May Term at G.L. Bridge School

Experiential education at Bridge culminates in the spring with our traditional May Term trips and projects. These week long, mixed age group explorations allow students to study an area of interest in-depth. The can take students far afield or focus their energies in a specific area close to home.

Scroll through the page below to see last year's trips (click on the picture to view the photo album) and this year's planned trips.

2007 May Term adventures:

Click on photos below
to see trip albums

Art in Nature

• How do we incorporate ART into our lives without harming the environment?
• How can we create things without resorting to using store-bought materials?
• How can we bring nature closer into our lives and enrich our day-to-day existence?
• Where are the places where art, nature and technology can successfully overlap?

Washington D.C.

The Magnetic Fields sang "W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N, baby, D-C" and that is paradise to me! While we are there, will be investigating what really happens in our nation's capital. Examining the tension between the monuments and memorials and the messy process that our republic can create, all three branches of government will be under our gaze. We will see many monuments to the leaders of our country and examine whether those monuments tell the whole story. We will take in several great museums that provide us the opportunity to examine the history of our country, both the serious history at museums like the new Museum of the Native Indian and the lighter history with a special effort to see the Seinfeld Puffy Shirt and Kermit the Frog in the Popular Culture Collection at the Smithsonian!
This will be a serious trip that focuses on the positive and negative in US Government. Students will be responsible for much of the academic content of our days via student presentations prepared during the weeks prior to the trip. Students must be ready for a wide range of activities and emotions--from the levity of popular culture, disillusionment about the abuses of our republican institutions, and pride in our grand democratic institutions, and great hope for the future.

Rock-and-Roll in Culture

What is Rock-and-Roll and how, and why, does it affect our culture? This May Term travels to the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. We will spend a day at the museum. During our time at the museum, we will trace the history of Rock-and-Roll music; from the early 1900s to today. One day's meal will be at The Hard Rock Cafe, Cleveland, and one day's meal will be at The House of Blues, Clevland. Both of these venues have live performances, which we will try to attend, including The House of Blues Gospel Brunch.

In Ansel's Footsteps

This May Term will take students on a nomadic photo tour of Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. The historic photographs of Ansel Adams will act as destination points along the way, but native and Spanish sites will also encompass our itinerary. In the spirit of Ansel Adams, students will photo-document our trip with traditional cameras and black-and-white film while camping and hiking through the landscape. Furthermore, in the Ansel Adams spirit, the group will be small, modest, and meditative.

Broadway Bound

Discover what our community has to offer in the theatrical arts. See exciting professional and amateur plays and musicals on the local stage. Go behind the scenes of professional theatre companies, and see how technology has affected the modern day performing arts. Talk to professional actors and "techies" to gain an insight into their passion for their craft. Get lost in the magic of the stage.

Meditation and Tea

Meditation and Tea is a week of learning the practice of mindful meditation, which will help stutents learn to relax and center themselves in their lives. On two days, Donna Roberts, a tea expert and educator, will be with us to teach the benefits of tea on many levels. Donna's recently published book Tea Here Now, has become a huge success in the tea industry. Kathy Sherman will also join us for a day to offer us her expertise in the areas of meditation and relaxation. We will also explore other tools for learning to relax such as essential oils, incense, and conscious eating.

Canyonlands

The Canyonlands offer us several remarkable hikes and ever-changing vistas. Needles, Chesler Park, Confluence Overlook, Lost Ditch, Druid Arch... the geology is fascinating. We will be camping at Needles Outpost and Squaw Flat campgrounds. These campgrounds have open views: unforgettable vistas of vermilion formations and the bluest sky. Journey and sojourn, it's an inspiring land.

2008 May Term adventures:

Click on photos below to see
trip albums (after the trips -
come back in June!)

Amateur Radio License

Are you interested in talking to people all over the world, without long distance charges? Are you interested in learning how to communicate with spacecraft in orbit? Would you be willing to be part of the first-responders network in an emergency? During this May Term, you can learn the skills to join the worldwide community of amateur radio operators and be able to operate your own amateur radio station.

Students will learn the appropriate information to earn the Federal Communications Commission Technician's License. They will be trained in the electronics theory, skills and protocols to operate a radio station within legal parameters.

At the end of the week, a certified examiner will be present to administer the FCC exam so students can earn their license right away at no extra cost.

The instructors for this course are exceptionally qualified, with extensive experience in both teaching and using amateur radio. One is a former Bridge parent, and one is the radio instructor for Denver's military community. Both have volunteered their services and skills.

Paris Artistique

Ahhh, the City of Light. And art. Paris shines its artistic beacon into all corners of the world. Come study art and the artists who created it, then travel to France and experience it as it should be experienced - in real life, in Paris.

First, here at home, you'll choose the work of art that interests or inspires you: painting, sculpture, photography, music, theatre, film, literature, architecture, cuisine, dance. Then, from among the many, you'll choose your one painter, sculptor, photographer, musician or composer, playwright or actor, filmmaker, writer, architect, chef, dancer or choreographer who was French or who lived and worked in Paris. Then, you'll explore and research and really get to understand your artist, all in preparation for drawing the rest of us into your sphere of inspiration. You'll share him/her with our group during our May Term prep sessions; you'll instruct us in his/her art. You'll be the expert, our authority!

By the time we leave for France, we'll be a most artistically knowledgeable group, ready and eager to live art for a full week. We'll run all over that city, viewing authentic paintings and sculpture here, photographs there. Will we attend a performance of music or dance, see a play or film? Maybe we'll visit the homes and haunts where the writers wrote or gathered, have a cafe au lait in some amazing building. Who knows, we may eat a gourmet meal in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower! What we see, where we go, what we do will all depend on the artists you choose.

Non-French speakers are very welcome on this trip. Don't fret over that for a second, because, as Jay will tell you, any attempt at speaking French will be better than his!

Rock On

Students will spend the week scaling the sheer stone cliffs surrounding Boulder. Jay, with the aide of a licensed outdoor guide, will open the door to the world-renowned climbs of Boulder Canyon, the Flatirons, and Eldorado Canyon. Preliminary classes will be used to develop rock-climbing skills.

Jewelry Making

During course of the May Term week, the students will create pieces of jewelry that they would proudly wear or give as a gift to a friend or family member. Prior to the May Term, Portia will purchase gemstones and findings from the March, 2008 International Gem and Mineral Show in Denver. The focus of the week will be to put time and effort into all of the steps necessary to make jewelry. Students will consciously think about what they want to create by laying work out on a bead board. Portia will instruct students how to finish off their pieces (which will include necklaces, bracelets, and earrings) in a sturdy, quality way. At the end of the week, we will present a jewelry show for friends and family to attend.

New Orleans

Mark Twain called it "the city that care forgot," referring to the easy life of "the big easy." "The crescent city" calls itself "America's most interesting city."

This storied city, the capital of French Louisiana before it was purchased by Thomas Jefferson, boasts a richness of culture that few American cities can claim. And that all changed two years ago when Hurricane Katrina came ashore and destroyed huge swaths of this metroplis.

In May, we will investigate how the city is recovering from the hurricane, how the government responded to this disaster, and how humans continue to create an environment that invites such natural disaster. This trip will involve a service project to help with the continuing reconstruction. We'll also explore the French Quarter, the Mississippi Coast, and eat beignets - lots of beignets!

Kauai, Hawaii

There are no highrises on this paradise. The Marquesans inhabited the island; then came the Tahitians and Somoans. These are the Hawaiians of the island of Kauai, the Garden Isle. The beauty of the flora, such as the bird of paradise flower, is legendary. We will visit archaeological sites such as structures and petroglyphs to learn about the old culture. Our travels also take us to the Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." And we will go to the beach by the Wailua River to hear the Polynesian chant to the morning sun. Then we will kayak up the blossom-covered Wailua River to the Secret Falls to swim in its pool if we choose, hearing the history and legends from the guide. We will attend an authentic mountain torchlight luau. Traveling northwest to the Napali Coast we will see sea turtles, spinner dolphins, and fish via catamaran and snorkeling. Finally, we will hike the coastal jungle Kalalau Trail with its unparalleled, spectacular views of the huge volcanic cliffs and surf. We will plan some beach time as well at Hanalei Beach. The Aloha, where we will stay, has a lagoon made of volcanic rock, which allows snorkeling and swimming; the sea life is remarkable, close, and accessible daily. Plan to bring: snorkel mask and fins if you have them, clothes for sunny 80's weather and rain, hiking boots or shoes, hat, flipflops, sunscreen, sunglasses, swimming suit, and beach towel. Aloha!

Sustainable Settings

Malia will be offering a trip to an organic farm and ranch, Sustainable Settings (sustainablesettings.org). The farm is located under Mount Sopris in the Roaring Fork valley. Malia ran a summer camp for kids in 2007 and many of the participants didn't want to leave! The ranch is a magical place full of warm and fuzzy creatures, and interesting things to do.

Kids will stay on the farm for 4 days and nights camping and learning first-hand the practical systems and activities that form the foundation of sustainable living. They will work with the animals (sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, cats, dogs, yaks, cows, mules, ducks and a rescued wild goose named Peepers), learn about growing food, and become familiar with the systems and cycles that form the basis for simple living with the natural environment.

We will spend our evenings on nighttime hikes, roasting stuff on the campfire, and watching the bright mountain stars.