Category: Cultural Immersion - New Summit Academy Costa Rica

A Busy – and Fun! – July for NSA Students

7/11/2019

The past weeks have been packed with engaging, interesting, and fun opportunities for our students at New Summit Academy.

Integrated Aventuras
At the start of the month, students and staff participated in our Integrated Aventuras, which combine experiential, hands-on learning with personal growth in some of the most beautiful places in Costa Rica.

Newer students spent the week learning about conservation while volunteering in reforestation projects in the Osa Peninsula.

A second cohort of students paddled around the Golfo Dulce, studying tidal fluctuations, watersheds, and coral reefs, along with fishing with hand lines and competing in the famous “Tent Partner Olympics.”

A third group of students hiked through Corcovado National Park, learning about forest succession and spotting exotic wildlife including tapir, anteaters and spider monkeys!

Weekend Activities
Last week, when NSA welcomed a new student into our community, a senior student pointed to our scheduling calendar and said “Just look at what we get to do this weekend!”

In just two days, our students had the opportunity to:

- Show off their moves at the Roller Disco
- Fish in the estuaries along the Pacific coast
- Spend the day immersed in Costa Rica’s culture with Homestay Families
- Visit the National Theater
- Expend some energy at the Trampoline Park
- Participate in Film Club

Educating Global Citizens

6/27/2019

New Summit Academy’s mission is to empower students toward healthier lifestyles through processing experiences and solving problems to become more relationship-based, goal-driven, resourceful global citizens.

The goal of helping young men develop into global citizens has guided the development of many of the most impactful and memorable components of the NSA program.

These experiences of stepping outside of our comfort zones, asking intelligent questions while building critical thinking skills, and immersing in the world around us are all woven throughout NSA’s personal growth, academic, and experiential education programs.

Below are just a few examples of how we do this at NSA:

Building Connections and Serving our Community: All New Summit Academy students engage in service throughout their stay (in fact, it’s a requirement of our program!)

Students participate in reforestation projects, care for children at Hogar de Vida, provide activities for Retirement Home residents, and teach English classes to locals in Atenas.

Cultural Engagement: Each weekend, after having learned about the activity in their Spanish classes, our students immerse in the Costa Rican culture through experiences that include trips to museums, parks, festivals, tours of coffee and chocolate farms, and sports days in the park.

Global Citizenship Workshops: Eight times a year, students participate in teacher-led, experiential workshops that examine the facets of Social Justice, Human Rights, Interdependence, Ecological Stewardship, and more.

These facets then serve as lenses through which students approach their core classes for each quarter.

Graduates Celebrate a Final (for now) Visit to Hogar de Vida

5/8/2019

Our May 2020 graduating class consists of nine young men who have left an indelible, positive impact on our community. That impact has been felt outside the walls of NSA, especially at our local children’s home Hogar de Vida.

These grads, and many of their peers, have dedicated afternoons and weekends throughout their stay to build connections with the children through play, sing-alongs, art projects, games and just having fun.

This week, the graduates carried ice cream and cake to the children for one final afternoon of fun. The children had plenty of hugs for our graduates, who have gained so much from their experiences with Hogar de Vida.

Many thanks to Daisy, who continues to facilitate our ongoing relationship with this tremendous organization!

Student Efforts Pay Off!

3/26/2019

The recent student benefit concert and fundraiser, SummitFest, turned out to be a major success. Students have been volunteering at Caritas – a local soup kitchen that feeds up to 60 people per day. A lack of a freezer and needed supplies make their efforts challenging, and students recognized that need. Funds raised online and at the concert were used to purchase a new refrigerator, a deep freezer, and contribute to the ongoing food needs of the organization.

The delivery of the new appliances was overseen by our Experiential Education staff, Miguel, who also helped guide the students in organizing the concert. Great work, Miguel and NSA students!

NSA Students Raise Funds for Caritas

3/11/2019

Caritas is a charitable organization located in the center of our small town of Atenas. With a shoestring budget, Caritas is somehow able to provide lunch to humble families every day, serving up to 60 plates of food to community members of all ages.

Our students and staff have been privileged to be able to volunteer for Caritas, helping to prepare and serve food and assist in clean up after meals. One of Caritas’ most daunting challenges is to source enough protein to provide balanced meals, as they lack a regular supplier and do not have a freezer to store the food donations received.

This fact struck our students during their volunteer efforts and they, alongside our staff members Miguel and Peter, decided to make a difference.

Senior students spent their Friday afternoons organizing and publicizing a fundraising concert – which they dubbed SummitFest – to take place on campus. Miguel led their efforts, starting an online fundraising campaign, and Peter led our students in preparing to perform for the show.
The turnout at the concert was fantastic. Staff brought in home-cooked food to sell, and students volunteered selling tickets, running the concessions, managing donations and jamming on stage for the crowd.

The students’ efforts paid off, raising over $2,000 for Caritas, which will be used to donate a deep freezer filled with food for the organization.

Global Citizenship in action! Great work, NSA students!

Learning Spanish at New Summit Academy

2/22/2019

NSA’s host country of Costa Rica provides our students with an incredible opportunity to learn the Spanish language. NSA students do spend time in the classroom studying grammar and vocabulary, but the beauty of our Spanish program is that this classroom study is designed to prepare students for, enrich, and reflect on all of the immersive, cultural experiences that we offer.

This month alone, students practiced their Spanish skills by:

- Exploring the history behind the Oxcart Factory in nearby Sarchi
- Volunteering with children at Hogar de Vida
- Learning about the traditional “trapiche” mill and watching sugar cane be turned into sugar
- Visiting Costa Rica’s National Theater in San Jose
- Surfing some of the nation’s most beautiful beaches
- Spending Sundays sharing cultural customs with their homestay families

There is no better way to learn a language than by immersing in it, which is just what our students do at NSA!

What Is SCAFA at New Summit Academy?

2/1/2019

SCAFA, which stands for Self, Community and Future Assessment, is New Summit Academy’s innovative system for supporting students in identifying areas for growth, setting goals and steps, supporting students to follow through with those steps, and assessing progress to guide future goals.

Here’s how our SCAFA system works:

During the admissions process, our talented team assembles all of the information from interviews, applications, testing and transcripts and identifies key areas of attention for student growth.

Those areas of attention are turned into goals for students and their families to work toward while part of the NSA community.

Those goals are turned over to a student’s SCAFA team – his go-to people at NSA – that consists of his Case Manager, Academic Advisor, and his Experiential Education Mentor.

Every student meets with his SCAFA team at the start of each quarter to look at his areas of attention, review his goals and progress, and to set concrete steps to take during the upcoming quarter to work toward achieving his goals.
New Summit Academy’s incredible program elements ARE those concrete steps!

So, while students are participating in academic planning meetings and project-based learning, while they are engaging in therapeutic groups and Honor Councils, and as they immerse in the Costa Rican culture, are challenged during Integrated Aventuras, and volunteer at Hogar de Vida, they are working toward their goals.

NSA’s Orientation program, its clubs and cultural activities, Family Workshops, Student Council, community life, Global Citizenship workshops, certification courses, proposal systems . . . each element that makes New Summit Academy special is intentionally created to help students build skills for success.

That’s the beauty of SCAFA!

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.

New Summit Academy Costa Rica is a supportive boarding school and study abroad experience for high school males in grades 9-12.

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