Enrichment Electives
As a complement to students’ academic and therapeutic programing, Milestones provides exciting electives for students throughout the year. Some electives include: Chess, creative writing, art and music history, documentary analysis, school pride, kitchen 1:1, storytelling, guitar, sports, poetry, Pokemon Go, yoga, knitting, understanding film, photography, current events, yearbook, Anime, karaoke, Gay-Straight Alliance, student council, and book club. Several times a year we also hold special events such as: an annual science and history fair, school-wide celebration of Pi day, Senior trip to Six Flags, Junior and Senior over-night trip, winter talent festival and art show, spirit days, a family BBQ and others.
A more detailed sample of some electives include:
Culinary Arts
Students in this elective will learn about being a professional chef and practice assorted cooking techniques by using various ingredients to broaden students’ knowledge of culinary arts. During this elective, students will create from scratch recipes to experience cooking and learn common techniques used in the kitchen. Students will also visit a restaurant and see a professional kitchen. As a final product, students will prepare a full course meal and invite their families to enjoy.
Art-Dance: Moving Off The Page
Come move your body in new and creative ways. Using visual arts to inspire you, students will transfer what they see into dance and movement. Some topics we will explore include mood, tone, lines, shape, color, content, and texture. Throughout the semester students will create short dances to perform for others. For the final project students will create a visual self-portrait and the students in this group will reflect each others self-portraits through dance.
Visual Arts
Students will use the arts as a way of interpreting life’s experiences and encourage creative thinking. Using a variety of mediums such as painting, drawing, and collage, students will engage in understanding that art is a way to communicate using visual symbols. Studying famous artists, students will learn about their styles and incorporate them into the student’s own art work. At the end of the elective students will hold an art show demonstrating the work for the semester.
Pop Culture and You
Do you know why you are motivated to purchase something? Are you interested in how pop cultures influences your opinions? During this elective students will research consumerism, product placement in movies, and learn how the Internet has changed pop culture. Students will also study how media effects our emotions by looking at old and current movie clips, commercials, and ad campaigns. Some activities will include researching changes in pop culture and presenting this information to classmate using power point presentation and engaging in dynamic group discussions. One of our project highlights includes making time capsules with predictions about the future.
Kite Building and Aerodynamics
You don’t have to play with lightning to learn from kites! This course teaches students how to construct a tetrahedron kite and use it to demonstrate many important principles: lift, area and volume, density, forming and testing a hypothesis, tetrahedral and polyhedral design, and more. At the end of the summer, students will have a kite flying show to show off their skills!
History Of Music and Music Appreciation
For this elective students will study the history of music. By researching different eras, students will go beyond the pop charts and classic rock genres to explore both domestic and foreign music to develop an ear to distinguish the influences on contemporary music. Students will discover new tastes and appreciation for the artists creations. By the end of the semester, students will learn to voice their opinions and speak knowledgeably about various facets of music. The final project for this semester will include researching and presenting on a musician or era of music. Students will come away with a “mix-tape” of various artists and genres to share.
Rhythm and Rock
Do you know how to play an instrument or want to learn? In this elective we will discover the basics of playing a variety of instruments including drums, keyboard, and guitar. Students will learn beats, rhythms, and melodies, identify the role of instruments and their families, and how to read musical notes. Students will record their favorite songs and play a concert for the school and families.
Sports and Fitness
During this elective students will increase physical fitness by playing flag football, basketball, and sports strategy games. Students will set personal fitness goals to achieve by the semester’s end. Milestones also belongs to soccer and basketball clubs where we play cooperatively with other private special education schools in the area. Team sports help children increase their physical activity levels as well as improve their social skills, giving them a greater sense of self-esteem and community. Students playing on our team learn the basic rules of the sport while building relationships with their teammates. They will also learn the value of sportsmanship as they play with and against students from other schools.
Podcasting
Have you ever dreamed of having your own radio show? Are you a recording artist hoping to have your songs heard by the masses? Decades ago, you would have needed many connections to be heard. But now, thanks to the internet’s instantaneous connection and podcasting, anyone can transmit their message. During this elective students will learn the intricacies of how to create their own podcasts including recording, studio editing, and posting podcasts to the web. Students will work on a topic of their choice to create a podcast. Throughout this process, students will learn the history of radio talk shows and broadcasting. We will explore how radio has changed our world. As a culminating project, the group will select their favorite pod casts to broadcast.
Clay Works
Exercise your hands and creative side by exploring clay and famous sculptures. The class will explore both ancient and modern day sculptures to educate and inspire students. Using ideas from famous sculptures, students will learn how these artists influence the sculptures students are creating. Students will also develop techniques for making pinch pots and roll clay to make snake-like baskets, and also combine materials to make more abstract sculptures. Students will have the opportunity to fire some of their work in the kiln. At the end of the semester we will have an art show to display the student’s work.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is an interactive role playing game in which players use their imagination to go on fantastic quests and adventures. It is part board game, part acting, part storytelling, and part social interaction. It is a game of imagination, tactics and strategy set in a complex fantasy world. Each player takes on the role of a hero, a character that he or she creates and then develops over the course of the game. He or she might choose to play a strong fighter or a clever rogue, a devout cleric or a powerful wizard. The game offers endless possibilities and a multitude of choices, because you can do whatever you can imagine.
Website Design
Students will use learn how to create eye-catching and engaging websites using up to date programs including creating various pages, adding text and photo content, and editing various parts of the webpage, using toolbars, changing background colors, and publishing.
