We Call It Minimester

GDS’s High School Minimester is truly reflective of our mission to encourage inquiry in students. During Minimester, high school students select from more than three dozen diverse course offerings based on the passions and interests of faculty and staff and then spend three days away from regular classes for a more immersive, experiential-learning approach to study. 

This year, students chose from a wide range of subjects and experiences, many requiring off-campus travel. For “Three Plays in Three Days In Three Cities,” students experienced the Lantern Company's production of Brian Friel's Faith Healer in Philadelphia, Larissa FastHorse's new adaptation of Peter Pan in Baltimore, and the premiere of Vivian J.O. Barnes' The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes at Woolly Mammoth here in DC. For “Day Hiking in the DMV,” students joined HS math teachers Tom Spilsbury and Lee Goldman on visits to the U.S. National Arboretum and historic Mount Bleak house at Sky Meadows State Park. For “Art Behind the Scenes,” students visited the Rothko exhibit and the Dorothy Trapper Goldman Gallery among others at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Students could also opt into on-campus study selections such as practicing improv comedy in the GDS High School Black Box Theater and making traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs. 
 

Some of the other experiences offered included:

A View From the Other Side

Beatmakers Workshop

Chinatown, USA

Considering Campus Discourse: Free Speech, Schools and GDS

Designing Affordable and Sustainable Housing - An Architectural and Design Approach

Eco-Fashion and Thrifting

FORE! You: A Golf Minimester for Everyone

If You Never Try, You'll Never Know: Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Masala Curry: An Exploration of the Indian Subcontinent through Movies and Food

Master President: Slavery and the American Presidency

Out of Your Head, Into Your Body

Outdoor Adventures

Passion to Profit: Exploring Fitness & Food in the District

Seasonal "Farm to Table" Cooking and Eating

Pickleball

Taste the Diaspora: Culinary Adventures in African and Caribbean Cuisines

The Science of Happiness

The World of Science Fiction

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