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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

School trips promote learning in action

School+trips+promote+learning+in+action

Finding something to do over break can be both fun and difficult. Whether you are visiting colleges, hitting the slopes or on vacation, students all look to explore.  Some students seized that opportunity by participating in one of the three school organized trips.

While all are student-based, each trip is focused on particular learning goal that correlates with certain classes.

The D.C. trip, facilitated by history teacher Alli Cota, and run through the Close Up Foundation, was open to all sophomores, juniors and seniors, who were looking to expand their knowledge on both politics and a historical city.

“The Closeup Program started in 1972 and has an excellent reputation for its hands-on government studies,” Cota said. “As a chaperone for almost 20 years, it really does take care of a lot of the little things that I don’t necessarily like to do.”

During the week long trip, students explored a variety of different activities that made their on-site learning more entertaining.

“They [got] to see so much that the city has to offer,” Cota said. “Not only [did] they get some really interesting instruction, but a lot of great conversation about important political and social issues.”

From visiting museums to taking tours of historical sights, students were able to make connections between the city and what they had been studying in class.

“It [was] really great to be able to experience first hand the while making new friends at the same time,” junior Olivia Tefft said.

While the Close Up students discovered an abundance of new information on government and political structure, AP European History students had quite a different experience in Europe.EuroTrip_PotsdamPalace_MarkCowherd

After visiting the historic landmarks of Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, history teacher Mark Cowherd said that the students were able to expand and enhance their knowledge on the material they have been reading about in class.

“There [were] a lot of organized tours and sightseeing,” Cowherd said. “However students also [got] the opportunity to have free time and go explore on their own.”

Throughout their trip, students visited important monuments, museums and even one of the most historical landmarks in Poland: Auschwitz.

“I think that Auschwitz [was] probably the most powerful part part of the trip,” Cowherd said. “We had a really good tour guide when we were there who gets feedback from me on what to cover and how we should plan the itinerary.”

In addition to the numerous landmarks students visited, they also got to feel like a local and experience the different cultures surrounding them.

“Normally for dinner we would go to a restaurant that had the typical food for the area,” senior Eliza Lucas said. “For me, it was kind of a culture shock seeing how different things are compared to the US.”

For the AP European history students, it might have been a challenge adapting to a new culture, but the Camp Everytown students were confronted with the task of leadership improvement.

High in the Santa Cruz mountains, on the campground of Camp Harmon, students from Piedmont and two other Bay Area schools embarked on a journey towards improving both themselves and their communities.CampEverytown_byNeilSimmonsPhotography

English teacher Rosie Reid, who took over the role of coordinator this year, said that the goal for this years trip was to make it feel more inclusive.

“In years past we have been a little bit exclusive which really seemed wrong because the whole point of Camp Everytown is to make everyone feel included,” Reid said. “We wanted a more diverse group this year.”

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