Course Offerings

Chess club is a community for new and experienced students to learn together. The instructor provides weekly lessons on checkmate patterns, openings, tactics, or chess history. New students learn how to play the game. Experienced students expand their chess skills while helping to mentor new students. In addition to Saturday morning classes, all students receive 24/7 access to online chess lessons, videos, puzzles, and games using the award-winning chess app ChessKid.com. The instructor uses ChessKid.com to monitor student progress and to set up chess tournaments. Playing chess improves memory, concentration, foresight, math, reading, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Instructor: "Coach Ray" Easterday

Chess club is a community for new and experienced students to learn together. The instructor provides weekly lessons on checkmate patterns, openings, tactics, strategy, or chess history. New students learn how to play the game. Experienced students expand their chess skills while helping to mentor new students. In addition to Saturday morning classes, all students receive 24/7 access to online chess lessons, videos, puzzles, and games using the award-winning chess app ChessKid.com. The instructor uses ChessKid.com to monitor student progress and to set up chess tournaments. Playing chess improves memory, concentration, foresight, math, reading, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Instructor: "Coach Ray" Easterday

Chess club is a community for new and experienced students to learn together. The instructor provides weekly lessons on checkmate patterns, openings, and tricks. New students learn how to play the game. Experienced students expand their chess skills while helping to mentor new students. In addition to Saturday morning classes, all students receive 24/7 access to online chess lessons, videos, puzzles, and games using the award-winning chess app ChessKid.com.The instructor uses ChessKid.com to monitor student progress and to set up in-class tournaments. Playing chess improves memory, concentration, foresight, math, reading, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Instructor: "Coach Ray" Easterday

Seattle's Historic Districts are a rich record of the past. They are also uniquely situated in the context of colonialism - in a mosaic of power centers that can profoundly shape our future. This course will familiarize students with Seattle's eight historic districts and task students to explore how the sharing of underutilized space within each district can promote positive benefits and outcomes for their communities – as well as Seattle as a whole. The class will work collectively to formulate a response to the Chicago Architecture Biennale's Spring 2021 Student Ideas Competition prompt: How can existing urban spaces be reimagined to better reflect the needs and interests of local residents? Instructor: Matt Fujimoto

Each week students will design and construct projects with challenging goals and constraints. Through building projects, students will consider a variety of human-centered design and engineering concepts such as accessibility, modularity, and ergonomics, as well as obtaining user feedback and co-designing for people. The projects will be tabletop size and designed for easy storage. We will use basic building materials (such as paper, popsicle sticks, and cardboard) and tools (such as scissors, rulers, and glue guns). Students will be encouraged to use household items, especially materials that can be reused or "upcycled." Students will have opportunities to share and develop their portfolio of projects. Instructor: A. J. Balatico

Speaking comfortably and confidently in front of an audience is a skill relevant to many aspects of life. This course will cover the fundamentals of public speaking, including voice projection and intonation, speech writing, effective gesturing, and audience engagement.  Our course is designed to be a fun and lively online forum where all are welcome to engage and comfortably learn how to speak eloquently and with greater ease. Instructor: Jennifer Stephens

How do artists and writers tell longer stories in graphic novel form? What makes comics so appealing, and so different from any other art form? In each session, we'll learn new techniques in visual storytelling. Using materials as basic and pencils, erasers, and paper, we'll design characters, give them facial expressions, place them in action poses, and begin to create a six page story. The ultimate goal will be a homemade comic book, complete with a color cover. Students will gain a better understanding of visual communications, both as readers and writers. Prior drawing experience is not as important as a desire to communicate one's ideas. Instructor: David Lasky

This class is designed for students who want to learn the basics of 3D Design and 3D Printing! In the class we will go over the ins and outs of designing in 3D, using TinkerCAD (a free online program) as the main source. This is about more than just 3D design, however; it's about designing with 3D printing in mind. We not only will discuss the design process, but we will go over how to design things with the capabilities (and limitations) of 3D printers in mind; we will go through the step-by-step process to transfer your files to a printer via a Slicer and cover how to actually print them! Instructor: Brian Jaffe

This class is designed for students who want to learn the basics of 3D Design and 3D Printing! In the class we will go over the ins and outs of designing in 3D, using TinkerCAD (a free online program) as the main source. This is about more than just 3D design, however; it's about designing with 3D printing in mind. We not only will discuss the design process, but we will go over how to design things with the capabilities (and limitations) of 3D printers in mind; we will go through the step-by-step process to transfer your files to a printer via a Slicer and cover how to actually print them! Instructor: Brian Jaffe

NOTE: This class has been combined with the 3D Design and 3D Printing class at 10:00 am.

This class is designed for students who want to learn the basics of 3D Design and 3D Printing! In the class we will go over the ins and outs of designing in 3D, using TinkerCAD (a free online program) as the main source. This is about more than just 3D design, however; it's about designing with 3D printing in mind. We not only will discuss the design process, but we will go over how to design things with the capabilities (and limitations) of 3D printers in mind; we will go through the step-by-step process to transfer your files to a printer via a Slicer and cover how to actually print them! Instructor: Brian Jaffe

Should we have school dress codes? Should students be assigned homework? This course offers an exploration into oration, with students learning how to support their ideas and argue effectively. Debate is a fun, engaging way for students to practice public speaking, develop sound logic and reasoning skills, and build confidence and self-esteem. Students also learn to express their opinions assertively in a respectful manner on many relevant issues and topics. Zoom breakout rooms allow students to work in teams as well as engage one-on-one with the instructor. Instructor: Jennifer Stephens

Not very long ago, the academic umbrella we know as "Science" was referred to as the study of "Natural Philosophy." Although doing science requires inquiry and review, how philosophical is it? Further, do we need philosophy to do science? Is either discipline more important than the other? What would human understanding and the world be like with one and not the other? In this class we will utilize short videos, picture books, striking imagery, thought experiments, and historical events to spur philosophical dialogue relating to the relationship between Science and Philosophy. No previous philosophy courses required. Instructor: Drue Miller

For over a decade, dedicated Minecraft fans have planned and built magnificent structures, environments, and worlds. In this class, we will create a small town of players using Minecraft: Education Edition! Each week, we will set community goals such as gathering resources, establishing fair gameplay and an in-game economy, and designing a community "mega project," such as a theme park. We will plan in weekly town meetings over Zoom and in-game. For example, to build a structure out of 10,000 wood planks, we'd have to grow and harvest about 500 Minecraft trees! This class will emphasize community building, Minecraft design and builds, circuit logic, and project management skills such as division of labor, scheduling, and organizing large inventories. Instructor: A. J. Balatico

Ever wonder what it's like to participate in a trial? Introduce evidence? Question witnesses? In this course students will participate in a mock trial. Each session explores a new set of case facts so students who have participated previously will enjoy a new courtroom experience. This introduction to law will include lessons on rules of evidence, cross examination, and courtroom decorum. We've offered this course online before and it was a resounding success! Students will be a part of every aspect of the trial so come prepared to act as advocate, witness, and jury! Instructor: Jennifer Stephens

This class is all about the fun of drawing what you see in the world. When we draw the people, places, and things around us, it increases our observational skills, improves our hand-eye coordination, and gives us the satisfaction of having completed a drawing in a short amount of time. In each session, we'll warm up with a little doodling, learn some drawing tips, and get to work on a specific assignment with pencil and paper. Students will gain greater confidence in putting pencil to paper at a moment's notice, and a sharper eye for detail. By the end, they will have a visual record of this moment in their lives. Prior experience is not necessary. Instructor: David Lasky

Information rains down on you all day ... or is it misinformation? Your brain is under attack, and not knowing what to believe can be embarrassing, expensive, or dangerous. But we're often forced to believe (or not believe) stuff on the fly - and modern psychology shows that our minds are fogged by "cognitive bias." We accept positive evidence more than negative evidence, see meaning in meaningless patterns, trust our memories way too much, trust experts both too much and too little, and get numbers and probabilities horribly wrong. In this class you'll learn about these standard flaws in our thinking and learn key tricks for defending your brain from "information" that doesn't pass the smell test. Instructor: Richard Farr

How is climate change affecting human and animal populations across the globe? How can we get rid of microplastics in our food supply? What can we do about the next pandemic? Why are these questions so difficult to answer? In this class we will address the curiosities and challenges of our time using real datasets. Students will develop their own questions, and then they will design experiments and potential solutions to solve complex problems. On the last day of class, students will present a digital poster to their peers and the online Robinson Center community. Instructor: A. J. Balatico

If you want to travel, don't let COVID stop you! In this class we'll use Google Earth to go on a world tour of my favorite places - and yours. But it's not quite a free ride. To follow along, you'll have to look for clues, ace quizzes, and work in groups to figure out where we are, where we're going next, or what's special about a special place. Lace up those digital boots! You're going to learn about the Big Blue Marble, find new destinations to dream about, and create a round-the-world Google Earth Travel project that you can share with friends and family. Instructor: Richard Farr

Grounded in a range of philosophical traditions, this course builds from the interests of the students as we work together to make sense of timeless thought experiments, paradoxical situations, and personally relevant ethics. Children will practice identifying and asking philosophical questions, using a range of books, games, and other activities to guide and focus our discussion and community building. Through peer discussion and experienced facilitation, children are invited to participate in deep communal wondering while developing skills in reasoning, reflection, and respectful social interaction with others whose viewpoints may differ from their own. Instructor: Jordan Sherry-Wagner

Grounded in a range of philosophical traditions, this course builds from the interests of the students as we work together to make sense of timeless thought experiments, paradoxical situations, and personally relevant ethics. Children will practice identifying and asking philosophical questions, using a range of books, games, and other activities to guide and focus our discussion and community building. Through peer discussion and experienced facilitation, children are invited to participate in deep communal wondering while developing skills in reasoning, reflection, and respectful social interaction with others whose viewpoints may differ from their own. Instructor: Jordan Sherry-Wagner