Senior Inquiry Syllabus

Senior Inquiry

Trillium Charter School 2007/8

Instructor: Ken Gadbow Phone: 503-348-9849 Office hours: Fridays 12-1

Email: Ken@TrilliumCharterSchool.org

Credit available: Various, depending on project focus

Course Objectives:

Senior Inquiry is a required year-long class for all students graduating from Trillium in 2008. This is an integral part of our Friday Focus program. During this class, students will:

• Plan, develop, and carry out Senior Projects.
• Tour Pacific Northwest colleges and universities.
• Investigate career and vocation opportunities after high school.
• Receive timely counseling to ensure satisfactory completion of graduation requirements.
• Develop basic real world life skills like managing money, avoiding debt, and dealing with life on their own.
• Plan for commencement in June.

There is a transportation fee for each of the college trips students choose to come on, roughly $20 each. Scholarships are available. Students should take the College and Career Workshop daily class in conjunction with Senior Inquiry.

PLP Framework Concentrations:

Independence:

• Assess your present performance
• Reflect on both what one did learn and didn’t learn
• Set goals to improve present performance
• Revisit reflections over time and use them to understand personal changes
• Demonstrate awareness of what you’ve learned and why it matters
• Translate learning needs into learning goals, plans, and activities
• Commit to working on goals to completion or revising goals as needed
• Share findings/discoveries
• Know how to challenge one self (even when you are good at something).
• Keep track of responsibilities, obligations, meetings, due dates, and belongings
• Demonstrate time management skills
• Demonstrate planning skills

Health, Wellness, and Safety:

• Understand social and cultural impacts of drug and alcohol use and distributing
• Know how to get help and support in the community for personal health issues
• Know what to do in cases of domestic violence for self and others
• Use safe personal practices, and understand risks inherent in society

Social Studies Fluencies:

• Access and demonstrate learning in multiple ways.
• Access relevant background knowledge and incorporate new ideas and information.
• Apply critical thinking skills in discussion, writing and problem solving.

Code of Conduct:

All students are expected to know and uphold the Rights and Responsibilities of the Trillium Constitution. We will use the non-violent conflict resolution process that includes conversations, mediations, and the OVRR system.

Assignments and grading policies:

This class is graded primarily through written evaluation through self, peer, and staff assessment. For the purpose of transcripts, combination of these authorities determines if the student passes or fails the class.

Quarter one will largely be spent in college visits and reflections and setting up the Senior Project.

The Senior Project, a primary focus of SINQ, is evaluated by the student’s review committee. The committee, formed in part by members selected by the student, ultimately decides if the student was successful in achieving her goals.

The life skills workshops such as money management/debt avoidance, interview and job finding, and personal health and safety occur throughout the year, are required coursework, and are graded based on:

· Participation: 60%

· Project: 20%

· Exams and demonstrations: 20%

Attendance Policy:

It is imperative that students attend the class meetings, outings, or communicate clearly through their PLP’s where and how they will be working to achieve their goals at that time.

Course Schedule:

This quarter, there are only six Fridays in our schedule. Therefore, SINQ will meet only on the following days:

· Sep. 14^th

^· Sep. 28^th

^· Oct. 5^th

^· Oct. 19^th

^· Oct. 26^th

^· Nov. 2^nd