Ross School Students Head Off on 'Field Academy', Focusing on Sustainability at Home and Abroad

EAST HAMPTON, NY - The world is their canvas for learning and exploration.

On February 22, students at The Ross School headed off to the Field Academy, a three-week period between the school’s winter and spring terms when students focus on on-and-off campus courses covering an array of subjects both at home and across the world.

This year’s focus of studies centers on the issues of sustainability and international service.

According to a release from The Ross School, “Upon arrival in Namibia, students in the course titled ’The Journey Is the Destination’ took in the ’vast beauty of the Namibian mountain range’ surrounding their lodgings. During their stay, they will create photo essays of the breathtaking landscapes and the many geographical anomalies and rich cultures that inhabit this coastal desert. They will also perform community service in the form of educational exchange with local villagers.”

A few groups of students spent the first days of the term preparing for upcoming trips. “Students in the ’Sustainability and Support in Zimbabwe Through Service’ are working with school-age children, delivering sport and wellness education. Prior to traveling, they organized the donations they had collected for Hoops4Hope, ZimKids, and the Harare Children’s Home,” the release stated. “Items included sporting equipment such basketball uniforms, T-shirts, shoes, nets, whistles, and hats. Other traveling groups, like the ’Service and Culture in the Dominican Republic’ course, brushed up on the language, culture, and economics of their country of destination. Other international trips headed for New Zealand, Cuba, Italy, and India.”

Two domestic locations are also spotlighted this year, with seventh and eighth graders heading for a “Red State, Blue State, Harper Lee!” course on March 2, traveling from Manhattan to Maycomb, Alabama, to follow the journey taken by the character Scout in Lee’s most recent novel, “Go Set a Watchman”.

The students will aim to ”study the political divide between red and blue states and consider whether the dichotomy is sustainable. Another seventh and eighth grade group will be traveling to New Mexico for Southwest adventures and an introduction to the Native American cultures of the area,” the release stated.

Meanwhile, on the East End, students are immersing themselves in a variety of courses, including “Art and Activism”, “How to Survive the Hunger Games”, “The Greatest 20th and 21st Century Films”, “Tolkien’s Middle-earth”, and “Sustainability and Service on Long Island”, which will allow students to work with Habitat for Humanity to build an affordable home for a family in need, as well as explore shellfish aquaculture and marine conservation issues, the release added.

Field Academy runs through March 11. Those interested in the kids adventures can keep up to date by following Field Academy blogs.

Photo courtesy of The Ross School.