Connections
One of the principal goals at Phoenix is to develop independent thought in our students. This skill cannot be too highly valued in a society in which students are flooded with information that includes great diversity of opinion and uncertain claims. Developing independent thought requires attention to the processes, quality and direction of one’s thinking and the thinking of others. Since it provides a foundation and a framework for thinking across the curriculum, Connections serves to integrate ideas from all courses and to provide a focus that eases the crowding of the contemporary curriculum.
Connections - 7th Grade
The Connections course at the seventh grade level is designed to develop basic techniques of analysis and an understanding of the principles and concepts involved in clear thinking. In this course we seek to explore, using critical reasoning, issues related to topics being currently studied in other courses as well as current ethical and social issues. In addition, we engage each other, using Socratic Method, in sustained discussion of these issues.
Connections - 8th Grade
The primary focus in the eighth grade year is on the development, continuation, and expansion of critical thinking and communication skills begun the previous year. Second year Connections students explore the dynamic relationship of Self and Society by examining how the concept of wellness, as it relates to complete health and well-being, is a combination of different aspects of one's life and social environment.