Category: Dorm Life

Throughout the summer we will be posting weekly reports from the classes. Please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see or if you have any questions for specific instructors. We will be posting the first issue of The Thinker (the student newspaper) as soon as the online version is ready.

We are also posting regularly on Facebook. You don’t have to join Facebook to see our posts. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/gpgcla/

Afternoon Classes:

Choir (Colette Tanner, Instructor)

GPGC Choir Students have been working on learning vocal exercises, music literacy (rhythmic and melodic), and reading concert repertoire. Polling the students, they have chosen the theme of NATURE for our FINAL PERFORMANCE.

Critical Thinking (Robert and Jessica Markstrom, Instructors)

This week the students took an animal personality test so they could have fun and learn more about themselves.  We played several different games throughout this week including Carcassonne, Score 4, Twixt, Blokus, Hippos and Crocs, Zombie Dice, Rubix Race, Tsuro, Loot,  What Were You Thinking, and Trial by Trolley.

Dorm Life:

This week the students were welcomed back to the program and spent time getting acclimated to dorm life. They spent their afternoons playing Magic the Gathering and ping pong while also getting to know each other.

On Friday, students got their first weekly bank where they saw their grades for the week. Students spent time after bank going to play soccer or staying at the dorm participating in Stories with Holes where they try to figure out the missing piece in the story presented to them. We also had our first movie night where students came down with blankets and pillows to the lobby and watched Shrek on our big projector screen.

On Saturday morning, students got donuts and fruits for breakfast and were presented a workshop on how to correctly use the dorm laundry machines. They also got to decorate their own laundry magnets. Later in the day, students played Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch and had a chance to go to the Rec to play basketball and other sports. For dinner, students were given Raising Cane’s. That evening we had our first dance where our sophomore students spent time teaching the freshmen our traditional dances.

Sunday began with donuts, church, and a Danny Phantom marathon in the lobby. In the afternoon, students had a chance to get Starbucks and to sing karaoke with their classmates. For dinner, we had Taco Bell, and we finished our weekend with Sundae Sunday. Students were able to pick their ice cream flavors and toppings of their choice to have as a fun end of the weekend treat!

Throughout the summer we will be posting weekly reports from the classes. Please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see or if you have any questions for specific instructors.

We are also posting regularly on Facebook. You don’t have to join Facebook to see our posts. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/gpgcla/

Afternoon Classes:

Critical Thinking (Robert and Jessica Markstrom, Instructors)

We initially planned to have a “Redemption” week where the students could retry activities they struggled with in previous weeks. However, due to several students being checked out, it made it difficult for the teams to compete against each other. Instead, each team got to have a day where they learned Reef, a new game to the course, with the instructor and the other students played games that will be in next week’s game tournament.

PE (Coach Ancil Delaney)

We played basketball, racquetball, and swam.

Dorm Life:

This week the kids were welcomed back to GPGC on the 4th of July with a hot dog cookout followed by popsicles. They had a government meeting to vote on the final design for their end of the summer t-shirt. They also were able to have the second part of their film workshop where they learned how to edit video.

This weekend the kids celebrated Bilbo Baggins’s birthday with cookie cake and a reading of The Hobbit by the students; this is a tradition that has been carried on at GPGC for decades. On Saturday the kids went thrift shopping in the morning to find any last minute pieces to complete their outfits for the Costume Dance later that night. After Lunch they visited the baby alligator park in Jennings followed by snoballs. After some lobby craft time for final costume makings and pizza for dinner, the Costume dance began. Sunday morning started with donuts, cereal, and fruit. In the dorm lobby we had our summer Magic: The Gathering tournament. After lunch the kids chose between going out to play putt putt or staying in and competing in friendly trivia games. Later in the afternoon they had the chance to go to Books’a’Million. Dinner was burgers followed by our weekly Sundae Sunday treat.

Throughout the summer we will be posting weekly reports from the classes. Please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see or if you have any questions for specific instructors.

We are also posting regularly on Facebook. You don’t have to join Facebook to see our posts. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/gpgcla/

Afternoon Classes:

Choir (Colette Tanner, Instructor)

The students are making wonderful progress on the performance material. They currently have 10 songs sing-able and are working on the other songs. We have broached most of the topics on our THEORY REVIEW including rhythm, pitch, notation, scales, modes, dynamics, acoustics, vocal production, and music appreciation. Their reviews are due next Wednesday. For their FINAL PROJECTS, each student will choose a song and will create an artistic representation of the song and how it relates to our theme. This can be accomplished through any visual medium, literary expression, dance or music, etc. The final project is due on July 13.

We have also discussed DRESS FOR THE FINAL PERFORMANCE on July 23. Dress for the concert should be BUSINESS DRESSY. Gentlemen should wear dress pants and a dress shirt. Ties and suits are optional. Ladies should wear appropriate dresses, skirt/blouse sets or pant suits. NO JEANS OR SHORTS. Also, in reference to dress length, please remember that the students will be performing on choral risers. Dress/skirt lengths should take that into consideration. Please remember that our performance music, with listening links, is posted on https://gpgcsings.blogspot.com. Also posted are informative video links that you may find interesting.

Critical Thinking (Robert and Jessica Markstrom, Instructors)

This week was survivor week in Critical Thinking. The students were put into different types of survival scenarios to test their ability to thrive under disaster wilderness conditions. The students ranked items based on usefulness. The activities came from NASA, wilderness experts, and military experts. Additionally, the students had to work to either escape or live on an island after they had been shipwrecked. We held an auction in homage to the television show Survivor. At the end of the week students played games like Tsuro, Blokus, Get Bit, Pan Am, Hippos and Crocs.

PE (Coach Ancil Delaney)

The students played dodge ball and swam.

Dorm Life:

This week the kids had a movie night in the McNeese honors college lounge where they met the director of the McNeese Honors College and watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The students really kickstarted their GPGC government with their first two government meetings with students, faculty, and staff in attendance.

Friday night the kids had board game time and soccer game time followed by Star Wars: A New Hope to kick off our Space Cowboy Weekend. Saturday Morning we visited Burton Coliseum and the kids got to learn about Rodeo. They met and pet Big John (the horse), practiced roping, and got to see some adorable baby goats. After Lunch they got some swim time and gym time. Later on they had fun tie-dying t-shirts, and watched a performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which they will perform as their end of summer musical. Homemade chicken tacos were for dinner followed by the third GPGC dance. On Sunday the kids split into teams for a brain games competition and watched the TV series Cosmos. In the afternoon they sang karaoke, and enjoyed Chinese food for dinner before Sundae Sunday!

Throughout the summer we will be posting weekly reports from the classes. Please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see or if you have any questions for specific instructors.

We are also posting regularly on Facebook. You don’t have to join Facebook to see our posts. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/gpgcla/

Afternoon Classes:

Choir (Colette Tanner, Instructor)

The students have already progressed to the second level in both VOCAL EXERCISES and EAR TRAINING. They are taking rhythmic dictation using rhythms divided down to the 16th note and have started using simple syncopation. With their performance music, they are able to sing through 7 of their pieces and can sing 4 of those with accompaniment. The students are working on learning parts for another 4 songs and have received the remainder of their music. We also discussed the significance of our Traditional Songs: STOPPING BY WOODS and IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. Next week, we will continue to advance our MUSIC LITERACY and begin discussing AMUSIC APPRECIATION and HOW OUR BRAINS PROCESS MUSIC. We will also continue to work on our PERFORMANCE MUSIC.

If you would like to hear the music we are learning, links are posted on our GPGC CHOIR BLOG at :https://gpgcsings.blogspot.com/

Critical Thinking (Robert and Jessica Markstrom, Instructors)

This week was puzzle week in Critical Thinking. The students were challenged with various puzzle activities. One activity had each team putting together as much of 1,000 piece puzzle that they could during the period. We had the students complete 11 logic puzzles of varying difficulty. Another activity had a packet of puzzles that included brain teasers, geometric puzzles, sudoku puzzles of varying difficulty, and mazes. The students engaged with various 3D puzzles in a timed environment. We allowed the students to play with the 3D puzzles in an untimed environment on the last day.

Dorm Life:

This week students visited the local McNeese Radio Station, KBYS. They got a tour, and several got to speak on air during a live radio show! On top of that students who were interested also gave their election speeches for positions in the GPGC Government. Elections were held Friday afternoon, which was our kickoff to a fun-filled weekend.

Friday the students either competed in the weekly soccer match or competed in a round of Werewolf, a team building, interactive card game. For Movie Night this week, we watched Matilda. Saturday morning the kids made friendship bracelets after breakfast. In the afternoon the students watched a video about the history of Juneteenth and why it is relevant today. Then everyone went to the Juneteenth Freedom Festival at the park where they got to hear local musicians and poets, see local artists selling their work, and enjoy some snoballs which were very appreciated in this June heat. After the kids cooled down, we had our second Dance of the summer in the dorm lobby. Sunday included a Shrek movie marathon and Brain Games competition in the morning. After Lunch the kids spent time at the mall or the quad, and then we tie-dyed t-shirts. Dinner was followed by another Ice Cream Sundae Sunday to reward another successful week. This weekend we got meals from Mama Reta’s and Leonard’s; both are local and Black-owned restaurants.

Throughout the summer we will be posting weekly reports from the classes. Please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see or if you have any questions for specific instructors. We will be posting the first issue of The Thinker (the student newspaper) as soon as the online version is ready.

We are also posting regularly on Facebook. You don’t have to join Facebook to see our posts. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/gpgcla/

Afternoon Classes:

Choir (Colette Tanner, Instructor)

We have finished voice testing and are starting to work on our music. We have also worked on a Music Theory review. They are doing extremely well!

P.E. (Ancil Delaney, Instructor)

This week the students played table tennis, tennis wall ball and swam.

Critical Thinking (Robert and Jessica Markstrom, Instructors)

This week the students took a personality test that allowed the instructor to see what types of traits they had (shy, leader, etc.) in order to place them into teams. Games introduced this week included: What Were You Thinking?, Pirateer (a MENSA select game that utilizes vectors), Ticket to Ride, Twixt, Score 4 (a 3D version of Connect 4), Speed Chess, Blokus, and Hippos and Crocodiles.

Dorm Life:

The students got acclimated to dorm life this week! After classes they are able to play ping pong, board games, and card games in the lobby. We discussed the history of the GPGC Government which we will have our first official meeting of on Monday. 

On Friday after class the students got their first weekly allowance (based on their grades in their classes and dorm behavior/cleanliness). That night they enjoyed playing soccer or competing in an Uno Tournament followed by a movie night of The Princess Bride with popcorn, soda, and candy. Saturday we took the kids for a picnic in the park with more soccer and frisbee. In the afternoon they got to go to the comic book store and Albertson’s to stock up on snacks for their rooms. Dinner that night was spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner everyone had lots of fun at our first GPGC Dance of the summer. Sunday started with donuts and a viewing of recent GPGC musicals from previous years. The kids also had arts and crafts time to make father’s day cards for next weekend. In the afternoon we took the students swimming and had Mario Kart game time. After having Cane’s for dinner the students attended the Calcasieu British Brass Band performing on campus and were treated to ice cream afterwards.