Global Programs Overview

Sixth graders gain self-sufficiency and confidence bonding as a group in a four-day outdoor adventure at Pali Institute. Activities include hiking through the mountains, orienteering, rock climbing, and a ropes course. For many, it’s the first time sleeping away from home and represents the first step in developing into world travelers.

Seventh graders literally dive into their topic of marine biology on a five-day excursion to Catalina Island. Setting up base camp at the sparsely populated, far north end of the island, students explore the beautiful terrestrial and marine environments of Catalina through adventurous activities like hiking, snorkeling and kayaking. Having learned to take care of themselves in the sixth grade, the focus of the seventh grade travel course is being a good steward and community member of the natural world.

Eighth graders deepen their yearlong study of American politics, government and history during a 6-day trip to Washington, D.C. Led by the Close Up Foundation, our students take a rich thematic approach to learning about our nation’s complex history and current challenges with the goal of understanding their own role and power in the social experiment that is democracy.

9th graders spend ten days developing leadership skills and close bonds with their classmates while exploring the Arizona wilderness. The heart of this adventure is completing a challenging backcountry backpacking trek, while also exploring some of our country’s most beautiful and diverse landscapes. Students log several miles of hiking and learn to work as a team to set up camp, cook their own food, and take care of themselves and each other. 

In 10th grade, students become world travelers for the first time on a school travel course. Set in the altiplano of the Andes, students travel to either Cusco and the Sacred Valley of Peru or Quito and the cloud forests of Mindo in Ecuador. While the Peru itinerary leans toward a history focus and the Ecuador itinerary toward biology, both trips are carefully designed to provide a rich cultural immersion experience. A homestay option is available for adventurous travelers, and all participants spend considerable time working alongside and getting to know a local community in a rural area.

In a typical year, over twenty travel courses – each designed to immerse students in a cultural, language, outdoor, service-based or topical setting – are offered to grades 11 and 12, and student interest will allow between 10-14 small groups to run. 

Additionally, for those students who wish to pursue their passions through a travel course, they have the opportunity to submit a course proposal—just like the faculty leaders do—and get matched with a faculty leader who will work collaboratively with them in the design and execution of the travel course, including building the itinerary, budgeting and planning their amazing experience. Typically, student leaders of a school service learning group or school club will extend that group’s area of interest into a travel course focused on the same theme. Past examples have included the Global Vantage service learning group’s travel course to Nairobi, Kenya to work with the students at Kibera Girls Soccer Academy on women’s education and empowerment, an environmental sustainability-themed camping expedition to Iceland, and a social justice trip to Greece investigating first-hand the challenges posed by the refugee crisis in Europe.

The full lineup of offerings from the 2021-22 school year is listed below, with the courses that received enough student interest to run in bold:

Cultural Immersion
•    El Salvador: Language, Culture, & Adventure
•    French Polynesia: Cultural Immersion & Marine Ecology
•    Morocco: Cultural Mixing Pot
•    Cambodia: Cultural Immersion in the Kingdom of Wonder

Language Immersion
•    Perú: Los Encantos del Valle Sagrado de los Incas
•    Southern Spain: Kaleidoscope of Cultures

Outdoor Immersion
•    Alaska: Backpacking Adventure on the Crow Pass Trail
•    Grand Canyon: Wilderness Medicine in the Backcountry
•    The Maldives: Surf Adventure

Service Immersion
•    Panama: Service & Ecotourism in the Cloud Forest
•    Puerto Rico: NGOs in the USA's Largest Territory

Topical Immersion
•    Barcelona: Architecture, Design, & Culture
•    Belgium: Trade & Tragedy
•    Belize: Ecology & Conservation in the Tropics
•    Costa Rica; Ecology, Biodiversity & Sustainability
•    Denmark & Sweden: Sustainable Living
•    The Galapagos Islands: Biological Wonderland
•    Portugal: Rich History & Bright Future
•    Scotland: Global Leader in Sustainable Development
•    The Amazon: Rainforest Adventure
•    The Balkans: Narratives of Peace and War