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This quarter, our Culinary Arts class made a decision: we would work together to cook only one meal, but every element of that meal would be made from scratch, using only whole foods and nothing processed.
This decision was inspired by our discussion of Michael Pollan’s idea that one “shouldn’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food" -- the opposite of our highly-processed western diet.
This decision was inspired by our discussion of Michael Pollan’s idea that one “shouldn’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food" -- the opposite of our highly-processed western diet.
After much debate, we chose a student favorite as our meal: Bratwurst and sauerkraut. Our first week, students studied the process of lactobacillus fermentation and applied their knowledge to begin making sauerkraut. We then learned how yeast and gluten work, and baked our own rolls. The following weeks had students spicing and grinding their own sausage, researching flavor combinations to mix mustards from mustard seeds, and stuffing their homemade sausage mix into casings.
The process will culminate in a feast the students are certain to never forget!
The process will culminate in a feast the students are certain to never forget!
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Arriving to New Summit Academy for the first time can be an overwhelming experience for new students: there are classes to attend, students to meet, staff to get to know, and rules to learn. However, our innovative Orientation program helps new students to more quickly adjust to and engage in our community.
Each new student is paired up with a peer mentor, who serves as a guide during the one-month Orientation program. These students and their mentors spend a weekend off-campus on the slopes of Poas Volcano, discussing the school, Atenas and Costa Rica while enjoying the natural beauty of the area.
Each new student is paired up with a peer mentor, who serves as a guide during the one-month Orientation program. These students and their mentors spend a weekend off-campus on the slopes of Poas Volcano, discussing the school, Atenas and Costa Rica while enjoying the natural beauty of the area.
New students complete a checklist of steps designed to help them understand what they can expect during their time at NSA, including reviewing their Course Progression Plans, analyzing their aptitudes and interests, and setting goals for academic and personal growth development. By the end of the students’ Orientation period, they are fully engaged in the NSA process, and ready for continued success.
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The beginning of May is an important date for seniors who have been accepted to college: the first of the month marks the deadline for enrollment for most schools. Our seniors have made their decisions, and have enrolled in fantastic schools which fit their learning needs and goals, including Western Washington University, Goucher College, Central Washington University, and Fordham University.
To make this month even more exciting, our students reached an impressive milestone: our seniors enrolling in the fall of 2016 have been offered an incredible combined scholarship amount of over ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Congratulations!
To make this month even more exciting, our students reached an impressive milestone: our seniors enrolling in the fall of 2016 have been offered an incredible combined scholarship amount of over ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Congratulations!
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Students in Model United Nations class began research last week for a simulation of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Students first chose a UN member state to represent before completing a research report on that country.
Once they were familiar with the history, strengths, and current challenges facing their countries, the student delegates - representing Ireland, Argentina, Belgium, Norway, Djibouti, Germany, and Japan - voted on a debate topic, ultimately deciding on "Strengthening Prevention Measures and Criminal Justice Responses to Human Trafficking." The US State Department recently estimated that there are between 20-36 million slaves in the world today, with human trafficking generating $150 billion in illegal profits each year.
Students have been researching their country's position on this issue, which coincides with the current school-wide global citizenship theme of human rights, and they are currently preparing formal position papers and three-minute speeches that outline national policies for preventing human trafficking while providing possible solutions to this global challenge. The work is preparing students for their participation in a full Model UN simulation next quarter.
Once they were familiar with the history, strengths, and current challenges facing their countries, the student delegates - representing Ireland, Argentina, Belgium, Norway, Djibouti, Germany, and Japan - voted on a debate topic, ultimately deciding on "Strengthening Prevention Measures and Criminal Justice Responses to Human Trafficking." The US State Department recently estimated that there are between 20-36 million slaves in the world today, with human trafficking generating $150 billion in illegal profits each year.
Students have been researching their country's position on this issue, which coincides with the current school-wide global citizenship theme of human rights, and they are currently preparing formal position papers and three-minute speeches that outline national policies for preventing human trafficking while providing possible solutions to this global challenge. The work is preparing students for their participation in a full Model UN simulation next quarter.
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Cultural immersion Spanish class is offered to students who have advanced language skills. These students are researching topics of interest based on diversity and heterogeneity. One student chose Costa Rican food, another student chose solid waste management and burning as a way of disposal of household trash in the Atenas canton.
After having done online research, they will now be collecting field information through interviews. In the case of Costa Rican food, the student is interviewing NSA staff from Costa Rica, young people, and adults in Atenas who are recognized for their experience in culinary arts. The interviews on solid waste management will include the environmental agent from the municipality, a representative of the local firefighter station, and people from Atenas and NSA. The final product will be a written text and an exhibition presented to NSA students and staff.
After having done online research, they will now be collecting field information through interviews. In the case of Costa Rican food, the student is interviewing NSA staff from Costa Rica, young people, and adults in Atenas who are recognized for their experience in culinary arts. The interviews on solid waste management will include the environmental agent from the municipality, a representative of the local firefighter station, and people from Atenas and NSA. The final product will be a written text and an exhibition presented to NSA students and staff.
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NSA’s U.S. History class is analyzing small U.S. led military engagements that sought to pursue U.S. empire building, promote and negotiate expanding economic markets and policies, protect corporate investments in foreign lands, conduct scientific, oceanographic, and geological exploration, and occasionally noble pursuits like the encouragement and spread of democratic principles, political stability, infrastructure soundness and public facilities (customs houses, schools, administrative structures, road and highway systems, bridges, and hospitals), bureaucratic transparency and fairness, and basic modern sanitation systems and standards.
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Chemistry class has been studying functional groups as part of our Organic Chemistry Unit. Students have been practicing drawing, naming and recognizing molecules, as well as studying the relationship of Organic Chemistry with daily life (hydrocarbons, steroids, pheromones, and pharmaceutical drugs, just to name a few.) The class is currently researching different types of drugs and their chemical structures, in order to put the knowledge learned in class in context; they will be presenting their findings to the class next week as part of their final evaluation for the quarter.
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NSA’s Biology class is studying cellular biology, and has been learning about cell organelles including chloroplast, nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi Apparatus, Endoplasmic Reticulum and more. The students are currently conducting an experiment on transport across the cell membrane using chicken eggs and food coloring. They have also begun to work on their final project, which is creating a hands-on wooden model of an animal and a plant cell for the Science classroom - which will help future classes learn about cells.
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As an extension of their studies of mythologist Joseph Campbell and his "Monomyth" theory, students researched major world religions. They compared and contrasted two religions, noting unique characteristics as well as shared values, symbols, and stories. Topics ranged from Christianity to Shinto, and students were free to choose the format for their presentations. One student's presentation, which he described as a narrated comic, included hand-drawn images recorded on his iPad and edited into an educational video with voice-over narration. While some chose to focus on religions with which they were familiar, others opted to explore new territory. Through this project, students examined the narrative structure of Campbell's Hero's Journey model while delving into the Global Citizenship facet of diversity.
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This quarter, our senior Literature and Composition class is learning advanced interviewing and writing techniques, and applying them to craft biographies of family members. Our quarter began by looking at word choice as the building blocks of literature. We then studied Literary Devices - metaphor, synecdoche, alliteration and more - and incorporated them into our writing. Dialogue and dialect, archetypal themes, strong verbs, telling details - each lesson was integrated into our stories about grandparents, parents, uncles, brothers and sisters. Many thanks to our willing families for providing rich details, newspaper clipping, photographs and memories about themselves and their loved ones to make our unit on the biography so meaningful.