Course Title:  June Term

                            
Grade Level:  A required course for all students in grades, 9, 10, & 11 ;

One-third credit will be earned toward Minnehaha Academy graduation requirements for each year of participation.     

Course Description:  June Term is an integrated curricular program that culminates with a week-long, authentic community immersion experience for Upper School students.  The on-site immersion occurs at the conclusion of the academic school year, allowing students an opportunity to build bridges among people from diverse socioeconomic, generational, religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.  Year-long orientation and on-site learning experiences are designed to meet the course objectives. 

Course Objectives:  June Term is intended to utilize community immersion and service-learning to instill wisdom, compassion, respect,

and understanding in order to prepare students for interactions in an increasingly global society.

The Learner will:

-         gain an understanding of another’s life and point of view

-          become better equipped with a willingness to give of themselves in service to God and others

-          develop a sense of compassion and awareness as a global citizen

-          discover their God-given gifts

Course Format & Length: 

1^st semester:  Several June Term orientation sessions are integrated into the weekly high school assembly schedule.  (Minnehaha Academy has a 30-minute, all-school assembly each week).  The program director facilitates these orientation sessions for all participating students and faculty.  These sessions focus on communicating program logistics and expectations. 

Beginning of 2^nd semester:  Students and faculty receive detailed information about all of the June Term site options.  Partnering sites are arranged by the program director and include local, national, and international community partners.  Detailed information about the site options (such as location, mode of transportation, anticipated activities, special requirements, volunteer needs, associated costs, etc.) is provided to students and faculty in an organized chart document.  Students and faculty then register for 3 site preferences. 

Middle of 2^nd semester:  The program director assigns all students and faculty to a community site (typically groups of 8-15 students and 1-2 faculty team leaders per site).  These assignments take into consideration both the student and faculty preferences as well as the site needs.  After spring break, site assignments are posted and non-negotiable.  Following site assignments, student groups meet regularly with their faculty team leaders to discuss, plan, and organize in preparation for site visits.  During these team-specific orientation meetings, the groups develop strategies for building a meaningful relationship with the community partner site in order to support existing community needs without imposing upon the community site.  Groups also engage in research, discussions, and reflective journaling aimed an helping identify and dispel stereotypes, assumptions, and concerns.  Each group meets between 4-6 times for approx. half an hour for these team meetings.  Most meetings occur during the regular school day when grade-specific advisee groups would normally meet with their faculty advisors.  Often, groups that are partnering with national or international sites will schedule at least one longer orientation meeting for both students and their parents during after-school hours.  

End of 2^nd semester:  During the final week of the school year, all student groups will visit designated June Term sites.  Local group will engage in on-site visits during a typical school day from Monday through Thursday of this week, and then participate in a half-day reflection retreat on the final day of the semester.  Groups visiting national and international community sites may extend their on-site visits beyond the final week of the semester, including evenings and weekends.  All students will record daily reflections in a personal journal to be collected by the team leader at the end of the immersion experience.

Service Experience:  At least 40 different community sites are available as partners sites for June Term (approx. 30 local, 5 national, and 5 international).  The majority of these partner sites include volunteer opportunities for students.  Some examples from previous years include caring for young children, serving meals, tutoring, cleaning, painting, leading chapel services, assisting with elderly care, gardening, home construction, coaching, yard work and lawn care, reading, chaperoning field trips, assisting developmentally disabled adults, and secretarial/ technology-related duties.  Students spend a minimum of 30 hours engaged in their community immersion site visits.  Several photos and descriptions of experiences from previous years are featured on the Upper School website.

Course Assessment:  Students receive a pass or fail grade for participation in June Term.  The faculty team leaders for each particular group will assess each student in their group based on the criteria areas in the chart below.  Students must receive a passing mark in every area in order to earn a passing grade for the course. 

Any students that do not receive a passing grade must make up the lost credit during summer vacation in order to receive the required course credit for graduation.  Arrangements for making up the course need to be coordinated through the program director. 

Materials and Resources:  Two program handbooks have been developed to accompany the June Term course. 

One version of the handbook is provided to all students and parents.  This particular version addresses the program logistics and provides answers to FAQ’s.  The student and parent handbook also includes schedules for orientation sessions and a sample registration form.

The other version of the handbook is provided to all faculty and staff team leaders.  This second version is much more extensive and includes leader resources in five different areas:  program logistics & leader responsibilities, theory & practice (related to best-practices in service-learning and developing cultural intelligence), orientation & team building strategies, reflection & debriefing resources, and forms & schedules.  The forms provided to team leaders in the handbook include registration forms, permission slips, health information forms, liability forms (only for those traveling to national or international sites), assessment forms, and program evaluation forms.   

Course Notes:  The effectiveness of this educational program is based on several factors.  First and foremost, the program director must develop mutually beneficial community partnerships – no matter where those partner sites are located.  Secondly, immersion preparation and orientation is vital to having a meaningful on-site experience.  This preparation needs to be both thoughtful and thorough so that students and the site partners can benefit from their time together.  Thirdly, team leaders must be sincerely committed to their leadership roles as not only chaperones, but also as mentors and team participants throughout the learning experience.  Finally, opportunities for focused reflection before, during, and after the on-site visit are vital.  This reflective component needs to be guided by an adult that can help students identify, articulate, and make meaning out of what they have experienced so that they are able to internalize and transfer their learning.