As many families navigated a different type of summer this year, Dalton proudly launched Summer Explorations — a new program that offered students an eclectic array of online classes ranging from visual arts, crafts, design, current events, food & nutrition, science, theater arts, and many others.

One of these feature courses was Industrial Design, where 8th to 12th grade students worked with faculty member Jonathan Tatkon-Coker to design and manufacture products using Dalton’s 3D CAD modeling technology, such as an omni-directional audio speaker.

“I have been making products for half my life, and I wanted to share my love of design and digital tools with our students, as a way to focus their creativity while at home", commented Mr. Tatkon-Coker. “I learned how quickly they could pick up tools and create well thought-out, beautiful designs. I believe that my students learned that design is an iterative process that relies on breaking things down.”

In our Origami class, faculty member Lillian Redl led middle school students through the art of paper folding. 

“I tailored the content based on the types of models the kids were interested in learning,” said Ms. Redl. “Each week we learned several models, from animals to modular pieces made from several sheets of paper, and even some models that move or transform. We had a great time!”

Another exciting Summer Explorations class focused on the Social Justice of Superheroes, as faculty member Alex Bertrand ushered students through one of comic book culture’s most iconic stories, Marvel: Civil War.

“Two huge things I'm passionate about are Social justice and Superhero tales,” commented Mr. Bertrand. “A comic book culture grows in popularity, students should know how to interrogate the canon of the super friends they enjoy.”

During the class, students met for group discussions and participated in fun activities like Kahoot, designed to explore different character’s morality choices. Director of Library Services Christy Payne was also an amazing collaborator for the course to ensure all students had digital access to the story.

Our 10-week online summer chess camp had approximately 60 students from our community in attendance. Keeping children engaged and happy over the summer was definitely a challenge during a pandemic, but we achieved our goal by offering activities that the students enjoyed.

The camp accommodated 4 different levels—from beginner to advanced. This helped us to teach effectively according to a student’s strength. We met the children where they were, in their knowledge of chess, and also aimed to create a fair field of play during competition.

We dedicated the first 30-45 minutes of camp to thematic learning and the remaining 1 hour was devoted to free play in a safe arena, limited only to our community.

Dalton Parent Gabriel Tsuboyama said, “Our children loved Dalton Chess Camp this summer. They enjoyed the mix of studying famous games with match play against friends. It was something they looked forward to every day!"

We are looking forward to continuing our great chess tradition at Dalton this year.

Story contributed by Director of the Chess Program Beatriz Marinello; Middle School Math Teacher, Preceptor, House Advisor, and Equity Chair, Alex Bertrand; High School Preceptor and Coordinator of Senior Year Events Lillian Redl; and Engineering Fabricator Jonathan Tatkon-Coker.