Verde Valley School: Not your typical school day

The Project Period program at Verde Valley School (VVS) offers experiential, creative, active, and service-based learning opportunities to supplement students' regular intellectual lives.

Through this program, students have the chance to break away from traditional classroom settings and explore new areas of inspiration while strengthening bonds with peers and faculty.

The program helps cultivate important 21st century skills such as mechanical problem solving, self-discipline, and pushing comfort zones. By pursuing something that moves them, students are encouraged to widen and deepen their education. The program culminates in an exhibition of student achievements and performances, which brings the school community together to celebrate the students' accomplishments. Overall, Project Period enhances the educational experience for VVS students.

In 1987, I strode across the stage in my cap and gown, a proud graduate of VVS high school. My years there were some of the most formative of my life, and I look back on them with a mix of nostalgia and excitement. One of the most memorable aspects of my time at VVS was project period - a whirlwind of activity and discovery that allowed me to push the boundaries of my comfort zone and explore new passions. I still recall with glee the thrill of performing a dance routine in front of a packed audience, the delicate intricacies of crafting my own jewelry, the whimsy of donning a handmade mask, and the depth of knowledge I gained through immersive studies of geography and calligraphy. Those precious moments of self-discovery and growth continue to influence and shape the person I am today.

At the end of Project Period there is an exhibition of the student’s creations.

If you’d like to come to the exhibition, it will be held at 7:00PM on May 25th in Brady Hall.

If you’d like to learn more about the other projects being offered, please visit vvsaz.org/programs/project-period.

If you have an interest, skill or hobby that you’d like to share with VVS students in a future project period, please email apalmer@vvsaz.org.

Examples of this year's projects include:

VVS Day Camp - A program where VVS students organize and run a free summer camp for local kids aged 6-9. It helps students learn childcare, organization, planning, and execution skills that will be useful in their adulthood.

VVS Radio - Students will build KVVS, VVS's own streaming radio station from scratch, learning about broadcasting, marketing, and station operations. They will visit other radio stations and create multiple music shows, news segments, a website, and social media presence. The end goal is to share the station with the VVS community.

Creative Welding - There is a saying, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”; this is true of the Creative Welding Project. Students are presented with a pile of scrap steel and are asked to

make a sculpture out of the ‘junk’. Students are taught basic welding, cutting, and grinding techniques with particular attention to safety. Their wonderful one of a kind pieces are then displayed around our campus.

Flagstone Patio - Revamp our school's gym flagstone patio to not only enhance its aesthetic appeal but also improve its drainage. Students taking on this project will not only gain masonry skills and techniques, but also contribute to something that will last for decades on our school campus.