Afternoon Programs

Adventure Cycling is for students interested in mountain biking without the racing component. The three major goals are on-the-bike skills, trail maintenance, and place-based education. Participants will explore trails both on and off campus, learn how to navigate trail features and obstacles, and improve their fitness. They will also learn how to build new trails sustainably and take ownership of maintaining the current trail system. Finally, lessons about local history, ecology, and archaeology will be incorporated into rides that explore important landmarks in our community. Some optional weekend trips and overnights will be offered in addition to the three day a week curriculum.

Athletic Training supports teams and athletes through the year in health promotion, injury management, and rehabilitation. Students learn first aid through the Red Cross program and assist the athletics staff with taping and wound care as well as game set-up and rehabilitation. Students entering this afternoon program will work from 3-5:30 with the opportunity to stay and help during middle school and varsity contests.

Farming is a hands on/off road experience! Students harvest vegetables and herbs from the SAS greenhouse, apples and pears from the SAS orchard, and deliver our harvest to the Sage kitchen staff for use in meals. Students learn to germinate seeds, transplant seedlings, and apply organic soil nutrients. Along the way, they learn about organic pest control. They prepare growing beds for planting and help with the water collection system for harvesting and transporting rainwater. Farming provides the dining hall with several lettuce varieties, kale, radishes, cilantro, parsley, and basil, as well as, snow peas and tomatoes. In addition, students care for our perennials, mulching, pruning and fertilizing our grapes, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries. Future plans include aquaponics and animal husbandry.

Mind•Body•Exercise exposes students to noncompetitive forms of exercise that they might enjoy. In a typical week, our three afternoons will be dedicated to either yoga, Pilates, mindfulness work, or hiking on SAS's beautiful trails. In addition, students are encouraged to lead one of the classes. In the past, students have taught classes on modern dance, ballroom dance, and fencing. Students need to bring their own yoga mats or they can buy one through the school.

This program is for students who wish to focus exclusively on rock climbing and bouldering. Whether beginners or experts, students will improve their fitness, technique, and comfort climbing on real southern sandstone. A typical week includes a day of strength training, a day outdoors in a local boulder field, and a day indoors on an artificial wall. Additionally, the team participates in six competitions in Chattanooga through an interscholastic league. Students are not forced to compete, but they are expected to attend at least two of these events with the team. Students interested in this unique sport will thoroughly enjoy this program, which emphasizes fun, community, positivity, and toughness during the winter months.

In this introductory level program, students explore the SAS campus and the broader Cumberland Plateau. Rather than focusing on one activity in depth, this program samples a variety of recreational and educational experiences including hiking, caving, canoeing, rappelling, swimming, fire-building, plant identification, frisbee, and leave no trace skills. However, depending on student interest or the instructor’s talents, the group may choose to make a certain activity a weekly tradition. For example, one season every Wednesday was ultimate frisbee day. Caving and hikes to waterfalls have also been common priorities in the past. This program is for any student looking to get outside, learn new skills, and experience the local wonders surrounding our campus.

Portrait and Figure Painting, a studio-based program, explores how artists have approached painting portraits and figures in various times and places, as well as exploring a variety of contemporary portrait techniques. Within this exploratory climate, students will be encouraged to produce a large number of quick portraits based on that week’s concepts and techniques. Additionally, we will offer an optional Saturday field trip to the Frist Museum to see the Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera show. Portrait Painting meets three days per week.

Strength and Conditioning is designed to provide our students with an opportunity to improve their general physical fitness in a cooperative environment. The barbell is the primary tool the students will use. The initial goal is to develop better movement patterns. After proper technique and understanding of the movements has been established, the students will see improvement in a variety of areas including: speed, power, strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, work capacity, and confidence. 

Textile Arts will explore various methods of stitching, by hand and by machine. Students will use the skills acquired to create numerous items, focusing on both function and design. will teach students the value of sewing in their lives: they'll learn to attach a button if it falls off a shirt or repurpose a garment instead of casting it away. They may also construct new wearables and decorative pieces of their own creation from start to finish.

Theater begins with all participants engaging in theater games and becoming acquainted with each other. The initial activities segue into rehearsals, as the theater director selects or creates a play based on the number of participants, recent productions and other factors. From this point, Theater focuses on getting the play ready for performance. All students in this program are expected to perform. After the three performances, all the students participate in strike, readying the theater for the next show. Theater will follow a flexible rehearsal schedule utilizing weekday afternoons as well as some weekends. Students may be able to sign up for Theatre in addition to another Afternoon Program, depending on the commitment required for the other program.

Yearbook is a product-based program where students work on the production of the St. Andrew's-Sewanee Phoenix. Students will use a variety publishing programs including PhotoShop, InDesign, and various online design and editing software as they work on their skills in photo taking, writing, interviewing, editing, layout, and design. Because there are strictly set deadlines, students must also exercise their abilities to be dependable and organized members of a team. This program is ideal for students who wish to showcase their design skills, practice their photography, or learn the elements of these disciplines.