A few tales of academics and TTS22 photos!

happy smiles

group shot

Math Concepts 

Young adults in today’s society face an enormous number of choices. Whether it is choosing colleges, jobs, credit cards or banks it is hard to know how to make the best decision. Math Concepts is a class designed to aid young adults in how to make future choices. Since mid-terms we have worked on building resumes and cover letters.  We worked on format, what to put on a resume and what not to put, active word selection as well as making sure all content fits on one page. The second part of this unit is the interview process.  After each student submitted her resume to a company for a job, she was called in to meet with the potential employer (Brenna and Sylvia) for an interview.  To prep, the girls practiced how to speak during a formal interview; focusing on what words are acceptable and what filler words should be avoided (like, um, and then, ahhh) as well as nonverbal body language. The girls also learned how to dress appropriately. We videoed each of the girls and had them watch the replay, noticing how they spoke and what their body language said to the employer. In the next couple weeks we will be working with macro and micro economics and the World Trade Organization.  Girls will work on presentations of the three main countries we travel in and the type of economic structure each one implements. We will also study how global economics affects them in the U.S.

Class under a tree - Namibian desert

Travel Journalism

Photos, photos, photos!  The past couple weeks have been all about photos!  The girls have worked hard at shooting different aspects for landscapes, portraits and action shots. The owner and marketing manager of the Orange River kayak company helped us develop a TJ competition for our four day float. On the trip the girls documented their day for a potential website travel article. The competition was two-fold – a promotional travel article and an eye capturing photograph.  This was a great place for the girls to have a chance writing for a deadline. The students had their cameras and notepads out at every moment documenting the various aspects of the river trip.  In the end it was Eleanor with the winning photo and Hannah with the winning article.  The second half of the semester lends itself to some beautiful photography opportunities including Dune 45, deserted diamond mining towns, the Namibian desert and San villages. The final feature article will be tailored to each student’s individual experience in Africa and something she learned or felt passionate about during the semester. After returning home, this article will be submitted to various publications with three supporting photos. The last part of the semester is captivating as the girls are close to one another and are now comfortable talking to people they meet and traveling through different cultures. By the end of the semester the girls understand and know the importance of forming a relationship before taking a photo and what types of questions to ask to gather information.  We expect to see some powerful articles in the end.

Physical Education

Surf's up

As Big Blue’s wheels rolled out of Cape Town we decided there must be an end of semester goal for the whole group- a goal we could all work towards which would benefit us all as well as give us unique fun moments in Africa.  After some thought I suggested we focus on running, though never everyone's favorite it would be beneficial to the girls to have a sense of conquering and completion.  So we decided to set a goal of running five miles non-stop by the end of the semester.  Just a day out of Cape Town we started at 6:15 in the morning. Instead of climbing into the truck after packing up camp, we started running down the road. The memories, sense of accomplishment and energy the girls had in the early African morning running down the open road was a great start and we ran 40 minutes until Papa and Big Blue appeared on the horizon to pick us up.  It is amazing what a big goal and stepping stones of accomplishment can do for the energy of the group. The iLife curriculum is now focused on how students do in a leadership position. The girls have to be chieflet and wing for one day and organize and direct the whole group.  This can be tough, because as chieflet a student is the voice of the group. She works with a teacher and makes the daily schedule and adjusts for any changes throughout the day. The student chieflet is supported by her wing, a student co-leader who helps facilitate the days activities. These leadership positions can be intimidating as the girls find it difficult to be in charge of their friends.  It is a good learning experience because often in life your peers are also your co-workers and learning how to balance a good tone with work and friendships is valuable. Sarah and Mara were the first two student chieflets and were followed by team Lindsay and Emilee. Both pairs set a high standard and were good models for the rest of the girls.