You know robins and blue jays by name, but did you know there are more than 400 species of birds who come through our state at various times during the year? Learn to identify area birds and where to find them in this hands-on class. We will be birding on the Villa Duchesne campus and will take a field trip on the last day of class to apply our knowledge at an area park.

Come explore the world of imaginative and fantasy literature and film through the vision of both Latin American and Spanish authors and cinema. This class will introduce you to the works of great minds such as Isabel Allende, Federico Garcia Lorca, Manuel Roja, Gabriel García Márquez, Elan Poniatowska, Ricardo Palma, and Julio Cortázar, among others. We’ll also explore the art of narrative films such as El estudiante, Escuchando a Gabriel, Valentin, Elsa y Fred, and Nosotros Los Nobles. You will continue to refine your advanced language skills of writing, reading, listening, and speaking.

June 7-18 | 8 am - 12 pm
Mrs. Emily Kaplan | 0.5 Social Studies Credit

We will explore the history of our fascinating city from its earliest inhabitants, the Mississippian mound builders, to its French and Spanish colonial past (featuring our own Philippine Duchesne!), its legacy as the Gateway to the West in the 19th century, and its role in the country today. In many ways, St. Louis history is a microcosm of American history over the past 250 years when it comes to everything from immigration to industry to religion. We’ll take field trips around the city to dive deep into our cultural, social, and political history. Of course, we’ll make time to explore our culinary heritage, too, with trips to The Hill for toasted ravioli and maybe even some Ted Drewes! Field trips around the city will be an integral component of the course.

Understanding and managing personal finances are key to one’s future financial success. This course will present essential knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about real world financial issues with the primary objective being to provide you with financial tools and knowledge that will enable you to build economically stable lives.

In this course, we will examine the monoprint process, which produces one-of-a-kind images, while learning to use intaglio printing presses. You will create your own portfolio of prints while experimenting with positive and negative space, layering, and the creation of dynamic compositions. No printmaking experience is necessary. This class provides a great opportunity for you to add depth and variety to your college portfolio!

If you have taken Ceramics with Ms. McCabe and loved wheel throwing, this class is for you! Using the skills we already have from class, we will dive deeper into wheel throwing. Focusing in on cylinders, bowls, and plates, you will be able to throw a four-person dinner set by the time class is over!

Are you new to cooking? Or, do you feel like you want to gain confidence and start with the basics? Come learn fundamental skills such as chopping, slicing, and dicing, get to know your brunoise to your batons, and confidently use knives to make cooking easy. We’ll make a number of delicious yet simple dishes to create a selection of recipes that you will be able to replicate the rest of your life.

The Renaissance radically transformed life in Europe and indeed the world! We’ll take a deep-dive into this fascinating period of history that witnessed a rebirth in not only the arts, but also politics, culture, economics, architecture, and society. We'll discuss how this movement reshaped Western society and how that transformation changed the course of human history. A visit to the Saint Louis Art Museum will be an integral component of this exciting class!

Ever want to create your own stickers or posters? In this course, we will focus on basic tools in Adobe Illustrator. We will make our own stickers and create postcards and posters for our favorite bands and movies!

For students who have completed Spanish I and/or Spanish 8.

Understanding and being understood are at the core of being bilingual. This course will help you become fluent in both the language and culture of the Spanish speaking world! You will become a more confident writer, reader, and speaker todo en español! We will read two to three novels in Spanish, write essays, and perfect the formal presentation, all in Spanish! Vámonos, amigas!

Are you a Harry Potter fan? Join us as we explore the world of Hogwarts and beyond, create house banners and wands, and write and perform our own scenes with familiar and newly-created characters.

Introduction to Biochemistry/Biotechnology (BCBT) will cover DNA structure and function, basic lab techniques, transformation, electrophoresis, restriction analysis, ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), PCR and sequencing, and bioinformatics. The lab-based course is designed to introduce students to basic biochemistry and common biotechnology techniques and applications used in scientific research.