Blog Archives

Staff Spotlight on Marco Arce

10/29/2019

Marco is New Summit Academy’s Medical Coordinator. Marco joined our team this year, and is already an indispensable part of NSA. After earning a degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, Marco served as a nurse in the States for three years before returning to Costa Rica, where he also earned his nursing license.

Marco’s organization and kind demeanor means that our students (and sometimes our staff!) receive the highest-quality medical attention, and Marco’s empathy for our students shines through in his interactions with each of them.

Outside of work, Marco enjoys playing golf, hiking, spending time at the beach, and spoiling his dachshund Roxy.

When asked to describe his work at NSA, Marco put it perfectly: “Once you get the true meaning behind what NSA does for our students, it makes you extremely proud to be part of the team."

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Global Citizenship Workshop on Gender Equality

10/21/2019

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A few weeks ago we had one of our quarterly Global Citizenship Workshops.

This time we discussed Sustainable Development and how Gender Equality can help us reach it. Thanks to Juan Diego, our biology teacher, for organizing it.

"I wanted to show my students the true meaning of feminism and gender equality - allow them to discuss and understand its value, to not feel threatened by it."
- Juan Diego Rodríguez

AWARENESS
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong…it is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideas.
- Emma Watson

RESPONSIBILITY
We do a great disservice to boys on how we raise them. We stifle the humanity of boys. We define masculinity in a very narrow way. Masculinity is a hard, small cage, and we put boys inside this cage.
- Chimamanda Ngozi

ACTION
Physical strength used to be the most important thing for survival. Today, we live in a vastly different world. The person more qualified to lead is not the physically stronger person. It is the more intelligent, the more knowledgeable, the more creative, more innovative. And there are no hormones for those attributes.
- Chimamanda NgoziLEARN

LEARN
It is always wonderful to align and interact with students as they venture - with open minds and a curiosity to learn more - into the “gray areas” of global citizenship.

TAKE AWAY
"Although we mainly focused on gender equality in this particular seminar, teachers were not limited to female vs. male but rather expanded the discussion to the broader societal messages about who we are expected to be based on our gender, how that makes us feel about ourselves, the systems that are set up to benefit one over another, and how we can all relate to some form of inequality. By empathically connecting with how they themselves might have been set up for failure in some way, and recognize underlying systems of oppression, students were able to “see” perspectives of “others” they had not seen (or had been too defensive to see) before."
- Heather Tracy

It’s rewarding to watch each generation become more and more aware, more complex, and hopefully more activated to make a difference.

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NSA Welcomes Luna Laika

10/17/2019

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After our eldest dog "Spy" passed away, students begged for a "new puppy." Knowing how a new puppy with 32 "masters" would turn out, we decided to contact our local animal rescue foundation and ask for an already-grown dog.

Our "dog committee" went to meet her at the shelter and immediately fell in love.

We had a "name voting ceremony" where these two came out in 1st & 2nd place, so yes... We gave her a middle name.

Welcome to your new home at NSA Luna -Laika!

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Learning Spanish through True Immersion and Project-Based Learning

10/8/2019

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Few schools are able to offer true cultural immersion experiences for learning language and developing interpersonal skills and cultural connectivity. At New Summit Academy, students are engaged in a once-in-a-lifetime project-based learning opportunity.

Our school has been working with our local retirement home for years, offering activities and connections for its residents. Recently, our Immersive Spanish teacher, Daisy, decided that we should be doing more. The project that students collaborated on developing is one that will provide the home with photographs and stories of its residents.

The first steps involve the students developing deeper relationships with the residents, so the class is visiting the home weekly, engaging in fun activities including music presentations and hands-on arts and crafts. As the students and residents bond, stories shared in their conversations will be recorded and paired with portraits taken by our Photography class to decorate the halls of the retirement home.

What an incredible opportunity for New Summit Academy’s students!

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The Superhero Science Teacher: Juan Diego Rodriguez

10/1/2019

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Juan Diego (or “JD”) has taught Science at New Summit Academy for more than a decade. In that time, he has created a classroom environment that is rigorous but fun, and is successful because of Juan Diego’s ability to create strong relationships with his students both inside and out of the classroom.

JD’s Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Biotechnology classes engage in dynamic, project-based learning, and JD’s classroom, filled with models of cells and DNA, catapults and trebuchets, and even a hydroponic growing system that sustains and is sustained by fish, is proof.

Outside of the classroom, JD participates in Integrated and Recreational Aventuras, runs a morning workout group for students, is the staff leader of the video game club, and is the go-to teacher for the latest comic books.

When he isn’t working, Juan Diego loves cooking, walking his dog, spending time with his family and friends and, during football season, cheering on his beloved Green Bay Packers.

JD is an integral part of the community at NSA, and we look forward to many years to come.

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Staff Spotlight on Marco Arce

Global Citizenship Workshop on Gender Equality

NSA Welcomes Luna Laika

Learning Spanish through True Immersion and Project-Based Learning

The Superhero Science Teacher: Juan Diego Rodriguez

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