Every student longs to hang on to summer just a little longer. At my school, the start to the school is every student’s dream. The 2nd week of September we head off on field week known as semaine verte.
Oh no, this is not just any school trip to the local museum. With Europe at our doorstep, our back-to-school adventure includes corralling bulls in southern France, climbing mountains in the Swiss Alps, and riding gondolas down the canals of Venice.
Each grade took off for a different destination. The 8th grade headed to the mountains, 9th grade bused to Provence’s paradise, the10th grade to visit concentration camp and cathedrals in Alsace, and 11thgrade flew to Barcelona, Edinburgh and Berlin.
In the past I traveled with my daughter’s 11thgrade to Venice,
and my son’s class to Provence.
When graduates look back, the favorite memories of high school revolve around their week of bonding in places most kids only dream of visiting.
Join me on our back to school extravaganza – education at its best in a room without walls.
So true, Chris. I remember Nat’s first semaines verte after we had just moved in Paris. She was only in 2nd grade and new to the school when she went for a week on a farm in Normandy. I was terrified, but she came home triumphant with new friends, great photos and fun memories.
Yes, Kath, I have a college degree, but I tell everybody that my real education began the day I moved abroad. There is so much history here and an intriguing story awaits on every street corner.
Oh yes, it makes for great memories, but there was a little downside, you will also remember teachers starting the school year feeling shattered from the over abundance of adventures and joys of fieldweek! ha ha
The boys always came back from those semaines verte more confident, worldly, and more grown up, somehow! They were scary to me at first, but when I saw the boys after that week, I was grateful for them!
So true, Chris. I remember Nat’s first semaines verte after we had just moved in Paris. She was only in 2nd grade and new to the school when she went for a week on a farm in Normandy. I was terrified, but she came home triumphant with new friends, great photos and fun memories.
Wow! I’m so enthralled at the opportunities to take high schoolers traveling so far and wide in Europe. And every year! The entire extent of our high school travel was only for after school activities…and not too far away at that. Gorgeous pictures too!
Yes Patty and our students don’t realize how fabulous their experiences until later in life. When Nat and Nic told college friends in the USA about our fieldweeks, they were blown away and my Big Kids finally appreciated the immeasurable value in their international education.
Wow, Pat! “Education at its best in a room without walls” really nails it. What a fascinating experience!
Yes, Kath, I have a college degree, but I tell everybody that my real education began the day I moved abroad. There is so much history here and an intriguing story awaits on every street corner.
Ah yes, what a great tradition that is. I visited Berlin several times, and central Switzerland during my first fieldweek in 1990. I remember Peter Giroux giving a glacier talk at the foot of a beautiful glacier, and my head was reeling with the reality of this so-called ‘international education’. Fab times, so thanks for helping me take that trip down fieldweek lane again xx
Oh yes, it makes for great memories, but there was a little downside, you will also remember teachers starting the school year feeling shattered from the over abundance of adventures and joys of fieldweek! ha ha
“A school without walls!” How very grand and educational at the same time. I want to be a kid in Switzerland:)
You are still a kid at heart, Clara, and always learning something new!
“A school without walls!” How very grand and educational at the same time. I want to be a kid in Switzerland:)
You are still a kid at heart, Clara, and always learning something new!