Grade 7 Week Without Walls
On the 31st of December 2019, the World Health Organization was informed of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, with no known cause. What was to become the Covid-19 pandemic was already underway. Governments, trading blocs, and alliances all struggled to cope. For our community, like millions of other communities, the paradigm for safe education shifted, and part of that paradigm shift was to abolish any type of residential trip for the foreseeable future. So what a ray of sunshine it was to be asked to plan the Concordian Grade 7 Week Without Walls trip for November 2022. A return to trips, and an opportunity to begin reestablishing cross-community links; a return to trips, and an opportunity for the students to engage with experiences beyond their computer screens.
With a directive to focus on fun over academics, and armed only with the dusty (figuratively speaking) plans of what seemed like a decade ago, it was time to reconnoiter the area of Hua Hin. What had changed? What had stayed the same? With the support of our wonderful local office staff, a great hotel for the students was booked, and some stimulating, interesting and fun activities were selected. What better way to reconnect with nature than to see ecologically sound methods for waste water and solid waste management at Laem Phak Bia? By interacting with the staff and animals at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) the students were able to reconnect with themes of service. This trip was also an opportunity for students to challenge themselves physically and mentally with a supervised bicycle ride along approximately 15km of scenic coastlines south of Hua Hin.
Concordian prides itself on academic excellence, and on nurturing our young people to be moral and responsible leaders in the future. I firmly believe that these residential trips support that mission and vision, and are a key component in challenging any preconceived notions the students may have. That they can take this opportunity to process eustress, use it to build better character, and to develop a more positive mindset. The chaperone team were all hugely impressed by how the grade seven students responded to… well everything. The bike ride was long, tiring, and we did get rained on. The itinerary was packed and complicated. There was a lot of traveling from A to B to get to activities. The students responded to those challenges with positivity and smiles. And even when COVID-19 tried to spoil the experience on the final day, the students followed
Mr. Mike Daly
Trip Leader
