CAMPUS LOG
Students Gain New Perspectives through Cultural Immersion For three weeks every other summer, Friends’ Central Upper School students have the opportunity to travel to Cuzco, Peru, where they live with Peruvian host families, participate in community service, and attend four hours of Spanish classes daily. The culmination of their trip is a rigorous four-day hike along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, “the lost city of the Incas,” which includes three nights of camping and ends with a spectacular view from 7,970 feet above sea level. This summer was the eighth trip for faculty member Cristina Perez, who began the program in 2002. The students took part in community service at La Clinica de San Juan de Dios, a children’s clinic and orphanage. Carolyn Spellacy ’16 and Olivia Comstock ’17 wrote about
From left: Sophia Radford ’19, Olivia Comstock ’17, Matt Blackman ’17, Cullan Gilroy ’17, and Samantha Roshkoff ’17 on the Inca Trail
their experiences working with the children in the clinic and orphanage this year, “Playing with the children was one of the most direct ways of feeling that you were helping out. The children covered a wide range of ages, and most had disabilities that placed them in wheelchairs and/or limited their ability to speak ... The time we spent at the clinic was very rewarding – just knowing that we were helping people.” Every afternoon, the FCS students had four hours of Spanish school, then they returned to their host family’s home for dinner. Samantha Roshkoff ’17 and Claire Coss ’18 reported on the Peru Trip Blog, “Every time we walk into our kitchen at the end of the day, we are always greeted with a big smile and ‘¡Hola mis amigas!’ from Yaquito, the two-year-old boy in our host family. He never fails to put a smile on our faces. Dinners are always fun and filled with laughter, while talking to Yaquito’s grandmother and great grandmother about Peruvian culture and their large and interesting family.” In last week of the trip was the four-day hike of the Inca Trail. The group began the hike with two grueling days of climbing – ascending to 14,000 feet and adjusting as well as possible to the significant increase in altitude. “That physical aspect, that challenge, is such a huge part of this trip – so important and valuable for the experience,” Cristina Perez shared.
Particle Physics Class Adventures For the Particle Physics and Nuclear Physics summer class, taught by John Gruber and Anna Schall, it was an incredible three weeks. Along with tackling a broad array of complex topics and ideas in the classroom, the class took three field trips: to the Radiation Science and Engineering Center (RSEC) at Penn State to visit the Brazeale Nuclear Reactor; to the University of Pennsylvania’s Proton Therapy Center to see physics applied to medicine in radiation oncology; and to Illinois for a tour of FermiLab, The University of Chicago’s Kersten Physics Teaching Center, and the Adler Planetarium on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Middle School Chess Whiz Adam Serota ’21 participated in the US Chess Federation’s National Chess Tournament in April. Adam is ranked nationally in his age group for chess.
History Bee at FCS
From left: Jackson Snider, Gordon Wilcox, teacher Jebb Chagan, Jordyn Paszamant, and Samuel Kazak
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For the fourth consecutive year, FCS hosted the National History Bee Regional Finals in the spring. The competition featured four Middle School qualifiers: Jackson Snider ’20, Gordon Wilcox ’20, Samuel Kazak ’21, and Jordyn Paszamant ’22, who finished among the top 120 in the region on the Online Regional Qualifying Exam (ORQE), making them eligible to participate in the Regional Finals.
FRIENDS’ CENTRAL SCHOOL
Outside the WHYY studios, from left: Yutian Feng, Junyan Ge, Faria Rehman, Eliza Caisse; In front: Evan Paszamant
Focus at WHYY In April, several members of Focus, the Upper School student newspaper, attended Youth Press Day, a journalism conference at the WHYY studios. The students participated in workshop sessions on various aspects of journalism.