COMMUNITY LIFE International Travel Deepens Student Connection and Understanding Seven Hills has spent the last two years working toward expanding its international travel opportunities for Middle School students. In addition to the longstanding exchange program with Japan, Seven Hills students will now be able to travel to Costa Rica and France. Starting this school year, all three trips will take place in February, over the new Presidents’ Week vacation, creating a cohesive, three-continent immersion experience that connects with classroom lessons in language, history, science, and art. “By moving the trips into the school year, students will have the opportunity to share their experiences with the larger community and incorporate the lessons learned into their Seven Hills experience before high school,” says Head of School Kathleen McNamara. Offered to 7th grade students, the trips to both France and Costa Rica are long enough for students to have an immersive cultural experience with visits to urban and rural environments, home stays, service projects, and ample opportunity to practice language skills.
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With more than 30 students and faculty members traveling to Japan this past summer, the demand for international experiences is greater than ever. Fostering international understanding and responsibility, Seven Hills students attended classes with Japanese students who had visited Seven Hills last fall and toured Tokyo, Kyoto, and even Hiroshima.
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“The visit to Hiroshima was particularly poignant for our students because of the new 7th grade capstone project called Conflict, Compromise, and Conflict,” says Kathleen. “This three-week lesson centers on understanding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from all points of view, so the visit really resonated with students.” Nothing compares to experiencing new cultures, and Seven Hills has discovered how to make this opportunity available to more students and deepen the connection to classroom learning and to each other. “The trips abroad I experienced with Seven Hills, both Costa Rica and Japan, gave me an immersive, positive, and open outlook into different cultures,” says Leah Hall ’17.
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