Fall Intensives 2019

Prerequisites: Biology I; Recommended: Biology II, AP Biology, and/or Anatomy and Physiology

MVCDS is proud to partner with Duke University’s Global Public Service Academy (GPSA) for Health programs to offer this Medical Service Intensive which will provide medical education and healthcare for in-need populations in Guatemala. Students will be trained how to interact with patients and how to perform all required procedures. Spanish language knowledge is not required. GPSA for Health programs is an intensive experience for high school students with a passion for career paths such as medical doctor (MD), nurse (RN, LPN), pharmacist, biomedical engineer (BME), dentistry or other health occupations. Participants are delivering healthcare and health education hands-on every day. They are not watching, shadowing, or observing, and they are not conducting research. They’re making a difference!

Do you know that China is the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's largest economy by purchasing power parity according to the International Monetary Fund?

Prerequisite: English II

What makes a film good or bad? Can a movie be better than the book? Can a film review be objective? How do economic forces shape movies? What is a “spoiler”? This intensive will dive into the art of film criticism and the history of film as popular and serious art. In addition to watching great films and writing reviews and criticism, we will read related works of fiction and nonfiction and analyze their relationship to film as forms of storytelling. Writing, reading, and discussion figure heavily in this course.

Health Education is a course that will empower students with the knowledge and skills needed to make responsible decisions and contribute to a healthy and safe society. Students will engage in developmentally appropriate lessons that are aligned with the National Standard for Health Education. Completion of this course is a graduation requirement generally taken by sophomore students

This course will give students the tools and resources needed to make wise financial decisions. Students will analyze their personal financial decisions, evaluate the costs and benefits of their choices, recognize their rights and responsibilities as consumers, and apply the knowledge learned to financial situations encountered later in life. The students will answer a variety of questions that arise in everyday financial dealings, both personal and business. Through various simulations, this course will focus on applications of the following concepts: understanding different types of interest (simple interest, discount interest, compound interest), annuities, investing in stocks and bonds, Gross Income, Net Pay, Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Cash Purchases and Earning Potential, Credit (Credit Cards and Loans), Transportation, Housing, Record Keeping, valuation of bonds, filing taxes, and return on investments. Students will learn the basics of various types of businesses and what it takes to start and be a part of a business.

The Show Choir intensive is designed for students to study and combine singing with synchronized movement. Students will rehearse chosen vocal selections to be sung and memorized while learning techniques involved in basic movement. The singing and the movement will initially be studied separately, and then combined to create a “show” modeled after performances that are given in show choir camps and competitions throughout the country. Students will spend class time observing show choirs in high schools and universities to analyze various aspects of performance. A performance by the students will be scheduled at the end of the intensive.

Recommended: Robotics, Physics I

Tech Wars is a team-based competitive engineering Intensive where teams are given a ridiculously short time-frame, a tiny little budget, and a pile of seemingly useless junk, and they have to accomplish a challenging engineering goal. It could be transporting 1000 pounds through an obstacle course on a human-powered unicycle, or finding a way to catapult a watermelon for maximum distance or pump 5 gallons of water out of a bucket in 20 seconds using an old blender or crack a nut with wind power. Whatever the challenge, teamwork, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills are crucial. Bring your imagination and be ready to put together some crazy contraptions.

This Intensive will make use of hand tools and power tools. Students will be instructed in and tested over their safe use and will be expected to follow all safety regulations at all times.

In this course, students will gain an introduction to the history of contemporary public art, become familiar with the current discourses surrounding public art, art intervention, and social critique of space, and have the opportunity to create a series of their own public responses dealing with site-specificity, pedestrian psychology, and the political of place. This course will be an opportunity for students to engage with techniques used by artists working in public space. Students will also learn how to analyze open space from social, architectural, and political perspectives. Lastly, students will execute a series of individual and group interventionist experiments, in the conditions of the architectural place, the contours shaping pedestrian mental experience, and the possibilities of addressing political issues through interventionist, socially engaged public art.