GATE: Gifted and Talented EducationTrack J-3 Descriptions
Custom Kicks: Sneaker Art
Custom sneakers have taken the world by storm. Athletes, musicians, rappers, celebrities and even teenagers around the world are buying custom-made sneakers adorned with their own likeness, favorite drink or even their musical group of choice. Not to mention a few brands such as the NFL, MLB, NBA and WWE have signed on to these custom kicks. Students in this class will have a unique experience to work with a female Michigan sneaker artist who was recently featured as one of Major League Baseball’s The Bridge, presented by CEO Act!on for Diversity & Inclusion during All-Star week. Students will not only learn general art techniques, the tricks and tips of sneaker art, but students will also be customizing their own kicks during this class and will take them home to sport around their neighborhood.
Prior to Day 1-Students must purchase sneakers, bring them to class, and have ideas for their designs
Friday: Students will prep shows and sketch art designs
Saturday: Students will begin outlining designs and begin painting
Sunday: Students will complete painting and seal paint on their shoes
***Additional Class Material costs apply. Students will be required to bring their own vinyl or leather sneakers to paint. If your family may need financial assistance, please complete a financial aid materials request: https://gifted.msu.edu/paying/need-based-scholarships
Minecraft
One of the most popular computer games, Minecraft at its core is a sandbox game that provides an environment for its players to explore and create. This class will focus on the Education Edition of the game to introduce students to programming to control the in-game abilities of their character, allowing them to make games that involve granting players superpowers.
Friday: Introducing and sampling the different powers that can be granted in Minecraft custom games. These include things like Speed, Invulnerability, and Flight
Saturday: Having the students work in small teams to build maps and set up the interactions using coding blocks to complete a checklist of effects.
Sunday: Play the games, identify fun and unfun parts, and begin tweaking the gameplay.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning Sport Statistics
The success of Moneyball brought sports analysis to the limelight! Can you really determine a team’s advantage based on statistics? Is the home-field advantage a real thing? Does the defense really win championships? In this class you learn about different sports teams' work including fantasy teams. Students will learn about statistics and how to read and understand player and team averages. Analyzing qualitative and quantitative variables to try to determine not only winners, but team or athlete’s performance. The class will mainly focus on football data and how to research past and present data to create predictability.