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!