Information about Pace Academy and the Isdell Center for Global Leadership is online at www.paceacademy.org; 404-262-1345.
Those “what I did during the break” compositions have become substantially more intriguing for students in the upper school at Pace Academy in Buckhead. Through the Isdell Center for Global Leadership, students can explore the world well beyond the classroom, in far-flung locales they may have only read about in textbooks. The goal is not only to increase their knowledge, but to develop leadership abilities as well.
“We’ve always had faculty who took kids on national or global trips, but it was not consistent,” said Trish Anderson, director of the Isdell Center. “In 2008, the head of school and the head of the upper school got together with faculty to discuss building a more structured program, with faculty facilitating and developing trips based on the curriculum.”
That effort increased the number of students signing up for study tours, and by 2010, global education and travel were increasingly integrated into the life of the school. Last fall, the school took that commitment a step further, when the school’s parent club volunteered to cover the cost of sending students in the middle and upper schools on a trip at least once during their education at Pace.
“That alone has had a huge impact,” said Anderson. “This year, we’ve been able to increase participation in global travel by 150 percent. We now have kids who are rising sixth graders through seniors traveling.”
Out of the 747 students from sixth grade through high school, 272 have traveled in the past year, some more than once. Travel is scheduled over the winter, spring or summer breaks, with smaller trips during the school terms. Destinations have included Jordan, Bolivia and Cambodia, with Vietnam on the list for next year. All trips have a strong educational component that ties into curricular themes.
“We’ve built a set of goals around outcomes for each division so they’re age-appropriate,” explained Anderson. “For instance, this year we had a community theme around water. That tied in on several levels, from a lower-school conversation about the rain forest to a deeper conversation about water in general. But combined with travel, students can gain practical knowledge and be exposed to the big issues in their future. While developing a global mindset and the capacity to think of issues from multiple perspectives, having kids deeply engaged in citizenship here and abroad gives them an appreciation of various cultures and practical international experience.”
The travel program also fosters leadership abilities that are often developed through the program’s service component.
“We’ve begun to explore more leaderhip/adventure trips, like one we’ve done to Patagonia, that take kids out of their comfort zones,” said Anderson. “We’ve established strong ties with Habitat for Humanity International, and those trips have become so popular that we’ve had up to 40 applicants for 19 spots. This year, we ended up having to offer two trips to accommodate those who wanted to go.”
Through the program, junior Andy Bainton took his first trip to South Africa last summer where he learned about the country’s culture and politics. “We also took supplies to some poorer areas and interacted with the kids there,” he said. “I learned a lot, and it was fun, so I went on a Habitat trip to Romania this spring where we built for about five days. It was a very humbling experience.”
Junior Mary Stuart Gray made the same trips and came back to Pace with a new outlook. “Whether we’re doing service or learning, it does give an entirely different perspective,” she said. “It pops the Buckhead/American bubble that’s all I’ve known my entire life. Going beyond that to meet people who speak different languages, eat different things and have different political and social histories makes you even more aware of our surroundings and what we have here.”
About the Author
