Parks. Highways. Murals. Graffiti. Tattoos. Public art.
As a way to learn outside of the classroom, the new Experiential Learning class at Millennium offers students the opportunity to go on 12 field trips this year to help them better understand what they are learning.
The school year will be split into three rotations, with covering an overarching subject that includes four field trips. Students can sign up for any or all three of the rotations if they are interested in its focus. The class meets on Mondays for discussions and gathers for field trips every other Wednesday.
“In the discussions we talk about what the field trip was like, how you reflected on it, any questions you thought about, how it impacted you and what you noticed,” junior Will Gustke said.
In its current rotation, Millennium teacher Julia Hollinger teaches a class of nine students about the purpose of nonprofit and city-funded public art. They visited murals and graffiti art in parks and under highways to discover how public art affects a community.
“We learn how a simple art piece can make a city that was once dangerous kind of beautiful now,” MHS senior Hunter Wilson said.
MHS senior Cameron Polk enjoys the class because it allows him to experience real life examples inaccessible from the classroom.
“It gives you a new perspective of life because as a teenager, you’re looking at life as either just school and friends when you can look at life as your community and from different perspectives,” Polk said. “There’s a lot more out there than an average eye sees and this class gives you that look at it.”
Before launching the class this year, Hollinger worked with Millennium Principal Ting Hsu Engelman to develop the concept of Experiential Learning.
“I’ve always been very drawn to students who learn differently or think outside the box and for whom the traditional setting isn’t working for them,” Hollinger said. “I’ve been working with her for a couple of years on this wanting to push the school to offer examples of alternative learning and we decided to pilot this class this year as a way to explore that.”
Hollinger hopes her students will walk away from the course more curious than they were before.
“I think the skills of inquiry and analysis are central to all subjects and this is a great way to teach them,” Hollinger said. “I want them to know how to approach things that are new to them.”
Although the class is still in its first rotation, Hollinger hopes to continue it in future years.