Looking Ahead at School Programs

Here at Glen Brook, Spring has arrived, and with it a promise of a full season of school trips.  For some classes, it will be returning to a loved and familiar place.  For the third grade, it will be the beginning of a new annual experience, and for many students, it will be the first time away from family and home.  

The third grade trip will be a focus on farm and cooking.  Students and teachers will meet our new lambs and hens, tend to the seedlings in the greenhouse and gardens and help prepare the food we will eat.  Not long after, the 11th graders will arrive for their orienteering trip and will learn the skills of navigating by map and compass progressing from the classroom to the forest with a culminating challenge of making their way back to camp from a distance. What a stark contrast this is from our growing dependence on GPS devices to make our way anywhere!

Later in May, the 9th grade will visit with a focus on canoeing, hiking and other cooperative activities. Meeting new challenges and facing them individually and as a class boosts confidence and connection.  

June is when our 8th and 12th grade trips occur. They come to Glen Brook for the final time before completing their years at the Lower School and graduating, respectively. These trips are stepping stones to what comes next, and there is a focus on gratitude, giving back, looking back and forward.  

It seems that everyone feels a little bit changed after a class trip to Glen Brook. The staff at Glen Brook feel a little changed too, as we learn about the students and the adults who come with them.  We look forward to the days ahead as we learn and grow together.

– Katy Gibney, Youth Program Director