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On the first Integrated Aventura of a career at NSA, students developed their work ethic and gave back with noticeable enthusiasm while weeding rows of lemongrass, cabbage, lettuce, and pineapple; creating organic fertilizer using discarded mangoes, and making a natural mulch using mango tree leaves at the permaculture-based organic farm Osa Verde.
Each night, students and staff engaged in presentations from scientists conducting on-site conservation work. On the fourth day, students released over a hundred freshly hatched baby Olive Ridley turtles into a stormy sea!
Each night, students and staff engaged in presentations from scientists conducting on-site conservation work. On the fourth day, students released over a hundred freshly hatched baby Olive Ridley turtles into a stormy sea!
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New Summit Academy’s Academic and Experiential Education programs are designed to immerse students in the language and culture of Costa Rica, forging cross-cultural perspectives and understanding as we work to develop Global Citizens.
Beginner and Intermediate Spanish classes prepare students for these immersion experiences by studying grammar through the lens of weekend cultural activities, which serve as culminating experiential learning opportunities. Weekend activities range from local festivities and horse parades, to sporting events, coffee plantation tours, museum visits and more.
Students in advanced Spanish classes have an additional opportunity to work with our Spanish teacher and Cultural Coordinator, Daisy, in designing immersive experiences based on their interests and passions, and solidifying their Spanish Language skills in fun, hands-on ways.
The opportunities are unique to New Summit Academy, and we are proud to offer them as integral parts of our program.
Beginner and Intermediate Spanish classes prepare students for these immersion experiences by studying grammar through the lens of weekend cultural activities, which serve as culminating experiential learning opportunities. Weekend activities range from local festivities and horse parades, to sporting events, coffee plantation tours, museum visits and more.
Students in advanced Spanish classes have an additional opportunity to work with our Spanish teacher and Cultural Coordinator, Daisy, in designing immersive experiences based on their interests and passions, and solidifying their Spanish Language skills in fun, hands-on ways.
The opportunities are unique to New Summit Academy, and we are proud to offer them as integral parts of our program.
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Cultural Immersion plays a key role in our students’ experiences at New Summit Academy, promoting relationship development, appreciation of others’ cultures and customs, health risk-taking, and reciprocity – so much of what we strive to develop.
One of the most memorable cultural experiences for our students is their participation in the Homestay program, spending Sundays with local families, and joining them in activities ranging from cooking at home to attending soccer games, birthday parties, and afternoons at the beach.
These volunteer families take our students into their homes and lives out of the goodness of their hearts, so our community gives a little bit back to them with our popular Homestay picnics.
This quarter, a summer day in the Caribbean was the theme of the Homestay picnic, complete with team-building games (with lots of water balloons!) fun decorations, music, and a traditional Caribbean lunch of rice and beans cooked in coconut milk!
One of the most memorable cultural experiences for our students is their participation in the Homestay program, spending Sundays with local families, and joining them in activities ranging from cooking at home to attending soccer games, birthday parties, and afternoons at the beach.
These volunteer families take our students into their homes and lives out of the goodness of their hearts, so our community gives a little bit back to them with our popular Homestay picnics.
This quarter, a summer day in the Caribbean was the theme of the Homestay picnic, complete with team-building games (with lots of water balloons!) fun decorations, music, and a traditional Caribbean lunch of rice and beans cooked in coconut milk!
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New Summit Academy’s dining hall has always been famous for serving fresh, delicious foods to our students and staff. In fact, students often award our chefs “favorite staff” awards at graduation ceremonies.
In our continuing efforts to build healthy habits in our students, and to provide them with nutrition that develops bright, productive minds, our chefs are incorporating more healthy, plant-based options at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Besides bringing in organic vegetables from a nearby farm each week, NSA grows much of its basil and oregano right here on campus. Our cooks plan balanced weekly meals following a formula that ensures plenty of whole grains, leafy greens, fresh fruits, and lean proteins. New additions to our menu include garbanzo bean and vegetable stew, spinach and tuna sandwiches, vegetarian lasagna, and even a salad bar!
In our continuing efforts to build healthy habits in our students, and to provide them with nutrition that develops bright, productive minds, our chefs are incorporating more healthy, plant-based options at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Besides bringing in organic vegetables from a nearby farm each week, NSA grows much of its basil and oregano right here on campus. Our cooks plan balanced weekly meals following a formula that ensures plenty of whole grains, leafy greens, fresh fruits, and lean proteins. New additions to our menu include garbanzo bean and vegetable stew, spinach and tuna sandwiches, vegetarian lasagna, and even a salad bar!
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NSA students and staff have been getting into the holiday spirit by giving back to two of our most important Costa Rican community connections: Hogar de Vida and our Homestay families.
Hogar de Vida, a home for orphaned children in our neighborhood, has embraced our school and provides our students with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to develop unique relationships. NSA hosted a Christmas party for these children and the aunties who care for them, featuring a clown that made balloon hats, plenty of presents and a delicious lunch.
Our Homestay families provide our students the opportunity to create meaningful bonds as they engage with their “second families” in cultural activities, sporting events, parties and daily life around the house. NSA students and staff invited families to campus for a celebratory picnic of arroz con pollo and picadillo, and gave gifts to these families as small tokens of how much they are appreciated.
Happy Holidays to Hogar de Vida, our Homestay families, and our entire NSA community!
Hogar de Vida, a home for orphaned children in our neighborhood, has embraced our school and provides our students with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to develop unique relationships. NSA hosted a Christmas party for these children and the aunties who care for them, featuring a clown that made balloon hats, plenty of presents and a delicious lunch.
Our Homestay families provide our students the opportunity to create meaningful bonds as they engage with their “second families” in cultural activities, sporting events, parties and daily life around the house. NSA students and staff invited families to campus for a celebratory picnic of arroz con pollo and picadillo, and gave gifts to these families as small tokens of how much they are appreciated.
Happy Holidays to Hogar de Vida, our Homestay families, and our entire NSA community!
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Arriving at a new place can be overwhelming for anyone, especially when that place is a new school, with a new group of peers, new staff, and different rules – and in an entirely foreign country!
In order to help enrolling students make the adjustment to NSA, our comprehensive Orientation program guides them in getting to know our community so that they can continue their processes of personal growth. From day one, an Orientation team – Experiential Education mentors, an Academic Advisor, a Case manager and peer mentors – help new students in these steps. Orientation students actually begin their stay by leaving campus – traveling to a nearby dormant volcano with peers and staff to review the student handbook and get an overview of the program.
Throughout the following month, students meet to review their Academic transcripts and course plans, learn about their learning styles and areas of attention, review and complete a quiz on the student handbook – steps designed intentionally for them to get their bearings and feel comfortable in their new, supportive community.
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In Costa Rica, and throughout much of Latin America, Columbus Day is celebrated - not for the "discovery" of the Americas - but for the diversity of cultures throughout the continents created by our shared history. New Summit Academy is unique among high schools in that our students enroll from all corners of the United States, and that our international staff come to us from Costa Rica, the U.S., Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and other countries.
Each year, our Cultural Coordinator Daisy ensures that students learn about this important day and the impact diversity has on Costa Rica and on the students' everyday lives. In celebration of the cultural melange that makes up NSA, Daisy organizes our staff to create and share food and drinks with our students which represent the cultures from which we come.
Each year, our Cultural Coordinator Daisy ensures that students learn about this important day and the impact diversity has on Costa Rica and on the students' everyday lives. In celebration of the cultural melange that makes up NSA, Daisy organizes our staff to create and share food and drinks with our students which represent the cultures from which we come.
This year, students enjoyed traditional Caribbean meat patties, Columbian arepas, chicharrones from Costa Rica, Thai massaman curry, and hearty mid-western chili.
Food is a window into and celebration of this variety of cultures (not to mention the best way to interest teenage boys), so many thanks to Daisy for facilitating this enriching event!
Food is a window into and celebration of this variety of cultures (not to mention the best way to interest teenage boys), so many thanks to Daisy for facilitating this enriching event!
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The month of September is a special time in Costa Rica, as proud Ticos celebrate gaining their independence from Spain on September 15th, 1821. Our Cultural Coordinator, Daisy, ensures that students take part in every aspect of this patriotic celebration.
Typical Breakfast Celebration
On the day before Independence Day, faculty and staff arrive to campus extra early to prepare a typical Costa Rican breakfast for our students. As students awoke to the sound of live marimba music, they found their teachers ready to serve them such traditional foods as gallo pinto, huevos rancheros, and handmade corn tortillas.
Staff (and some of our braver students) danced to classic Tico tunes, punctuated by “bombas” – short, comedic poems recited by everyone involved.
Staff (and some of our braver students) danced to classic Tico tunes, punctuated by “bombas” – short, comedic poems recited by everyone involved.
Making Faroles and Supporting a Local Elementary School
On the evening before Independence Day, Costa Ricans celebrate the gathering of citizens by lantern light throughout Central America as the call for independence was raised in 1821.
Children fill the streets, carrying homemade “faroles” or lanterns in the colors of the Costa Rican flag for a magical parade.
NSA students traveled to a nearby small village called “Altos del Monte” to work with the students at a humble elementary school to construct their lanterns.
Our students then took part in the parade, and further supported the school’s yearly fundraiser by purchasing plates of traditional food.
Children fill the streets, carrying homemade “faroles” or lanterns in the colors of the Costa Rican flag for a magical parade.
NSA students traveled to a nearby small village called “Altos del Monte” to work with the students at a humble elementary school to construct their lanterns.
Our students then took part in the parade, and further supported the school’s yearly fundraiser by purchasing plates of traditional food.
September 15: Independence Day Parade
On the morning of Independence day, students traveled to the center of town to witness the culminating event of the yearly celebrations: the Independence Day parade. The streets of Atenas are closed off to automobile traffic to allow for crowds of locals (and our school) to line the sidewalks, cheering as grade school students march in choreographed formations, as high school marching bands fill the streets with song, competing with the sirens of firetrucks and police cars. And of course, since a theme of our students’ Costa Rican cultural immersion is food, we indulged in traditional street treats including granizados (imagine a snow cone covered in condensed milk), churros and the requisite meat-on-a-stick!
Many thanks to our Costa Rican community for including us in their Independence Day celebration, and to Daisy, for organizing such a rich series of experiences for our students.
Happy Independence Day, Costa Rica!
Happy Independence Day, Costa Rica!
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Mother’s Day is a national holiday in Costa Rica. To honor our Costa Rican surrogate mothers, both staff moms and homestay mothers who provide our students with needed hugs and plates of delicious food, NSA holds an annual Mother’s Day Dinner.
This year, staff and homestay moms were treated to five-star service, receiving invitations to join students for a formal dinner on campus. While the gourmet meal was prepared by our chefs, our students did not sit idly by. NSA’s young gentlemen were each charged with hosting a different mother, serving and clearing her dishes, engaging her in conversation, and some brave students even hit the dance floor with their guests!
This year, staff and homestay moms were treated to five-star service, receiving invitations to join students for a formal dinner on campus. While the gourmet meal was prepared by our chefs, our students did not sit idly by. NSA’s young gentlemen were each charged with hosting a different mother, serving and clearing her dishes, engaging her in conversation, and some brave students even hit the dance floor with their guests!
Many thanks to the Experiential Education team and to Daisy, our Cultural Coordinator, for organizing this wonderful event to recognize just how important our Costa Rican moms are to our community at NSA!
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This month, students, staff and alumni of New Summit Academy will embark on SIX different Aventuras! Next month’s issue will report in detail on these amazing experiences, but here’s a sneak peek:
-Building hatcheries for nesting sea turtles during the day, while patrolling the beaches of the Osa Peninsula by night, searching for turtle eggs to relocate to the safety of a sanctuary.
-Kayaking along the shores of the Golfo Dulce, studying mangrove and coral reef ecosystems, fishing for lunch and dinner, and participating in the ever-popular Tent Partner Olympics.
-Hiking through the spectacularly biodiverse Corcovado National Park, learning about the process of forest succession, while keeping an eye out for tapir, monkeys, sloths, anteaters and even puma!
-Trekking to the rustic but beautiful Monte Sky retreat, and then rafting through the high-altitude forests of Tapanti National Park, and studying the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the complexities of the cloud forest.
-A first-of-its-kind staff & alumni trip to SOUTH AFRICA, exploring the beauty and culture, and investigating possibilities for future young adult opportunities. (Pics to come...)
-A remarkable opportunity for Second Summit students to travel to CUBA, to interact with its people and learn from them about daily life and how the nation’s unique history has shaped it.
New Summit Academy’s one-of-a-kind Aventura program continues to shape tomorrow’s Global Citizens!
