Trips and Extras

Girl Power After School Activity

Every teacher is expected to lead one after school activity, so I started Girl Power. It's a club for Middle School girls with the intent to make them feel good about who they are and have a safe place where they can talk about life and friends and school and parents and whatever else is affecting their world. We do all sorts of activities - yoga, dance, painting, friendship bracelets, cooking, robotics, coding, read books and watch movies with strong female characters.

Middle School MUN

Every year the Middle School MUN (Model United Nations visit the UN Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya for the MSMUN conference. In 2014 I was able to chaperone the trip, and I learned so very much about the UN, the MUN, and what great leadership opportunities it provides our students. The conference is held in the actual UN building, and student delegates sit in the actual delegates seats, speak into the microphones, etc. I kept a blog about the trip that you can see here. The entire event was very impressive!

Round Square

IST has recently become a member of Round Square. It coordinates well with the IB and IST philosophies and provides service, leadership and exchange opportunities for our students. When we were initially invited to apply to Round Square, the Director of IST and I took two student representatives to the Round Square conference at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. It was a great experience that taught me a lot about the Round Square philosophies, OWLAG, and introduced me to some great educators that I have been able to stay in touch with!

ESPs

Every year IST students in grades 6-10 go on Extended Studies Programmes - aka a Week Without Walls. These experiential trips happen all over Tanzania, usually have a service or community connection component, and involve student choice and leadership. Spending a week with students away from school, outside of the library and the classroom, allows for much more authentic and meaningful relationships. I'm always amazed at the multitude of skills, languages, and attitudes that emerge on these weeks. So far I have investigated a deserted island, built a preschool in a small village, camped in the wilderness, tracked elephants, swam in a waterfall, hiked up a mountain, slept in a Maasai boma, and used art as a means of activism with a former Black Panther exiled from America. Tanzania is such an amazing place!

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