Arête Endorsement Program

Arête Endorsement Program Overview

Landmark’s Arête Endorsement Program represents learning for life. Endorsement pathways allow students to enrich their educational experience by creating an individualized sequence of study in an area of interest beyond core academic coursework. The Arête Program is distinct as an intersection of personalized learning, depth of study, real world skills, and demonstrable achievement (e.g., original compositions and productions in commercial music, original films, R&D portfolio/prototypes in engineering). Program participation requires meaningful investment in co-curricular activities and provides students with memorable and engaging experiences, within which they develop agency and ownership regarding their education. It’s learning for life.

Become An Arête Scholar

Students are encouraged to submit a proposed path of study to the registrar’s office beginning in their sophomore year or at any point before the start of their senior year.

Successful proposals include:

An outline of coursework to be undertaken (on or off campus).
Identification of an expert mentor and/or advisory committee.
A plan for approved independent study (e.g., Private music lessons offered at Landmark, flight simulator hours, external coursework, a summer project in Engineering/Film, etc.).
Plans for the presentation of a “capstone project”: a portfolio of original work and/or in-field recognition (e.g., release of portfolio work on Spotify, presentation of R&D portfolio/prototype for engineering, obtaining personal pilot’s license).

What areas of focus are available?

Landmark offers endorsements within the Fine Arts, STEM, Humanities, and Impact Leadership. Within each of these categories exist a wide variety of opportunities ranging from film to fashion and engineering to leadership. The possibilities are endless.

Arts

STEM

Humanities

Impact Leadership

Recent Work From Arête Scholars

A multi-modal quantitative analysis of the impact of VAR during its inaugural season in the Premier League.
An analysis of the correlation between environmental factors and the occurrence of hip dysplasia in dogs.
Making Space to learn: an assessment of school architecture and its impact on Learning, culminating with the Redesign of a Space on campus.
An analysis of the opioid crisis and its systemic effects upon healthcare in GA.
An analysis of persuasive appeals and campaign strategy in the age of Twitter politics.
Understanding history through poetic artifacts, the power of poetry as a lens into the past.
The creation of an Aviation STEM module for implementation in a middle school course of study.
The healthcare gap: assessing doctors’ perceptions of health disparities across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic divisions.
Primed to perform: the development of a throwing program for high school track and field athletes.
An analysis of brain mapping and holistic approaches to ADHD management in adolescents.
The development of a social media marketing campaign and corresponding internship.
Musical scoring within videography: the creation of original work and an assessment of its effectiveness at eliciting the desired response from the audience.
A mathematical study of the relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional phase spaces in dynamical billiards.
A historical analysis of Russian/Western relations as a contextualizing lens for viewing the conflict in Crimea.
An assessment of the integration of live performance in the teaching of music history.

Explore the Pathways

Aviation Pathway

Aviation courses, facilitated with current and retired pilots, introduce participants to careers in the aviation and inspire students to imagine themselves in the cockpit. Students prepare for the private pilot exam and begin flight training with Gleim flight simulators with flight. Capstone projects can include certification, internship, or research.

Commercial Music Pathway

Students learn the complex art of collaborative songwriting and music production. In addition to studying well-written music as exemplars, students will learn the fundamentals of music copyright, licensing, contracts, mixing, mastering, time feel, and music theory. Additionally, students participate in private vocal/instrumental lessons or in music production using Pro Tools, the industry standard for engineering in the music business.

Students collaboratively produce a portfolio of songs which they have either written, performed, produced, or engineered, and this portfolio is released to a number of digital streaming platforms.

Engineering Pathway

In addition to preparation through advanced math and science courses, Arête Engineering Pathway scholars have a suite of engineering classes from which to choose. However, what distinguishes the Arête Scholar is the portfolio of research and design and/or prototype that validates the students’ learning.

Students earn independent study hours through extended research, lab experiences, or design time in our maker-space. Capstone projects, designs, and research outcomes are presented at a spring STEM endorsement showcase.

Fashion Design Pathway

Students learn foundational design, sewing and business skills to help develop their own online portfolio, market their fashion line, and gain an introduction to various careers in the fashion industry.

Students earn independent study hours through participating in internships, freelance skills application for client needs, retailing their designs, or their capstone collection-making process. The capstone project is a collection of 10-12 looks designed and made by each student, accompanied by their portfolio for the creation of the collection. Their collections will be showcased in a yearly Landmark Fashion Show.

Film Production Pathway

Film Academy is led by Billy Dickson asc, who has over forty years of industry experience, including producing Ally McBeal, One Tree Hill, Believe, and many other television series and movies. Twice, Dickson’s work with Ally McBeal was nominated for an Emmy. At Landmark, students in the film academy complete two years of consecutive film courses, culminating in work in the advanced courses where students are collaborating as a team on festival-length films.

The independent study work that students accrue is earned through taking on independent projects for the school and community, with a completed portfolio of self-directed creative work showcasing the students’ ability to film, edit, and produce. The capstone project for the student occurs at the Landmark Film Festival where parents, students, school faculty, and community are invited to view the student portfolios.

Leadership Development Pathway

A longtime offering at Landmark Christian School, Impact Leadership Training allows students to participate in a series of modules offered outside of school hours. In these courses, students learn from industry experts on everything from ethics to team dynamics to goal setting and more.

Students earn their independent study through their required community service and project hours. Their capstone project will embody the leadership lessons learned throughout the program and will entail the design and execution of a practical leadership experience, field research, or a community service event.

Performing Arts Pathway

As part of the Landmark Academy of the Arts, the Performing Arts Pathway prepares students for a concentration in areas that include Acting/Theatre, Dance, Instrumental Music, Music Theatre, Vocal Music, or a combined concentration. This independent study program is for students looking to expand upon their core arts classes and take a deeper, more individualized dive into the subject area that the student is passionate about.

Visual Arts Pathway

A focus in the visual arts may include sculpture, ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, digital, or a blended selection. Students begin producing a body of work rooted in knowledge and practice gained in foundational classes. Collaborative discussions between students and mentoring faculty launch the student into an artistic study fueled by the student’s passions, curiosity, and media interests.

Students earn independent study hours in the studio outside of class, off-site hands-on learning experiences, museum or gallery excursions, and documented personal studio time. The approved students’ capstone experience culminates in a collaborative show in our Black Box Theater with family and friends celebrating in true art-opening style.

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