For the second year in a row, I had the good fortune of traveling with 19 students and two other chaperones on a Winterim trip to retrace some events of the American Civil War, and to learn for myself what makes this program so wonderful. These are just some of the highlights of our seven days’ journey:
- Meeting with a Martha Washington impersonator at Mount Vernon
- Learning about the opening battle of the Civil War by walking the battlefield at Manassas/Bull Run
- Watching a demonstration from a historian about the diseases, injuries, and medical treatments during the Civil War (this was stomach-turning)
- Taking a tour through the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia
- Participating in a re-enactment of Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in St. John’s Church, before having a graveyard tour and visiting the crypt under the church
- Hearing about the latest research in digital history from a professor at the University of Richmond
- Touring the battlefield at Gettysburg with professional guides
- Visiting the monuments on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at night to gain a feel for how moving they can be
- Spending hours in the Supreme Court building, the Library of Congress, and the various Smithsonian museums
- Meeting with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson from Florida, and five young ladies from Nigeria, who were held hostage by Boko Haram and came to the U.S. as refugees
- Having dinner with 15 Bosque alumni, some of whom are engaged in incredibly meaningful professional work and others who are attending college in Washington, D.C.
- Seeing a performance at Ford’s Theater, where President Lincoln was assassinated
- Ending our trip at Arlington National Cemetery, where we were all moved when we witnessed a funeral for someone’s loved one
As you can imagine, a program like Winterim requires a great deal of time, energy, thought, effort, and yes, money—particularly since every junior’s trip is now paid by Bosque School. So, why do we do it, especially when so many schools don’t have programs like this? One could argue that Winterim is one of many ways that Bosque demonstrates its commitment to experiential education. It’s one thing to learn about marine biology from a textbook or a PowerPoint presentation; it’s another thing entirely to swim with a manatee in its natural habitat after hearing from experts in the field. Listening to a talk on where our food originates is interesting, but working on a farm gives these concepts greater meaning. Practicing Spanish on a daily basis is crucial to learning the language; hosting a student from Mexico City, or visiting there for two weeks, enables a student to experience the language and culture in an entirely different manner than by sitting in a classroom.
In addition, Winterim enables students to spend time with people they already know or to make friends with people they may not have met until they traveled together. Similarly, Winterim offers students and teachers the chance to become acquainted with one another in a completely different context, where knowledge is shared collectively rather than a teacher standing in front of her students directly delivering information. During Winterim, we are all students, and we are all learning together. Perhaps, Winterim is one of the ways that Bosque truly manifests its commitment to community.
On many occasions, I have said that good schools teach students how to relate to their peers, adults, and to the content they are learning. When students feel connected, they are willing to take risks and to push themselves out of their comfort zone. In the process, they move to a higher level of knowledge and self-confidence. From what I have seen, Winterim achieves this mightily; students engage with one another, with the adults with whom they are traveling, and they understand what they are studying at a level that combines both the cognitive and affective domains.
Over the past few years, I have heard some parents and students say that Winterim is one of their favorite elements of being a part of the Bosque community. While I like to think that there are many exceptional aspects of a Bosque education, Winterim allows our students to explore entirely different parts of themselves and to learn in a different way. Among my many memories from our trip, I will never forget the students’ excitement as we toured the Library of Congress; their desire to get library cards immediately, so they could do their own research there, was inspiring and affirming. It is for these kinds of experiences, that as the Head of Bosque School, as a teacher, and as a parent of two Bosque students, I am thankful to everyone who works so hard to make Winterim possible.
