Summer Institute Upper School

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: Completion of Algebra 1

June 12-June 30 | 9-11:30 a.m.

Fee: $880

This course is designed to help students strengthen their existing algebra and geometry skills prior to entering Geometry in the fall. Mastery of concepts related to functions and trigonometry often eludes students as they progress through two years of algebra. Providing students with a focused review of these topics gives them the best opportunity to feel confident and prepared as they enter Geometry.

This class covers geometry basics, logic and proofs, parallel and perpendicular lines, congruent triangles, polygons, circles and volume and surface area.

Homework is not assigned but students will be given opportunities for practice.

The goal is to have examples of all types of formulas and problems students will encounter, culminating with a comprehensive review guide for students to use when they take Geometry in the school year.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: Completion of Geometry

June 12-June 30 or July 3-July 21 | 9-11:30 a.m.

Fee: $880

Tuesday, July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

This survey course is designed to help students solidify the concepts and skills learned in Algebra 1 and look ahead to their upcoming Algebra 2 class. Students will practice and review their understanding of past skills in the classroom and will be introduced to important new topics and problems that await them in the fall. Getting Ready for Algebra 2 covers a variety of topics including: graphs, systems of equations, powers and roots, quadratic and logarithmic functions, complex numbers, probability, coordinate geometry, and matrices. Some trigonometry concepts will also be covered towards the end of the session. This is a student-centered course with lessons, activities and explorations that support deeper understanding of important math concepts and improved math confidence.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: Completion of Algebra 2

July 3-July 21| 9:00-11:30 a.m.

Fee: $880

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

This course is designed to help students strengthen their existing algebra and geometry skills prior to entering Pre-calculus in the fall. Mastery of concepts related to functions and trigonometry often eludes students as they progress through two years of algebra and a year of geometry. Giving students a focused review of these topics provides them with the best opportunity to feel confident and prepared as they enter Pre-calculus. Homework is not assigned but students will be given opportunities for practice.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 or July 3-July 21| 1-4 p.m.

Fee: $1,015

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

The Creative Writers Workshop is for students who are eager to spend three intensive weeks stretching their talents in writing fiction and poetry. In these weeks, students will become better at reflecting on the world around them, and will learn strategies for bringing these reflections brightly to life on the page. Students will feed their imaginations by exploring several prompts each day and developing poetry, short stories, scenes and drama. Students will also read and discuss a range of writers and types of writing. The class is run in a supportive, workshop atmosphere, with students sharing and critiquing one another's drafts along with the instructor. By the end of the session, students will be more confident and knowledgeable writers – and will probably have built some meaningful friendships as well!

• Textbook required.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 or July 3-July 21| 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Fee: $1,165

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

This course will introduce students to basic rhetorical modes. Using model essays, students will learn to identify effective patterns of writing and to apply those patterns in their own writing. Students will practice paragraph composition using narrative, descriptive and comparative structures. Writing and revision will be emphasized. The course will cover the following grammatical topics: parts of speech, types of clauses, verb forms, verb tense consistency, active and passive voice, subject and verb agreement, pronoun case and agreement, phrases and verbals, dangling and misplaced modifiers, subordination and coordination, punctuation usage. This course will prepare students for the grade 9 English course at Harker's upper school.

• Laptop or tablet required (PC or Mac).

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

July 3-July 21| 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Fee: $1,365

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

Join us as we spend three weeks exploring a wide variety of cuisine and techniques in the kitchen. Students will master knife skills, discover varied preparation techniques (braising, brining, grilling, sou vide and more), explore cultural connections to food (where cuisines intersect and cross over) and prepare foods to enjoy and bring home to share. Come curious and hungry and prepare to learn and savor!

PLEASE NOTE: These courses will deal with recipes which may include meat, seafood (no shellfish), dairy, gluten and nuts. Allergies will be accommodated but high sensitivities must be reported to minimize exposure. Although there will be some dishes that are vegetarian/vegan, this class is designed with an omnivore perspective.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 or July 3-July 21| 1-4 p.m.

Fee: $1,015

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

This course teaches many of the life skills that aren’t typically taught in academic programs. Adulting doesn’t have to be tough. Learn from others that have adulted before you. Here are just a few of the topics that we will explore in this course:

• What will I do if I get a flat tire on the interstate during a rainstorm?
• How much money am I going to need salary-wise to have what I really want in life?
• How do I save up for big vacations, gifts for family, more education, etc.?
• What the heck is insurance? Why do I need it?
• Why doesn’t my insurance cover everything I own?
• How am I supposed to know how to do my taxes if I’ve never done them before?
• How do I know when to get new tires on my vehicle?
• What if I travel to another country and lose my wallet?
• How do I explain the car issue I’m having to a mechanic?
• I’ll only be 21-ish when I graduate from college. Why would I need to start saving for retirement now, if I can just have a larger paycheck instead?
• I put a security deposit on an apartment - now what?
• I have a job interview and it’s at a formal restaurant with a group of potential colleagues. What should I do and not do?
• I got the job and now I have to pick the benefits I want to pay for. What are all these benefits and what do they potentially do?
• Are there Human Resources dos and don’ts for communicating professionally at my job?
• How do I buy a car and know I’m getting the best deal?
• I’ve never done laundry, and I dropped coffee all over my favorite shirt. What do I do?

These are just a few of the conundrums that will be mastered in this course. Each day, we will also cover questions that are anonymously created by our students and, as a group, figure out how to handle those questions as well.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 | 1-4 p.m.

Fee: $1,015

In this course, students will sharpen their ability to reason mathematically, which will benefit them in many STEM disciplines including computer science, physics and research mathematics. Students will learn to tolerate ambiguity, appreciate the impact of cognitive bias and ways to reduce its impact, and experience the use of analogical reasoning in problem-solving. They will explore the application of basic set theory, number theory and combinatorics, and use the concept of deduction to solve problems and win games. The goal is that students develop an intuitive feel and questioning mind about mathematical problems.

• Gary Antonick wrote more than 300 columns over nine years for The New York Times, through which he collaborated with many of the world’s leading research mathematicians, discussing their favorite logic problems and techniques for solving them. He also taught intuitive thinking and mathematical reasoning at Stanford University for nine years, including a course with math superstar Keith Devlin called “Math in the Wild.” He has taught not only Stanford students but also Google engineers and high school students in China, India and Chile. Gary studied physics and engineering at the University of Michigan and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 | 1-4 p.m.

Fee: $1,165

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

In this course, students will learn the technical and conceptual aspects of working with clay on the potter’s wheel. Fundamental shaping processes, ceramic tools and technologies, and a variety of surface decoration techniques are emphasized throughout the three weeks. Projects will focus specifically on functional objects: mugs/cups, bowls, plates and pouring vessels. If you are interested in a deep dive into the powerful realm of making and utility, this is the course for you. No prior experience on the wheel is necessary!

• Brian Caponi earned his MFA in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2013. His work has been shown at galleries and museums internationally in China, Korea, India, Slovenia and Italy, and has exhibited across the United States. As an educator he has taught pottery and sculpture for the past 11 years to both high school and university students. More information on his work and background can be found at www.brian-caponi.com.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 | 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Fee: $1,015

This course is designed to provide students with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the history of Latin America, from the Spanish conquest to the present. Traditionally subsumed under world history, Latin American history is rarely taught as a stand-alone course in high school. And yet, it is a dynamic region with rich linguistic and cultural traditions as well as a complex political and economic trajectory. Hispanic Americans also make up 20% of the population in the United States. Major topics covered in this class will include the Spanish conquest and settlement of Latin America, colonial social hierarchy and racial mixture, independence movements, the rise of export economies, social revolutions in Mexico and Cuba, U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, and Mexican and Central American migration to the United States.

• Chris Gatto, has a Ph.D in history from the University of Chicago, with a focus in Latin American history. His dissertation analyzed the economies of indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, over the course of the 19th century. He has spent time living in Oaxaca, Mexico City and Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. Dr. Gatto taught in the Latin American Civilization sequence at the University of Chicago, a yearlong course exploring Latin American history, anthropology, and literature. He will provide opportunities in this course to read Spanish-language texts, but there are no language requirements to take this course. Class time will be devoted to close reading, analytical writing, lecture, discussion and videos. There may be periodic readings assigned outside of class.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

July 3-July 21| 1-3 p.m.

Fee: $850

Tues., July 4 is a holiday, no classes will be held.

Do you ever feel like you have learned a lot about the ancient past, but don’t know much about the recent past? Do you ever feel like there’s an entire world of popular music, movies, fashion, consumer culture and television you know little about? Do you feel like your teachers make jokes that you don’t get? Take a step toward being culturally literate. In this course you take a look at pop culture of the 1960s to the 2000s, from Chuck Berry and the Beatles to Michael Jackson and Beyonce, from Alfred Hitchcock to Pixar, Atari to Xbox, I Love Lucy to Friends. Bring your Pet Rocks and some Uncrustables.

• Mark Janda has been a teacher for 30 years and has taught world history, world literature, social justice, ethnic studies and African-American studies. Mr. Janda is a dad, cyclist, traveler, concert-goer and food fanatic. Most of all he is an avid consumer of pop culture and loves exploring the social significance of movies, music, television, and even toys and commercials, and how they impact the way we think, speak and remember the past.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 | 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Fee: $1,015

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore a combination of history, theater, art and fashion. Using multiple sources, discussions will be broken into specific historical eras leading to conversations within the course that will also address the socio-politics surrounding dress and classism that are inherently a function of fashion. Applications of costume and cultures in theatrical history will also be included. Class discussions will also address non-Western cultures and, while not comprehensive, will be designed to expose students to other cultures and theatrical styles.

Applications to theater design and character development are bound to take place. Activities will include design and construction. Presentations will also touch on historical construction techniques and applications to the modern aesthetic and fit. Within the discussions, source material will include movies, photography and other media. A small project will be available for students to create some historical costume creation as part of the summer experience.

• Brent Tyler Sjodin, has extensive experience as a freelance designer and wardrobe master and holds an MFA in technical theater. Mr. Sjodin has worked for theater and opera companies such as Utah Festival Opera, where he designed “The Desert Song” and “Die Fledermaus.” Other design credits include “Oleanna” by David Mamet, “The Winter’s Tale” by William Shakespeare, and the tour design of “Sun Yet Sen: In the Mouth of the Dragon” by Edward Emmanuel for the Taiwanese Educational Ministry in summer 2000.

All students: Grades 9-12

Prerequisites: None

June 12-June 30 | 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Fee: $1,015

This course will explore games and simulations as vehicles for storytelling, learning and play. We will learn about theories of game design, engage with and deconstruct games, and design games and simulations of our own. We may tackle questions such as: What are the goals of games and simulations? What makes a game or simulation good? How do games and simulations tell stories or develop characters? How do game systems and mechanics interact with story and character? While computer or video games may be used as occasional examples, our primary focus will be on table-top games and simulations.

• Christopher Hurshman brought a varied background to Harker when he began here in 2015. He taught English and math at South Kent School in Connecticut for seven years, and while in graduate school at Yale, he taught Tolstoy, The Victorian Novel, Science Fiction and The Bible as Literature, among other courses. At Harker Mr. Hurshman teaches British literature to sophomores and senior electives in Russian literature, creative nonfiction, and literature and film. He has participated in multiple National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminars, one on the subject of Chaucer and His Age (2006) and another on Teaching Literature Through Adaptation (2019). Mr. Hurshman was raised in France, Russia and Wisconsin (and remains a Green Bay Packers fan). He enjoys music, "especially singing and fiddling about with my acoustic guitar," and is the youngest of four children in a globe-trotting family that still vacations together in the French countryside from time to time.