Q-term Photo Gallery

After a year of hard work in the classroom, the final weeks of school are a breath of fresh air at The Storm King School. During the two-week period between final exams and commencement, both students and faculty are encouraged to explore new subjects and places that spark their interests and passions. This is Storm King’s Q-Term—a time that takes our students to interesting locations throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond.

Photography Masterclass: Fundamentals, Tips, Tricks, and Fun

During the Q-Term, students meet with the same class and instructor every day and pursue the subject of their choice. This focus creates an arena for hands-on learning, outdoor adventure, creative design, and service opportunities that enrich and deepen students’ connections to the subject matter at hand. Each year, Storm King faculty create an engaging roster of Q-Term courses that appeal to a wide range of interests from engineering and the sciences to history, art, music, travel, and many others.

Exploring Philadelphia – The City of Brotherly Love

For example, the 2023 Q-Term called ‘Exploring the City of Brotherly Love’ delved into the historical and cultural significance of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Starting in the classroom, students discussed the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution and read Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. Then traveling to the city, students visited Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, the Betsy Ross House, the Edgar Allen Poe Historic Site, and enjoyed the “best Philly Cheesesteaks ever.”

Destination Waterfall

The ‘Destination: Waterfall’ Q-Term took students to the most beautiful waterfalls across three states where they identified native bird species and learned about the geography and history of each location. On their first day, the students traveled to Pennsylvania where they visited three stunning waterfalls: Bushkill Falls, Duigman Falls, and Raymondskill Falls. Other beautiful parks and waterfalls included Awosting Falls in Minnewaska State Park, Bash Bish Falls in the Taconic Mountains of Massachusetts, Black Rock Forest’s Mineral Springs, Madam Brett Park alongside the Hudson River in Beacon, New York, and Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Another popular Q-Term, ‘Exploring the Big Apple,’ focused on exploring the arts, culture, history and food of New York City.

Rocks & Minerals of the Historic Hudson Valley

Students interested in geology joined the ‘Rocks and Minerals of the Historic Hudson Valley’ Q-Term which explored old mines, fossil deposits, ancient rock quarries, and Native American seasonal camps and the history behind them. Students searched for minerals such as magnetite, hematite, clear quartz crystals, flint, jasper, garnet, mica, feldspar, pyrite, and pure clay, and had the chance to replicate primitive uses of the materials. A highlight of the Q-Term was a trip to the Rock Garden, an abandoned iron pyrite and quartz mine in New York’s Shawangunk Mountains.

Sewing & Fashion Design

Other 2023 Q-Term Courses included:

  • Photography Masterclass: Fundamentals, Tips, Tricks, and Fun
  • Digital Drawing and Painting with ProCreate and Photoshop
  • Thinking Big: Mural Painting
  • Sewing and Fashion Design
  • Improvisational Theater
  • Video Journalism
  • Stop Motion Animation
  • Disc Golf
  • Hudson Valley Horticulturists
  • Buddhism, Mindfulness, and Other Philosophical Explorations
  • The History of Feminism from Mary Wollstonecraft to Lizzo and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
  • Big Brother SKS
  • Forensic Science
  • Minecraft Redstone
  • Swords & Wizardry
  • Intro to Coding in JavaScript
  • Sports Management

With the continued success of subjects like these, the course roster for the next year’s Q-Term can only get better.

Disc Golf