The Academy Sponsors Thanksgiving Break Trips
As the fall term comes to a close, much of the community is preparing to go back home to spend Thanksgiving break with family. Some students and faculty members, however, will be heading out to Arizona, Alabama or California, attending one of Exeter’s three programs this Thanksgiving break to explore wildlife with friends, further their understanding of social justice or partake in the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) program.
“Students and faculty return from these programs renewed, with a greater understanding of the diversity of experience and opinion to be gleaned by stepping outside the familiar.”
One group of Exonians will be traveling to the Grand Canyon for two weeks of outdoor hiking and camping with science instructors Townley Chisholm and Joseph Leger. In addition to the experiencing physical aspect of the trip, students will learn about the geology and local ecosystems that they witness in their escapades. Students must bring a backpack, a sleeping bag, hiking boots and appropriate clothing, but the Outing Club will lend more hiking equipment for the trip.
Upper Cristina Gonzalez applied for this trip because she wanted to take any chance she could to be outdoors and appreciate nature’s “solitude and beauty.” This will be Gonzalez’s first time participating in a school-organized outdoor excursion. Her parents have the same admiration for nature, so her family loves to find new places to walk or camp when they have the chance. Despite having to carry all of her belongings, she said that she looks forward to hiking the most. “I feel that when I hike, even walking in itself is quite a wonderful experience, because despite feeling tired, you can still appreciate all that is surrounding it,” she said.
The Alabama Equal Justice Institute is a six-day trip where students will be visiting historical sites and interacting with students from a local high school in Montgomery, Ala. After the 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, Coach Olutoyin Augustus-Ikwuakor found inspiration from positive student response towards Bryan Stevenson, the Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and his emphasis on the role of proximity when understanding social issues. “The goal of this trip is to bring students in close proximity to a people and culture that is different from their own in order to help us to learn in an active and passive way,” she said. The program ran last year, and due to the success of the trip, students will have the opportunity to travel with Augustus-Ikwuakor, science instructor Michele Chapman and English instructor William Holcomb this upcoming break.
Some of the activities that students will participate in include joining 16 students from Booker T. Washington Magnet School in a “Walk the Line” that the Exonian Encounters Committee previously hosted. Students will exchange personal stories and discuss aspects of privilege that are perceived differently based on location. They will also learn about the criminal justice system as it pertains to people of color. The collaboration with the local school and a visit to Selma, Ala. are additions to the program from last year.
Lawyers at Stevenson’s Equal Justice Institute plan to host both groups of students. Augustus-Ikwuakor hoped that students will be courageous and open-minded in order to process different perspectives regarding challenging topics such as race. “I hope that learning from lawyers who are currently working within the criminal justice system will offer insight and clarity to ideas and preconceptions we have,” she said.
Augustus-Ikwuakor hoped that more white males consider signing up for this trip next year.
“Although I understand that everyone has unique life experiences, that is one demographic whose voice I seldom hear in these types of conversations,” she said.
Sustainability Education Coordinator and English instructor Jason BreMiller and Community Service Coordinator Elizabeth Reyes will be taking the final group of students to Tomales Bay, California, for a seven-day program in partnership with NOLS.
“I’ve heard that the students who go one these trips become really good friends and bond a lot,” senior Autumn Herness said. Herness is just one of the few students excited to attend the program.
“I’m excited to go to California for the first time and camp outdoors!” she said. Students will be rising early to start a day full of sea kayaking from camp to camp site. As they move between sites, they will be cooking their own meals, sleeping in tents and learning rescue skills.
New senior Luna Schlor cannot wait for her first off campus opportunity as an Exonian. “I most looking forward to the challenges that we will face and how we are going to overcome them as a group. Also, I think that people really grow together on such a trip and so I am excited to get to know new people,” Schlor said.
Many students chose to attend the NOLS program because of last year’s trip to the Bahamas. “I heard it was an awesome trip, except for the mosquitos,” lower Bianca Beck agreed. She said that she was excited for all of the challenges that the group will overcome. “I’ve also heard that there’s a lot of bonding between everyone on the trip because you’re all put through activities that push all of you out of your comfort zone, and you get through it together,”she said
Director of Global Initiatives Page Eimer explained that faculty are interested in offering a Thanksgiving program. If it is approved, the school opens the opportunity to all preps, lowers, uppers and newly admitted students towards the end of spring term. The Thanksgiving programs are domestic trips that often connect students with professionals in a specific field or access a geographical area that is different from New Hampshire. Eimer said she has already called for proposals for next year’s Thanksgiving break, and after the new year, the school will know what programs will run in 2017.
Eimer felt that most Exonians already recognize the possibilities offered by traveling outside of one’s own comfort.“Our teaching methodology asks students to consider other perspectives in every class, every day,” she said.
Eimer also explained that the travel programs offered are an extension of this philosophy. She wanted students to be aware that Exeter is committed to offering financial aid to support the participation of all interested applicants.
“Students and faculty return from these programs renewed, with a greater understanding of the diversity of experience and opinion to be gleaned by stepping outside the familiar,” she said.