City Lab
City Lab includes a range of experiential, exploratory online courses. These courses will be primarily 1-2 week explorations. Topics include art, cooking, languages, digital storytelling, 3D modeling and printing, and more.
Interior Masthead
The following classes will be offered online due to social distancing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19
Teacher: Lauren Kibbe & Dave Younkin
Dates: July 20- July 24 (10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)
Cost: $150; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students finishing third or fourth grade
During this week of writing, we will do what many great writers do. We’ll study the writing of some authors we admire so they can mentor us in making our own writing even better. We’ll reflect on our own lived experiences and choose to write about those memories that we’ve stored deep inside our hearts. We’ll then write about some of those small (but important!) moments within our own lives. And, as we do so, we will explore and play around with writing craft by trying on some of the techniques we’ve noticed and appreciated in our mentor authors.
Materials: Writers will need a writer’s notebook with lined pages and access to a Zoom account.
Teacher: Lauren Kibbe & Dave Younkin
Dates: July 6 - July 17 (10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)
Cost: $150; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students who will be in 4th or 5th grade in September 2020
Reading is awesome when you are reading a book with others and are having rich discussions about what you’ve read. Talking with other readers can help you become a reader who digs deep into a story to really understand it--getting the most out of a book by squeezing every juicy drop out of the story you’ve read. Book club members will read each day, jot down some ideas on sticky notes to prepare for the next day’s book talk, and then share their awesome ideas with the club when we meet virtually!
What are we reading?
Students who have finished 3rd grade (and are going into 4th grade) will read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Students who have finished 4th grade (and are going into 5th grade) will read Locomotion by Jacquline Woodson.
Materials: 1) a paper copy (not electronic) of the book 2) a stack of sticky notes and a pencil 3) access to a Zoom account
Note: Parents should order a copy of their child’s book ASAP.
Teacher: Kelly Meade
Dates: All Summer Circle meetings happen on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
- Dates for Session 1: July 20, 22, and 24
- Dates for Session 2: July 27, 29, and 31
- Dates for Session 3: Aug. 3, 5, and 7
- Dates for Session 4: Aug. 10, 12, and 14
Cost: $60 per session; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students rising into kindergarten
Small group gatherings for rising kindergartners that simulate some of the community building and academic activities that typically happen in the classroom during Circle Time gatherings together on the rug. Summer Circle Time will provide interactive instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness, number sense, and calendar/weather, as well as a read aloud. There will be songs, movement, games, and fun. In addition, these sessions will give returning students the opportunity to maintain friendships from the previous school year, and will offer new students a chance to create relationships with fellow peers before the school year begins.
Requirements: A Zoom account, and common materials from around the house (pencil, paper, crayons). Students will need to be in a space where they can be seated for portions of the Circle Time and also have the space to move around while on screen.
Teacher: Maurice Williams
Dates: July 6 - July 17 No class on Tuesdays and Thursdays (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
Cost: $120; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in lower school and middle school.
In the Ball With Purpose camp we will primarily focus on improving our basketball skills. Participants will be working on dribbling, defense, conditioning and more. The camp will also have a character building component as we will have engaging and interactive sessions on leadership.
A basketball and space to dribble is needed for this class.
Teacher: Maurice Williams
Dates: July 20 - July 24 No class on Tuesdays and Fridays (11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
Cost: $30; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in lower school starting in third grade
The program will introduce start-up business concepts for youth to easily implement right now. From this class, participants will be able to identify their passions and understand simple strategies to transition those passions into profit.
Students will learn the essentials of being a successful entrepreneur while building the confidence necessary to pursue those dreams dear to them. Students will learn what an entrepreneur is, how to select and develop your business idea, the essentials of marketing & branding, the importance of customer service, professionalism and presentation skills. Each session will include writing activities to help demonstrate the lessons being delivered. The writing prompts will allow students to easily implement the strategies that are shared.
Teacher: Bryan Skelly
Dates: July 20 - August 3 No class on Tuesdays and Thursdays (9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)
Cost: $300 for all three weeks or $100 per week; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in middle school.
This course will explore forms of poetry to help creative writers find their voice. By using model texts and the city as inspiration, time will be devoted to developing pre-existing ideas and shaping new ones.
Teacher: Patrick Cassidy
Dates: June 29 - July 3 (11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
Cost: $50; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in middle school.
Inspired by Randal Munroe's famous book What If? and the accompanying website (https://what-if.xkcd.com/), we will look at and attempt to mathematically examine questions like "What if you tried to print out Wikipedia, how long would it be? And would you be able to keep up with its growth?" and "What if there was one soulmate for every person on earth - how likely would you be to find that person?" and others. We hope to also illustrate our solutions (like the author) and to generate and answer a few absurd questions of our own.
Teacher: Heather Fortune
Dates: July 6 - July 17, No class on Fridays (11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)
Cost: $160; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades ninth through twelfth grade.
In this course, students will utilize online tools to work on ear training. Singers and instrumentalists who are interested in building their musicianship will learn how to identify intervals, chord qualities, and to transcribe (write down by ear) simple melodies. Some prior musical experience would be helpful but is not required.
CLASS IS AT CAPACITY
Teacher: Jack Lundquist
Dates: August 3 - August 21, Class on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)
Cost: $150; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in lower school.
Lundini Magic School will teach students how to perform impromptu card and coin tricks and small tabletop miracles. Zoom meetings will include instruction, troubleshooting, student performance, and for kids who want to stay late...geeky, magic conversation. In addition to zoom time instruction, Lundini will create and curate magic tutorial videos for students to watch and practice on their own time. The videos will be posted to a class Padlet that the kids can comment questions on and post their own magic performance videos to.
Supplies: Deck of cards, loose change, common household objects
Tech: Computer for accessing and/or posting to Padlet, optional: (phone) camera to film themselves perform tricks
Teacher: Jack Lundquist
Dates: June 22 - July 10, Class on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)
Cost: $90; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades five through twelfth grade.
Comics aren't just superheroes and Sunday strips! In Making Comics, students will see and practice a variety of ways to make comics through short, creative assignments. Students will share images of their comics and inspirations on a class Padlet, where the teacher and students will comment initial feedback to get discussion rolling. The discussion will continue in Zoom video chats 2-3 times per week.
Teacher: Sarah Kelly & Ian Lockey
Dates: June 22 - July 3, No class on Tuesday and Thursday (1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.)
Cost: $60; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades nine through twelfth grade.
This course is for white students to explore their white privilege and to work together to take actionable steps for change within our city and country. Over our six meetings, we will examine white privilege and how it manifests in our lives and contributes to systems of oppression, run a book club discussion of Robin D’Angelo’s White Fragility, and come up with one action we can all take each class to fight for equity and social justice. This work is so crucial for people who identify as white to do but can seem overwhelming and difficult given how deeply racism and white supremacy are embedded in our country. By working together we can share the burden of using our voices to fight for change and create habits for building our own racial equity and helping those around us to do the same. This is just the beginning of the work we need to do as white allies, and participants will leave with action plans that can be implemented in their own school communities.
Teacher: Dan Capecchi
Dates: June 17 - July 29, Class on Wednesday (2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.)
Cost: $20; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades six through twelfth grade.
Students will have weekly composition assignments in various online and collaborative platforms including but not limited to bandlab.com and flat.io. Students will also listen to appreciate and critique one another's work in our meeting sessions and also in forums in between class. This will be a super fun and laid back time to make music, share music, and broaden your experiences.
Dan Capecchi has taught Music, Percussion Ensemble, and Latin at Friends Select School since 2005. He has been an active member Philadelphia music scene since moving here in 2002. He loves to play and compose music and to share this process with others. He also loves to read and play Quizbowl!
Teacher: Dan Capecchi
Dates: June 16 - July 28, Class on Tuesdays (2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.)
Cost: $70; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades six through ninth grade.
QUIZBOWL is an exciting game in which two teams compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge, including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more. Sessions will be run via zoom.
Dan Capecchi has taught Music, Percussion Ensemble, and Latin at Friends Select School since 2005. He has been an active member Philadelphia music scene since moving here in 2002. He loves to play and compose music and to share this process with others. He also loves to read and play Quizbowl!
Teacher: Lynda Greenwade
Dates: July 13 - July 23, No classes on Friday (10:00 a.m. - 11:30 am with a break)
Cost: $60; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades seven through twelve
Do you recognize the names Artemisia Gentileschi, Edmonia Lewis, Violet Oakley, Elizabeth Catlett, Lavinia Fontane, Clara Peeters, and Elizebeth Vigee-Lebrun? If you don’t, then this class is for you. We will explore the legacy and achievements of these and many other female artists, including the contemporary art of Magdalena Ahakanowicz, Chakaia Booker, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Yayoi Kusama, and Frida Kahlo. These and other women have shown that they are not merely the subjects of art, but the makers of art. Through articles, videos, discussions, and a journal project, (yes, there will be art-making), we will look at the women artists whose work seeks to empathize rather than objectify, and which redefines what we consider “great art.”
This is a course for seventh-graders through adults. Alums from FSS are also invited. You will need a blank unlined sketchbook and colored pencils.
Lynda Greenwade has taught Art for 28 years at Friends Select and attended Tyler School of Art, University of the Arts, and Ohio University. She owned a nationally known Jewelry Design and Sculpture Studio. Lynda teaches Upper School Metalsmithing, and Sculpture at FSS. Among the areas taught in art history been, Women in the History of Art, Art of South East Asia, African, and South American Art. Lynda is the recipient of four National Endowment for the Humanities study grants and the Friends Select Distinguished Teaching Award.
Teacher: Vanessa Rosensweet
Dates: June 22 - July 3, No class on Tuesday and Thursday (10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.)
Cost: $90; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in grades nine through twelfth grade.
This course will give students a space to investigate and expand their poetic craft through readings, guided annotation, writing workshops and work shares. Students will read the work of contemporary slam poets such as Olivia Gatwood and Hanif Abdurraqib as well as older writers like Langston Hughes and Pablo Neruda. We will take time to pick apart poems, discuss their meaning, and identify their impact on us as readers. Students will free write, use class resources as inspiration for their work, and write responses to writing prompts as well as learn to confidently read their work to others.
Teacher: Patrick Cassidy
Dates: July 6 - July 17, (9:00 a.m. - 11:00 am with a break)
Cost: $150; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in middle school
This course will be an introduction to the mathematical topic of codes (not coding). We will be looking at ways in which people have encoded and decoded information throughout history. In the first week, we will look at methods of encoding/decoding and in the second week we will work on projects.
CLASS IS AT CAPACITY
Teacher: Heather Paul
Dates: July 6 - August 7, class on Wednesday and Friday (9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.)
Cost: $200 for 5 weeks or $40 per week; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in first through fourth grade
Two science themes a week that have a combination of activities that can be completed with materials commonly found at home and activities that can be completed with amazon purchases (amazon wishlist totals about $160 for materials, but this would be optional). Expecting 4-6 activities per week, at least half of which can be done with household materials, each activity 30-60 minutes to collect materials and execute. I would offer video tutorials for introducing the activities and two synchronous meetings per week to share results.
July 6: Weather and Life Science
July 13: Water and Messy Science
July 20: Engineering and Coding
July 27: Flight and Explosions
August 3: Solar energy and Color
This course is taught by Heather Paul. Heather grew up in the Philadelphia area, was inspired by her middle and high school science teachers, and went to school for chemistry at the University of Delaware and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. When she’s not teaching chemistry at Friends Select, Heather loves to cook, watch sports, and hang out in her backyard with her family. She spends most of her summer months soaking in time with her son, Joey, who will be entering second grade in the fall and is already a science-lover. She is excited to get to know the lower school families and to share in some fun, and occasionally messy, summer science experiments.
Teacher: Donna Romero
Dates: July 13 - July 17 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
Cost: $100; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in fifth grade and up
Currently there are a number of scripts being published specifically to be performed online. This course will explore a few such scripts with students, and then we will select a final script to perform for our filmed final product.
Teacher: Luisa Levine
Dates: One week sessions from June 15 - July 24, Wednesday and Friday (3:00 - 5:00 p.m.)
Cost: $240 for 6 weeks or $40 per week; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in third grade to eighth grade
A weekly/biweekly meeting in which we make toys, puppets, and soft sculptures together, echoing the generations-old tradition of the "craft circle"—over Zoom! Practice sewing techniques, different stitches, working from found materials (old t-shirts, socks, etc.), with a sharing and collaborative component.
CLASS IS AT CAPACITY
Teacher: Steph Demko
Dates: One week sessions from June 15 - July 6, with class on Monday, Wednesday, Friday (9:30 - 11:00 a.m.)
Cost: $180 for all four weeks, $45 per week; FREE TO FSS STUDENTS
Prerequisite: For students in fourth grade and up
In Summer Cooking Class, students will have the opportunity to develop their own cooking skills. The recipes chosen will be ones that students can independently create. We will make an assortment of foods including breakfast, lunch, and dinner options as well as some quick snacks and of course, a few desserts! We will also talk about the importance of a balanced diet and fueling our bodies. A survey will be sent to students prior to the course to allow for student input into the recipe choices. A grocery list for the week will also be supplied prior to the week's classes.
These sessions are taught by Steph Demko. Tr. Steph has worked in the middle school at Friends Select for the past eight years. She has taught 5th-grade math and social studies, 6th-grade social studies, and recently became one of the middle school deans. In her free time, she enjoys running and being active and trying out new recipes. She also loves watching the Food Network and is excited to cook with you this summer!