"Intersession is a teacher-led activity that takes place in between semesters. This year’s Intersession was on January 21. It’s a fun way of seeing your teachers when they are not teaching."--Jif Dillemuth,7th grade
Intersession is a teacher-led activity that takes place in between semesters. This year’s Intersession was on January 21. It’s a fun way of seeing your teachers when they are not teaching. Students pick from a selection of things to do, but you can’t always get your first pick. First twelfth graders get to choose, then eleventh, all the way down to the sixth graders. Some of the intersession options this year were “Let’s Put On a Musical”, “Mystery Room,” “Self Defence Through Aikido,” and “The Exploratorium Trip,” among others.
Piper Stuip, a sixth grader in Literary Arts, went to the “Put On a Musical” Intersession. Stuip said she was nervous waiting for the Intersession assignments because she didn’t want her second pick, “Exploration of Life Through Dance”. Luckily, she got her first pick and thought the day was interesting—especially her roadkill prop funeral.
The Intersession group, lead by Theatre Department Chair, Ms. Helfer, played theatre exercise games and then did a read-through of the script. Stuip was surprised by how the rolls were picked in the musical from the one reading they did of the script. The day felt a little rushed and unclear, and they only had time for one rehearsal. Piper thought that the musical wasn’t that good because they only had a day, but it was still fun because it was so different than a regular school day. “We just do work all the time,” she said, “and it's better to get to know teachers because we always just see them working.”
Production design 7th grader Leah Semore went to the “Mystery Room” Intersession. “I thought we were going to go to an actual mystery room, but we ended up just staying in the classroom doing puzzles,” said Seymore. Even though this year's Intersession wasn’t too fun for her, she is still excited for next year.
During the Aikido Intersession, they took a 30 minute bus ride to a dojo called East Bay Aikido. There, they learned how to forward roll and pin people down. They ate lunch at a market nearby.
Isabella Schainker, a sixth grader in Literary Arts who participated in Aikido, didn't get her first choice, and her expectations were low. However, she said, “It was for the better. I got to learn things and try new things that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise.” There was a big range of experience in aikido training, Schainker said, and she enjoyed learning from different people.
The Exploratorium trip with Mr. Olsen and Ms. Smith was also a popular choice this year. Seventh graders Amber Carroll (in Vocal) and Nico Daddio (in Dance) shared about their experiences getting their first choice for Intersession, walking to Jack London, and taking the ferry to the Exploratorium. Daddio wasn’t excited for the ferry ride because it was cold, but he ended up having a lot of fun on the ferry.
Carrol was excited about being with her friends this year since she was with random people last year. “My expectations for the field trip were exactly how the day went, and I enjoyed it,” she said. Nico shared that his favorite part was getting to know other people from OSA and making new friends.
Both Daddio and Carroll expressed that the only low of the day was the disorganized return trip to Oakland. “I feel like there could have been more people watching the children. We were kinda on our own and didn’t have anyone really watching us. They almost left children in San Francisco, and they actually left a parent, so I feel like we all could have been closer and had more communication,” said Carroll. Nico enjoyed being able to roam free in the Exploratorium and said that it was better without a tour guide.
Piper Stuip, a sixth grader in Literary Arts, went to the “Put On a Musical” Intersession. Stuip said she was nervous waiting for the Intersession assignments because she didn’t want her second pick, “Exploration of Life Through Dance”. Luckily, she got her first pick and thought the day was interesting—especially her roadkill prop funeral.
The Intersession group, lead by Theatre Department Chair, Ms. Helfer, played theatre exercise games and then did a read-through of the script. Stuip was surprised by how the rolls were picked in the musical from the one reading they did of the script. The day felt a little rushed and unclear, and they only had time for one rehearsal. Piper thought that the musical wasn’t that good because they only had a day, but it was still fun because it was so different than a regular school day. “We just do work all the time,” she said, “and it's better to get to know teachers because we always just see them working.”
Production design 7th grader Leah Semore went to the “Mystery Room” Intersession. “I thought we were going to go to an actual mystery room, but we ended up just staying in the classroom doing puzzles,” said Seymore. Even though this year's Intersession wasn’t too fun for her, she is still excited for next year.
During the Aikido Intersession, they took a 30 minute bus ride to a dojo called East Bay Aikido. There, they learned how to forward roll and pin people down. They ate lunch at a market nearby.
Isabella Schainker, a sixth grader in Literary Arts who participated in Aikido, didn't get her first choice, and her expectations were low. However, she said, “It was for the better. I got to learn things and try new things that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise.” There was a big range of experience in aikido training, Schainker said, and she enjoyed learning from different people.
The Exploratorium trip with Mr. Olsen and Ms. Smith was also a popular choice this year. Seventh graders Amber Carroll (in Vocal) and Nico Daddio (in Dance) shared about their experiences getting their first choice for Intersession, walking to Jack London, and taking the ferry to the Exploratorium. Daddio wasn’t excited for the ferry ride because it was cold, but he ended up having a lot of fun on the ferry.
Carrol was excited about being with her friends this year since she was with random people last year. “My expectations for the field trip were exactly how the day went, and I enjoyed it,” she said. Nico shared that his favorite part was getting to know other people from OSA and making new friends.
Both Daddio and Carroll expressed that the only low of the day was the disorganized return trip to Oakland. “I feel like there could have been more people watching the children. We were kinda on our own and didn’t have anyone really watching us. They almost left children in San Francisco, and they actually left a parent, so I feel like we all could have been closer and had more communication,” said Carroll. Nico enjoyed being able to roam free in the Exploratorium and said that it was better without a tour guide.
