By Abby Formella, Assistant Director of Digital and Brand Communications, and Mary Beth Lambert, Director of Marketing and Communications

During January intensives, students engage in the same course all day long for three weeks. “The objectives are to increase student focus and depth of study; increase opportunities for interdisciplinary study; remove barriers to off-campus learning experiences; and unleash the creativity of our faculty and students,” said Ed Billingslea, assistant head of school for academics.

All of the 31 courses, listed below, provided students with opportunities to hear from guest speakers, engage in off-campus learning experiences, and create student-led projects and presentations that enhance their level of engagement.

Our intensives curriculum also provides time for our eleventh and twelfth graders to participate in and complete a required Launchpad. LaunchPad is a real-world experience that offers students the opportunity to step outside of the classroom and work in an environment that speaks to their personal passions and/or to their professional, vocational, or academic curiosities. This January, students studied women in criminal justice, adolescent psychology, neuropharmacology, architectural modeling, graphic design, and more. 

Below, we invited teachers to share their learning objectives for their intensive and students to share their learnings from four of these intensives. 

Robotics Programming

“In this course, students learn simple coding that allows robots to complete complex actions like navigate an obstacle course or dance to music. They actually get to see their coding come to life in real time! It’s an extremely hands-on course that gets students up out of their chairs and working collaboratively. Students also learn about robotics in the real world and take field trips to see industrial robots in action. One highlight of the course is a trip to Airbus, where students get a closer look at robots designed to construct airplanes.” –Arthur Watson, computer science teacher and intensive teacher 

“During the first two weeks of the intensive, students learn to code two different types of robots using Blockly, a platform that introduces students to coding by dragging and dropping blocks. They begin with the Finch Robot, and work in small groups to program it to complete a maze and play a game, among other tasks. Finch is equipped with high-tech light and obstacle sensors, full color LED lights, a line-tracker, and more. During week two, the students explore CoDrone EDU, a programmable drone made for learning about flight and robotics. The students work together to code CoDrone to complete an obstacle course, follow a certain path, and perform an autonomous flying show. In the final week, students code robots using Python (a high-level programming language). This introduction to Python gives the students a sneak peek at Computer Science I [an Upper School computer science course.]”  –Jonathan Delgado, academic technology coordinator and intensive teacher

“It was a really fun and very challenging class. I love the intensive format because I don’t feel rushed. We had a lot of time to try new things and explore. It was my first time coding and using robots and I learned so much.” –Noah B., 7th grade student

“I’ve coded a lot before. I signed up for this intensive so that I could spend all day doing something I love!” –Ethan F., 7th grade student 

Film Photography

“In this course, students take a deep dive into the world of film and darkroom photography. Students learn how to load a film camera, shoot their photos with proper exposure, develop film, and print a high-quality photo in the darkroom. We also take field trips to shoot photos in locations around the Seattle area. For their final project, students choose a theme or topic and print a five to 10-image portfolio, complete with an artist statement.” –Isabel Hartmann, photography/filmmaking teacher and intensive teacher

“My favorite part about this intensive was how I was able to see myself rapidly gain confidence and skill in developing photos—something I had never done before—in such a short period of time. I also loved getting to photograph whatever I wanted and finding my own creative style. One thing that I took away from the experience is that developing film is all about trial and error. Not once did I ever get the perfect result right off the bat. I learned that you really need to go into it with patience and be willing to accept your mistakes, because there will be lots of them! At the end of the day, it’s the time and attention to detail that makes the final product so rewarding.” —Carmel B., 12th grade student
 

“I loved taking photos with a film camera, and while I was not able to preview or delete any photos I took before printing them, it was cool and surprising to see the end result. From processing film in a dark room to developing and fixing film, it was such a fun learning experience, and I would definitely do it again. I had an amazing teacher and helpful peers who were always there to support one another!” —Reagan D., 11th grade student 

Advanced Topics in Physics: Electricity and Magnetism (E&M)

“This intensive introduces students to electricity and magnetism. The main topics covered in this class are electrostatics (electric force, field, and potential), electric circuits, magnetism, and electromagnetic induction. The class relies on a combination of problem-solving, simulations, and hands-on labs to give students a mathematical and conceptual understanding of the topics at hand. We live in a digital age, especially after COVID and the rise of Zoom and working from home. Companies and researchers are working to push us even farther into a digital age (a good example of this is Mark Zuckerberg’s work on the Metaverse). Discovering how to harness electricity was the first step in getting to where we are today. Understanding how electricity and magnetism work and how they interact gives students a better understanding of how the world around them works. This kind of knowledge could allow students to fix, improve, and invent new devices that could transform technology. Being familiar with the basic principles of electromagnetism can also be useful in an age where misinformation is so prevalent.” –Alexa Lansberry, science teacher and intensive teacher

“This intensive has been a really great introduction to electricity and magnetism, which will be very helpful in college. I’m interested in pursuing mechanical engineering. As a result of taking this intensive, a lot of my understanding of electricity and magnetism, especially the conceptual side, has been completely turned upside down. I’ve learned how currents operate and how batteries actually just force currents to continue (instead of somehow adding to the current or charge, as I had previously thought). I’ve learned about how potential energy works within electricity and magnetism, and how it compares to potential energy within physics (mechanics). In general, I didn’t expect it to mirror mechanics so well. A lot of the equations are pretty structurally similar to those used in mechanics, meaning that in learning about electricity and magnetism, I’ve been able to kind of recap what I learned last year in physics.” –Sofia P., 12th grade student 

“I’ve always had a strong interest in electronics, and during the pandemic I gravitated towards electrical engineering. When I was given the opportunity to take E&M as an intensive, I was immediately on board. I knew I had made the right choice on the first day when Mrs. Lansberry taught us to calculate the acceleration of charged particles and the strength of electric fields. After just two weeks in the class, I’ve learned to solve for potential energy, capacitance, resistance, and more. I was happy to find that the class offered a similar amount of rigor to quantitative physics, supplemented with lots of interactive labs. As an aspiring electrical engineer, everything I learn in E&M feels like a step into my future!” –Jack B., 12th grade student 

Yes and…Making Theatre with Improv

“This class develops confidence, flexibility, adventurousness, and performance skills through the medium and playfulness of improv theatre. The ability to improvise–working with what you have, responding to changing circumstances and going with the flow–is a skill that is as applicable to daily life as it is to theatre. This class uses two classic forms of improvisation, games and long-form, to explore character development, build the ability to think quickly and respond readily to prompts, and learn to tell a story in an improvisatory way.”  –Meleesa Wyatt, fine arts teacher and intensive teacher

“I used to think improv was all silly, but after taking this class, I know that it can also be a lot more serious. One of the concepts that we studied was the Theatre of the Oppressed. With this technique, audience members are invited to participate in a scene where they feel a character is oppressed or lacking power and improvise an alternative solution. Ms. Wyatt asked us to try this concept using the word ‘isolation.’” –Isaac L., 8th grade student

“I really enjoyed the field trips that we took to UVillage and Pike Place Market. Our assignment was to watch people and pay attention to how they stand, their mannerisms, and how they interact with others and then consider how we can incorporate that into our characters. It made me realize how fascinating people are! As a new student to UPrep, this class provided me with an opportunity to develop trust and be vulnerable with the other students in the class. It has been great to laugh together.”–Lucy P., 8th grade student

To learn more about UPrep’s intensives, check out this 2021 video, and this article by teacher Brian Johnson.