EXPLORATION WEEK
Exploration Week offers students four days of immersion in subjects not usually covered in our curriculum, plus a day dedicated to giving back through community service.
TASIS Dorado High School students return to school after the holidays to experience a week of fun and learning outside the typical classroom environment. During our ninth annual Exploration Week students sought out new experiences in four days of seminars and hands-on training, and they finished the week with a day of giving back through community service.
SAMPLE SEMINARS:
Fab Lab and Robotics – Programming skills, robotics, 3D design and printing were all part of this seminar that engaged students in team problem solving as they created mazes and accessories to use with their bo-bot robots. The engineering design process was practiced every day!
Manatí Medical Health Care Careers – This seminar gives students a real inside view of the medical profession through rotations through various medical specialties, seeing the day to day challenges and commitment required to be a doctor or other health professional. Students are given the opportunity to witness surgeries and other procedures, observe consultations and also hear about the behind the scenes work in the engineering and business offices of the hospital.
Mixed Media Mural: This group created a huge mixed media mural celebrating reading! Paper, paint, glue, stencil and photography combine to make an impressive piece with mentor artist Damaris Cruz
Urban Art: The message of how we gain knowledge and how that has changed over time was created using air brush painting techniques, a new experience for our students with our artist mentor Roberto Castillo.
Creating Stained Glass Art: Students learned this age-old art form creating their own designs and learning how to cut, grind and work with the metal to complete their projects under the expert guidance of Dr. Manuel Torres
Chef Dorado: Students interested in the culinary arts and the restaurant business worked with Chef Sam Ng and Chef Wilo Benet as well as learning about new directions in locally sourced, vegan cuisine with Departamento de la Comida.
Introduction to Law – Being a lawyer is challenging and interesting and requires lots of hard work. Students visited the federal court, attended a hearing, learned about different areas of the law and then prepared and conducted a mock trial.
Entrepreneurship: Cupcake Wars: In this seminar, students learned what it takes to be an entrepreneur, then put their new knowledge to work by developing their own concept for a bakery. Well known successful entrepreneur Bettina Mercado and local bakery Dolce Cupcakes guided our students through the process which ended with a final competition for the best cupcake and business plan.
Community Activism and Leadership: The Estuary Project works with the waterways in the San Juan area, monitoring water quality. They also work with local residents in various communities to help them take initiatives to improve environmental situations in their areas. TASIS Dorado students worked with them in Pinones, La Perla and the Condado Lagoon and plan to continue with this project in the future.
Fitness and Technology: Professional athletes know that technology can be used to maximize their physical performance and help them analyze their form as they practice their sport. Students in this seminar heard from experts and got to test some of this technology on their own athletic performance, and learned how to improve their own fitness.
Living a Healthy and Balanced Life – Positive mindset, nutrition, physical fitness and relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation were taught this week to students who were able to focus their thoughts, analyze their own health and fitness habits and create vision boards to help them reach their new goals.
American Sign Language – Students learned about the history of struggle that the deaf community has had over the years. American Sign Language has provided many deaf people with the means to communicate and creates opportunity to connect with the hearing community. Our students had an intensive course, learning the basics and more, even completing a wonderful video showing what they had accomplished.
Naming Nature – Climbing mogotes, kayaking the lakes, hiking the farm… this seminar gave students the opportunity to get close to nature while they learned photography, photoshop editing and publishing skills. Expert photographer, nature adventurer and author Javier Roman was the mentor of this group as they published a brochure on flora and fauna surrounding the Sabanera neighborhood.
Careers in Education – This important career field was studied by students interested in learning what opportunities are available related to education. Several students interested in music careers combined with education visited the Conservatorio de Musica, while all students were able to observe classes, teach a lesson and interview administrators, counselors and other professionals about their work in our school.
The Physics of Surfing – There is science related to this sport, in connection to the water, waves, currents, weather and engineering of the boards used by surfers. Students learned about all of this and took surfing classes at Barlovento and also learned about different careers related to this sport that is the passion of so many.
