Three schools, three countries

by Laurel Podson, Graduate Student

The Teton Science Schools Graduate Program’s winter residential education team recently had an amazing and unique opportunity. Twenty-four students, three different countries, three different schools, and three different languages, all engaging in an outdoor experience they will never forget. Meritas Family of Schools incorporates high schools all over the world. They provide the opportunity for their students to take part in adventurous scholastic trips throughout their school year. Last week was their journey to TSS. After long, grueling trips from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Monterrey, Mexico, and Geneva, Switzerland all the way to Kelly, Wyoming the students arrived anxious to play in the snow. We captured some of their experiences in the following journal excerpts:

“Working with the international students this week has been an amazing experience, especially under the influence of the Teton Science School’s natural environment and faculty. They have brought many things to this experience that has made it a once in a lifetime chance. To conclude, even though we came from three different schools, and three different countries, we all came together as one.”

“It was amazing how many cultures joined this interim, but even more amazing how well they got along together. The way the activities were coordinated and the enthusiasm that our instructors put into the program made us have an unforgettable experience.”

“At first we were worried that the language barrier was going to be a large challenge in terms of bonding with the other students. We soon realized that this was not going to be an issue. We all learned a lot from each other because we all have different experiences to share. We were all able to bond together by interacting with each other through field groups, meals, and cabin time. Having the three schools mingle allowed us to learn about each others’ culture along with everything that we learned through the Teton Science Schools.”

“It was good that all schools came together [Instituto San Roberto (ISR) in Mexico, College Du Leman (CDL) in Switzerland, and North Broward Preparatory School (NBPS) in Florida] from different parts of the world because every student brought different cultures to our experience. We all learned different things from each other and it was good that we all came together at TSS. This trip showed us that we are all more alike than we thought. We really enjoyed everybody’s company.”

We thank all the visiting students and teachers for another great experience at the Kelly Campus!