Experiential Learning Catalog 2019-2020

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ARIANAPOLIS

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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING 2019-2020

The Experiential Learning (EL) Program is an exciting chance for students to create lifelong friendships while experiencing truly unique learning opportunities. In tandem with the goals of the Marianapolis mission statement, this program is designed to reflect a richness of a broad spectrum of interests. The program offers multiple day trips around New England during the school year, primarily on Sundays.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Fall Semester September October November December

Spring Semester January February April May TBD

FALL SEMESTER

Photo by S. Hargrave ’21

September 15 Goat Yoga

Goat Yoga is not your usual yoga class! Don’t expect a Zen atmosphere. Do expect, poses amidst smiles and joy! So bring your Earth-loving attitude, stretch out your stressors and enjoy Mother Nature! Goat Yoga is about putting down our daily worries and focusing on gratitude and positive things in life. And that my friend, is good medicine.

September 22 Ardelle Seafaring

Haul the sails, cast off the lines, and head out on an adventure! You will spend the day exploring Cape Ann as a crewmember on board the traditional Gloucester fishing schooner Ardelle. On board, you will have opportunities to participate in all areas of shipboard life: plotting courses, hauling sails, tying knots, and handling the vessel; learning leadership and seamanship skills; working as a team to achieve goals. If weather and sea conditions allow, you’ll voyage to a near-shore island and investigate the area’s maritime heritage and marine ecology. This is a completely hands-on seafaring and sail training program!

September 22 Sport Fishing

Students will have the great experience of sport fishing while focusing on science at the same time. Have you ever wanted to learn about the fish you caught? Now, you can! Fishermen and women will work together with an instructor to identify the fish caught, learn about species, the form and function of fish, and fish ecology.

September 29 Dream Catcher Workshop

Join Cynthia Saari for an afternoon of creativity and deeper understanding of Native American history while creating your very own dream catcher! In Native American culture, dream catchers consist of a round hoop (often made of willow wood) woven with a loose web of yarn and decorated with beads and feathers representing a spider’s web. Symbolically, a dream catcher uses the first rays of the morning light to make the bad dreams caught during the night disappear. No bad dreams!

October 6 Rock Climbing

Students will enjoy learning from guides provided by the Eastern Mountain School in North Conway, New Hampshire. “The Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing School was started in Boston in 1968, and currently has 4 major locations and 7 satellite locations throughout the East, making it the oldest and largest climbing school in the eastern U.S.� Climbing classes are for all levels and are geared toward fun and safety. So sign up and enjoy the view from the top! http://www.emsoutdoors.com/rock-climbing/

October 6 White Water Rafting

Experience the thrill of white water rafting on this day-long trip!

With certified guides, you will learn how to paddle your way through various classes of rapids on Millers River in Northern Massachusetts.

Please note: This event is only open to students who are experienced swimmers.

Date: October 19 New England Science & Sailing

Work as a team to sail around Stonington Harbor (CT) using the wind’s powerful energy. Climb aboard a 23’ Sonar sailboat with a New England Science & Sailing captain and learn to rig, steer, trim sails, and safely navigate a keelboat through the water. Identify the physics behind sailing, simple machines, and basic navigation while exploring local ecosystems.

Draft, design, engineer, and compete to build a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to successfully travel underwater. Investigate properties of buoyancy, pressure, density, and the differences of hydrodynamic shapes and sizes. Experience the challenges of working with a design team including communication, budgeting, and real-world material limitations. Analyze the ROV’s effectiveness including maneuverability, speed, and completion of tasks through in-water simulations.

October 20 Bogging for Berries

Tart, red, and quintessentially New England, there is nary a table at Thanksgiving that doesn’t serve up this very traditional berry as part of a holiday menu. Learn about it! Go out and be a grower at Mayflower Cranberries! This experience is an opportunity to put on some waders and join the grower in the bog helping with the harvest. Students will also have the opportunity to walk onto the bog and touch the cranberry vines, learn about the history of the industry, growing practices, and see the technology and equipment used in modern cranberry growing.

October 27 Glass Pumpkin Blowing

Get a taste of the ancient art of glassblowing in a guided experience with expert glassblowers. Be creative with colors or go naturalistic as you learn safety, studio etiquette, and then how to gather glass out of a 2100 degree furnace, blow, and shape. Students’ work will be delivered after they have cooled in an annealing oven.

October 27 Special Effects & Hollywood Makeup

Delve into the art of theatrical and cinematic makeup. You’ll learn skills in casting, facial anatomy, and physiology while bringing creatures and characters to life. Throughout the process, whether adding aged wrinkles, alien scales, or gory wounds, you’ll reinforce your abilities to conceive and execute special effects makeup.

October 27 Digital Drawings: Logos & Mascots

The Albuquerque Isotopes, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, and Pawtucket Red Sox are baseball teams where the experience is enhanced with clever design. Snappy names, funny mascots, and colorful logos help sell that experience. Students will use Adobe Illustrator to design the graphic identity of an imaginary sports team. The instructor will guide them through the technology and branding decisions that lead to the delivery of two pieces of original art: a logo and a mascot graphic. The skills they will learn are easily adapted for non-sports logo design projects.

October 27 Fashion Forward: Kimono

Central to the idea of apparel design are silhouettes, patterns, and materials. These three components define what “style� is. In this course, students explore a specific geographic culture and form, the Japanese kimono, and combine it with an inexpensive and versatile prototyping medium, paper. Working first from drawings and style boards, students end the session building a kimono model of a quarter scale dress form. Lessons in craftsmanship, visualization, pattern-making, adhesion, and fastening offer a glimpse into a cultural tradition that is unfamiliar but fascinating.

October 27 Drawing: Animal Anatomy

There is no better way to understand observational drawing than to examine the planes and contours of human and animal skeletons.

In RISD’s Edna Lawrence Nature Lab that becomes a practical reality. Students in this course are introduced to the tools and techniques of dry media rendering as they choose specimens from the collection and use them as models to learn drawing methods.

Biology objectives are also met as students learn from an instructor with passion and knowledge of both science and art.

November 10 Winter Seal Watch & Lab

Get excited about the winter blues! The blue of the ocean and the sky are yours for enjoying when you visit the Sound’s famous residents! The seals are back for the season and you can go out to view them and learn more about them! Marianapolis students have the opportunity to travel on board of Project O to seal watch and, when back on dry land, participate in a lab. Project O is a nationally recognized marine science research institution. Their inquiry-based programs reinforce sciences and an appreciation for our great world. www.oceanology.org/

SPRING SEMESTER

January 12 Glass Bead Making

When meeting Cynthia Saari one is left with the impression of having simply met someone “cool.� And then, when you look upon her creations, you are blown away by the beauty and distinction that is her work. A local artist and college professor with a national reputation in glass bead making, Cynthia has graciously opened her studio and extended herself to allow Marianapolis students the opportunity to learn from someone who is truly gifted. Visit www. clsaari.com to view not only her impressive resume but also her beautiful creations.

January 12 Forging

Hand forged beauty. Michael Saari ’75 is an artist with over 25 years of experience in forging. His works have been installed in both businesses and private homes across the globe. Starstruck fact: This master forger has been asked to compete on the History Channel show Forged in Fire! Students will learn the basics of blacksmithing and return to campus with their very own hand-forged creations!

Please visit his website at http://www.michaelsaari.com/about.htm to learn and view more about him and his works.

February 2 Ice Climbing

Students described this EL Event as “Life changing, bucket list great.” You too can experience this life-changing endeavor! Can you imagine yourself facing a wall of ice and saying, “I wonder what the view from the top looks like?” That view is yours for the taking as you learn the sport of ice climbing with certified guides through Eastern Mountain Sports.

February 9 Basket Weaving

Discover the ancient craft of basket weaving. The weaving of baskets is as old as the history of man. “As explorers arrived in new lands, they traded goods. The goods were contained in basketsthus, as the recipient of the goods looked over the basket, he/she then applied that technique to the materials of their own land. This explains how so many Asian techniques- like hexagonal weavesare found in European baskets, and how European techniques were then carried over to the Americas.� You will be able to create your very own basket to take home and use during this afternoon workshop!

February 16 Learn How to Throw

How exciting it is to see a pot rise from the potter’s wheel as it spins and you learn to squeeze and gently shape a vessel. In this experience, students will learn to center clay on the potter’s wheel and to pull and shape it into a bowl or cup. The group will decide on glaze and students’ work will be fired after the workshop.

February 23 All Things Chocolate

Chocolate! Yum!!! Did you know that the Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, and the seeds once had so much value that they were used as a form of currency? You may be more interested in how to turn cocoa into delicious treats‌and that is exactly the opportunity that awaits you in this program.

April 5 Puppetry

Historically, toy theaters were popular in staging operas and large theatre productions in miniature, but they are still a very vibrant style of puppetry today. Students will learn about the history of toy theaters, have the chance to build simple toy theaters of their own, and learn how this form of puppetry can be a powerful and entertaining way to tell stories. Held at The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry on the Storrs campus of the University of Connecticut. You can learn more on their website.

Date: TBD Introduction to SCUBA

Have you ever wondered what it is like to breathe underwater?

Have you ever thought how cool it could be to explore the earth’s oceans? Sign up for an amazing experience with instructors from Central Mass SCUBA. No experience is required and this class will be tailored to suit beginners. Central Mass SCUBA has been training people for years in SCUBA Certification. Although you won’t be able to get certified in one evening, you may discover a passion and have certification as your goal in the years to come!

Please note: Although no prior SCUBA experience is needed, you must know how to swim to partake in this activity.