Education is an experiential process. Students learn best when applying new information to relevant experiences, from social/emotional learning to academic content. In all classes, students are exposed to hands-on and/or real world application opportunities. We also embed experiential learning into our end of quarter block days, field trips, internship opportunities, and larger scale travel experiences.
Experiential Block Days
The last two days of each quarter are scheduled block days where extended class periods allow for students to dive into experiential learning. This extended time allows for students to engage in focused content specific experiential lessons, get out into the community, or wrap up a large in-class projects. Some examples of how teachers have used these block days include: Class simulations of historical events and topics in Social Studies, labs that require extended time and building of science fair projects in Science, designing a food truck project and the mathematics of rolling object lessons in Math, escape room based on a class book, fairy tale writing, or an in-depth study incorporating art and model building in English, and enjoying bouldering gym, hiking, or field hockey in P.E.
Field Trip Opportunities
Humanex teachers regularly plan field trips and community based activities that correlate with academic content and service learning. Students visit local museums, exhibits, and performing art centers as well as give back to the community through service projects. Recent trips included: History Colorado Center, seeing a “Christmas Carol” at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, Natura Obscura exhibit, hiking at Golden Gate Canyon State Park with writing prompts, foot golf at Broken Tee, planning and serving a meal at The Gathering Place, volunteering at the Food Bank of the Rockies, and getting a behind the scenes tour at Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Internship Opportunities
Humanex partners with our neighbor, Plumb Marketing, to offer five supported internship positions per year where students receive job coaching and preparation for transition to the workforce. This process includes completing a job application, participating in interviews with Plumb Marketing staff, on the job training, and working at Plumb two days per week. One former student intern stated that, “This experience helped me learn job skills and build my confidence and now I feel ready to apply for a job and explore new opportunities that I did not think were available before.”
Travel Opportunities
Students have traveled domestically and abroad with Humanex staff members to gain a better understanding of the varied geographies and cultures on our planet! Past travel experiences have included backpacking in Colorado, visiting Washington, D.C., globe-trotting to New York, London, & Paris, and experiencing the wonders of Iceland. We look forward to planning more travel opportunities for students soon.