SUMMER 2014     

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experiential learning at this time indicates both an 
ongoing appreciation of its value and a new concept 
of what this approach could mean for the school as a 
whole. 

Although it was based on the traditional model 

of the study tour, the recent New York City adventure 
folded in several key new pedagogical techniques 
to incorporate travel as learning repertoire. Student 
engagement became supercharged through the 
addition of components involving problem-solving, 
collaboration, the development of a collective identity, 
and the idea of learning as a way to prepare to 
connect with new people. For example, students 
were empowered by discovering that the work they 
had done in Santa Barbara to learn about the 

Harlem Renaissance gave them something to talk 
about with the actual residents of Harlem. Learning 
deepens immeasurably when students sense that 
their knowledge is meaningful to the people they 
learn about. As Ashley has said of the group’s 
Sunday morning tour of Harlem, “that morning will 
stay with the kids and teachers for a long, long 
time.” By beginning this project before the trip with 
reading, writing, and discussion, and by continuing 

it afterwards through the editing and production of 
videos documenting the experience, the New York City 
adventure set a precedent for pursuing experiential 
knowledge at a new level of intensity.
 

While experiential learning is not just about travel, 

travel is a great metaphor for the approach, because 
when students and teachers engage in this kind of 
activity, they go places and learn things together. As 
Pierce O’Donnell ’16 put it, “the benefits of real life 
experience transcend any lesson or concept in even 
the most detailed textbook.” With Ashley guiding 
the entire faculty towards a more comprehensive 
integration of contemporary experiential learning 
practice into every aspect of our curriculum, students 
and faculty come together and prepare as a group to 

meet the real world on its 
own terms. 

In the fall of 2014,

the English and theater 
departments will collaborate 
with State Street Ballet on 
an immersive experience 
of Shakespeare through 
dance called “A Midsummer 
Night’s Mash-Up.” Look 

for the gala performance which will conclude this 
experiential learning project in mid-October, and expect 
to see Laguna students 
performing on stage 
alongside professional 
dancers. Please come 
out and be a part of this 
grand adventure as we 
chart a new course for 
experiential learning. 

“The new experiential learning initiative is simply giving 
capital letters to what we’ve been doing at Laguna Blanca 
for years.”

-ASHLEY TIDEY, Laguna Blanca English instructor

A group of 

ninth and 

tenth grade 

students tour 

Harlem.

Eighth grade history tour

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