Life lessons: BCLUW J-Term classes focus on unconventional topics, building new skills

It’s not every day that you walk into a high school and get up close presentations on Washington, D.C., food trucks, baseball, filmmaking, survivalist techniques and conspiracy theories, to name a few. Then again, BCLUW Principal Kristyn Kell isn’t interested in doing the same thing and getting the same results.
           
That’s one of the main reasons she, along with her teachers, created the four-day “J-Term” for the month of June: each day, from 8:30 to 3:30, students were allowed to participate in a special course of their choice out of a total of 12 options. Last Thursday, they shared what they learned to the public during an hour-long community showcase.
           
“It was fun to see the teachers go all in, and I’m just super proud of the hard work and dedication, planning and preparation that went into it,” Kell said. “When you walked into those rooms, those kids were busy from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, and I’m super proud of the kids, too, for just going all in. For a lot of them, it was a completely different school day.”
           
Offerings included the aforementioned Washington, D.C. trip summary from Noah Cross, a sampling of food truck fare, a filmmaking class complete with a 16-minute movie about robots, hitmen and dating (written by and starring Dillon Jacobson), a history of baseball from its origins to the steroid era with Grant Bohlke, ultimate health with Anthony Jahr, the John F. Kennedy assassination and other conspiracies and unsolved mysteries with Matt Zoske, dance, colleges, outdoor skills with Dusty Grothoff, movies and music with David Bartling, animal reproduction with Tara Leytham, a life full of happiness with Jodi Hinegardner and an extreme roof makeover. 
 
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