PORT TOWNSEND — A small private school is offering a student trip to Paraguay in the spring as part of its “experiential learning” curriculum.
The Jefferson Community School, which faced closure at the end of the 2012-2013 school year, has bounced back and has scheduled the trip so students can be exposed to a culture and a language that is different from their own.
“Learning about other cultures increases further self-development, which is what we try to instill in our kids,” said Rita Hemsley, the head of school.
“We encourage them to be curious, to learn about different cultures and have new adventures.”
The school, located at 280 Quincy St. in a historical building known as Good Templars Hall, opened in 2005 as an alternative educational option for grades 6-12 .
The idea that learning can be richer outside of the classroom is a cornerstone of the school that has sponsored annual student expeditions to such places as Vietnam, Mexico, Costa Rica and Thailand.
Domestic learning expeditions have been more service-oriented, such as cleanup after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico coast in 2005.
The school almost closed earlier this year but reopened with the mission to attract international students, a strategy Hemsley said is beginning to pay off.
In past years, the trips have been included in the school’s $10,000 tuition.
This has changed. Students now are charged with raising $1,500-$2,000 to support the expenses.
Along with the students, the trip will include “chaperones, medical people and other cool people,” Hemsley said.
The trip’s details have not been resolved but it is expected to take place in a two-week period in March or April.
Fundraising activities for the trip are expected to be scheduled later.
Paraguay was chosen for its cultural differences, along with the fact that senior Will O’Brien is taking part in an exchange program and can help to coordinate the program.
Hemsley said that up to 15 of the 20 students could go on the trip but the attendance criteria hasn’t been determined.
Tenth-grader Adam Braude, 15, said that each of his three experiential learning trips “has been a personal boundary-bending experience.”
Braude has participated in trips to the redwoods, Baja California and a week on the schooner Adventuress.
“Not every trip was a paradigm-shattering affair, but I came away learning a lot on each one and I am all the braver for these experiences,” he said.
“When I was in Mexico, my Spanish wasn’t all that good but I learned a lot about non-verbal communication, getting messages across the language barrier.”
Eleventh-grader Hanna Trailer, 17, said that a visit to Vietnam shattered preconceived notions.
The mission was to teach Vietnamese youth basic English, but the Port Townsend students quickly discovered that their hosts were conversationally adept.
“We got along really well from the very beginning, so we decided to just have a ‘home stay’ and spent the night at their houses,” Trailer said.
She said that curiosity and a desire to learn sets Jefferson School’s students apart.
“We are genuinely interested in what we are learning,” she said.
“Some people go home and read history. When I go home I watch a lot of documentaries because I’m really involved in my own education.”
“This trip is a key part of what happens in the school, to be at home in your community and in kinship with the world,” Hemsley said.
“The kids will be in a new environment, and learning from that environment.”
For more information, see jeffersoncommunityschool.com or call 360-385-0622.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
