Wintermission Catalog 2020

• 2019-2020 •

WINTERMISSION

Wintermission Course Catalog

2 FOXCROFT SCHOOL

WinterMISSION STATEMENT

Using innovative teaching practices and taking advantage of the uncommonly beautiful setting of Foxcroft and our regional resources, Wintermission provides students with the opportunity for choice, exploration, and the development of real-world skills.

Many thanks to our student artists for lending their creativity to this year’s Wintermission Course Catalog: Front Cover by Isabel Wood ’20 Back Cover by Isobel Debenham ’21 Page 3 Artwork by Victoria Thompson ’22

WINTERMISSION CATALOG 3

“I Wonder...”

FROM JOSIE ROSS, ANNE MUELLER & BETH O’QUINN, THE WINTERMISSION TEAM

Have you ever begun a thought with “I wonder”? “I wonder what it was like to cook before we had ovens. . .” “I wonder how feminism has changed since my grandmother was my age. . .” “I wonder if I could learn Jiu-jitsu. . . how artists write songs. . . what it’s like to go to outer space. . .”

At Foxcroft, our dedicated time to explore these wild wonderings is during Wintermission.

Wintermission is when we pause our normal, everyday routine in favor of pursuing a deeper, more focused inquiry. Guided by our new WinterMISSION Statement, faculty will offer fresh courses as well as some beloved classics that give students the opportunity to dive into all of these “I wonder” queries and more.

In this catalog you will find descriptions of the topics that will be explored, our daily schedule for those participating in courses on campus, and information about the trips being offered. An overview of the internship program and process for application and approval is coming soon.

We hope this short but crucial week in your learning can provide revelations and discoveries that will illuminate your next steps. What will you pursue in and out of the classroom in your years left at Foxcroft?

What colleges or gap years you will research?

Where do your passions and curiosities lie?

Will you let yourself wonder this Wintermission?

4 FOXCROFT SCHOOL

Daily Schedule TIME

ACTIVITY

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Wellness

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Class Period 1*

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Lunch

1:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Recess

1:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Class Period 2*

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Team sports practices & games as scheduled

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Evening Activity

*Full-day classes will meet during both morning and afternoon class periods.

WELLNESS

For those participating in classes on campus, each day will begin with a shared wellness activity. Sticking with our theme of exploration, activities will include yoga, zumba, kickboxing, pilates, or a hike through our beautiful 500-acre campus.

RECESS

To beat the after-lunch energy slump, students will join together for a half hour of unstructured play. In addition to basketball, volleyball, and rock climbing, girls can participate in classic recess games such as jump rope, four square, and hopscotch.

EVENING ACTIVITY

Student clubs have been given the opportunity to share their club’s mission by hosting on-campus events throughout Wintermission. One popular activity hosted annually by Athletic Association is “Death by Chocolate.” The girls gather in Engelhard Gymnasium with their bean bag chairs, blankets, and pillows to watch a movie, but not before they have loaded their plates with chocolate-filled treats baked by Athletic Association and other community members. The mission of Athletic Association is to encourage school spirit, and nothing brings this community together like a movie night and baked goods!

WINTERMISSION CATALOG 5

Full-Day Courses INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION DESIGN Ms. Varney, Ms. Fisher & Ms. Washam

LIFE ON THE FRONTIER: OPEN HEARTH COOKING Mr. Dombrowski & Dr. Tuttle

This class will focus on the engineering design process. We will work together to create an interactive, large-scale installation that could be transported to the Library Courtyard, to our friends at Banneker Elementary, or set up in our community garden for the public to interact with and enjoy. On the first day we will explore the need for interactive spaces that will pull our community to the outdoors. We will look at exhibits presently in several galleries, museums, and parks and learn about the artists and engineers behind the work. We will take two day trips to explore these spaces in person. For the remaining two days, students will collaborate to create an interactive exhibit the whole community can enjoy. Recommended for both the STEM and Art Concentration students.

Come learn all about historical and modern open hearth cooking! We’ll meet experienced chefs, develop our own recipes, and get our hands dirty in the process. Field trips, food, and fun!

LIFE IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST Ms. Hergenreder & Mr. Northrup This course will focus on the plants, animals, and people of the Amazon river basin. We will work virtually with experts from Amazon Rainforest Workshops to explore this crucial region of the world. Students will develop their scientific analysis skills through a comparative field study of Foxcroft’s own forest, as well as their culinary skills while cooking traditional Peruvian food.

While this class is recommended for students who are traveling with Foxcroft to the Amazon over spring break, as well as for those in STEM and Global Studies concentrations, all students are encouraged to sign up for this unique learning opportunity.

SERVICE SAMPLER Ms. O’Quinn Are you interested in learning more about the opportunities for service in our area? Are you curious how a nonprofit is established and how it is run? Join your fellow classmates as we explore the opportunities to work with five dynamic local organizations that are helping to answer the needs of our community. Students will work with Blue Ridge Food Bank, Sprout Therapeutic Riding, Blue Ridge Wildlife, Middleburg Humane, and Mobile Hope Loudoun.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: NEW YORK & PHILADELPHIA Ms. Wise International students will continue their studies of American history and culture with this trip to two major U.S. cities. Students will tour historic and iconic landmarks like the Liberty Bell, the Franklin Institute, the Statue of Liberty, and Central Park. We will spend time on several college campuses to give international students a better understanding of the college options available to them in the United States. This trip is designed to enrich the “American experience” of our international students but is open to all students interested in the founding of America.

See the myFoxcroft “Travel Opportunities” tile for deadlines, application information, and associated costs.

6 FOXCROFT SCHOOL

Half-Day Courses BRUSHLESS: PAINTING FOR NON-CONFORMISTS Ms. Thorndike & Ms. Bethany In this class we will be creating works of art using acrylic paint and canvas board. However, instead of learning traditional techniques using brushes, we will be exploring other ways of getting the paint onto the canvas. Some of the techniques students will learn will be pouring, scraping, airbrushing, smudging, and scrumbling to name a few. All of these methods are unconventional ways to create art and students will be working on several individual works as well as one large-scale group piece.

BUILD YOUR OWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Ms. Asbury

instrument restoration workshop; enjoy the artistry of musical instruments by attending a concert; and bring your own ideas to life with hands-on projects in The Innovation Lab. By the end of this course, you will be able to make music with anything.

No prior musical experience required!

CONTRACT BRIDGE Ms. Burridge What do Bill Gates, Edgar Allan Poe, Warren Buffet, and Omar Sharif have in common?

They all mastered the fine art of bridge play. This course introduces students to a lifelong game of risk and logic that they will use in many social and professional settings. Like chess, the game of bridge increases in complexity as one becomes more proficient and experienced.

There will always be something new to learn. Most importantly, it’s a blast!

Musical instruments are an elegant combination of “No matter where I go, I can physics, engineering, and always make new friends at artistry that have taken many the bridge table.” forms throughout history. In — Martina Navratilova this course, you will explore the complexities behind musical instruments as you: meet professional craftspeople on a field trip to a local

FEMINISM: THEN AND NOW Dr. O’Connor “Feminism” is an identity, a lifestyle, a political statement, a t-shirt or coffee mug slogan, and a word with rich, complex history. In this course, students will deepen their understanding of present-day debates in women’s and trans rights and gender theory by uncovering historical precedents and decoding buzz words.

FINANCIAL LITERACY: BUY LOW. SELL HIGH. Mr. Scharfenberg Students will be given an overview of the financial markets, products, and strategies while exploring stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and investment strategies. The class will look at how to evaluate investment opportunities and will engage in stock market simulations.

WINTERMISSION CATALOG 7

MONDAY — FRIDAY CLASS PERIOD 1 CLASS PERIOD 2

10:00 AM — 12:00 PM 1:30 PM — 3:30 PM

FOXCROFT: THE BOARD GAME Ms. Young

and loops, while using these to build their own interactive web page.

NAVIGATING DIGITAL INFORMATION Ms. Bowser

Students will begin by exploring the aesthetic and game play of classic board games. How do they reflect popular culture or social power structures of their time?

Consider the Foxcroft experience. What important aspects of our culture should be represented in a board game about our school? Using The Innovation Lab and our own artistic acumen, by Friday, we will have a board game that encompasses the Foxcroft experience and can be played by anyone in the community.

MAKING A JOYFUL NOISE: SONGWRITING Mr. McCarty

How often have you found yourself saying “I read it online somewhere”? Do you ever wonder why your teachers don’t want you to cite Wikipedia in a paper? Is it ever ok to just cite “Google” for the answer to a search?

How can you know who is telling the truth when anyone with 30 minutes can make a snazzy website or copy a legitimate news site? In this class, we will be answering all of those questions, and more!

JAVASCRIPT CRASH COURSE Mr. Hales

Carrying out a mission could be daunting, but by finding the appropriate resources, reaching out to our inner self, and dipping into our courage and ingenuity, we can successfully execute that mission.

Through the production of a movie, and based on real life situations, the students will propose the challenge, look at the possible obstacles and, using their unique skills, find ways for the team to accomplish the MISSION.

JavaScript is a high-level and accessible programming language that is in high demand for web developers.

When combined with HTML (for structure) and CSS (for style), JavaScript enables the interactivity that drives web pages like Instagram, Gmail, and Amazon. Students will learn fundamental JavaScript programming concepts such as variables, functions, conditional statements,

We will discuss the basic elements of song structure and how a song is composed.

The bulk of the class will be spent collaborating in making music and writing original songs. Knowledge of music theory is not required. Ability to play an instrument would be nice, but is not necessary.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Sra. Sànchez & Sra. Riestra

SELF-DEFENSE AT JUSTIN LOUGH JIU-JITSU Dr. Mueller In this class students will learn basic self-defense moves based on the martial art of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Each day we will travel to Purcellville for a two hour class led by black belt Justin Lough and his wife, brown belt Kristi Lough.

No previous experience is required.

Wintermission Travel SPACE CAMP

Ms. Szymendera & Ms. Ellie

Travel to the largest research park in America.

At the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s Advanced Space Academy in Huntsville, AL, students will experience a variety of astronaut training exercises, engineering challenges, and team-building activities throughout the week.

The camp culminates in an extended-duration simulated space mission.

See the myFoxcroft “Travel Opportunities” tile for deadlines, application information, and associated costs.

22407 Foxhound Lane Middleburg, VA 20117

www.foxcroft.org

540.687.5555 admission@foxcroft.org