CSS Closes the Year with J-term Field Expeditions and Study Abroad program!

CSS signature J-term program-- the June mini-semester, where students this year enrolled in one of 6 interdisciplinary courses -- and which use the city or the world as a classroom, wraps up another school year with a flourish!

This year’s program included two “In the City” courses: “Nature in the City” and “Architecture in the City”; two sustainability themes courses: “Water” and “Energy”; and two study abroad courses “Island Biodiversity (Puerto Rico)” and “Natural History of Northeastern Seaboard (Maine)”.

CSS is the only school in the city, and one of the few the nation, with such a comprehensive and ambitious J-term program. J-term has many educational advantages over the regular traditional curriculum and schedule, which typically constrain the kinds of activities possible and have narrow disciplinary focus. Led by two core faculty, who team up with a pair of Columbia University students, the courses emphasize interdisciplinary analysis and thinking, hands-on learning, and in-depth exploration of big questions or problems.

In the "Water" course, for example, students learn about forest ecology and water cycle while they camp in the Catskills' watershed region. They explore the biochemistry of water and the engineering challenges of processing, transporting and distributing water to 11 million NYC residents. In the “Energy” course students examine NYC’s energy sources and energy consumption – and explore the questions: What exactly does it take to power our modern city – and what measures that are being taken to improve energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint?

The “in the city” courses use our great city as an open classroom. The “Architecture in the City” class, for example, explores how building and bridge design relates to both aesthetics and structural demands. The “Nature in the City” course exposes students to the incredibly diverse natural spaces that are found in or within easy travel of our urban center: the parks, state nature preserves and federally protected ecosystems that make our city green and biologically diverse.

The Travel abroad courses examine the rich ecological diversity and natural history of the island of Puerto Rico (Island Biodiversity) and Maine (Natural History of the Northeastern Seaboard). In an adventure of living and learning, during this second week, J-term students are spread throughout the Caribbean, Maine, Upstate New York, the Jamaica Bay Estuary, and in a variety of locations throughout the city. Learning by experiencing things in the real world, CSS students develop a better appreciation of the complexities and messiness of real world problems. In J-term, CSS students learn concepts and theories by combining classroom instruction and readings, with observing and experiencing the real world.

Another equally important aspect of the J-term experience is the social, emotional and moral development that takes place in these tight-nit learning communities. Students learn to cooperate, to lead, to follow, to assume responsibility over aspects of their existence which they often take for granted (for e.g. washing their cloths, preparing their own food, securing a dry home or tent, ensuring they have adequate water supply). By living in an environment different from what they are familiar with, students are challenged to fundamentally rethink the ways they interact with their physical and social environment. J-term certainly represents some of the best education CSS offers!

Below students studying the sustainability of Water explore the marshes of the Hudson River outside Cornwall, NY, where they are spending 6 nights at a research forest.  See more Water Semester photos here.

Another group of 6th graders studying Island Biodiversity atop a 4000 ft. peak in El Yunque rain forest in the island of Puerto Rico.