Time Frame and Agenda
Each 5-day workshop begins promptly at 8 am daily, Monday-Friday. We will finish the day at 1 pm so there is no lunch break, only snacks. Please eat breakfast and bring whatever you need to be able to work continuously through the morning so we can accomplish as much as possible each day and leave the afternoon free for you to explore the area. In order to account for traffic on Friday, please schedule departing flights no sooner than 3 pm from Asheville (AVL), 4 pm from Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP), 5 pm from Charlotte (CLT), and 6 pm from Atlanta (ATL).
Summer Workshop Agendas for 2020
Transportation
Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is a 15-minute taxi/Lyft/Uber ride to the Hilton Garden Inn workshop hotel downtown. The closest international airports are Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP is 1 hour from Asheville); Charlotte, NC (CLT is 2 hours from Asheville); and Atlanta, GA (ATL is 3.5 hours from Asheville).
Pricing
Tuition is $550 per week and includes workshop materials, 25 hours of Continuing Education Credits and lesson plans for activities covered in the workshop. If you are enrolled in a degree program, I am happy to help you earn graduate credit.
It is recommended that you bring a laptop, a scientific calculator and the materials you may want access to for planning your courses. Bring clothes for comfort indoors when moving about the air-conditioned room, and for the warm, sunny or rainy weather we are likely to experience during outdoor activities.
Accommodations
Summer Workshops will be held in the Town Mountain Room at 309 College St. at the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in downtown Asheville. Restaurants and shops are accessible by foot or the free shuttle from the hotel and Lyft/Uber can provide transportation to the Biltmore House, the Folk Art Center, Brevard Music Center or other locations.
Rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn can be booked for $149/per night Sunday-Thursday using the links posted below (these rates are not available through the phone or hotel website):
June 29-July 3 NGSS Activities for Teaching Cell Biology
July 13-17 Student-designed Labs and Statistics for AP/IB Science
July 20-24 Increasing Student Engagement and Critical Thinking
Alternate places to stay, still within walking distance of the workshop and restaurants are the two hostels located downtown, Sweet Peas Hostel at 23 Rankin Ave. (828-285-8488) and Asheville Hostel and Guest House at 12 Ravenscroft Dr. (828-423-0256) or any of the other downtown hotels. The hostels have single rooms and group rooms with private or shared bathrooms for a traveler who is looking for more affordable pricing. Please realize the hostels can sometimes be a bit noisier, so earplugs are recommended—that being stated, many teachers have stayed at both hostels in the past and have been very happy with their choice. AirBnB.com and CouchSurfing.com are two other ways to choose your price and enjoy a bit of the local culture.
The YMCA is located at 30 Woodfin St. and Asheville Yoga Center is located at 211 Liberty St., both are 2-8 blocks from the Hilton Garden Inn and both hostels. Hiking, biking and running trails surround the city and I welcome workshop participants to join me for an afternoon run (or walk) after each day’s workshop. There will be enough daylight after the workshops to enjoy the mountains if you want to catch the sunset at a Blue Ridge Parkway lookout, check out the crafts at the Folk Art Center, or bring an evening picnic to a concert at the Brevard Music Center. Right outside the hotel, the streets of downtown Asheville offer live music; beer brewery tours; an outdoor fountain park for the kids to cool off (Splashville); contra, jazz, blues dancing; street performers; open galleries; comedy performances; summer symphonies; and numerous other opportunities to take in the culture of this area. Please download Things to Do in Asheville to learn more.