Inspiring Students!

Winterim is already well underway with an awesome group of lively, unique, and capable students and staff that makes for non-stop engagement. The Go Big! Cluster designed by faculty members Suzy Wittman and Bacchus Taylor is an effort to provide our students with a host of inspiring role models and experiences to anchor their learning.

The Personal Wellness class has been such fun. What's most important is our students are such good sports. They try the things we offer them, even when they are uncomfortable.  Last Friday, for example, Bacchus and I took the students in the Personal Wellness class to Lake Padden for a run. Many of our students had some anxiety about the prospect of actually running…outside… in the cold…for miles…but we heard no complaining, and at the end of the session almost every student expressed gratitude for the experience and increased confidence in their ability to become more fit. One student even pushed himself to complete three laps around the lake in just over an hour! As if that wasn’t enough, they proceeded to then work hard all afternoon planting trees along Whatcom Creek, again with positive attitudes. Now that is inspiring!

Not only for students, our Winterim offerings have inspired Suzy who remarked recently, "I failed to think about how I find inspiration in our students. The feel such joy in watching their faces light up as we watch crazy silent films about astronomers blowing up moon people with umbrellas! It is the energy of our students and my co-workers that keeps me coming back each day and which reminds me that in the search for inspiration, many of us need not look further than our own community."

Go Big! students are working to become better communicators and grappling with what it means to be a hero.

Lights, Camera, Action students continually impress faculty and each other with how thoughtfully they are able to discuss art, history, and expression.