Foster+Creativity+and+Passions

"The sorts of abilities that matter most now it turns out are also the sorts of things that people do out of intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is what propels people to become creators and empathizers, to become designers and storytellers and counselors and consultants" (Friedman 323)
 * What is it?**

We want our students to have ample time to foster their creativity and passions. For this reason, we will give time **every** day for students to focus on developing their skills in areas that they are **passionate.** Although Parker already has programs for art, music, and drama, The New Parker provides the opportunity for students to focus more time on the extracurricular activities in which are most driven. Activities after school will be in addition to the electives that they already have in school. We will do this by providing an extended day for instruction.

Here are the reasons behind this format:
 * We believe that students will find greater success when they are doing something that they love.


 * We believe that students will be more equipped to succeed in society when they have developed unique skills that set them apart and make them more well-rounded participants in society.


 * We believe that this part of the day will foster enthusiasm that can carry over into their academic subjects.


 * We want students to have opportunities to be involved in enrichment activities that allow them to think outside of the box. "The key to success is to risk thinking unconventional thoughts."

- Vocational classes: wood shop, electrical engineering, robotics, mechanics, cosmetology
 * The longer school day provides time that students will use to participate in enrichment activities including:**

- Art: sculpture, drawing and painting, ceramics, fashion Our art students also have the opportunity to decorate the schools and design murals for walls.

- Computer design, animation, architecture

- Music and drama

- Family and consumer sciences (cooking, nutrition, knitting/sewing)

- Sports: All town sports will be included during this part of the school day. Facilities include: Rock Climbing wall, indoor and outdoor pools, state of the art turf fields, racquetball and tennis courts, indoor and outdoor track, ice hockey rink, fitness center with trainers and nutritionists, dance studio

- Gardening

** 21st Century Skills ** ** Across the span of extracurricular activities, all of the 21st century skills are addressed: **
 * 1) Life & Career Skills
 * 2) ** Flexibility & Adaptability (77) **
 * 3) ** Initiative & Self-Directive (79) **
 * 4) ** Social & Cross-Cultural Skills (81) **
 * 5) **Productivity & Accountability Skills (83)**
 * 6) ** Leadership & Responsibility (84) **
 * 7) Learning & Innovation Skills
 * 8) ** Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (52) **
 * 9) ** Communication & Collaboration Skills (55 **)
 * 10) ** Creativity & Innovation Skills (59) **
 * 11) Information, Technology, and Media Skills
 * 12) ** Digital Literacy Skills (67) **
 * 13) **Media Literacy (69) **
 * 14) **ICT Literacy (71) **

**What other people are saying:**

"Many of today's knowledge workers will likewise have to command a new set of aptitudes. They'll need to do what workers abroad cannot do equally well for much less money - using R-directed abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component (Pink 40).

Daniel H pink discusses the future response to automation and outsourcing of jobs: "Engineers and programmers will have to master different aptitudes, relying more on creativity than competence, more on tacit knowledge than technical manuals, and more on fashioning the big picture than sweating the details (Pink 45).

"How we educate children may prove to be more important than how much we educate them" (Friedman 309).

"It's not only what you know but how you learn that will set you apart. Because what you know today will be out-of-date sooner than you think" (Friedman 309).

" When I think back on my favorite teacher, I don't remember the specifics of what they taught me, but I sure remember being excited about learning it. What has stayed with me are not the facts they imparted but the excitement about learning they inspired. To learn how to learn, you have to love learning - or you have to at least enjoy it - because so much learning is about being motivated to teach yourself. And while it seems that some people are just born with that motivation, many others can develop it or have it implanted with the right teacher (or parent)" (Friedman 310).

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 * A student sharing what she would do in a class that allowed her to build skills around her passions:**


 * How does this connect to outside of your community? **
 * Students in sports will compete against other districts


 * Vocational courses will connect with businesses in the community and through social networking via Twitter


 * Music and drama courses will attend public performances and also give performances for the community


 * Family and consumer science classes will display recipes on blogs, create instructional cooking videos, and donate products created in class to local shelters


 * Art courses will put on art shows and display work online through Artsonia and other source