Students Flourish During School Trips

Dear Friends,

I would like to update everyone in the community on the school-organized travels our students and faculty have taken over break.

A group of 17 students and six faculty members participated in the Friends Visiting Friends trip to the Middle East. This visit was arranged with our sister school, the Ramallah Friends School, as part of the Arabic language program at Friends Seminary. Since the beginning of the year, students at Friends Seminary have been involved in a project called Meeting Places. Our students prepared oral history presentations focused on their sense of place in New York City. The trip was designed to allow our students to stay in the homes of the Ramallah Friends students, and to allow them the opportunity to present their oral histories in person. Our students are also bringing cameras and tape recorders to the Ramallah Friends students so that they might interview each other on their sense of place in Ramallah.

The students have had the opportunity to visit many different sites in this historical region: the Wailing Wall, The Israeli Museum, the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Nativity, and a special meeting with the Abraham Fund, a group that works to advance coexistence and equality among Jews and Arabs in Israel. They even had a day on the beach by the Dead Sea! Today, their last day, they have visited with members of the American Jewish Committee to talk about their experiences, and they might make a final trip to the beach. The students have been blogging about their visit, the friends they've made, and the fantastic time they have been having. You can read about it—and see some amazing pictures taking by our own John Galayda at http://friendsnyctravels.blogspot.com.

Their trip is about over, and the reports from students and faculty have all been positive. We welcome them back on Wednesday, and look forward to their sharing what they learned and saw on this cultural exploration—and how much of their Arabic they were able to use!

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Bahamas, another group of teachers and students are studying environmental science and looking at sustainability issues. Nine students and two teachers are at The Island School, in Cape Eleuthera, where they focus on experiential education. Much of their time is spent in the water, either snorkeling, scuba diving or kayaking. This is the second time a group of students has gone to The Island School over Spring Break.

Finally, many of our athletes have been at camps in Florida—the tennis, golf and baseball teams all went to the Disney All-Star Sports facilities. The focus is on skill-building as well as team building. Their coaches, of course, are accompanying them, and they even had a free day visiting the Disney amusement park.

We are proud of our students and teachers for undertaking these educational travels during their Spring Break and know they will each return with new insights into their varying areas of study.

Thomas Perry

Acting Principal

Friends Seminary