The Class Proposal

The evolution of this course proposal stems from the success of an interdisciplinary project
collaboration between an English and Photography teacher and the confident excitement of other
creative and integrated units being developed in a specific course that combines the fine arts and
creative writing. This course is also manifested from the value our district places on STEAM
curriculum and the idea that new and exciting possibilities for student growth are tapped into when
we open up the traditional boundaries of our disciplines. There were several people involved in the
conversation about this proposal including Chris Sykora and Elliott Hurtig who wanted to build on
the success of last year’s experience. We have since been involved in numerous meetings in which
we shared the vision and potential outcomes for the class, garnering supportive and enthusiastic
words from building leadership.


Furthermore, the class curriculum has seen multiple points of curation and cultivation, most notably
when Chris Sykora facilitated an intensive summer program class for gifted middle-schoolers at
Northwestern. Many of the concepts developed between Elliott and Chris were put into practice with
impressive results.


Why Creative Communication?


Language is at the root of cognition. It is the ultimate inspiration, bias, and roadblock to learning; and
at the heart of the creative process. This class seeks to develop student awareness and power
through language, integrating more natural forms of learning that activate various modalities of
thought and process with the goal of deepening critical thinking and cognitive development through
creative processes both metaphysical and physical. Making connections on a deeper level by fusing
information acquisition, collaboration, sensory abilities, and idea generation, resulting in a variety of
development such as problem solving skills, empathy, communication skills, and visual literacy to
name a few.

This class seeks to give students voice through meaningful and personal rigor, breaking down
arbitrary classroom walls and synthesizing education with culture.

Here is a school advertisement created to build student awareness of this class option:

Comments