Category: Service - New Summit Academy Costa Rica

Weekend Fun at New Summit Academy

1/15/2019

With challenging and enriching academic days, Honor Council, SCAFA Team meetings, physical education, evening therapeutic groups, and nightly homework, NSA students certainly look forward to some fun and relaxation on the weekends.

Our Experiential Education team works closely with Student Council to design and schedule a variety of activities over the weekends, ranging from outdoor pursuits to cultural activities, and from trips to the movies to community service. Here is a sample of activities that our students have enjoyed in just the past two weeks:

Cultural Activities
This month, students visited a cacao plantation to join in on the chocolate-making process and also spent time learning about Costa Rica’s indigenous past at the Gold Museum.

Las Minas
A nearby river filled with pools and natural rock slides is always a hit for our students!

Beach Day
Students often look forward to action-packed days on the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica, where they can be found body surfing, playing soccer on the sand, and flying kites!

Community Service
Our students and staff recently pitched in at Hogar de Ancianos, our local retirement home, helping for the day in the laundry room.

Pure Go-Karting and Paintball Fun
Competition gets fierce when NSA students get behind the wheel or on the paintball field!

Weekends may be just as busy as weekdays at NSA, but these student-driven activities let the young men recharge and be ready for each coming week!

A New Year’s Reflection at New Summit Academy

1/1/2019

NSA's staff and students are all excited to begin another spectacular year and want to share a reflection of some of 2018's highlights:

8 Global Citizenship workshops, investigating student-chosen topics related to Social Justice, Diversity, Ecological Stewardship, Conflict Resolution, and more.

4 Homestay Picnics, thanking our dedicated and caring Atenas hosts for taking our students into their homes and making them a part of their families.

28 successful Aventuras, including Integrated, Recreational and International Aventuras to Peru and South Africa!

Hundreds of hours of community service at Hogar de Vida, with Osa Conservation, and in the community of Atenas.

New clubs driven by student interests including a Fishing Club and a Birdwatching Club.

Nearly 100 college acceptances, including outstanding schools like Tulane, Marquette, Trinity, Loyola of Chicago, Whittier, Juniata, and Eckerd College.

Over 1.1 million dollars in college scholarships offered thus far!

20 successful graduates of high school and/or the New Summit Academy Program, ready to take on the world with new skills and confidence!

Thanks to all members of our NSA family for your support as we look forward to an incredible 2019... Happy New Year!

Celebrating Christmas with Hogar de Vida

12/19/2018

The children and staff at Hogar de Vida provide us with so much throughout the year, and the holidays are a time when we can say “thank you.”

This season, all of the kids joined us on campus for our annual Christmas party. Daisy, our cultural coordinator, worked her usual magic to ensure that every child had a personalized gift, a delicious meal and a wonderful time.

Raising money for Hogar de Vida!

12/18/2018

It broke our hearts to hear that our beloved Hogar de Vida is facing some big problems and has a big ask. Message from Hogar de Vida: Since 2014 in the child-focused culture of Costa Rica, PANI (Costa Rica's child protective services) has from time-to-time issued new requirements for increased staffing of the children's home. In May, another quite large increase was announced. While well-meaning, this increase was particularly difficult to meet, especially under threat of having the operating permit revoked. At about the same time, the Costa Rican government and department of labor issued new labor laws and regulations affecting pay and labor practices across the entire country. To make matters even worse, PANI announced in the fall that the annual Christmas grant to children's homes, usually $25,000 - $35,000 would not be paid this year. Without intervention, the collective cost to Homes of Life would be a devastating increase in expenses amounting to many thousands of dollars per month, not including the loss of the one-time Christmas grant.

Our families, staff, and friends have amazed us with their generosity! Thank you for your holiday spirit in donating to an amazing cause to help children in need. These children at Hogar make a HUGE impact on our students, and we're sure the feeling is mutual. If you'd like to donate, please follow the link below and make sure you choose the Costa Rica program. Thank you!!

Donate to Hogar de Vida

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Celebrating Thanksgiving at New Summit Academy

11/22/2018

At NSA, our Thanksgiving celebration is about dinner with family and friends, but also about giving back and engaging with our community to express our gratitude.

Students began the Thanksgiving week participating in a Global Citizenship workshop focused on Social Justice and investigating issues that are important to them.

With this Social Justice perspective, staff and students then participated in a number of days of community service.

On Monday, students spent the morning cooking and serving at Caritas, a local organization that provides up to 60 lunches seven days a week for locals in need.

That afternoon, we got our hands dirty, performing garden beautification work at our local elementary school.

The following day, students volunteered by running a much-appreciated Bingo game at Hogar de Ancianos, Atenas’ retirement home.

Wednesday morning had students in the kitchen, working to prepare a turkey lunch to deliver to the kids at Hogar de Vida. In between serving lunch, cleaning up, and playing with the kids, some of our Spanish students entertained everyone with a presentation on Thanksgiving traditions.

On Thanksgiving Day, students and staff returned to the kitchen, but this time to prepare delicious food for our Thanksgiving dinner celebration.

We would like to express our thanks to every member of our NSA extended family!

Cultural Activities and Giving Back

10/10/2018

All NSA students participate in a Cultural Engagement and Immersion Program, which consists of language study and immersion, homestays, international travel, and a series of hands-on cultural activities that allows newer students to learn about Costa Rica and its rich heritage.

This month, students explored the Bosque de Niño, created on the slopes of Volcano Poas to protect important watersheds. However, our students don’t only visit sites as tourists, but as travelers who engage and give back. Students worked for part of the day helping to repair the road leading into the park, and felt the appreciation of local visitors as they honked and waved to say “thank you!”

NSA Celebrates Children’s Day with Hogar de Vida

10/2/2018

Costa Rica was one of the first nations on Earth to declare Children’s Day a national holiday as a celebration of its youth. At NSA, we naturally celebrate the day with our community partner, Hogar de Vida children’s home. Our young neighbors were invited to campus for a morning of fun, organized by Daisy our Cultural Coordinator.

Our students played with the children, took turns riding an ox cart and horses, colored and drew on tables covered in paper, and shared a delicious lunch, all to show our appreciation for the children of Hogar de Vida.

August Aventura Report

8/21/2018

New Summit Academy’s August Aventuras provided students and staff with once-in-a-lifetime experiences! Some kayaked the Golfo Dulce, some hiked through Corcovado National Park, while others performed community service helping in reforestation and conservation efforts.

Students waded rivers, caught fresh fish on hand lines, learned about biological relationships and watershed ecology, spotted tapir and sea turtles and -- most importantly -- grew as a community and returned to campus ready to continue that growth!

New Summit Academy Students – Outside the Classroom!

8/1/2018

A major major part of our students' lives and learning is focused on what they are doing outside of the classroom, from interacting with their homestay families to volunteering with local organizations.

Clubs
Students at NSA are able to propose and form their own clubs based on their interests and passions. These clubs meet weekly, and often create after school or weekend opportunities. Current student-created opportunities include Biking, Rock Climbing, Surfing, Art, Chess, Spanish, and Cooking Clubs.

Cultural Activities
Sundays for newer students are dedicated to immersion in the Costa Rican culture through activities that tie in to their Spanish language classes. Each week may find students visiting a coffee farm, exploring museums, hiking through a national park, or floating down the river on a crocodile tour.

Homestay Program
For students who have completed the Cultural Immersion program and have advanced to a communicative level in their Spanish classes, Sundays are spent with a Costa Rican homestay family.

These local families take our students into their homes where they can join in on soccer games, family barbecues, birthday parties and, of course, delicious home cooking.

Volunteering
NSA students have many opportunities to give back to the community that hosts our school, including working with turtle conservation organizations, participating in beach clean-ups, animal rescue fundraising, and planting trees for water conservation.

Our most frequent opportunity and most rewarding experience comes from our students’ volunteer work with Hogar de Vida, our neighboring children’s home. Weekly volunteer opportunities and frequent NSA-hosted parties and events ensure that our students develop meaningful relationships with the children and staff.

Recreational Activities
Fun is a crucial part of being a student at NSA. Students plan their own recreational activities, working with their Student Council and our Experiential Education team.

Weekend excursions can include beach days, trips to the movies, bowling and laser tag. NSA students also organize game nights and BBQs on campus.

Highlights from Our Amazing Peru International Aventura

7/15/2018

July is perhaps our most exciting month at New Summit Academy as the summer brings our annual International Aventura to Peru! This year’s trip was especially meaningful as students engaged with a curriculum created by our Aventura teachers, therapists and Experiential Education mentors with a view toward building a greater sense of community among students and staff to bring back to our NSA campus.

After arriving in Peru, students began their journey with a tour of the colonial town of Cuzco before traveling by train to Machu Picchu, which is always a highlight of the trip.

Next, students split into two groups and, with their staff group leaders, followed the same itinerary, but in reverse order. One group began a high-altitude trek in the Auzangate region of the Andes, learning about the sacred gods – or Apus – of the mountains. The hikes were demanding, but the views made them worth the effort!

The second group began their trip with a 3-day whitewater rafting adventure, navigating class III and IV rapids (plus portaging around the class V’s), and camping along the spectacular river banks. Our English teacher, Brooke, was impressed with the way students cooperated in navigating the challenging portages.

The two groups reunited in the middle of their journeys in the indigenous village of the Amaru people, who welcomed them with a traditional ceremony complete with flutes and drums. Both groups spent the day working side-by-side with the Amaru helping them prepare fields for planting. The day culminated in a celebratory lunch prepared by the villagers.

NSA’s summer International Aventura has always been an unforgettable experience for those who participate. The students, now back on campus with stronger bonds within their community and ready to begin the school year, will be telling stories of their trip for weeks to come.

This website was made by a collaborative effort between two students (SK and JA) and NSA staff.
All pictures are real photographs taken from student experiences at NSA. Thank you for taking the time to peruse our site!
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