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DNA Science, Debate, and Piano – three new Portals – will debut this summer or the last ten years, the Hotchkiss Summer Program and the study “portals” within it have informed and complemented the mission and values of the School by serving as an incubator for innovative curricula and exciting new initiatives in pedagogy. “As Portals enters its second decade in June 2013,” says Director of Summer Programs Stephen McKibben, “it remains committed to the model of distinctive educational programming and exceptional teaching for which it traditionally has been known. “Ten years ago, for example, very few schools had Environmental Science programs for middle-school students that allowed them to engage in field-based scientific research,” he says, “and the Hotchkiss Environmental Science Portal was the only summer program that offered an integrated three-year curriculum that prepared students to conduct original, independent research. “Similarly, the pedagogical vision for the Hotchkiss Chamber Music Portal – a professional chamber music in residence supplemented by three (one per week), internationally-renowned visiting chamber music quartets –was sui generis, unlike any other music program in the country.” That pioneering spirit of exceptional programming and distinctive teaching continues today. The 2012 Summer Program saw the introduction of the inaugural Leadership and Social Change Portal, a unique, transdisciplinary curriculum integrating training in narrative techniques, mindful leadership, nonviolent communication, and conflict transformation. And 2013 will see the introduction of three new Portals: DNA Science, Debate, and Piano.
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LEFT: Portals Summer Program students practice yoga by the lake. BELOW: The Leadership and Social Change cohort, with Yale Dean of Undergraduate Admission Jeffrey Brenzel to the right, were photographed atop Lion's Head.