History
Being immersed in
South Africa's multi-layered history is a constant motivation for TTS20's
Modern History and Contemporary African Politics class to ask questions and
explore answers. Following a brief introduction to colonial era, especially
Dutch and British influences in the region, the students dove into the events
of the 20th century. Through readings, class discussions, queries to locals,
role play scenarios, poetry analysis, oral presentations, and primary source
documents students have tackled the rise of apartheid and the ways that
economics, constructed identity, and political interests can cause one people
to subordinate another. In our last few weeks here the class is focusing on
post-apartheid South Africa and current events. Our final stay in Cape Town
will provide us many opportunities to visit some of the country's most
historically symbolic locations, including Robben Island, District Six, and the
city's surrounding Cape Flats area.
Visiting
Parliament
It was a
clear, warm morning as the TTS20 students climbed out of the van into the Cape
Town sun. We were standing in front of the South African Parliament, a set of
modern shining glass and traditional white columned buildings sprawling across
manicured lawns and gated drives. As we stepped through the visitor's entrance,
Ramon, a spectacled, energetic gentleman who launched into a speedy welcome to
our Parliamentary tour, greeted us. He took off at a fast clip with us trailing
behind, stopping here and there to point out works of art housed in the
building. On the ground floor he showed us Keiskamma Tapestry, a 120 meter long
piece depicting the history of the Eastern Cape (a region of South Africa) from
the perspective of the women who made it. On the upper level, we visited the
seat of both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, South
Africa's two houses of Parliament. There is something truly powerful about
learning how a government functions while sitting in the very seats its
legislatures use to craft the nation's laws. The girls asked Ramon all sorts of
questions, ranging from how one is elected president to what his views on
politics today are and what had been planned as a half hour tour turned into a
two-hour long conversation as he responded with comprehensive, detailed
answers. When we emerged back into the bright, southern sun at the end of the
tour, the girls were all a-chatter with speculations on South African
government today and in what direction the country is headed. If that isn't the
mark of a successful history class, I'm not sure what is.
Global
Studies
Global
Studies continues to be an interactive setting with eye-opening discussions
about refugees, asylum and resettlement.
Many girls have previously encountered stories of refugees and have
ideas about resettlement, but each student made new realizations that jerked at
their souls. For some, they recognized
the pain students at their school had witnessed in order to start over in the
United States. For some, the idea
of leaving everything for the idea of a better life with so many unknowns and
questions was heart-wrenching. In
an effort to try to understand refugee's circumstances we made combined poems
in the voice of a 12-year-old searching for something new while knowing she was
different. Recently, we switched
topics and discussed the power of micro loans for women in developing
countries. As we move through the
final weeks we will continue discussing leadership as young activists with
knowledge and interest. We will
study different teenage stories of those who took action and made a change and
discuss ways our group can give back and help encourage change. This brainstorm will lead to a Zenith
Project for the
students to expand their leadership skills back home and devise a strategy to
influence social, political or economic change for one place we experienced
this semester. Although the girls
will all be back at home, the project will be a collective effort determined
before we leave South Africa.
The
Global Studies class will also focus on transitioning back home. We will discuss different methods to
conquer the culture shock of coming back home and reflect on our journey
through Southeast Africa. Each
student will prepare a presentation to give at home about her journey and how
it impacted her. The class will
work together to help each other develop strong speaking points and stories to
share with their community.
Literature
TTS20's Literature
and Composition class is in its final chapter of our three and a half month
long saga. The students just completed their last novel, July's People, by Nadine Gordimer. The novel
concerns itself with race relations in an imagined future for apartheid South
Africa, a topic Gordimer explores through the story of one white families'
flight into rural South Africa under the protection of their black servant,
July. The students have engaged in honest and deep discussions about the book,
and are continuing to tackle the complex subject matter in their analytical
essays. As this is the essay style with which students are most familiar, I am
encouraging them to argue more controversial thesis statements than they might
at home in anticipation of the kind of analyses often expected in college. In
addition, the students are currently working on their oral recitation projects
and will all recite either a piece of original work or of South-East Africa
poetry on Thanksgiving. In class we continue to work on creative writing
through surrealist forms of expression as well as read short stories of the
region in an effort to gain as solid an understanding of what it means to be a
South African artist as possible.
Algebra
2:
The
Algebra 2 class has continued to work hard and ask critical questions as the
semester progressed from simple one-step equations to solving complex
polynomials. The students have
each pushed themselves hard, ambitiously working through difficult topics of
solving for multiple variables as well as factoring large polynomial
expressions. Class has continued
to take place in any convenient setting, including on the road while cruising
toward Cape Town, as well as at the breakfast table at the Rocktail Bay
Resort. Each student has shown
tremendous growth, taking turns assisting one another through challenging
problems. The students have also
tested their own complete level of understanding of a concept by teaching problems
to the rest of the class. As the
semester comes to a close, students will use different strategies to solve for
quadratic expressions, and then work on transformations of quadratic graphs. The students will complete a
comprehensive review before facing their final exam during the last week of
class.
Science:
The
science class was full of smiles and enthusiastic chatter as the aquatic marine
unit was brought to a close in mid-November. Science journals were filled with entries on whales and
Loggerhead and Leatherback turtles, as the students had the rare opportunity to
assist researchers and observe these magnificent animals crawl ashore to lay
their eggs. Not only did the
students watch the turtles create their nests and lay eggs, they also were
lucky to see a family of humpback whales breaching repetitively out of the
water from a mere 30 yards away.
The students then formed groups and presented habitat and species
summaries on whale sharks, turtles and great white sharks. Their creative minds were put to the
test as they invented two aquatic species that could live in a specific
habitat, ranging from intertidal zones to benthic environments. Each student had to create a complete
species prognosis report for their newly developed species, then describe a
symbiotic relationship taking place between those two species. The final unit of study for the
semester will focus on water conservation and problem solving discussions for
solutions on the water crisis currently facing much of the world. This topic has come up throughout the
semester, as students have seen firsthand the struggle many villages have to
simply access clean drinking water.
The semester will come to a close with the final exam, taking place
during the last week of class.
Math Concepts:
The Math
Concepts class has been working hard to prepare for the workforce. Each student chose a potential job to
apply for after returning home, then created a cover letter and a resume for
the job. Mock interviews were
held, and students had the opportunity to give each other feedback on both
their verbal and nonverbal communication skills in an interview setting. After a bit of practice, the class was
ready. Each student had to
schedule an actual interview, and formal mock interviews were held at a local
cafe. The class is ready to face
the workforce with confidence. The
curriculum continued with an introduction to economics. Students each prepared a brief
presentation on investment-related topics such as stocks and bonds and money
market accounts. Students
reflected on what types of investments they are interested in for both the near
future as well as long-term goals for further down the road. Before the upcoming final exam, topics
of discussion will center on supply and demand, the World Trade Organization,
and the overall cost of happiness.
PE/iLife:
The
students have continued to build their own PE course this semester, by both
teaching classes and seeking out physically demanding experiences we come
across. The student-led workouts
have ranged from plyometric conditioning to abdominal exercises to Irish dance
with each class filled with well-timed changes in exercises, sweat and plenty
of enthusiasm. To counter long
days spent on the road, the students independently complete thirty-minute
workouts to get their legs moving and the blood flowing. Their ambition to conquer challenges
has continued with activities sought out by the girls. For example, after arriving in a
campsite in a nature reserve, the class eagerly hiked a nearby foothill for the perfect setting for a
few hours for a history and literature class. The girls had no trouble taking their class supplies along
with their usual “possibles bag”.
As our journey continues, we are fitting in as many walking or jogging
opportunities as possible to prepare for the TTS20 Turkey Trot 5k.
In iLife
class, discussions on personal goals and incorporating passions into future
decisions have been the focal point for several weeks. Each student completed a workbook to
help narrow down interests into five passions. Then each student brainstormed how to incorporate her
passions into life both now and in the future. During the parent campus visit, we had some guest speakers
join the class for a poolside discussion on finding your path in life. Parents discussed how sometimes
following random interests along the way in college or after helped create a
career they had never previously considered. As classes continue, students will further develop this
concept as discussions center on finding true happiness and pursuing personal
goals.
Pre-calculus
In recent
weeks, the class shifted gears from studying polynomial equations to studying
logarithms. We learned to condense
and expand logarithmic expressions using the quotient, product, power and
change of base properties. The
students are discovering how intertwined mathematical concepts are and how
important it is to understand the concepts behind different rules and theorems. We built on previous learned concepts
to understand different types of exponential growth and decay. Students are now able solve questions
concerning the rate at which diseases will spread or populations will
grow. They can also determine how
much interest they will accumulate in various types of accounts with different
interest periods. The final stage
of Pre-calculus involves the study of trigonometry using the unit circle and
right triangles. We are discussing
how applicable trigonometry is various careers. The discussions continue to be interactive and spontaneous
and the gals often have to double check themselves to make sure they are not
having too much fun finding their nerdy math side.
Travel
Journalism
The TJ
gals continue their quest to be young journalists by asking questions and investigating
their surroundings through their five senses. The class continues to build their journalistic writing
skills by creating articles with strong narrative form to paint pictures with
vivid wording and descriptions. Currently, each student is in the brainstorming
phase for her final article. She
is working hard to find a topic she is passionate about and believes the world
is ready to hear from a teenager's perspective. We practiced writing query letters to editors and now the
students are forming individual query letters for their upcoming articles. As a class we studied the Writer's
Market and
discovered a wealth of information and potential publishing possibilities. Each student will submit her final
article, query letter and three photos to a publication of choice in hopes of
becoming a published journalist.
To compliment the final article, the class is also continuing to explore
our surroundings through the lens of a camera. We practiced capturing movement while playing on playgrounds
or jumping in the waves of the Indian Ocean. During the final weeks we will continue to expand our
photography portfolio. Once home,
each student will have thousands of photos to sort through to create an online
portfolio showing TTS 20 through her lens. The portfolio will consist of various techniques and
composition styles to highlight various perspectives. Each student will summarize what photography means and how
her chosen images weave a story.
