Project Based Learning Electives provided by the Berrien Springs Virtual Academy
Winter Photography Spring 2025
All students must complete a project for these classes.
Instructors: Jan Sigvartsen PhD, Leanne Sigvartsen
Email: lsigvart@gmail.com
Phone: 269-363-3968
Ages: 8 and up
Location: various locations, see syllabus for details
Day & Time:
Winter Photography
Multiple class times are available to suit your schedule – select which timeslot (one only) that you would like to attend this two-hour class each week.
- Tuesdays 10am-12pm
- Tuesdays at 4pm-6pm
- Wednesday 10am-12pm
- Thursdays 10am-12pm
- Thursdays at 4pm-6pm
- Class 1 – Starts the week of January 21, 22, and 23,
- Class 2 – January 26, 27, or 28
- Class 3 – February 4, 5, or 6
- Class 4 – February 11, 12, or 13
- Class 5 – February 18, 19, or 20
- Class 6 – February 25, 26, or 27
Course Overview: This Winter Photography class will take place at different historical locations in Berrien Springs. We will learn how to take professional-looking photos of buildings, nature, landscapes, humans, architectural details, historical artifacts, and close-ups – all from a winter perspective. This is your time to learn new techniques, be creative, try different angles and perspectives, learn from others, share ideas, and try to capture amazing and unique photos of Berrien Springs and its history in winter. We will also learn about some of the fascinating history of Berrien Springs that will inform and inspire our photography.
A special collection of our best photographs will be submitted to the Berrien Springs History Center for posterity so that future generations – decades or even centuries from now - can seethe photos you have taken. Our best photos will also be submitted to the Journal Era, the Berrien Springs newspaper, which coincidently is also the oldest business in town.
There will be Junior classes for ages 8-13 and Senior classes for ages 14-18+. A parent, grandparent, or guardian is welcome to accompany you. A parent must accompany those enrolled in a Junior class. Friends or siblings must be registered with the parent partnership to participate.
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
- a camera, or phone/tablet camera (it doesn’t have to be fancy)
- a good pair of cold weather walking shoes
- and warm clothes suitable for being outdoors during winter.
*Please note: it is important to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing your student's Community Resource classes. Most locations will allow a student to drop a class after one meeting, at no charge if it wasn't a good fit for the student, but not all. Some classes plan ahead based on the number that have signed up and have purchased materials, hired teachers, etc. and there might be a fee for class time or materials given to the student if the student drops after one or two meetings. The school cannot pay for classes that students do not complete, so choose wisely; if you do not take the class off of your student's schedule by the deadline, you may be asked to pay for the class time incurred prior to dropping the class.
Teacher of Record: Lisa Van Plew-Cid
