TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA QATAR Academy (QA) students embarked on weeklong learning trips ‘Week Without Walls’ to different Asian and European countries recently.

The students visited Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in Asia, and Italy, Switzerland, England and France in Europe.

Each year, Grade six to 10 students enrolled in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) select from a vast array of local and international weeklong trips, focusing on the International Baccalaureate mission to extend learning beyond the classroom walls. The trips provide valuable learning opportunities for the students.

With over 500 students enrolled in the MYP, an increase in the number of local and overseas trip options were organised this year focusing on the curriculum’s areas of interaction: Environments, Community & Service, Human Ingenuity, Health & Social Interaction.

In each of the destinations, students gained curriculum- related insights which they can incorporate into their schoolwork. The Italy and England trips focused on how different forms of arts and history are embedded in the countries’ culture.

Leading a service-learning trip to incorporate elements of outreach, education and reflection, Paterson a teacher at QA said, “Our faculty stepped up to the plate and garnered support and enthusiasm for each experience whether in Qatar or abroad. They really worked towards giving our students an unforgettable experience for an entire week.” “We had students working at a school in Cambodia; others built homes in Vietnam while others got to wash elephants and planted much needed trees in Thailand. Hands on learning go hand-in-hand with our ethos of raising global learners and leaders. To go to a country where the needs are so great and to help a community by painting, building and planting teaches our students to see outside of their lives and gives them perspective of the world,” says Paterson.

Director Dr Greg Hedger sums up this year’s experience: “Meaningful community service with instruction and reflection help to bond our students with a larger world and the real world issues that surround other countries. Our mission of educating, challenging and supporting students as they engage in service locally and globally will propel our students to promote change, growth and empathy as they continue their journey with us”.