FSG XXVIII Academy Classes

All items on this list are subject to change.
(These classes have been tentatively accepted;
not all of them will make it onto the schedule.)

Current as of 23 May 2013

Send Questions/Comments to the P-Team, please

Academy Opening Session - Academy Staff
Welcome to the Academy! We'll take a little time to get to know each other, and talk about what we're going to be doing this year at the Academy.

Academy Pool Time - Academy Staff
Dive right in and enjoy a swim! Get some exercise, or just lounge. We'll be getting a lesson in pool safety before getting wet. Remember a towel or something to wear afterward. Most importantly: bring pool shoes. The pool bottom and deck are very rough!

Everybody will need a signed permission slip, and if you're 6 or younger, you'll need a parent/guardian with you at the pool. Meet at the Academy Pavilion at 3:45p Wednesday and Friday to make sure your permission slips are signed. We'll head to the pool right after!

If we get rained out, there will be bonus crafts classes in the Tin Can crafts room. Parental consent is required for this class. Please bring your parent/guardian to the Academy Pavilion any day between 9:30a and 4:00p to sign your slip.

Award Ceremony and Closing - Academy Staff
Thank you for joining us at the Academy this year! For each class you participated in, you earned a badge, and now it's time to receive your badges and add them to your book.

Diwali Footprints - Cheryl and Kitty
Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of light, beauty, good fortune, and wealth, and her footprints are called shripada. There is a practice of drawing Lakshmi's footprints on the threshold of the front door to welcome her into your house. We'll be making our own version of shripada to take home.

Make Your Own Fused Glass Jewelry (Academy Session) - Tina
Make your own fused glass amulet or altar piece using fusible glass, millefiori, silver, copper, and other materials. You must be able to pick up piece the morning following the class. This is the session especially for the Academy; parents, please plan to accompany your children to this session. The materials fee is waived for this session.

Making Badge Books - Academy Staff
Each class you take will earn you a badge (sticker) that will be awarded on Saturday. But before we can put the badges in the books, we need books. In this class, we'll craft and decorate the books (which are not just for this year).

Making Wands - Cheryl and Kitty
Hand-made magical tools are the best—so we will be making wands. We'll be bringing pine branches (and maybe some holly) from our land in South Carolina, and we'll strip the bark and decorate them to make our own wands.

Meeting Trees: Nature Walk - Marc and Zenlizard
We will meet at the Academy Pavilion and take a walk around the campground, observing and discussing the flora and fauna of Ramblewood. This is primarily for kids, but everyone is welcome. Please have on your sturdy walking shoes, sunscreen, and bug repellent (and maybe a hat); bring your canteen and your field glasses or binoculars if you have them. (Teen-OK)

Ojos de Dios (Yarn Mandalas) - Sam
First, we'll hear a traditional Navajo myth about the creation of the butterfly. Then, we'll be making our own Ojos de Dios, also known as yarn mandalas or Gods Eyes.

Pinwheel Prayer Wheels - Cheryl and Kitty
A mantra is a word or a set of words that you can chant, or sing, or write down to help you focus, or concentrate, or meditate. Om Mani Padme Hum is the mantra that comes to us from the person many Buddhists think of as the embodiment of compassion. Saying (or writing or singing) the mantra reminds us to focus on qualities like generosity, ethics, patience, and wisdom. Mani is also the Tibetan word for prayer wheel. Writing the mantra on the prayer wheel means sending more of these qualities out into the world every time the prayer wheel goes around. The Dalai Lama has even said that having copies of the mantra on your hard drive effectively makes your computer into a prayer wheel.

Today, we're going to make pinwheel prayer wheels with this mantra on them to help us bring the qualities of compassion to Main Ritual, and the whole gathering, and home with us.

Random Acts of Art - Academy Staff
We'll be meeting at the Academy Pavilion, grabbing the bucket of chalk, making sure we have sunscreen on, and then picking a piece of pavement to decorate.

S'morey Tales - Academy Staff
It's almost time to go home, so we'll gather one last time around the Upper Fire (near the Horseshoe), tell stories, and share s'mores. (Teen-OK)

Travel Altars 101 - Eri P
This basic class on making travel altars includes information on different types of altars as well symbols of various pagan paths. We will be using that info to make our own travel altars and objects for inside the altars in the second session. (Teen-OK)

Travel Altars 102 - Eri P
Using the info we learned and the items we crafted during the first day’s class, we will build our travel altars and then share the meaning behind what we picked/used/made if we so choose. (Teen-OK)

There are also classes appropriate for kids 12 & younger in the class list (look for the Kid-OK tag).