Hi all --

Thanks for reading this. We are the Mutual Aid committee, a group of folks working together in comradery to support our Seattle community in ways that non-profit organizations cannot. This is no shade to our non-profit community resources but rather a notion of building and deepening a network of comrades to support our marginalized neighbors and ourselves. We take action to meet our neighbors' immediate needs by creating and sustaining collective, autonomous spaces & services. Survive to thrive and heal together to break away from capitalistic ideals and lifestyles. Come by to work in solidarity, comrade.

**We will meet at ADAM's ROOM - ROOM 101**

Competencies

✸Open-mindedness!!! ✸Open to learning conflict resolution AND unlearning being adverse to conflict resolution!!! ✸Curious minds, what's more out there???

✸Question-askers, why? why? why? HOW?

!!!!!NO SAVIOR COMPLEX!!!!!

All are welcomed! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ Come thru.

This course explores Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed in conjunction with Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed to critically examine the intersections of education, social justice, and performance.

By engaging with these texts, students will develop competencies in communication, creativity, embodied inquiry, and social action.

 This class is an active and participatory exploration of how performance can serve as both a pedagogical tool and a means of personal and collective transformation.

 Through interactive workshops, readings, and group projects, students will experience and create performances that challenge oppressive systems and imagine new possibilities for communal growth and justice.

This class will explore movements of social change and see what roles the internet and other emerging technologies have played into their stories, either through the spreading of mis/information or creating spaces for organizing and other grassroots work.

This class will be an American history class(US11B) that traces the history of economics to arrive where we are today in this stage of Capitalism in the United States. We will learn all about Capitalism and how it affects our daily lives. Also explore other modes of distribution and even come up with our own!

Level: This is open to any one at any level as long as they are willing to engage in thinking, reading, and writing.

There is an attendance and no phone policy for this course.

In this class we will look at the following branches of philosophy: Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Social and Political Philosophies. We will try to do this by engaging in these different ideas by practicing them through different experiments that will be created during the class. There will be reading, watching, thinking, and writing in this class. We will try to explore, discuss, and experience many ideas through the course of this class. If you like working your brain, asking questions, and engaging in the possibility of ideas then this will be a great class for you.

LA Learning Objectives Learning Objective A – Develop literacy in different forms of media
Learning Objective B - Use imagination and build resilience over time in order to continue your growth as a reader, writer, and communicator. Learning Objective C – Develop growth in community scholarship and action.

NO CELL PHONES WILL BE ALLOWED IN CLASS. YOU WILL BE COUNTED ABSENT IF YOU PULL YOURS OUT WITHOUT PERMISSION. IF YOU CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS THEN DO NOT TAKE THE CLASS.

WARNINGS: WE WILL LOOK AT ISSUES AND THEIR WILL BE MENTION OF SUCH THINGS AS DEATH, REALITY, HORROR, BLOOD, MONSTERS, HUMAN MONSTERS, NOTHINGNESS, THE VOID, MEANING.

ATTENDANCE: IF YOU MISS 9 OR MORE CLASSES YOUR POSSIBLE CREDIT WILL BE HALVED. IN ORDER TO GET THIS BACK, YOU WILL NEED TO COMPLETE BOTH A CONTENT AND COMMUNITY PROJECT.

Weird Fiction is a genre that incorporates aspects of horror, science fiction, fiction, fantasy, and various other genres. In general though, weird fiction is simply odd. It moves its readers to consider the meaning of their lives and the purpose of reality. It is also a genre that has waaaay more writers of color than all the genres I listed earlier in this paragraph.

In this class we will be watching a few films, reading the novella by Victor LaValle, "The Ballad of Black Tom", and looking at a lot of short stories.

You will learn how to write a short story, do short writing exercises, create projects, build a monster, question your reality, write an essay, discuss, and then discuss some more, and look at different philosophies attached to this genre.

Limit to 2 sentences (put more details in course page!). 

Committee time on Thursday for seniors to work on their SSJIP. 10-10:45 Debbie's Room 220

Disclaimers - There is an attendance and no phone policy in this course. Also, and IMPORTANTLY, this is a class where you will collaborate with the other students in order to create. This will look like ALL of the following - working with one other student, working with a small group, a large group, the whole group. If you want to challenge yourself to work with others then this is a great class for you.

My great hope for this class is that it is full of joy and curiosity. We will, as a class, decide how we will "do" language arts from class to class. Maybe this looks like a puppet show that is an opera in space. Maybe we are writing one word poems. The possibilities are endless. However, it will be important for you to be there and grow your ability to be a curious learner. To challenge yourself to be a curious learner whether that be with academic or social emotional skills. We get to make this class AMAZING!!!

This is an ethnic studies class.

CONTENT WARNINGS:  THIS CLASS WILL DISCUSS ISSUES OF RACE, POWER, PRIVILEGE, GENDER, EQUALITY, DEATH, LIFE, FREEDOM, CONTROL, BEAUTY, AND REALITY.  DO NOT TAKE THE CLASS IF ANY OF THESE ISSUES WILL BE TOO DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO MANAGE.

There is an attendance and no phone policy for this class.

This class is about decentering the whiteness of film as much as possible.  We will be watching films directed, written, and/or about BIPOC.
As we do so, we will look at who we are as humans, what we believe, how we came to believe it, and what actions we manifest or can manifest to both understand who we are as well as the perspectives of other humans.
We will study different types of story arcs and archetypes through viewing and discussion different films and documentaries.  Each film will have a project that will be due for it, and will be created within the context of the film and discussion in class.  Some of the films we MIGHT watch are:

"Get Out"
"Black Klansman"
"Everything Everywhere All at Once"
"I Am Not Your Negro"
"Moonlight"
"Fences"
"The Big Sick"
"Smoke Signals"
"Reel Indian"
"Do the Right Thing"
"Set it Off"
"High and Low"
"When We Were Kings"
"I'm No Longer Here"
"Parasite"
"Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"

and many others.  If you are interested in films and/or stories this would be a good class to take.

 There will be opportunities for writing reviews, interviews, research, narratives. short stories, novels, poetry, and more. There will be prompts to work from, structure when needed, feedback, and lots of time to write and explore on your own. Once a month you will be asked to participate in a class slideshow that highlights what you've done via summary, example, or sharing it all. 

students will read as well. Since we are only meeting 2x per week, there will be an expectation for work done outside of the classroom each week via reading and submitting projects on those readings.

This class is the right class for you. You might know essays, hate essays, love non-fiction writing, or creative writing. I am going to help you define your writing goals and pursue them in an enjoyable way that is true to you--your interests, your style, your voice. 

 Let's look at various genres (science fiction, fantasy, sci fi, dystopias, horror, alternate history, historical fiction, and more). Let's make our own multimedia books. Let's build conversations. 

NOTE re TW: trigger warning needs may be messy in a class where we choose what to read, and we have open discussions about what we are reading together or separately. We will do our best. 

When the end of the world comes, will you know what to do?

How will you survive?

What do you need to know?

 What skills do you have that will be useful? 

Octavia Butler predicted so much of our world today. Climate change, the fires, the wealth gap. She even predicted the fascist running for president using the slogan "Make America Great Again" As one of the first Black Science Fiction writers, she is prophetic and prescient.

This class will examine her book  Parable of the Sower in depth. We will talk about what we need to know to survive the world that she built and that she predicted. We will look to indigenous peoples to teach us what they know about the land and how we are tied to it. We will look at how Octavia Butler has inspired others to create actions and organizational structures.

This interdisciplinary course explores the intersections of ecology, storytelling, and social change through the study of

1. Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower,
2.  adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy
3. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.

Students will engage with these texts to develop competencies in 

• Communication, 
• Creativity
• Embodied Inquiry
• Action/Application
• Community/Context 
• Growth/Transformation

 Through reading, discussion, and applied projects, students will explore how stories shape our understanding of the world, inspire creative solutions, and foster community resilience and transformation.

This is a class about reclaiming fun and creative experimentation while writing, and getting tuned into the power of language to heal, to incite, to inform, to describe, to express feelings. No experience required. Develop and deepen your practices of writing, revising/editing, and active reading. Guest teacher & Nova alum, Mulch, from Youth Speaks Seattle, is co-teaching this class with Melissa! Students will create a portfolio of 8-16 original poems written this semester, teach a lesson/lead an activity, and participate in a final performance. 

The strike-through on "Man v. Wild" in the course title is quite intentional. It represents a critical response to the division between humans and the natural world, one that has resulted in hierarchies over kinship, individualism over community, and efforts to tame and dominate the "wild" instead of living in harmony with it. What, this course invites us to ask, could survival look like when it centers multispecies kinship, community, reciprocity, and harmony with the natural world? This course draws from land-based approaches to education and Indigenous worldviews to explore themes related to "survival" and to analyze literature and our relationships with ourselves, each other, the land, and our other-than-human kin. Together, we will read both versions of Jack London's famous short story "To Build a Fire" (1908) and Cherie Dimaline's award-winning young adult (YA) novel The Marrow Thieves (2017). Late fall, we will go to Camp Sealth on Vashon Island for two nights to learn and practice survival skills, read, write, and in other ways ground our classroom learning in the outdoors. Mid spring, we will go to Camp Orkila on Orcas Island. We will take one-day field trips throughout the semester as we collaborate with the land and community partners to make items one might need when the phones are dead, grocery stores and pharmacies dark, and DoorDash stops delivering--food, wellness items, and tools. Our analyses and experiences will culminate in a variety of student-driven Summative Assessment Pathways, from essays to creative writing to art pieces to community action.

This is a literature course, meaning we will be reading actual books. Students who completed the first semester and are working towards college credit MUST enroll for second semester.

Cass and Melissa co-facilitate this group independent which is an intentionally-designed collaboration among a specific group of students who requested it. This space of learning and sharing includes competencies practices in art, LA, world history and US history. Special art and/or research-based or service-based projects, food, possible field trips, and rotating and/or collaborative teaching are all potential elements for this class. We are super excited about it! 

Cass and Melissa co-teach this ethnic studies world history/language arts class. Our main goals are to practice critical research and inquiry into restorative and transformative justice practices around the world, the US, and our own local communities. We'll also practice community building via circle discussions in order to grow our capacities & abilities to reduce and prevent harm at school and in our lives, and increase students' well-being and healing practices. 

Before there was overt LGBTQIA+ representation in popular culture, many storylines and characters in film, television and literature would hint at queerness without actually stating it. In this class we will explore some of the LGBTQIA+ tropes, plots and imagery that LGBTQIA+ viewers and readers identified with and where they found representation from within the closet. Later in the semester we will see how these representations transitioned from inside the closet to coming out of the closet.

This LA Composition/Writer’s Workshop class will give students the opportunity to learn about coded LGBTQIA+ representation in film, television and literature. As a class we will analyze and discuss these themes. Students will work on their writing skills through journals and essays throughout the first half of the semester, and then focus on a culminating writing project for the second half of the semester.

Content/trigger warning: In this class we will be discussing and reviewing material that portrays LGBTQ+ themes from an outdated and antiquated perspective, which may be hard and/or strange to hear in 2023. We will work to make this a safe space where we can discuss and process these themes in a way that feels relevant.

THIS CLASS CAN BE TAKEN FOR US11A or US11B CREDIT ~ Inquire for the differences.

The United States presents itself as a land of opportunity where all you need to succeed is to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and work for it, but is this the truth? This idea is the root of the American Dream... but how real is it?

In this class we will be tackling this question head on through the lived experience of those people in history who have braved the journey to immigrate to this country to try their hands at the American experiment. All while comparing their lived reality to what the dominant narratives in this tell us about the American Dream and immigrants/immigration.

In addition to lending an ear to their stories, we will be shifting our eyes and also examine the context from which their stories were created, all to answer the questions; Is the American Dream real? What can we learn about the reality from the American Dream through the lived experiences of those who try to make that dream a reality?

This is an ethnic studies art and world history class co-facilitated by Becky and Melissa. All students are expected to practice inquiry research skills.

FRIDA is a class focused on Mexico in world history, and through the art, life, and times of painter Frida Kahlo. We will examine lots of art and make our own! We will practice critical research and inquiry skills while learning more about histories of Mesoamerican cultures, and impacts of resistance movements to colonization and imperialism in Mexico, especially the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century, which played a key role in Kahlo's life and art. 

Prerequisites: students must have completed WH 1, WH 2, WH 3, and USH 11A to enroll. This class provides instruction and support for completing the Constitutional Issues CBA grad requirement (or an alternative project for students who've completed the CBA). This is semester one of a year-long CHS (College in the High School) Edmonds College class in which students may also earn free college credit. Expect to pose inquiries into counterstories of the U.S. Constitution, the upcoming election, and America's "social contract." 

Adam's coursework for science credit

This class is a call to action for conservation. Using inquiry based science to discover local and global conservation issues, create action and positive change. You will create conservation projects, linking local and global communities, reaching out to experts in the field and getting others to work with you in your efforts. This class is rooted in ecology and how everything is linked together and what we can do to work towards a healthier planet. 

We will look at a broad understanding of the dynamics of life on Earth while also creating and completing an inquiry project exploring a particular aspect of life. Students will research ecosystems and build terrariums for exploration over the semester. 

Earn CTE or chemisty A credit learning about the global coffee/tea world. Expect to roast, brew, and taste coffee, tea, and more!

Physics is the study of the how natural systems work, up close and zoomed out. Come learn all about physics formulas, histories, and experimental design! You will be expected to at least have a math background of at least a year of both algebra 1 and geometry for this class.

We'll invent a role playing game and then slowing transform it into a theater performace. Actors and Stage hands welcomed. Need to commit to coming.

1 on 1 sessions with Stefan to hone your art

Full analog darkroom photography class focused on social justice. No camera or prior experience necessary, 6 STUDENT MAXIMUM. Betty, Sam, and Azura will be leading the class. We will learn about the fundamentals of photography and study other photographers' work, as well as do activities related to the photographic process.

This class will focus on handbuilding, beginning wheel skills, and building foundational skills and techniques for working with clay. Students will have the opportunity to plan and develop projects. Students should plan to make things, talk about their work, ask questions, reflect about their process, practice clay skills consistently, collaborate with peers, learn new techniques, engage with community outside of Nova, think about their growth, learn about clay artists, and lots more.

This class will focus on handbuilding, beginning wheel skills, and building foundational skills and techniques for working with clay. Students will have the opportunity to plan and develop projects. Students should plan to make things, talk about their work, ask questions, reflect about their process, practice clay skills consistently, collaborate with peers, learn new techniques, engage with community outside of Nova, think about their growth, learn about clay artists, and lots more.

Students will work in collaboration and independently to explore the following questions, in addition to the many others that we will generate together:

• How can our understanding of our rapidly heating climate help us to address the causes and consequences of our climate crisis?
• What actions are accessible for individuals?
• What can we do together in community?
• How can we confront unjust power structures/processes that contribute to climate injustice?
• How can we know if our actions have made a constructive difference?

By semester's end, each student will have practiced and demonstrated the following skills:

1. Research and investigation;
2. Critical analysis of texts, case scenarios, and current events;
3. Collaboration with peers in projects and other pursuits;
4. Communication through written work, presentations, discussions, and other modalities;
5. Application of learning in service of climate justice;
6. Reflection upon personal, communal, and other relations to course topics.

Learn the basics of character design and share tips with each other, then land on a character driven final project

An intro to many styles of animation, mostly handmade works

Use room 205 the Main Campaign for expanding on your comics and animation projects and trying more advanced concepts

Come create the Nova Yearbook. We are looking for motivated, organized, creative types (you do not need to have all of those traits together). We want photographers, designers, and tech savvy folks to help us. We will capture the amazingness of our community. No experience necessary, just a strong willingness to contribute. You will learn all aspects of yearbook production regardless of your specialty. You must bring your laptop every committee and be prepared to use it. 

Learn about and participate in Botany, garden and greenhouse care, ecology and farming, building, plotting, planning and maybe isopod care and sales. There will be bugs, mud, rain and sun. Be prepared for all of it.

Welcome! In this class you will identify your strengths, interests and skills. Find out what careers are a good match for you!  Get paid to do what you love. You’ll do your career(s) for much longer than school.  Let's think about what you love to do and plan how to get paid for it.

Needing practical job search skills now? We will build these too in this class.  Build and update your resume.  Practice interviewing and job search skills.

Animation for advanced students 10-12 grade (prereq Character design or Animation Induction) working on solo directed animation projects

In this space we will be uncovering the mathematics that is embodied in ourselves as humans. Rather than being told how you should do math, you will get to uncover what math looks like for you.

Your attendance and participation will be a factor in the assessment of your competency.

25 STUDENT MAXIMUM

This is the first semester of Algebra I. This course is appropriate for any students who are interested in taking it, regardless of whether they feel confident in math or not. In addition to learning the fundamentals of algebra, we'll be devoting weekly class time to developing number sense, mathematical inquiry skills, and pattern recognition. Additional support time is available outside of class for students who would like additional help or more advanced challenges.

*COORDINATE PLANE

1 Coordinate plane review 2 Midpoint formula: find the midpoint 3 Midpoint formula: find the endpoint 4 Distance between two points

*PROPERTIES. 1 Properties of addition and multiplication 2 Distributive property 3 Simplify variable expressions using properties 4 Properties of equality 5 Identify equivalent equations

*VARIABLE EXPRESSIONS AND EQUATIONS

1 Write variable expressions 2 Sort factors of variable expressions 3 Simplify variable expressions involving like terms and the distributive property 4 Identify equivalent linear expressions 5 Write variable equations 6 Does x satisfy the equation? 7 Which x satisfies an equation? report 8 Solve equations using order of operations 9 Does (x, y) satisfy the equation? 10 Relate the graph of an equation to its solutions 11 Rearrange multi-variable equations

*SOLVE EQUATIONS

1 Model and solve equations using algebra tiles 2 Write and solve equations that represent diagrams 3 Solve one-step linear equations 4 Solve two-step linear equations 5 Solve advanced linear equations 6 Solve equations with variables on both sides 7 Solve equations: complete the solution 8 Find the number of solutions 9 Create equations with no solutions or infinitely many solutions 10 Solve one-step and two-step equations: word problems 11 Solve linear equations: mixed review

*SINGLE-VARIABLE INEQUALITIES

1 Graph inequalities 2 Write inequalities from graphs 3 Identify solutions to inequalities 4 Solve one-step linear inequalities: addition and subtraction 5 Solve one-step linear inequalities: multiplication and division 6 Solve one-step linear inequalities 7 Graph solutions to one-step linear inequalities 8 Solve two-step linear inequalities 9 Graph solutions to two-step linear inequalities 10 Solve advanced linear inequalities 11 Graph solutions to advanced linear inequalities 12 Graph compound inequalities 13 Write compound inequalities from graphs 14 Solve compound inequalities 15 Graph solutions to compound inequalities Checkpoint skill Checkpoint: Solve linear equations and inequalities

In addition to the mathematics content, students are expected to

• listen with respect to another person's explanation;
• provide help when asked;
• ask for help when needed;
• play an active role in sustaining a safe and encouraging learning space for one another; and
• treat all materials gently so that they may be reused.

Your attendance and participation will be a factor in the assessment of your competency.

25 STUDENT MAXIMUM

In addition to the mathematics content, students are expected to

• listen with respect to another person's explanation;
• provide help when asked;
• ask for help when needed;
• play an active role in sustaining a safe and encouraging learning space for one another; and
• treat all materials gently so that they may be reused.

  This is the first semester of Algebra I. This course is appropriate for any students who are interested in taking it, regardless of whether they feel confident in math or not. In addition to learning the fundamentals of algebra, we'll be devoting weekly class time to developing number sense, mathematical inquiry skills, and pattern recognition. Additional support time is available outside of class for students who would like additional help or more advanced challenges.

*COORDINATE PLANE

1 Coordinate plane review 2 Midpoint formula: find the midpoint 3 Midpoint formula: find the endpoint 4 Distance between two points

*PROPERTIES. 1 Properties of addition and multiplication 2 Distributive property 3 Simplify variable expressions using properties 4 Properties of equality 5 Identify equivalent equations

*VARIABLE EXPRESSIONS AND EQUATIONS

1 Write variable expressions 2 Sort factors of variable expressions 3 Simplify variable expressions involving like terms and the distributive property 4 Identify equivalent linear expressions 5 Write variable equations 6 Does x satisfy the equation? 7 Which x satisfies an equation? report 8 Solve equations using order of operations 9 Does (x, y) satisfy the equation? 10 Relate the graph of an equation to its solutions 11 Rearrange multi-variable equations

*SOLVE EQUATIONS

1 Model and solve equations using algebra tiles 2 Write and solve equations that represent diagrams 3 Solve one-step linear equations 4 Solve two-step linear equations 5 Solve advanced linear equations 6 Solve equations with variables on both sides 7 Solve equations: complete the solution 8 Find the number of solutions 9 Create equations with no solutions or infinitely many solutions 10 Solve one-step and two-step equations: word problems 11 Solve linear equations: mixed review

*SINGLE-VARIABLE INEQUALITIES

1 Graph inequalities 2 Write inequalities from graphs 3 Identify solutions to inequalities 4 Solve one-step linear inequalities: addition and subtraction 5 Solve one-step linear inequalities: multiplication and division 6 Solve one-step linear inequalities 7 Graph solutions to one-step linear inequalities 8 Solve two-step linear inequalities 9 Graph solutions to two-step linear inequalities 10 Solve advanced linear inequalities 11 Graph solutions to advanced linear inequalities 12 Graph compound inequalities 13 Write compound inequalities from graphs 14 Solve compound inequalities 15 Graph solutions to compound inequalities Checkpoint skill Checkpoint: Solve linear equations and inequalities

Learning objectives

25 STUDENT MAXIMUM

Competencies

Use of tools:

Measuring angles with a protractor to within 2 degrees of accuracy
Measuring line segments with a ruler to within 1/16"
Measuring line segments with a ruler to within 2 mm
Copying line segments and angles with compass and straightedge
Bisecting angles and line segments with compass and straightedge
Constructing perpendicular lines with compass and straightedge
Constructing parallel lines with compass and straightedge
Constructing isosceles, equilateral, and right triangles with compass and straightedge

Use of Geometer’s Sketchpad

Can create a sketch with explanatory text
Can create a sketch which employs measurements which change dynamically
Can create a sketch using animation
Can create a sketch using Show/Hide
Can upload a finished sketch to http://docs.novafolios.com

Vocabulary and Notation

Can produce and recognize geometric terminology for a variety of angles, lines, circles, and polygons.
Can recognize and produce the symbols for geometric figures and relations.

Logic

Can identify the converse, inverse, and contrapositive of a logical proposition (conditional statement).
Can distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning.
Can analyze an argument and find its logical flaws (the weakness in the argument.)
Can write a geometric proof.

Triangles

Can recognize and apply the Triangle Sum Conjecture
Can recognize and apply the Isosceles Triangle Conjecture & its Converse.
Can recognize and apply the Triangle Inequality Conjecture
Can recognize and apply the Side-Angle Inequality Conjecture
Can recognize and aply the Triangle Exterior Angle Conjecture
Can recognize and apply the Shortcuts to Triangle Congruence.
Can recognize and apply the C.P.C.T.C. (Corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent.)

Polygons

Can recognize and apply the Polygon Sum Conjecture.
Can recognize and apply the Exterior Angle Sum Conjecture.
Can recognize and apply the properties of quadrilaterals