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Treks are a learning opportunity in which students can earn academic credit through an off-site (outside of school) project. They can be during school hours or not. Each phase requires a completion of at least 3 treks.
Treks are more intense than most field trips. They require clear and meaningful pre-trek work, and post-trek follow up work for the project. They can be designed by students independently, for small groups, or as part of studios. They can be initiated and designed by teachers as well.
Teacher Initiated: Many MC2 staff appreciate using the larger community as a learning resource. They will often incorporate local libraries and museums, events, and professionals into a studio or project. In these cases the staff member will design a trek, identify the competencies and project activities, and manage the timeline for evaluation.
Student/Family Designed: In order for a student to propose a trek they must submit the proposal in Project Foundry and have it approved by their advisor. The complete trek design process can be found later on.
The "rule of thumb" advisors use is to give advance notice for feedback:
● A 1 day trek needs to be proposed and approved 1 week before.
● A 1 week trek needs to be proposed and approved 1 month before.
● A 1 month trek needs to be proposed and approved as early as possible.
Treks need to be closed out (evaluated, with credit either awarded or not) by the end of Doc Week in each Trimester. This is because incomplete treks count as unexcused absences, whereas treks that earned credit are considered an Off Site Learning Opportunity (OSLO) and the days are counted as "present" for attendance purposes. See OSLO Policy below.
Students have earned checklist credit, outside of MC2, for:
College visits
Family vacations, trips, and international travel
Summer camps and hiking trips
External Courses and Programs
Conferences and workshops
Hobby and interest-based events
Medical events
Cultural events, performances, and shows
Political events and civic action
Community service projects
Students have designed trek projects like:
Interviewing family members for their autobiography
Predicted and recorded vacation finances for budgeting
Identify a relevant CBRP that matches the location or learning
Write a critique or review of a performance and/or compare to another medium
Taking civic action and/or doing research on a political issue
Volunteering to help the larger community
Reflecting on the larger college decision process, and generating new questions
Preparing for a medical event and doing research on best practices and potential side effects
as always, any learning done outside the school can be used as a resources for deeper learning, with experts acting as informational references.
Additionally, studios and advisories might take smaller, local excursions within the community and design trek credit. Permission to go on these is covered by a general Trek/Internship Permission Slip that students sign when they join MC2 (left).
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Step 1: Talk with your advisor
Before you propose a trek- take stock. Do you have any unfinished treks already in the works?
Work with your advisor to make sure all your prior treks are completed for credit!
All trek days are marked as unexcused absences until the planned work is complete. ..
Some Guidelines To Keep In Mind
For a HALF DAY trek, plan it at least 3 days in advance,
For a FULL DAY trek, plan it at least one week in advance,
For a FULL WEEK trek, plan it at least one month in advance
For a MONTH LONG (or longer) trek, plan it the quarter before.
Step 2: Get permission for your trek.
Your entire learning team and MC2 leadership all need to approve your form. You will need to get everyone to sign it, in the correct order (top to bottom.)
You must fill out the information at the top- no staff member is going to sign a blank form!
Your studio teachers and advisor need to give an update as to what you’re working on in the three blocks.
Your parents/guardians need to check those studio updates and see if you can afford to take the trek. If you are behind in all your work it may not be a great idea to take a trek.
Once your learning team has signed off, then all treks get approved by the School Leader and the Admin Assistant.
Step 3: Design the trek
You will need to plan out the trek with your advisor using the digital Project Foundry Trek proposal. This is where you will identify all the Phase checklist items, Essential Knowledge credit, habits and identify the pre-trek and post-trek work you will be completing. It is important to note that if the planned work does not get completed, then you will not earn trek credit.
Step 4: Upload Permission Form: The paper permission form then gets uploaded to the Project Foundry Digital Trek proposal.
Step 5: Submit digital Trek Form to staff: This digital proposal must be submitted to advisor for feedback/approval. Your trek (offsite learning opportunity) is not considered a trek (offsite learning opportunity) until your project in Project Foundry reads “ACTIVE”.
Step 6: Complete the Pre/Post work All trek days are marked as unexcused absences until the planned work is complete - Because of this, Treks must be completed and evaluated before the end of the trimester they take place in.
From the MC2 Attendance Policy:
Off Site Learning Opportunities (OSLO) are not considered absences and are defined as student involvement in school sponsored activities and time spent to complete a checklist item that may not be completed in school, such as a college visit, personal trek, or internship work.
Any OSLO must have a pre-approved plan, designed ahead of time with an advising teacher.
Students complete all of the predefined work.
Once credit is awarded through an assessment, the advising teacher instructs Sarah to mark the days (previously recorded as unexcused absences) as an OLSO, to count as days in school.
Treks count as a type of “off site learning opportunity.”