Griggs Summer Camp Begins！

2024-07-10From : 管理员Click : 109

Griggs Summer Camp

The Griggs China summer camp to the US with students from Shanghai Hongrun Boyuan School is finally here. I'm writing this on day two as day one was non-stop. My trip began on a very small plane to Ireland then across the 'pond' to Washington Dulles where I was met by the amazing camp organizer, Eunie Banuag, at Highland View Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland. I grabbed a few hours of sleep then awaited the arrival of our students, who travelled with Principal Bowen Chen, and teachers Grace and Davy. Principal Chris Moses also met the group as they pulled into the school at 4:30am very sleepy.

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They had had a 36 hour journey from Shanghai via Seoul but they were in good spirits.

We let the students rest and although our fantastic host, Eunie had prepared a packed breakfast, these were some hungry students! A dash to Aldi by Principal Chris for noodles and chips, was a welcome gift. Eunie had cooked Filipino food for the students all in her home, to ensure they had some delicious Asian food to set them up for the day.

A tour of the school led students to their classrooms to meet their Government or English teachers. Ms. April (Government) and Ms. Cornelia (English) have the same philosophy towards education as GIA teachers: we teach to allow students to develop a sense of themselves, to understand the world they live in, and to develop a natural curiosity that supports community service.

As the students began classes (more on those in a few days), I took the opportunity to walk around the grounds. The setting here is beautiful, with vast expanses of green peppered by mature trees standing grand in their environment outlining abundant recreation space for students. The backdrop to the school is rolling hills that form part of the Appalachian Mountain trail. As a keen hiker, it's tempting to explore, however the heat here is quite something, 36 degrees C and for this British girl, it's a little too much.