Every year during spring break, one of the Dana Hall organizes a different trip to a country where the language they teach is spoken. This year the French class has the option of taking a trip to France, however, the locations of the trip have changed this year. There is also a trip to Morocco during spring break as well, organized by Ms. Panahi and Mr. Tipton.
The Morocco trip was proposed, as Mr Tipton said when interviewed, to “provide opportunities for students to visit various parts of the world and expand their horizons”. Mr. Tipton and Ms. Panahi decided on Morocco because it could appeal to a wide variety of students, such as those taking African Area Studies, Middle Eastern students, or even French. The trip starts in CasaBlanca where students will stay for a short while before traveling to the capital, Rebat, where they will stay for two days. The trip then continues in Marrakech which is where the remainder of the ten day trip will be spent. During this trip students will have a packed itinerary including hiking, exploring local shops, attending classes at a local school, and talking to local families. This trip was open to any and all upper school students. Mr. Tipton says he hopes there will be an opportunity to offer this trip again next year, seeing how things go this year.
There will also be a trip to France during the first week of spring break that is exclusive to French students. While this trip has happened before, it was mostly in Paris and Western France. This year’s trip will be focused in Paris for a short amount of time before moving to the south of France, in Antibes. There, students will immerse in the French language and culture through home stays with French families as well as morning classes at a French school. This will provide students with an opportunity to practice their language skills in a real world environment. “I firmly believe an immersion with a French family is the best way to experience the culture” Ms. Molta said when asked about the changes to this year’s trip. She hopes that these changes will be applied to future trips in order to help enrich students’ learning and overall experience.
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