With just a few days left of Summer School, we want to look back and share a bit about the programs outside of class that students have enjoyed and created, sharing in each others’ cultures and perspectives and coming together as a community:
Culture Presentations
A student design group was, with mentorship from one of our counselors, given responsibility for organizing their peers to share stories and perspectives from country and culture. Over the course of six days, 21 student groups engaged with the community through presentation, demonstration, and conversation. They shared facts about their countries, stories from their lives, and traditions from their cultures.
Hiking
The hike served as a great opportunity for students to be physically active for a day, and also to take advantage of the beautiful nature in Karuizawa, and challenge themselves to stay together as a group. The trip led us to a spacious lunch spot where students could choose to play in the water, and a fantastic waterfall view.
Sports Festival
A student design group arranged to use the reserved three hour block one morning to engage the whole community in an active competition based on collaboration and teamwork. Advisory teams rotated through unconventional challenges focused on teamwork, to score as many points as possible. The event ended with each team celebrating a team name and cheer they created together.
Dragon Festival
We had the great opportunity to visit a local summer festival in nearby Miyota town, experiencing firsthand a slice of Japanese culture. The rain held off well enough for everyone to enjoy the whole program: an extensive taiko drumming show, the “dragon dance,” complete with massive dragon puppets carried by dozens of local performers, and a fireworks show to end the night!
