DORDT DISCOVERY DAYS
Classes
Afternoon Classes
Dance! Dance! Dance!
So you think you can dance? Chances are we’ve got some new moves to show you. Whether hip hop, jazz, swing, or country line dance, you’ll be groovin’ to the tunes in no time. We’ll also change the mood and contrast modern dance steps with liturgical dance. After this class, you’ll know how to express yourself in lots of new ways. No dance experience necessary.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Melissa Knobloch, Robin’s School of Dance
Course Status: 2 seats available
Eyewitness News
Learn video production basics including iMovie when you help produce a news show about the classes and activities of Dordt Discovery Days. You’ll track down stories, get the facts, and write up your big story. The ratings will go up when you’re in front of the camera reporting and doing the interviewing! Be it news, sports, or weather, eyewitness news is there…with you at the anchor desk.
Instructor: Dordt alumnus Curt Van Dam, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 4 seats available
String Studio
Build and learn to play a stringed instrument worth $300! You read correctly: A $300 instrument will be yours to take home. In five days, you’ll build a four stringed, Appalachian mountain dulcimer. Lying on the lap, they are easier to play than the guitar and are the perfect first instrument for novice musicians. You will carve decorations, install frets, French polish, plus learn how to play and tune. No previous lessons required. A DVD on how to do the work will be mailed to you a few weeks before the session. Activity fee: $60.
Instructor: Gary Vander Hart, musician and instrument builder
Course Status: 1 seat available
Garage Band
Have you ever dreamed of making your own album or writing your own songs? Curious how you can use the computer to create music? We’re doing it! We’ll listen to a variety of styles to examine the structure of music and use what we learn to craft our own songs using the software, GarageBand. We’ll start by building songs from pre-recorded loops, but we’ll move on to finesse editing and even record ourselves. From cool jazz to bluegrass country, from funky techno to straight-up rock-and-roll, you’ll learn how to tweak your tunes to your auditory pleasure. By the end of the week, you’ll walk away with a CD containing at least six tracks laid down by none other than your own sweet self! Bring your own headphones, please.
Instructor: Dordt alumnus Dave Mulder, technology coordinator, Sioux Center Christian School and Dordt College Education Department
Course Status: 3 seats available
Beginning Guitar
This class will teach you guitar basics as well as appreciation for some of the greatest guitar players ever. Listen to both classical and rock musicians, then get the beat and learn to play a tune on your own. By the end of the week, you’ll be strummin’ everything from Kum Ba Yah to a simple version of the Top 40 Hits. We provide acoustical guitars for each student, so no need to bring your own instrument.
Instructor: Jon De Groot, Dordt College Campus Ministries coordinator
Course Status: 0 seats available
War and Soldiering
From search and rescue missions in the woods to marching in formation, our “maneuvers” will help you better understand military strategy and discipline. We’ll use GPS to understand battle tactics and movement, plus practice strategy warfare indoors and outdoors. Don’t wait to enlist–Dordt College Wants YOU! Activity fee: $25.
Instructors: Professor Dr. Paul Fessler, Dordt College History Department, and Dordt Alumnus Ross Van Der Bill, Timothy Christian School and Iraqi War veteran, Army National Guard
Course Status: 0 seats available
Cartooning
Hang on Snoopy, there are new comic strip writers in town! Learn how to use simple lines to create characters with a wide variety of expressions and shapes. Develop personalities for your new characters and put them into comic books or comic strips, developing the “story” for each. This is a fun way to develop both drawing and writing skills.
Instructor: Professor Matthew Drissell, Dordt College Art Department
Course Status: 8 seats available
Survivor!
Spend afternoons at Oak Grove State Park learning wilderness survival skills and having lots of outdoor fun! Learn to build a teepee, make a campfire, and how to conduct search and rescue missions. There will be scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, and canoeing. This class is jam-packed with skills you can use on your next camping trip!
Instructor: Tyler Knobloch, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 0 seats available
Online Media
Facebookers, bloggers, tweeters, post your status. Learn how to set up and run your own website using a WordPress blog and be an administrator of the DDD 2012 Facebook page. Write articles and take pictures of the week’s events and people. Perfect for budding journalists who want to learn basic multimedia and social media skills. You must be 13 years old and have a Facebook account to join this class. It would be helpful to bring a digital camera or phone with a camera.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Sonya Jongsma Knauss, Dordt College director of public relations
Course Status: 4 seats available
Photo Shop
Shoot, anyone can learn to take good pictures! Learn how to “design” good photos, then manipulate or enhance them on the computer. You’ll crop, enlarge, and sharpen colors, change tones, and experiment with other special effects. Any digital camera will do, but a newer digital model will work best. Be sure to bring camera cords, batteries, chargers and memory cards as well. Activity fee: $25.
Instructor: Dordt alumna April Van Rys, photographer
Course Status: 0 seats available
Raku Pottery
Turn a lump of clay into a personal masterpiece! Raku-yaki, or Raku ware, is a type of Japanese pottery which is molded by hand instead of turned on a potter’s wheel. It is created with a specific ceramic firing process that uses both fire and smoke to create unique patterns and designs. Get your hands dirty shaping the clay, learn important design elements, and take home a unique piece of art.
Instructor: Professor Jake Van Wyk, Dordt College Art Department
Course Status: 0 seats available
Woodworking 101
You’ll learn construction techniques from a master craftsman and build a small piece of furniture from start to finish! With supervision, you’ll learn how to use power tools, make design decisions, and properly construct and finish your piece. Hit the nail on the head and you’ll end up with a beautiful piece of furniture to take home! Open only to students going into 8th or 9th grade. Activity Fee: $40.
Instructor: Paul Kroeze, Dordt College Maintenance and master cabinet builder
Course Status: 0 seats available
Costume Design
Ever wonder what it would feel like to dress as a queen, a movie star, or maybe a gangster? You’ll have a lot of fun trying all kinds of outfits from our costume shop. Besides checking out how clothing styles have changed, you’ll try your hand at drawing and choosing fabrics for stage costumes. This class is a great choice for both theater and design enthusiasts! No repeaters, please.
Instructor: Susan Blom, Dordt College costume designer
Course Status: 1 seat available
Cooking with Karen
Even if you’ve never advanced beyond making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or licking the spoon, this class will show you how to rustle up some grub sure to impress your friends...and your mom. Learn how to make healthy snacks, main course dishes, even drinks and desserts. A trip to the grocery store will make ingredient shopping less of a mystery, and if it all pans out, you’ll take home a DDD cookbook! Both guys and girls are welcome to learn basic cooking skills that will put you somewhere between Chef Boyardee and Rachel Ray. No repeaters, please. Activity fee: $25.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Karen Christians, Hull Western Christian High and mom
Course Status: -3 seat available
Scenery, Sets, and Props
Costumes and sets are the “bling” of any stage production, so you’ll love working on these theater projects. Creativity will be center stage for the puppets and masks you’ll make yourself. We’ll design costumes and set models to scale and construct projects you’ll get to take home. It’s all hands back stage for this drama workshop. Activity fee: $6.
Instructor: Dordt alumnus Josh Bowar, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 11 seats available
Theater Make-up Studio
Do you want to look like an old man or like you’ve been on the wrong end of a back street brawl? Want to make your friend look like a vampire? Or a clown? This class will supply you with your own basic theater make-up kit so you can learn how to transform faces. You’ll experiment with crepe hair, spirit gum, and learn what to do with a stipple sponge. You’ll get to straighten some noses and make others crooked. But watch out; you could end up with a black eye yourself! No repeaters, please. Activity fee: $15.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Emily Huston, Siouxland Community Christian School
Course Status: -2 seat available
Gamemaker.com
Zotbot? Extreme XP? These could be the next big computer maze or breakout games...designed by YOU! This class will teach you programming skills so you can make your very own personally designed games. You’ll plug in zaney colors, funky fonts, and crazy sounds! In the end, you will get to take home games you designed and can continue game-making on your home computer. Start thinking up names for your computer game! Please bring a set of headphones if you have them.
Instructor: Professor Kari Sandouka, Dordt College Computer Science Department
Course Status: 0 seats available
My Storybook
Everyone has a story to tell, and this class allows you to design a book about you! Using personal digital photos, you’ll compose a story about your life, good times and hard times, featuring special songs and verses as well as special people in your life. Tie it all to your faith story and you’ll have a “faithbook” treasure. Your instructor will contact you prior to class with specific instructions; your book will be mailed to you. Activity fee: $45.
Instructor: Pam Van Roekel, Creative Memories consultant
Course Status: 12 seats available
CSI: Sioux Center
Interested in being a crime scene investigator? Here’s your chance! With the help of the Sioux Center Police Department, you’ll learn how to evaluate crime scenes and gather evidence. You’ll check out ballistics, blood stain patterns, crime scene photography, and fingerprinting. After you put together all the evidence, the big question will be “who dunnit?”
Instructors: Sioux Center Police Department
Course Status: -1 seat available
Lego Mania
Love Legos? Robots? Obstacle courses? Using Lego Mindstorms, we’ll explore simple programming and construction with Legos. This includes using the robot to conquer obstacle courses that we create and accomplish tasks in beat-the-clock competitions! It’s a mindstorm a minute! Don’t miss out!
Instructor: Dordt alumna Danielle Wyenberg, Dordt College Engineering Department
Course Status: 0 seats available
Disc Golf
Frolf, frisbee golf, disc golf, no matter what you call it, it’s a fun, socially interactive disc game. We’ll be playing outside, rain or shine, learning techniques, rules, and etiquette. Great game for both guys and gals, and zero experience is needed. Two new discs will be given to each student, but feel free to bring any discs you may already own. Activity Fee: $5.
Instructor: Titus Landegent, Sioux Center Community School
Course Status: 18 seats available
Morning Classes
Junk Jam
Fired up about rhythm, percussion, and dance? Then this class is perfect for you! You’ll find and create instruments out of junk, trash cans, paint buckets, even the kitchen sink. To inspire creativity, you will watch fascinating performances of musicians and entertainers from around the world. Then we will write our own choreography, combine it with music, and perform a concert of sounds you won’t forget! Find out what all the noise is about! Extra bonus: Free drum sticks!
Instructor: Titus Landegent, percussion instructor, Sioux Center Community School
Course Status: 5 seats available
Down on the Farm
Feed the calves! Water the horses! There are farm chores to do at Dordt’s Agriculture Stewardship Center! Learn about caring for farm animals and about growing food for them in a real farm setting. Because farm safety is important, you’ll learn firsthand how to properly use equipment like a skid loader. You might even get to harvest from the garden and process the food into tasty treats (Think strawberry jam and homemade ice cream!). Don’t pass up this chance to be a farm kid for a week! No repeaters, please.
Instructors: Professors Dr. John Olthoff and Mike Schouten, Dordt College Agriculture Department
Course Status: 0 seats available
How It's Made
A truckload of cow esophagus’ becomes medicine for grandpa? Seriously? That’s right! You’ll tour a Northwest Iowa business each day and learn how they do what they do. You might see how steel is cut with laser beams or water, how the windows in your house were made, or how cow parts become arthritis medicine. If you’re curious about the manufacturing process or how things are put together, this class is a good choice for you. You must be 13 years old by camp date to participate. No repeaters, please.
Instructor: Professor Dale Zevenbergen, Dordt College Business Department
Course Status: 18 seats available
Ink Slingers
Calling all writers! In this writing workshop, you’ll compose poetry, short stories, news reports, and more. You’ll get to meet real authors, develop and polish your own writing, and explore ways to get your work published. We’ll collect your best writings in a class book for you to take home.
Instructor: Professor Dr. Leah Zuidema, Dordt College English Department
Course Status: 12 seats available
Engineering: Putting it all Together
From cars to bridges, engineers design the things that make our lives work. We’ll figure out how foundations and structures carry weight, stay balanced, and do their work as we tackle a few projects ourselves. Guys and girls, if you like to put things together and invent things, this class is for you!
Instructors: Dordt alumna Danielle Wyenberg, Dordt College Engineering Department
Course Status: -1 seat available
Ooey-Gooey Science
This lab class is for girls and guys who want to get their hands into biology and chemistry! You’ll do dissections, create slimes, neutralize stomach acid, and find out what’s in your food. Microscopes, petri dishes, scalpels, and beakers—we’ll do real science in this class. Ready to get messy? No repeaters, please. Activity fee: $15.
Instructor: Tyler Knobloch, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 0 seats available
Water Polo
Get ready to head to the pool and get wet because it’s time for water polo! Water polo is a team sport where players pass a ball and score by throwing the ball into a net defended by a goalie. You’ll learn basic rules, and get a chance to play defense, offense, or goalie. Water polo is a game that anyone can play, but you must be able to tread water and swim. Be a player; water polo isn’t just an Olympic sport anymore. Don’t forget your swimsuit! Activity fee: $6.
Instructor: Dordt alumnus Curt Van Dam, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 5 seats available
Nursing
Give shots, take blood pressure, do CPR, find out your blood type. There’s no end to the discoveries you’ll make about your body and how to care for it. From first aid procedures to how to maintain a healthy diet, this class will give you an idea if you’re cut out for the medical profession.
Instructor: Amy Doppenberg, Dordt Nursing Department
Course Status: 3 seats available
Crazy Olympics
There’s no limit to the action in this team building class! Each team “invents” their own country along with face painting and designing a flag. You’ll get tons of mental and physical challenges with events like the flip flop fly, ridiculous relays, toilet paper tantrum, flashlight tag, scissor shenanigans, and twisted bowling. The opening and closing ceremonies promise awards and surprises, so start practicing your donut high jump and marshmallow mambo so you can bring home the “gold.” Events will take place on Dordt’s campus, at the Sioux Center pool (bring your suit!), on the track, at the sand volleyball courts, and other crazy locations. Activity fee: $6.
Instructor: Dordt alumnus Josh Bowar, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 0 seats available
Who Needs the Drama
Zip...thinking on your feet. Zap...creating conversations out of nowhere. Zog...switching roles in mid sentence. Those are just a few of things offered in this class of improvisations and theater games. We’ll loosen you up, stretch your creativity, and along the way teach you some theater techniques useful for stage and life. So if you like to play, create, and just have a crazy time, join this group to add a little drama to your life.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Janie Van Dyke, Unity Christian High School
Course Status: 2 seats available
Game On!
Linus Lines, Settlers of Catan, or Blokus, anyone? Bring some strategy to the table by exploring the math behind popular board games and develop a higher probability of winning. Get your game face on! Your odds of beating Grandpa at The Farming Game just went up! No prior game playing experience is necessary to have a great time.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Nicki Kuiper, Orange City Christian School
Course Status: 3 seats available
Digital Scrapbooking
reate your own printable digital picture/storybook! Scrapbooking takes on the look of a professionally published book when you use your computer instead of a scissors. With tons of layouts, backgrounds, colors, and fonts available, your photo story will come alive as never before. This year we’re adding a fun desktop calendar to your projects. No repeaters, please. Activity fee: $45.
Instructor: Pam Van Roekel, Creative Memories consultant
Course Status: 2 seats available
War and Soldiering
From search and rescue missions in the woods to marching in formation, our “maneuvers” will help you better understand military strategy and discipline. We’ll use GPS to understand battle tactics and movement, plus practice strategy warfare indoors and outdoors. Don’t wait to enlist–Dordt College Wants YOU! Activity fee: $25.
Instructors: Professor Dr. Paul Fessler, Dordt College History Department, and Dordt Alumnus Ross Van Der Bill, Timothy Christian School and Iraqi War veteran, Army National Guard
Course Status: 0 seats available
Stained Glass Art Gallery
Work with a master artist and explore the art of working with stained glass. You’ll learn to do pattern work, choose the colors for your project, cut the glass, and fit it all together. The end product will be sure to dazzle! Activity fee: $45.
Instructors: Dordt alumni Lauren and Barb Ochsner, Golden Prairie Art
Course Status: 0 seats available
Fore!
That is the word screamed on golf courses around the world. It means LOOK OUT! You’ll need to look out as golf balls fly like missiles during this class. You’ll play at The Ridge, Sioux Center’s beautiful new 18-hole golf course and training center (www.siouxcenterridge.com). Learn how your grip, stance, swing, and club selection can help you quickly get that little white ball from tee to green and into the hole. This class is open for golfers of all levels who wish to learn the game or improve their game and enjoy a lifetime activity. Bring your own clubs or use ours. Activity Fee: $30.
Instructor: Professor Dr. Tim Van Soelen, Dordt College Education Department
Course Status: 13 seats available
Up, Up, and Away!
Orville Wright (one of the inventors of the airplane) once said, “The exhilaration of flying is too keen, the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport.” Now it’s your turn to build amazing flying machines! You’ll learn the basic physics behind how planes fly and how rockets take off. Follow in the Wright’s footsteps and beyond, as you construct your own flying marvels, from kites, to gliders, to a rocket of your own! Activity fee: $25.
Instructor: Dordt alumnus Dave Mulder, Sioux Center Christian School
Course Status: 11 seats available
Sewing for Beginners
Learn and practice the basic techniques and skills of using a sewing machine while creating your own personal project! From simple shorts, boxers, hats, or stuffed toys, you’ll take home something you can be proud to have made. Start shopping now at Haan’s Crafts website (www.haancrafts.com) and choose what you’d like to make. Your instructor will contact you for your order and have it ready for you when you arrive. Both guys and girls welcome! Activity fee: $10.
Instructor: Dordt alumna Katie Bleeker, Hull Western Christian High School
Course Status: 9 seats available
Design on a Dime
Ever want to try some of those thrifty HGTV ideas, but get stopped dead in your tracks when you have to sew something? This class will broaden your creative options by teaching you how to create things that involve stitching. Learn sewing machine basics to create pillows, table runners, throws, or whatever else will jazz up your decorating project. All materials (including sewing machines) will be provided, but come with ideas or color swatches to add a special touch to your HGDV (Dordt Version) Design on a Dime project! Activity Fee: $5.
Instructor: Sue Blom, Dordt College costume designer
Course Status: 0 seats available
Outdoor Art Studio
Grab your brush and paint palate and head outdoors. Our studio will be Dordt’s prairie located right on our campus. You’ll set up your canvas and learn how to paint a variety of prairie scenes in multiple ways. From traditional to contemporary styles, your understanding of landscape painting will bloom. Activity fee: $10.
Instructor: Professor Matt Drissell, Dordt College Art Department
Course Status: 0 seats available
Photo Shop
Shoot, anyone can learn to take good pictures! Learn how to “design” good photos, then manipulate or enhance them on the computer. You’ll crop, enlarge, and sharpen colors, change tones, and experiment with other special effects. Any digital camera will do, but a newer digital model will work best. Be sure to bring camera cords, batteries, chargers and memory cards as well. Activity fee: $25.
Instructor: Dordt alumna April Van Rys, photographer
Course Status: 0 seats available
