Staring out the window, a student longs to breathe the fresh air of the outside world, but for now she is stuck inside with the buzz of the projector, the dim lighting and the faint mustiness of the carpets. School trips allow students to leave the classroom, and sometimes even the country, to explore learning opportunities that cannot be achieved at a desk.
Upcoming trips include the Spanish Immersion trip to Nicaragua, the Close Up trip to Washington DC and the orchestra tour to Anaheim.
Over February break, social studies teacher Alli Cota takes students to Washington DC for Close Up, a week-long hands-on government studies program, she said. Students interested the trips can attend an informational meeting on Wednesday at lunch in room 17.
Close Up is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Cota said the trip is better suited for juniors and seniors because they are either in the middle of US History or have already completed it.
“The trip reinforces concepts you already know and introduces you to all sorts of new opportunities including a whole world of political activism that most students haven’t experienced,” Cota said. “You learn all those ideas without feeling like you’re learning. It doesn’t feel like school.”
The trip allows students to explore the different viewpoints of students from all parts of the country and sometimes students from Mexico or Puerto Rico that they otherwise would not experience in class.
“I had one student who reported that even though she’s been many times on the house building trip to Mexico and to Africa, going to Close Up felt like the most truly multicultural experience she’s had because of the diverse opinions that were being discussed,” Cota said.
While in DC, students will participate in hands-on activities including small group workshops, seminars with Washington insiders and meetings with members of Congress or their staff members, Cota said..
Cota said the trip is a great opportunity because although students can visit the city with their family, Close Up offers a different context with peers their age.
“It’s an experience that can not truly be replicated when they just go with their family,” Cota said.
Although Cota said Close Up especially appeals to people interested in political science, history or social studies, she believes any student would enjoy it.
“I’ve taken a number of students who express no interest in any of those things and they come back saying it was one of their most fun experiences from all of high school,” Cota said.
Economics teacher Gabrielle Kashani, who led Close Up at the high school she taught at before coming to Piedmont, said that the trip introduces students to a wider variety of viewpoints.
“In Piedmont High, not all, but most of the students tend to be liberal,” Kashani said. “It’s good to get outside the Bay Area liberal bubble.”
Class of ‘15 graduate Apryl Hsu, who went on the trip two years ago, remembers a “Yay or Nay” activity in which students stood up when the leader read aloud a topic they agreed with.
“In high school, everyone lives in the same area, has known each other for so many years, and all of a sudden you go to this place in DC where people think differently than you,” Hsu said.
Through the Spanish Immersion trip, students travel to Spanish speaking countries to enhance their speaking abilities and immerse themselves in the local culture. Their first trip two years ago was to Panama, and this year, Spanish teachers Joanne Guillén Donohoe and Christelle Hutin-Lee have their eyes set on Nicaragua.
The trips typically last about two weeks during the summer. Guillén Donohoe and Hutin-Lee are in the planning stages of next summer’s 14-day trip. From June 13 to 24, students will stay with a homestay for four days, spend three days on a medical project.
Junior Spencer London went on the Panama trip after taking Spanish 2 his freshman year. Having been to Costa Rica before, London was excited to experience parts of Central America he had never visited.
“I learned to not bring your American influence into a country, but to let that country’s influence to have an influence on you,” London said.
During their time in Panama, students lived with homestays and almost exclusively spoke Spanish for four days.
“It would have helped a lot more had I known more Spanish prior,” London said. “If I’d gone between Spanish 3 and 4, then I think it would have been a lot more useful.”
In the music department, the Jazz and Symphonic bands, orchestra and a capella classes go on tour to compete at the World Strides Heritage Festival. Past destinations include Vancouver, Anaheim, Hollywood and New Orleans. On the trips, the musicians tour the city, perform at the festival, receive valuable feedback from adjudicators and attend the awards ceremony which is usually held at a nearby amusement park, sophomore Claire Hanke said.
Hanke, who plays the viola in orchestra, went on last year’s trip to Hollywood and plans to go on this year’s trip to Anaheim. She said that because many of the musicians were nervous, the competition helped condition them to performing.
As a freshman last year, she decided to sign up for the trip because it sounded like an opportunity to have fun and develop her musical abilities.
“You get to spend time with people who maybe you wouldn’t get to spend time with otherwise,” Hanke said.
