a new level this term. People often commented after a class that the faculty had used many new teaching methods and created an innovative class, fun for everyone. Amanda’s Zumba Class got everyone out of their seats and dancing. Amanda goes to Zumba class twice a week and had spent the term designing her own dance workout to share with the class. Another dance class, Connor taught the group to Contra dance. He walked everyone through a few steps and then shared a step that he had made up on his own. Helen and Tina brought in evergreen and wire for the group to create holiday wreathes. People shared that they loved the hands-on creativity of this class. Olivia’s Genealogy workshop allowed everyone to start a family tree. Parker shared about one of his favorite Beatles songs, Here Comes the Sun. As he played the song, the whole group began to sing, and people commented that his class had been relaxing and soothing. Seth and Jared arranged a field trip to the Wolcott Town Hall to walk the group through the process of voting. The campus voted Jared as Governor and Seth as Lieutenant Governor.

This term was packed with classes, so much so that it prompted discussion of whether to have some classes on different days of the week. The group is still discussing this idea, but holds fast to their love of Tuesdays. Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from.

GC St. Johnsbury Celebrates Fall Term!

This has been an exciting semester for Global Campus St. Johnsbury! Fall Term 2010 began with lots of new faces at Global Campus St. Johnsbury. The meeting room at Springfield College was packed with people and busy with excitement. This fall, the group delved into a unit on Our Stories, where campus participants practiced telling stories and personal histories about their lives. Using digital recorders, storyboards and artwork, they told stories about their favorite childhood memories or about where they live or about inspirational people in their lives. This unit was emotional for many people. We discussed that the campus is a safe place for participants to share about their histories and that people need-not feel obligated to share stories that are difficult to tell. There were a few tears as people shared about parents or loved ones who had passed away. There were also many laughs.

The Our Stories unit sparked a discussion about creating a Global Campus St. Johnsbury film. Josh had made a film about his experiences at St. Johnsbury Academy and suggested that Global Campus St. Johnsbury might like to do something similar. The campus decided to create a film that told the story of Global Campus St. Johnsbury and what it is like to participate at the campus. The group began working with filmmaker Scott Miller on a documentary film project. Using five cameras, participants learned to shoot video footage and create video stories about their campus. The Campus Staff used a storyboard to discuss what type of shots to add to the film and what they want to show to their audience. Campus participants also worked on their own with the cameras, filming things that are important to them outside of the campus. The film was invited to present at the Green Mountain Film Festival in St. Johnsbury on April 1, 2, 3. The group is very excited for the opportunity to present their work and share about their Global Campus.

Global Campus St. Johnsbury participants took their campus to a new level this term preparing classes and working on new projects. Josh’s class, The Fantasy of Knights and Dragons, demonstrated many innovative teaching methods. Josh shared that he had been working on his class for over two months, making posters, practicing and designing packets for the class. David and Samantha’s Music and Art to Express your Feelings class opened up a new thought process for many participants. David shared that art can be relaxing and can open your mind to think and create. We saw many interesting artistic creations while listening to music. Michelle invited the group to try meditation. She demonstrated the process of meditating and shared different techniques to clear the mind and relax with meditation.

A highpoint of the term was Phil and Neal’s Talent – No – Talent Show. Many participants prepared acts of talent (or no talent) to present in front of the group. Phil and Neal arranged the room into a theater, invited guests from Springfield College, NKHS and GCF, and designed a program listing the acts. Jessica was invited to be Master of Ceremonies and she created a script that welcomed the group and introduced each act with a witty, innovative line. The group had lots of fun watching each other dance, play instruments, sing songs, recite readings, and play games. The hosts, Phil and Neal, marched in the Harmonica Marching Band as one of the acts. The show was lots of fun, and may become an annual event.

Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from.

GC Newport Celebrate Fall Term!

Global Campus Newport has enjoyed an tremendously successful Fall Semester 2010! Fall Term began with some logistical changes at Staff Meeting and Campus Seminar. The Staff have begun to take more responsibility for their meetings and seminars, keeping a campus binder and writing new agendas each week during Staff Meeting. This change was an adjustment for the group, but the staff seems to like the added responsibility. The Staff usually spend their hour-long meeting planning for Campus Seminar and discussing what topics are important to be brought up to the group. This term they worked on a grant to the Green Mountain Fund, made arrangements for a trip to the corn maze (which was cancelled due to rain), planned Registration and Orientation Days, discussed the campus layout and planned a Community Service Project donating canned goods to the NEKCA Food Shelf.

During the Teaching and Learning Class this Fall Term Global Campus Newport focused on the Academic Year Theme: Our Stories. People shared personal histories and answered prompt questions such as, “what is one of your favorite childhood memories,” or “talk about a person in your life who you admire.” People worked in small groups to answer these questions, then wrote or drew storyboards depicting the stories. We had inspiring discussions in front of the class and learned a lot about people’s lives. Some of the stories people told were difficult to hear or tell. We discussed the campus as a safe place to share personal histories, but that people should not feel obligated to tell stories if they do not feel comfortable. We heard a lot of interesting stories and learned a lot.

The Our Stories theme will continue throughout the year, and people are encouraged to bring in stories that they create at home. During the term, people brought in various Our Story creations that they had worked on at home. Chris D. shared a laminated book with pictures of him, his family and his trip to see Sesame Street The Musical in Burlington. The book has space for him to write in dry-erase marker stories about his life. Tim shared photos of his summer and reconnecting with his father, whom Tim had not seen in many years. A few participants recorded their stories on a digital recorder so we can listen to them at a later time.

As always, Global Campus Newport’s course preparation and teaching was inspiring and new this term. The campus designed a unique catalog cover that incorporated images from many of the course offerings. On Registration Day, the campus welcomed many new members, including three high school students participating through the Global Campus Academy. These students added a unique voice to the campus, and veteran participants seemed to enjoy the role of mentoring and assisting new students as they become accustomed to the campus.

Global Campus Newport enjoyed many new course offerings this term and also continued with some old favorites, such as Bowling Club, Walking Club and Math Class. A few class highlights: In Yoga with Brandi, Brandi walked the group through some basic yoga stretches. She moved the tables back and encouraged everyone to join her on the floor in the center of the classroom. People tried new things and laughed with each other during the more difficult stretches. In Raymond’s Goats Class, Raymond brought in samples of goat milk, goat cheese and goat milk hand lotion. He showed pictures of his goats and shared stories about what it’s like to live on a goat farm. In Jewelry Factory, Bernie got many compliments that her class was fun and interactive. People went home with bracelets and necklaces.

Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from!

GC Moretown Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Moretown has been an exciting place to be this Fall Term 2010! Early in the fall term we explored the GCF academic year theme: “Our Stories” by reflecting on stories from our own lives and sharing them in a variety of creative mediums. On one afternoon, campus participants passed around a camcorder, taking turns recording video and sharing stories in front of the camera. We were also busy early in the term harvesting our fruitful garden, making pesto with our basil and eating lots of zucchini, kale, and other veggies.

The classes this semester were fresh and innovative! Neil tested our intuition in a corn maze and shared his passion for racecars by having a real racecar driver Troy Kingsbury visit our campus with his stock car. Matt and Lee bravely presented a Frisbee workshop in a cold autumn rain. Allison made us feel as if we were on a cooking show with her Zucchini Bread Workshop. Afterwards Lee taught a poetry class while we munched on zucchini bread and fresh apple cider. Matt shared his passion for yo-yos by having us all make our own! Grace taught us about photography and shared a photo slideshow of all the GC Moretown classes and events. Roy hosted a local Waitsfield potter at our campus for a pottery workshop and Lee brought in a pile of acoustic instruments, demonstrating and playing each one for his class, the History and Origins of Acoustic Instruments. Our annual cider-pressing event was another tremendous success this fall. We combined the event with a Halloween and Harvest party and had a huge turnout. It was truly an exciting academic term!

We are all excited to begin Winter Interim in mid-January with an exploration of stories, legends, and myths from around the world. As we travel to different countries that we find interesting we’ll also what the local folklore is as part of our academic year theme “Our Stories”. Stay tuned to hear more about our adventures!

GC Randolph Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Randolph recently celebrated a very successful Fall Term at an awards celebration in mid-December! Our Fall Term began by exploring the academic year theme: “Our Stories”. As part of the theme campus participants thought about their lives and had the opportunity to share any interesting stories that emerged through writing, artwork, story telling and a variety of other creative mediums. We’ll be exploring the theme more during the Winter Interim and Spring Term!

The faculty at our campus presented some fantastic offerings this term. Jonathan shared three courses including a Power Rangers sequel, a new TV series called “Case Closed” and his popular Theme Song Trilogy class that he first offered during the spring term. Edie taught two classes, Nutrition and Exercise, and Edie’s Book Club. Rena also presented two classes: one was a Christmas karaoke class for the seniors at the Menig facility at Gifford Hospital called Singing with a Pair of Friends. The other was a Pen Pals class in which we all wrote letters to our friends at Global Campus Chiang Mai in Thailand. Dan and Rick co-taught a baseball class; Vicki shared her passion for Shirley Temple, and Lisa taught about Honkey Tonk music. Cheryl offered a Music and Dance class and Kim taught drawing, both classes were offered at Pleasant Street House in Randolph. Missy shared a class on making salads and her twenty years of experience preparing them for McDonald’s and Kathi taught about snowshoeing. Even though there wasn’t any snow, she still demonstrated by snowshoeing down the hallway!

Our campus adopted a few new initiatives this term including allowing for more space for participants to respond to questions, in case someone might need extra time to think. We also accepted more leadership by taking over the facilitation of the Campus Seminar. Each week someone new volunteers to lead the group through the agenda and create a new agenda for the next week. Rena, Rick, Ann, Vicki, and Dan all participated as facilitators this term. For our community service project, our campus decided to collect school supplies for children in need both here in our area and for children in Thailand. We’ll be collecting until the beginning of the spring term.

Shortly we’ll be kicking off our Winter Interim at Global Campus Randolph, exploring the legend of King Arthur in England while also learning about what life was like in Vermont several hundred years ago during the winter. This decision was a great process for our campus as we honored the voice of a participant who did not really want to travel this year. Stay tuned as our adventures unfold!

GC Bradford Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Bradford has just completed an extremely successful Fall Term 2010! The fall term has been a buzz of fresh classes, new initiatives and campus projects. The GCF academic year theme is “Our Stories” and at Global Campus Bradford we spent some time early in the fall semester exploring and sharing our own unique stories and experiences through writing, storytelling, artwork, photography, and even some classes! Scott taught a class called “My Family Tree” sharing his family genealogy. Shawn presented about Lake Okeechobee in Florida, where she grew up. Aaron presented about his families favorite annual vacation spot: Cape Britton, Nova Scotia. Cathy taught a class about her experience of graduating from high school. We’ll be exploring “Our Stories” more throughout the upcoming Winter Interim and Spring Term 2011.

Other classes this fall included Beading Club, taught by Shawn, Fabric Coloration Workshop, offered by Jodi and Jeannie, and “24”, presented by Patrick. Robin taught a great three-part class entitled The Oil Spill in the Gulf. Lynn, a Global Campus resource person, offered a very informative and dynamic class on Banks. Dennis and Patty from Global Campus Springfield visited our campus later in the semester to present their classes on Jeff Gordon and The Kennedy Family, respectively. Scott represented our campus in attending a few classes at the Global Campus Shiremont Soft Term. GC Shiremont is a budding community supported campus in the White River/Lebanon area.

The core group of Global Campus Bradford accepted a new leadership opportunity this fall by taking over the facilitation of the Campus Seminar. Each week a new volunteer leads the group through our seminar agenda and then together we create a new agenda for the following week. Robin, Scott, Aaron, and Patrick all participated as facilitators. Another new initiative this fall was creating more space in our group to give more time for folks who might take longer to respond to a question to think about it and answer in their own time. A key initiative this fall was deciding to host a Community Connections Conference on February 7, 2011 at the Grace Methodist Church in Bradford to introduce our campus to the community and establish new connections and opportunities for our campus. The core group of GC Bradford is directing and implementing the event. For our community service project this fall we hosted a Halloween Benefit Dance and raised $94 to support our local food shelf and to help fund our Community Connections Conference.

Looking ahead to the Winter Interim, we’ll be exploring stories, legends and myths around the world as we travel and visit different countries. So far there is interest in traveling to Romania, Afghanistan and the Middle East, and Florida. Stay tuned as our adventures begin in mid-January!

GC Chiang Mai Campus Update

Global Campus Chiang Mai recently completed its 2010 Academic Fall term with great success. They enjoyed their English class taught by a fellow participant. Since there is a mixture of levels of experience with English, in the next term they will have a basic class and a conversational class. Another class that was appreciated by all was the Movie class in which they viewed a variety of types of movies and then analyzed the movie. A few of the movie selections depicted the experience of disability such as Elephant Man and Emmanuel’s Gift. Upon reflection, the student participants said the benefits of the movie class are that it helps them to practice thinking and learning how to analyze, to practice noticing things, and to learn about other cultures. GCC participants look forward to their next academic term starting November 15th, and in the future they plan to have a class on how to be a good facilitator, an art class to practice creativity, and sign language classes. Similar to their colleagues in Vermont, they are also spending time with the 2010 curriculum theme, “Our Stories” which is contributing to a great cross cultural sharing.