Upper School Electives Announced

An exciting mix of classes include a few new offerings, such as Invention Convention, Rock Climbing, and The Scop Newspaper! Upper School students can sign up at registration. Click here to see which classes are offered on which days.

 SPORTS, ADVENTURE, AND FITNESS

This fall, as the weather remains warm, take advantage of our Wednesday/Friday X-block to get a little extra court time in. Tennis experience is not required, but a pair of sneakers and a racquet (borrowed is fine). We’ll get out on to the IMS courts as often as weather allows to practice ground strokes, work through drills, and maybe even have some challenge matches to crown an “X-block Open” champion. This should be a great opportunity for athletes that are not a member of any of the tennis teams to have some fun at a different sport, and for members of the various tennis teams to get some additional practice. The gym will also be available to us for the too rainy/windy/cold days, should they occur.

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of bouldering, which is dynamic form rock climbing performed without the use of ropes and harnesses. Bouldering typically takes place on short rock faces and artificial walls close to the ground. Students will be instructed in proper techniques of spotting each other to maintain safety. In addition we will discuss types of climbing, movement, safety, and training. No equipment is necessary but climbing shoes will be helpful if available.

Students in the Strength and Conditioning elective will learn how to warm up properly, through dynamic stretches, work through different core exercises, along with learning many strength exercises and conditioning techniques. We will do all of this with our main focus being on technique and building strength through movement. Towards the end of the semester, students will have a chance to build their own programs for vacation times, between seasons, and for the summer of 2014. This is a great opportunity for any student looking to improve their fitness knowledge.

If you do not join the golf team, this elective is a great way to learn the game. At our on campus golf practice facility, you will hone your chipping and putting skills. On occasion, we will go to the local driving range in Millerton to practice driving. During foul weather days, we will have a blast playing in the main building, putting down staircases, around corners, and down long corridors. Our golfers will be the envy of the other students. If you love the game of golf or are just getting started, don’t miss out on the fun! Note: You are welcome to bring your own clubs, but clubs can be provided.

This elective will use a Tuesday/Thursday X-Block slot to revive the IMS student newspaper of yore, The Scop. The publication will begin as an online entity that aims to cover school life, as well as noteworthy events in the world beyond the hilltop. Hopefully, we’ll be assigning movie, book, and music reviews in addition to first-hand accounts of the Falcons’ latest victory over Rumsey Hall. Therefore, The Scop will need aspiring writers, reporters, web designers, cartoonists, and media savvy students of all stripes. Participants will be asked to do some work outside the elective’s proposed meeting times, but if you think you might be passionate about writing, journalism, or media matters in general, it will be time well spent.

The Lower Campus Mentoring elective gives a select group the opportunity to serve as role models to lower school students by engaging them in a positive way while preparing and joining fun, inclusive activities during lower school recess. Each Tuesday and Thursday, members of this elective will participate in recess at the lower campus. They will lead and design typical recess activities, acting as facilitators and supporters to their younger peers. Part of their role will be to draw in those who need attention and mediate conflicts while setting a supreme example as role models and leaders.

In this elective we will explore the kernels of innovation and invention. Students will explore the history of invention, and will then develop their own concept to be entered into the Indian Mountain Invention Convention, which will run in February 2014. The top five students from the Indian Mountain Invention Convention will then go to the Connecticut Invention Convention upon our return from spring break in March.

Enjoy a brainteaser or logic problem? Interested in the American Mathematics Competition or the Mathcounts team? Want to strengthen your core math skills while working with a group of peers? Are you an artist and interested in leaving a mark on the IMS campus? Do you like to build things under a time crunch? If any or all of these ideas appeal to you, join The Math Club!! We will spend elective block time exploring some of the most common and challenging math problems that have always plagued even our smartest mathematicians.

Advanced Drawing presents a challenging series of drawing “problems” for students to solve. It is for students who already have basic drawing skills, and wish to continue their studies and develop a portfolio. The curriculum for the Advanced Drawing Elective incorporates a variety of drawing materials, elements of art, and principles of design. Students are encouraged to develop their own individual styles while working with pencil, charcoal, watercolor pencils, pastels, and oil pastels. Students will study contour line, texture, the drapery study, tonal values and shading, the portrait, and pen and ink techniques. At the end of the term students will photograph their artwork and put it together as a portfolio. Prerequisite: Basic drawing or permission of the instructor.

The course introduces the basics of wheel throwing techniques. Weekly practice of basic techniques will provide the foundation needed to progress into more complicated wheel thrown forms. Vases, tiles, bowls, and mugs are some of the forms that will be explored in this class. Students will be introduced to the technique of slip-casting in which liquid clay is poured into a plaster mold to produce pottery. I will encourage students to express creative ideas using different methods of fabrication and surface treatment. Along with technical skills, students will acquire a better comprehension of historical and contemporary ceramics.

In the Stone Carving elective, students use basic stone carving tools such as rifflers and rasps to shape pieces of soapstone and alabaster. Each stone is finished through wet and dry sanding with a final application of polishing oil or wax. Fundamental carving techniques are discussed in this course as students explore abstract and concrete forms in their original creations.

This class will offer an opportunity to create at least one larger then life Foam-board cutout. Its shape can reflect a self-portrait or a favorite sports hero, movie star, singer or an abstract design etc. Once the design is drawn it will be cut with an Xacto knife. It can be painted or collaged in a realistic or fantasy style. If you can dream it, you can make it.

The Set Design/Haunted House course introduces fundamental set building techniques utilizing basic power and hand held tools. During the first half of this course, students will concentrate on safety in the workshop, tool operation and problem solving. The second half focuses on the ideas, design, and build of the culminating IMS Haunted House. Students will gain a wealth of knowledge regarding construction using a number of different materials, the importance of creativity in developing an idea, and the very best ways to ensure a frightfully good time for their classmates during the Halloween season.

Through the art of digital photography, students learn to become independent, self-reflective artists using a technology-based medium. Using both contemporary ideologies and historical traditions as a backdrop for projects, students examine a wide variety of ways to capture images. From camera basic sand photographic techniques, to digital manipulation and image outputting, students are exposed to skills needed to use photography as a form of self-expression. Critical thinking, creative observation, and gaining an awareness of future implications of digital media encourage students to develop their own artistic voices. Assignments engage students in using photography, both in and out of the classroom as a means to examine and explore their own lives and communities.

DRAMA & FILM

Acting and Improvisation- Hahn

Improvisation is the art of creating theatre spontaneously without preparation or planning using only what is available to you in the moment. In this class students learned to free, trust, and embrace their instincts and their imagination. Through the exploration of improvisational exercises students learned to say “yes” to their impulses, their partners and their inspirational sources, to make strong specific choices on stage and to be responsive and affected by their scene partners. The class culminated in a short-form improvisational performance for the X-block expo.

An introductory workshop in the art of film-making. This elective includes hands-on classes in script-writing, shooting, and editing using iMovie and Final Cut Pro. Whenever possible, we will supplement our work with examples from classic movies, short films and documentaries, as well as occasional visits from professional movie writers and directors. Once we agree on an idea, we’re off and running – Gorilla filmmaking at its best. Limited to 6. All levels welcome.

Have fun! Be popular! Learn to play the ukulele! No experience necessary! Over the course of the trimester, we will meet twice per week to learn the chords and scales that will bring the music in you alive. This is a true beginner’s course. Students learn to play a number of songs, both old songs and new ones, and end the term with a performance. Please note that if you do not already have a ukulele, you will need to purchase one through the school.

Keep the beat using a variety of drum types from various cultures around the world. Learn different techniques and play original pieces with others in the group.

Join Mr. Kuskin for IMS’s premier classical music group. The group will typically work on one piece per term and will perform several times a year. Prior skill on your instrument required.

Learning how to improvise is at the heart of the Jazz Band. The group practices jazz standards from several periods, the players bringing their own take on the music in each performance. Prior skill on your instrument required.

Who doesn’t want to be a rock star?! Guitarists, bass players, drummers, keyboardists, singers, harmonica players and others welcome. Prior skill on your instrument required.