Upper School January Short Term (JST)

January Short Term (JST) occurs during the three weeks following first semester examinations in January. During that time, regular classes are suspended while both students and faculty participate in intensive projects designed to provide students an opportunity to delve into a subject of particular personal interest. This is a time for exploring career interests, learning a new skill or strengthening an old one, participating in a social service project, or trying out an area of interest for which there has never been time.

As part of the school-coordinated JST project "Roycemore Helps Others," students studied social issues through classroom readings, discussion and presentations. Then they put their new understanding to good use as they played with children at a community center, visited the elderly at the Swedish Home, cooked and served meals at the Salvation Army, stocked shelves at area food banks and much more.

Since the development of independence is considered a key feature of Roycemore's goals for its students, all are required to participate in January Short Term each year. Projects may be academic or non-academic, individual or part of a faculty sponsored group. Although some group projects have prerequisites and out-of-school projects have age or insurance limitations, there are an unlimited variety of projects possible.

Group projects sponsored by faculty members usually present activities not offered during the school year. Projects often take advantage of the rich resources in the Chicago area to enhance a subject through field trips, visits with professionals and experts and background research in libraries and museums.

Career projects are designed to enable students to learn as much as possible about a field while providing the project director with volunteer help. The more responsibility allowed students during January Short Term, the better the projects' results. JST is not unstructured free time, but an opportunity for fulfillment of well-organized, planned, individualized goals. Each student must write a daily journal which is read by the student's advisor, project director and JST coordinator. Journals are returned to students with written comments--grades and credits are not part of the JST philosophy of learning for learning's sake.

The project director writes an evaluation describing the quality of the student's participation in the project, which becomes part of the student's permanent file. These evaluations are often used in the preparation of the school's recommendation letter to colleges since they illustrate intangible qualities such as a student's initiative, attitude, responsibility and enthusiasm.