Page 20 - Laguna Blanca Magazine Summer 2018
P. 20
A FEW EDUCATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
For the 31 traveling ninth graders who completed Dr.
Tidey’s literary analysis unit in the fall and urban analysis
unit in the spring, the destination was a playground
of Modernist ex-pat literature and culture. A tour of
“Writers of Montparnasse” took students to the favorite
Parisian haunts of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and James Baldwin. A stop
at Shakespeare and Company, the famous bookstore that
Walt Whitman’s grandson founded, provided a peek into
ex-pat literary life in the 1920s.
For past, present, and future tenth graders who have or
will learn of WWI battles and European History with
Instructor Kevin Shertzer, there was an opportunity to
stand on the shores of Normandy, visit the battlefield of
Verdun, pay tribute to the fallen at the Meuse-Argonne
American Cemetery and Memorial (the largest U.S.
cemetery in Europe), and more.
Upper School French Instructor Valerie Yoshimura’s
students had “live learning” opportunities throughout
the trip. In true Parisian fashion, these French-speaking
students led the way through a few of the city’s most famous
markets—Marché Mouffetard and Marché Monge—in
search of French delicacies for a picnic lunch in Jardin du
Luxembourg. The trip gave the opportunity for countless
interactions with French speakers, which reinforced their
classroom studies in a way that only travel can.
Students in French 3 learned about French Impressionism
before the trip in order to better appreciate the Musée
d’Orsay.
Of course, one cannot see Paris without seeing the Eiffel
Tower. A fitting farewell dinner on the last evening of the
incredible trip was held on the first floor of the famed
French landmark.
“I literally watched kids grow up over the course of such
an experience,” says Head of Upper School Lolli Lucas.
“While the students are most fortunate, I’m also proud to
say they are most grateful to all for such a trip...and that
makes it all so worth it. No doubt they had ’le temps de
LAGUNA BLANCA MAGAZINE ta vie!’”
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