JUA Product Selected as 'Featured Content'

I use a slide show hosting site called SlideShare to host all of the presentations that students made for their final projects. I just received the following message from the editorial team at SlideShare:

"Hi! Your presentation 'Redefining Fashion Final Project' is currently being showcased on the Fashion and Beauty page by our editorial team. It is likely to remain there for the next 16-20 hours."

Nice work to the Redefining Fashion group - your work has been selected as feature content!

To find out more about the Redefining Fashion group visit their blog or see their presentation being featured over at the SlideShare Fashion and Beauty page.

Reflections

There is a tremendous amount of activity going on right now, mostly reflection, commenting and posting.

A couple of quotes stand out:

• "I learned something very valuable from this man, that you can't judge whether a person is eco-friendly or not by looking at them."
• "I liked the survey because it kind of took me out of my comfort zone and made me do something that I wouldn't normally do outside of my JUA experience."
• "The excitement to do community service is what the Boston Bruins are about. Not only do they participate in it but they love doing it. Bob Sweeny stopped by to tell us about the community service work he did. He told us that no matter what he did, he enjoyed it. It was a life changing experience!"

Dig into the group blogs (see links to the right) to see these comments and the more than 180 others that our students, parents, alumni and other guests have left.

What's Next?

Here is the plan for Wednesday:

Wednesday Morning

• All students and faculty in class as normal

Wednesday Afternoon

• Everyone meet in small groups from 1-4pm. Group leaders please let your group know where you will be meeting before we leave Boston
  
• Students review assessment rubric and expectations
  
• Students complete and return program feedback forms
• Finish any blogging that still needs to happen
  
• Work on final project
• Final project is due emailed to Mr. Mundahl by 4:00pm Wednesday afternoon.
  
• Staff meeting 4:00pm in the Master Classroom

Friday at school meeting will be the celebration, slide show and sharing of highlights from the best final projects.

All final projects that meet the minimum posting expectations will be published on your group blogs.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please let me know!

Updates

Groups are done blogging for the morning and are now heading out again for lunch and afternoon learning blocks.

• Great recap on the Athletics & Service blog about their discussion with the Outreach Coordinator for the New England Patriots
• Thoughtful reflection on the Discovering Justice Web site regarding their visit yesterday to the Nashua Street Jail
• Redefining Fashion did a hands on activity yesterday on the differences between different brands - read about it and see the slide show over on their blog

Nice work everyone!

Teachable Moments

We plan and prepare for the JUA for months. Our leaders arrange meaningful meetings, interviews and experiences for our students. Then when we get to Boston we prepare and debrief each experience carefully including blog posts and other reflections.

And then sometimes an experience is waiting for us right outside the hotel and we have to stop everything and have a teachable moment.

That happened to the Power of Music group this morning when they came back from breakfast. It turns out there are union protesters outside the hotel picketing because non-union labor was used in the renovations that are going on here.

As we speak the group is interviewing the picketers and getting a quick intro to union politics and history. Later I think they are planning to create their own music from their experience.

Sometimes we plan and prepare, but other times the most powerful learning experiences are literally waiting for us outside our own door.

Power of Music

Ms. Finer was all set to go out with the Power of Music group this year. She had designed an incredible program for this crew and arranged meetings with several people here in Boston. Just days before the trip she broke her ankle and was unable to come down with us to Boston.

She has been an avid contributor to the groups through our online tools, however and tweeted last night to wonder how the PoM group was doing.

Ms. Shepp (who stepped in to guide the group after Ms. Finer was on the injured list) reports a big day yesterday. The group visited the Berklee College of Music where they spoke with an Assistant Professor to discuss lyric writing and the power of words and metaphors in language. After hearing about the theory side they traveled to the headquarters of WUMB a folk radio station hosted on the campus of UMass Boston.

There they learned about the power music has in the real world from a political and financial point of view. The conversation also discussed how rap music is today's 'folk' music of protest.

Not done yet, the group played at an open mic and had dinner.

Read more about their travels, adventures and reflections over at their group blog I think they are due to update it this morning.

So to answer Ms. Finer's original question I'd have to say, "pretty darn good."

First Day in Review

Posts are rolling in as groups return to the hotel, rest up, and reflect on their experiences from the day.

• Check out the Immigration blog to watch their sweet day 1 Vlog
• Going Green has a post about their visit to a green hotel and conference center
• Powerful Images has an interesting post with links to information about censorship and media bias

More posts will be coming in tonight and tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Learning Blocks Begin

Well - we made it down, despite the bad weather and delayed start!

Right now groups are doing a couple of things. Most of the groups are out on learning blocks. I just touched base with Ms. McEvoy's Athletics & Service group who is doing a teaching block in the conference room as they prepare for their person on the street interviews.
Ms. Frame's Discovering Justice group just got back from the Nashua Street Prison where they had a very enlightening look at one side of the criminal justice system.

I'll keep you posted as more groups roll in.

Weather Update

Update Monday Morning: The National Weather Service has upgraded the Hazardous Weather Outlook to a Weather Advisory. We will have a 1-hour delay. Please meet in the Dining Hall at 8:00am and check in with your group.

The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for tomorrow morning predicting about an inch of snow and some rain with temperatures above freezing in Boston.

At this time a Weather Advisory has not been issued.

Although the roads will be a little slick, the temperatures look to be above freezing so we proceed as planned.

If a Weather Advisory is issued I will update you on our plan possibly including a one hour delay in departure. At the current time that is not the plan, but I will keep you posted.

Pre Trip Engagement Statistics

Sometimes it is hard to judge the level of engagement with a big experiential education program like the Junior Urban Adventure. I know that each of the teachers and senior leaders is anxious and excited at the moment and I've had many students approach me directly to tell me how excited they are.

(click the map to see it full size, countries in green have visited our blogs)

But I was asking myself, is it possible to quantify just how engaged our students, teachers and senior leaders are with the program at the moment? It turns out we can - and I can say I'm pretty darn impressed. Here then are some pre-trip engagement stats.

• 44 - The number of comments our students have left on posts on their group blogs
• 335 - The number of visits the JUA Portal (the site you are reading now) has seen since the JUA started heating up
• 11 - The number of countries we are drawing visits from. Our friends, family, colleagues and other educators and students from around the world are paying attention to what you are about to do.
• 1300 - The number of times group blogs have been visited
• 12 - The average number of minutes our visitors from the Philippines spend checking out our blogs

It's pretty exciting to see just how engaged our community is - and we haven't even headed down to Boston yet!

Pre Departure Logistics

Welcome To Your JUA

View more presentations from Hans Mundahl.

Well folks - the JUA is here! We meet at 7:00am Monday morning in the dining hall to take attendance and depart! Before we go there are a few logistical things we need to review.

First check out the slide show above - it's the same one I gave in School Meeting today.

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers:

• What should I bring? Click here to view the packing list.
• What is the standards of dress? Click here to read about Business Casual.
• What group am I in? Click here to view the final group list.
  
• Where we are staying? We are in a very nice hotel in Cambridge. For the purposes of Internet safety we're not publishing the exact location of our lodgings here. If you want to find out more please let me know!
• How will I be graded? The JUA is graded Pass / Pass with honors / Fail and appears on your report card. Click here to find out more.
• What kind of safety and supervision policies are in place for the trip? Click here to see our safety policies.
  
• Who will my roommate be? How many roommates will I have? There are four people to a room with two queen size beds. You will be with three other people from your group in single gender rooms. You may not visit the room or floor of the opposite gender.
  
• I don't see my question here, what should I do? Click here to read the FAQ or give Mr. Mundahl a call (603) 677-3546.

Staff and senior leaders are very excited and have been preparing and meeting and planning for weeks now. It is going to be a great trip!

Final Project Assessment

The JUA is graded Pass / Pass with Honors / Fail and appears on student progress reports.

Assessment for the JUA has two components:

• Individual performance
• Group final product

The overall goal of the course assessment is to communicate the behaviors, values and outcomes we would like from our students and help drive them to better outcomes.

Individual Performance
Students will be graded individually on a 1-3 rubric in the following categories:

• Pre-course work
• On-course work
• Post-course work

Group Final Product
The goal of the group product is to communicate not only what students did on the JUA but also what they learned in a polished and compelling fashion. The group final product will be graded on a 1-5 rubric in the following categories:

The final group product will:

• Explain what the group did on the JUA
• Examine an issue from multiple (at least 3) perspectives
• Describe specific responses to perspectives students personally disagree with

The product will be:

• In a format that is sharable on line
• Well organized
• Mechanically (grammar, spelling) well edited
• Original (any music or photos are either created by the group or fulfill a specific purpose)
• Dynamic, interesting and creative
• Created by the whole group
• Accompanied by list of works cited
• Accompanied by 10 photos for the end of program slide show

Grading Process
Individual and group scores will be assessed by the faculty and senior leaders.

Individual and group scores will then be combined to determine Pass / Pass with Honors / Fail for each individual based on the following formula:

(Individual Performance / 21) * 100 = Individual Grade
(Group Product / 50) * 100 = Group Grade
(Individual Grade + Group Grade) / 2 = Final Grade

Final Grade:
0 - 60: Fail
61 - 80: Pass
81 - 100: Pass with Honors

Final Group List

Click the image above to view full size. Pardon the check boxes, they are for taking attendance.

First Group Meetings

JUA Groups met today for the first time - we had brief announcements as a class and then split off.

Here's what groups did today:

• Got fired up for the program
• Reviewed course plan
• Reviewed course expectations
• Checked out the group blogs (available from the right sidebar)

Some of the groups even started learning about the topic they are going to be studying in Boston. For example the group Redefining Fashion met with Jamie McKinnon, the NHS snowboarding coach who designs and creates his own line of outdoor clothing.

Here are a few pictures of their meeting:

We're off to a great start!

Business Casual

The dress standard for the JUA is known as Business Casual to match the standard of dress in most of the businesses, offices and places we will be visiting in Boston.

Gentlemen:

• Button down shirt
• Tie optional
• Jacket or nice sweater
• Khakis
• Shoes (not sneakers)
  

Ladies:

• Blouse
• Slacks or skirt
• Shoes (not sneakers)

The reason we dress in Business Casual is to put our best foot forward as we interact with the public, the businesses and the professionals who are giving us their valuable time. It is also a good opportunity to practice dressing as the professionals you will one day become.

What should I bring?

Here is the list of things to bring on the JUA:

Things you should bring:
• Warm clothes
• Corporate Casual clothes as you might wear to a job interview
• Long underwear
• Hat, mittens and scarf
• Rain jacket
• Comfortable shoes for walking

• Toiletries
• Watch
• Cell phone

• Notebook and pen
• One laptop per group with wireless
• One digital camera or camera phone per group
• Backpack or school bag

Optional things to bring:
• A small amount of extra money for souvenirs and evening programs
• Musical instrument
• Cards / books for free time
• One nice outfit (required for some groups)

Things you shouldn’t bring:
• Sleeping bag or towel (all linens provided)
• Large amounts of money
• Excessive electronics or other valuable personal property
• Drugs, alcohol or cigarettes

Course Sign Up's

Hi folks - on Friday at School Meeting you will have the opportunity to sign up for the course you would like to take on the JUA. Here is how it will work:

• Indicate your first, second and third choice courses
• If you don't see something you like, put down your idea as your first choice, we'll see what we can do
• Write down your name and pass it in!

I will do my best to give everyone their first or second choice and I'll let you know the course rosters next week.

Thank you!

Draft Course Descriptions

Hi folks - here are the course descriptions! (Revised 1/29)

Animal Rights
Ms. Kang & Casey Simkunas
Scientific research using live animal subjects has produced important advances in medicine. But is it morally acceptable for humans to exploit, torture and ultimately kill animals for our own benefit? This course will explore animals rights from the points of view of animal awareness, the necessity of research and computer simulations that may make animal testing unnecessary.

Athletics and Service
Ms. McEvoy & Leanne Galletly
Professional athletes are often assumed to behave poorly in their personal lives. Since they have the tendency to become pop icons they often get away with unacceptable behavior. But does the reality match the image? This course will explore athletics and service from the points of view of athletes doing community service by force to save their public personas, the positive impact of authentic service through athletics and the value of service as a marketing tool.

Buy Now, Pay Later!
Ms. Farr-Williams & Jade Zhang
Is it acceptable to spend more money than we really have? The answer might be a simple ‘no’ when it comes to a new TV, but the question becomes more difficult when we consider college loans, or your first car. This course will consider personal credit financing from the points of view of college loans, credit history and how banks make choices about who to lend money to.

Discovering Justice
Ms. Frame & Rob Collins
Illegal drug use and the misuse of legal drugs has profound affects not only on individuals, but also on our society as a whole. This course will explore the issue of drug abuse and justice from the points of view of the perceived acceptability of some types of drug abuse, how the police system handles youth drug offenders and how the courts treat young minority youth.

Food and Culture
Ms. Guardenier & Jess Epstein
Many people in the United States seem to take food for granted. Yet when we look closer we see that food has deep meaning from the points of view of socioeconomic status, religious traditions and other cultural influences. Why do people fast? How does education influence dietary choices and health? This group will explore these issues and more. Warning: to participate in this group you must be willing to step out of your culinary comfort zone!

Going Green
Ms. Hanley & Evan Litsios
The choices we make every day relate to our impact on the earth as global citizens. In Boston, ‘green’ businesses may create new opportunities, while other businesses may be regulated out of existence. This course will explore going green from the points of view of green businesses making a positive impact on the earth, the downside of a greener economy, and the powerlessness many feel about their ability to create lasting change.

Immigration and the English Language
Mr. Quintero & Brian Shin
Although English is not the official language of the United States it creates a significant language barrier to new immigrants. On the other hand English may be diminishing in importance as America becomes a more ‘global’ nation. This course will explore immigration and the English language from the points of view of encouraging multi-lingual education, making English the official and required language for America and the melting pot theory of assimilation.

Powerful Images
Ms. Wilson & Jordan Elliot-King
Imagery surrounds us all day long. Although we try to filter it, we are still influenced by it. It finds its way into the depths of who we are and shapes our thoughts, beliefs, and desires. This course will explore the power of images from the points of view of censorship, political and commercial imagery, and art.

The Power of Music
Ms. Finer & Max Harris
At times there are social and political conditions that are unacceptable. Singers, rappers and musicians who play music in protest of war, injustice or corruption can bring unique attention and action to the causes they believe in. This course will explore the power of music from the points of view of historical issues and songs, the qualities of enduring protest songs, and modern issues and the artists who protest.

Redefining Fashion
Ms. Freeborn, Ms. Shepp, Molly Masland & Meg Dunne
Being ‘fashionable’ is a means of self expression and also an impossible treadmill of packaged products and fast moving trends. This course will explore how we can redefine fashion from the points of view of wealth and high fashion, fashion extremes such as cosmetic surgery and liposuction, and the impossible ideals portrayed by the fashion industry.

College Fit
Sally Smith
This course will explore the importance of reflection and a thoughtful process when making a college choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Junior Urban Adventure?
The JUA is a learning expedition in Boston. JUA staff and senior leaders decide on a theme to direct students toward meaningful outcomes. Groups choose an issue and examine this issue from multiple perspectives including at least one that they may personally disagree with.

Under the guidance of a faculty member students explore their topic area by seeking out various galleries, exhibits, performances, buildings, individuals, historical sites, and other destinations in and around the city of Boston. Students collect multiple points of view and create their own meaning from these new inputs. Finally students share what they have learned with their peers in written, visual or oral formats.

When is the JUA?
This year it is March 23-25

What is the role of the Faculty and Senior Leaders?
Topic leaders are the heart and soul of this program. As a topic leader you will:
• Work alongside a senior
• Help students explore multiple points of view on your issue
• Meet with students before the experience to help them develop their research question
• Physically help guide your students through the city and guide them through a research process
• Be on free time duty in the evening
• Work with your department head to approve your participation and manage coverage for your duties at school while you are away

What do Juniors get to do?
The Juniors’ experience is the center of the JUA. Juniors will ask meaningful questions and try to answer them in Boston. Specifically Juniors complete a portfolio and present their findings to their peers. Above all students are asked to be respectful, responsible and have fun!

I heard some seniors are coming along too?
Yes, seniors who went last year are returning as Senior Leaders. They had a meaningful time last year and are making the JUA their Service Learning Project. Look to them for information, guidance and passion in their topic area.

Where are we staying in the city? Where do we eat?
All students and faculty will be staying at a hotel in the heart of the city. For safety purposes we're not advertising the location online. You will stay in hotel style rooms of up to four people. Boys and girls will stay in separate floors. Continental breakfast takes place in the morning. Lunch and dinner will happen on the fly in the city when it works for you. We'll provide you cash for this purpose.

What are the Juniors going to learn?
We expect the Juniors to come away with these outcomes:
• Investigate an area of interest in depth
• Interact with professionals in their field of interest, opening up possible avenues of creative career exploration.
• Direct their own course of investigation within your itinerary
• Reflect on their own skills as independent learners before and after the Urban Adventure
• Ask a meaningful question, formulate an answer and back up their answer with findings from their time in Boston

What is the JUA all about?

Considering real issues from multiple perspectives using powerful new tools is education that never goes out of style. That's what the JUA is all about.