Learning Through Curiosity: High School Venture Classes at Compass
What happens when students get to explore something they’re genuinely interested in?
They get curious. They ask questions. They make connections. And often, they discover that learning doesn’t fit neatly into one subject area.
That’s the idea behind Venture classes at Compass Community Collaborative School.
Venture classes give Compass high school students the opportunity to explore topics through their interests while building connections across different areas of learning. They are a chance to dig deeper, try something new and discover how classroom learning connects to the world beyond school.
And this semester, students have some pretty fun options.
Learning Through Interest (LTI)
What are you interested in?
LTI starts with that simple question and gives students the opportunity to explore their own interests while connecting them to future possibilities.
Students can follow their curiosity, investigate topics that matter to them and begin thinking about how their interests might connect to future careers, education and opportunities.
Beyond the Page: Worlds of Comics & Cosplay
Comics and cosplay are much more than entertainment.
In Beyond the Page, students dive into visual storytelling, culture and media while exploring the creative worlds behind comics and cosplay.
It's an opportunity to look at how stories are created and communicated through characters, images, design and performance while exploring the communities and cultures that surround them.
Take Note: The Sound and Physics of Music
What does physics have to do with music?
A lot.
In Take Note, students explore the science behind sound and discover the physics that makes music and the performing arts possible.
It’s a great example of how learning at Compass can cross traditional subject boundaries. Physics isn't just something you find in a science textbook. It’s something you can hear, see and experience.
Drawn to Nature: Eco-Art Exploration
What happens when art and the natural world come together?
Drawn to Nature blends creativity, environmental exploration and the outdoors as students investigate ways to connect art and nature.
Students get to explore the natural world while thinking creatively about how it can inspire, inform and become part of the artistic process.
No Small Eat: The Chemistry of Cooking
Food is chemistry. Seriously.
In No Small Eat, students discover food science and chemistry through something everyone can relate to: the things we eat.
Cooking becomes the laboratory as students explore the science behind ingredients, reactions, textures and flavors.
It’s hands-on learning with a delicious connection to the real world.
Five Classes. Five Ways to Learn.
These five Venture classes may look very different from one another, and that's exactly the point.
At Compass, learning can start with a question, an interest, a passion or even a simple “I wonder…”
Students have opportunities to explore what captures their attention while making connections between subjects and discovering how learning shows up in the real world.
That’s project-based and interest-driven learning in action.
Because when students have the opportunity to follow their curiosity, learning becomes something they don't just have to do.
It becomes something they want to do.
💙 LOVE SCHOOL.