Category: Service - New Summit Academy Costa Rica

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.

NSA Aventura Highlights

5/15/2018

This month, each student participated in one of our experiential, hands-on Aventura experiences, based on their progress within the program. This round of Aventuras was particularly effective in building student-staff relationships, developing leadership with emerging seniors, and enhancing our community’s supportive, positive milieu.

Community Service with Osa Conservation
Students, staff and volunteers from around the world teamed up to work side-by-side with the professionals from Osa Conservation in their preservation and protection efforts of the habitats and species of the area.

Everyone pitched in without hesitation to create a nursery for balsa trees, which are very important for native animal species including monkeys and scarlet macaws.

Students also built a new turtle hatchery, learned about reforestation, big cats, sea turtle conservation, and were rewarded with the opportunity to release baby turtles on the beach!

Kayak Explorations on the Golfo Dulce
Students in their second full quarter at NSA joined a seasoned group of staff – including our Director of Personal Growth, Director of Experiential Education and Director of Program Integrity – in a 5-day kayaking expedition around the spectacular Golfo Dulce.

Students said that they were initially nervous about going on Aventura with so many “administrators," but at the end of the trip expressed that they had an amazing time and were pleased to have spent time with the staff.

Highlights of the trip included:

- Learning about mangrove ecosystems while swimming in an estuary
- Student success at catching fish, including some first-time fishermen
- Sighting dolphin, sea turtles, monkeys and stingrays
- Spotting bioluminescence, watching the sunrise and catching tuna on the night crossing

Corcovado National Park Highlights
The setting of our Corcovado Aventura – surrounded by primary rainforest teeming with animals – made for a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our students in their third full quarter.

Students learned about biological relationships and forest succession while spotting wildlife that included multiple anteaters (two with babies in tow), three tapir that walked through a rainforest class, and an impressive boa constrictor seen moving along the forest floor next to a poison dart frog!

Cloud Forest Adventures
Our more senior students spent the week exploring Costa Rica's cool cloud forest on foot and raft, on a trip where they take charge of their growth and logistics, including menu planning (this trip actually had one student try peanut butter and jelly for the first time!)

Students braved hanging bridges, technical trails, and the frigid waters of the high-altitude streams, even taking some time to be kids and build a waterfall dam. Classes focused on ecological communities and how these relate to students’ relationships within their communities.

Our English teacher, Brooke, even channeled Mary Shelley and inspired a scary story session in the evening. Check out the Cloud Forest video she shared with us!

Cultural Immersion at Hogar de Vida

3/29/2018

Each of NSA’s cultural immersion opportunities, supported by classroom Spanish language study, are enriching for our students’ Costa Rica experience, but none is as important as our relationship and work with Hogar de Vida. Dedicated student volunteers continue to spend each Tuesday afternoon performing community service by helping to improve the facilities and, more importantly, by spending time with the children.

Our students convert into big kids themselves as they color, swing, make clay models, and run around the grounds of the children’s home.

Our community is so grateful for the relationship we have with Hogar de Vida, and thank Daisy, our Cultural Coordinator, and all the Hogar staff for making it happen.

New Summit Academy & The Bridge at NATSAP

2/17/2018

NSA and The Bridge have been not only long-time members of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), but innovators leading the way toward more effective and enriching models of engagement and growth for young people.

At this year’s national NATSAP conference in Tampa, our programs collaborated to facilitate four different presentations, which included:

- Martin Naffziger and Kelly Weld speaking about how investment in a rigorous Academic program can develop stronger Therapeutic offerings

- Dr. Heather Tracy and Mario Duran presenting on how to balance student empowerment with administrative needs

- Dr. Danny Recio discussing his recently-published article in the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs titled Coming of Age in Foreign Lands

- Martin Naffziger presenting in collaboration with Montana Academy on innovative structures in education and the responsibility that therapeutic programs have to develop strong Academics

All of our Supportive Immersion programs will continue forward with industry-leading standards of education, personal growth and experiential education!

February Integrated Aventura Highlights

2/13/2018

Students spent last week on one of our signature Integrated Aventuras -- expeditions throughout Costa Rica where students engage in experiential learning and personal growth alongside our dedicated therapists, teachers and Experiential Education mentors.

The Aventura program begins at sea level with students “giving back” to the Costa Rican community through volunteer work with Osa Conservation. Students plant trees, build trails, and patrol the beaches for nesting sea turtles.

A few high points from the community service Aventura:

-Nightly presentations from working scientists about research on canopy animals, hermit crabs, big cat tracking and water quality testing
-Safely relocating over 70 sea turtle eggs & releasing 70 baby hatchlings
-Encountering anteaters, coatimundi and a beautiful (and rare) puma!

Students then participate in the Kayak Aventura, circumnavigating the Golfo Dulce while camping along its undeveloped shores.
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Memorable moments from this journey include:
-Watching turtles and dolphin swim alongside students’ kayaks
-Fishing with hand lines for snapper, mackerel and tuna
-Snorkeling in the coral reef at Los Mogos, two islands whose name means “the specks”
-Being surrounded by natural beauty and seeing rainbows nearly every day

After the Kayak Aventura, students spend a week hiking in the protected jungles of Corcovado National Park, learning about biological relationships and rainforest succession.

Students and staff reported some of their fondest memories:
-The teamwork and support shown by the group members during the challenging hike
-Impressive focus on the group’s goals
-Being blown away by the diversity of animal and plant life

The final Integrated Aventura before students climb Chirripo Mountain is a trekking and rafting expedition in Costa Rica’s cloud forests.

Highlights of this trip included:
-Student engagement with absolutely zero complaining!
-Students pushing themselves outside of their comfort zones while navigating whitewater rapids
-The valuable peer feedback given and received within the group

Community Service with Osa Conservation

11/14/2017

Osa Peninsula conservation highlights:

-Assisting scientists with cataloging native trees

-Fascinating workshops by Costa Rica’s director of turtle conservation and a scientist who tracks big cats

-Releasing nearly 600 baby sea turtles into the waves, and finding a mother turtle nesting during nightly beach patrols

-A spirited soccer game with students, staff and members of the community that transcended language barriers

Children’s Day with Hogar de Vida

10/20/2017

NSA’s relationship with Hogar de Vida, our neighborhood children’s home, has grown into something truly wonderful over the years. Students and staff volunteer their time weekly to provide individualized attention to these children, while receiving much more than they give. In Costa Rica, Children’s Day is a national holiday celebrating fun and recognizing that nurturing children is key to a healthy future.

To do our part, New Summit Academy (and especially Daisy, our Cultural Coordinator) came together to organize a Children’s Day celebration for the little ones at Hogar de Vida. Our students escorted the children to campus, where they were entertained with games, participated in horseback rides, and shared a delicious meal with our community. Hogar de Vida is such an important part of our students’ experiences, and celebrating Children’s Day is a small effort to give back!

TEFL Certification in Sarapiqui

9/29/2017

The other half of our students traveled to the untouched rainforests of Sarapiqui to study the art of Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Daily classes were planned by our English teacher, Brooke, herself certified and experienced in TEFL.
Students applied their new knowledge and skills with practice teaching at a nearby elementary school, where they also participated in community service.

To celebrate, students and staff took to the whitewater of the world-famous Sarapiqui River for well-deserved fun after earning their TEFL certificates!

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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