Every day at Exploration is jam-packed with activity – both for the students and the staff. Three parts make up most days at EXPLO: academics, activities, and main events.

  Academics
Students choose their courses (which occur in the morning) from a full spectrum of academic disciplines.

Activities
In the afternoon and early evening, staff lead activities that range from artistic (finger painting), to athletic (ultimate Frisbee), to out-of-the-ordinary (smoothie making), to just plain silly (lumberjack competitions).

Main Events
These events, which occur in the late evening, can be performances by professional entertainers, staff-organized events, or trips to off-campus venues.

This overview, however, only begins to give an idea of what you, as a staff member, do during the course of an Explo day.

Below are sample days for a faculty member at each of our programs. These mock schedules are full, hectic, and bustling — exaggerated, but not altogether unrealistic 'days in the life of an EXPLO staff member':


  


         

7:48 - over breakfast at Commons, Yale's dining hall, plan with your co-RA a photo scavenger hunt for your living group

9:41 - help students make mock-ups for a news website in your web design course

11:22 - in the Curriculum Office during your curriculum prep period, review students' mock-ups and photocopy articles for your afternoon workshop 		 
7:56 - supervise the dining hall (make sure students bus their trays, clean up, etc.) while eating breakfast

8:47 - throw frisbee for a few minutes before the morning class periods begin

9:40 - in your restaurant management course, bake a spinach and mushroom quiche

11:03 - using toothpicks, tape, string, and straws, instruct students on how to build model suspension bridges in your architectural design course		  
7:42 - wake up students on your residential hall

8:51 - before morning assembly, dance to the musical stylings of Rihanna, Jay Z, and others

9:33 - lead an activity called 'Bouncy Ball Dream Machine' (you figure it out) for 17 curious 6th and 7th graders

11:18 - in a group meeting with your Residential Directors, discuss solutions to a bullying problem on a fellow RA's hall

12:33 - play an impromptu game of five-on-five, staff vs. student soccer on the Old Campus quad

1:21 - throw, drop, carry, and smash eggs as part of your living group's 'Eggs-plo Olympics' competition

2:11 - show snippets of and discuss Supersize Me for your media studies mini-course

3:25 - receive feedback from your Curriculum Advisor about how to incorporate student-initiated feedback into your lessons		  
12:13 - deliver a nasty return volley to win a curb-ball match 7-5

12:19 - get smoked 7-1 by the (4’8”, 82 lbs.) curb-ball superstar from your architecture class

1:03 - dance under a parachute as part of your living group's cheer

1:57 - in a meeting with your Curriculum Advisor, plan a jigsaw discussion activity for your poetry writing workshop

2:51 - lead a group of 12 8th and 9th graders in a kayaking activity on Lake Waban

  
12:48 - dance the birthday dance (aka ‘The Jamboni’) with the rest of EXPLO at St. Mark's in the lower quad

1:28 - conduct experiment testing the voltage it takes to make a pickle glow

2:16 - in a game of wallball, issue an official ruling on whether or not the ball, in fact, took a 'funny' bounce

3:22 - students in your stock market course practice trading on the free market with 'goods' (teddy bears, bubble gum) that you've supplied

4:34 - lead a discussion on the effects of capitalism in the third world

5:16 - get in a power nap before 7:30 check-in with your hall

7:41 - play kickball on Old Campus		  
4:35 - take a nice 90 minute power nap

6:13 - scarf down a turkey sandwich (and ice cream sundae) before 6:30 check-in

7:49 - let your sparkling wit shine at the Staff Improv main event 		 
4:14 - play a game of pick-up speedball with fellow staff during your off time

5:31 - clean up a blue juice spill in the dining hall during dinner

6:32 - report to the Main Office to answer and relay phone calls from parents

8:37 - chaperone students at 'Club Night' at Toad's Place in New Haven

10:23 - supervise students underneath the Vanderbilt archway

11:15 - watch episodes of The Office with your living group

12:01 - fall asleep while writing in your staff journal


  
8:34 - during 'Winding Down Time' on the quad, sit on the stoop by your dorm and have your hair braided

9:42 - compare and share mp3s on your iPod with the students on your hall

11:11 - fall asleep while writing in your staff journal		  
7:53 - supervise and take in tonight's main event: the Airborne Comedians

9:17 - make sure everybody on your hall has showered and brushed their teeth before bed

10:41 - fall asleep while writing in your staff journal
EXPLO Home Page  •  Senior Summer Site  •  Intermediate Summer Site  •  Junior Summer Site
©2011 Exploration School, Inc. all rights reserved  •  contact explo  •  privacy policy