This past April, Charleston Collegiate School (SC) students participated in these activities and others as part of the third annual Happening, the school’s four-day immersive education experience, which focuses on a specific theme. The 2019 theme “Tracks and Pathways,” which faculty and administration decided, gave teachers in each grade the ability to creatively assess their students’ interests and select a track or pathway topic in which their students could deeply engage.
Pre-K students learned about different modes of transportation, visiting an airport, making “stoplight” snacks, using a map to walk through the woods, and taking an old-fashioned horse and carriage ride. Second graders studied the ways in which animals adapt to their environments, visiting local marshes and other habitats. They also participated in a demonstration with the Center for Birds of Prey and dissected owl pellets.
Third graders approached a farm-to-market assignment with an entrepreneurial lens. They visited local businesses to learn about branding and business writing and then developed their own business plans, which they presented in a Shark Tank-style competition. Fourth graders learned to be environmental stewards by investigating salt marshes, fisheries, an island, and an oyster farm.
Teachers are planning this year’s theme, which will be kept secret from students until the first day of the event.
Kindergarteners observe fish at the aquarium; second graders journey through the marsh; and third graders visit a local coffee roaster.
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