Museum of the City of NY Saturday Academy

Saturday Academy for Eighth to Twelfth Graders

 

The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Children’s Center, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, presents Saturday Academy for students in grades 8–12. Saturday Academy is a free six-week program for students interested in American History or SAT preparation.  There’s no homework or testing and all course materials are provided. 

Saturday Academy was the recipient of the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the White House, and was featured in New York Magazine’s “Best of New York 2011” issue.

Spring 2012 courses meet on Saturdays March 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, and 28.Students are expected to attend all six sessions and will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the end of the program. Students may enroll in one or two courses a semester. Please look carefully at the times each course is offered, indicated below.

Spring 2012 Course Offerings

The Wild West and Its Many Voices: From Reputation to Reality

Instructor: Chelsea Trembly, Candidate, M.A. in Public History and Archives, New York University 

Open to students in grades 8-12; 9:00 - 10:20 am or 10:30 - 12:00 pm

Cowboys. Bandits. Sheriffs. These are some of the characters most associated with the American frontier in the 19th Century. But other groups of people are often left out of the history of "the Wild West." This course will use primary sources to discover how women, Native Americans, African Americans, and immigrants--as well as cowboys, bandits, and sheriffs--all played a role in the formation of the American West. Students will work with maps, paintings, songs, and historical films to uncover these stories. The course will culminate with a group art project in which students create an original work portraying the history of the Western frontier in the style of a 19th-century art form.

Voices of Resistance: Photography and Poetry of the Civil Rights Movement

Instructor: Keisha Scarville, B.S. in Photography, Rochester Institute of Technology; Educator at the International Center of Photography

Open to students in grades 8-12; 9:00 - 10:20 am or 10:30 - 12:00 pm 

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was a landmark of grassroots protest and the struggle for racial equality. Students will explore the role photography and poetry played in capturing and communicating the ideas and dramatic events of the Civil Rights Movement. Participants will also examine how visual culture and poetry served as instruments of resistance and protest. Students will create a culminating project using photography to comment on this pivotal period in American history.

Immigrant Identities in American Theater

Instructor: Liz Parker, M.A. in Applied Theater, City University of New York; B.F.A. in Acting, New York University

Open to students in grades 8-12; 9:00 - 10:20 am or 10:30 - 12:00 pm

What was it like to live in New York City tenements at the turn of the 20th century? How did new immigrant groups use theater to preserve traditions? How do today's immigrants use theater to tell their stories? These questions will be addressed as we consider theater a vital force  in the telling of American history. Using theatrical games, activities, role play, and scene creation, students will explore the relationship between performance and the immigrant experience in America. Letters, stories, and images from the Museum's archive will provide inspiration for the students' creative work.

Urban Design and New York City: From Streets to Skyscrapers

Instructor: Elizabeth Hamby, B.F.A. in Fine Art, Parsons School of Design; Andrea Renner, Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow, Museum of the City of New York

Open to students in grades 8-12; 12:15 - 2:00 pm

Using the Museum of the City of New York's exhibition, The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011, as a starting point, this class will explore the role of urban design in shaping the streets, avenues, buildings, and open spaces that we encounter every day as New Yorkers. Students will discover the people and moments that shaped the way our city looks, and they will investigate how urban design reflects the city's responses to problems in public health, social and class relations, and economic development. Drawing from the Museum's exhibition, students will create an audio guide to the Museum's surrounding neighborhood that brings to light the history embedded in the streets and buildings of New York. 

Kaplan SAT Skills

Instructor: Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions

Open to students in grades 10-12; 9:00 - 10:20 am or 10:30 - 12:00 pm

Test prep can help students maximize their performance on standardized tests and increase their odds of college acceptance and merit-based financial aid. In this course, students will learn time-honored techniques for taking the SAT and master key Kaplan strategies. Kaplan faculty will cover critical reading, math, and writing skills. Walk into Test Day feeling confident and prepared!

Students in this class will be required to take 2 free practice SAT exams with Kaplan proctors on the first and last days of the program (Saturdays, March 17 and April 28) from 12:15 - 4:30 pm at the Museum, directly after their regular morning classes. Lunch will be served. Please save these dates and times! 

To apply for Saturday Academy:

Download and Print the Spring 2012 brochure and application.

• Spring 2012 Brochure and Application

Mail the completed application to:
Joanna Steinberg, Saturday Academy Coordinator, Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029.
Applications submitted by fax or email will not be accepted.

Applications must be received by Friday, February 17  no later than 5:00 p.m.

Enrollment is first come first serve. There are a limited number of spaces reserved for students who live in East Harlem (10029 and 10035 zip codes) and/or attend schools in East Harlem. Please apply early-space is limited! Accepted candidates will be notified by email, mail, or telephone.

For more information or to be added to the Saturday Academy mailing list, please contact Joanna Steinberg, Saturday Academy Coordinator, at jsteinberg@mcny.org.