How we helped students transition from Summer vacation into the first week of school

Client: Secondary School in New Westminster

Participants: 220 Grade 8-12 students and 25 teachers

Format: Full Day field trip

Location: Fort Langley National Historic Site, BC

The Purpose: This is a client who we have the pleasure of working with year after year. We were asked to give all of the students and in class teachers a unique celebration to start their school year. The school wanted the students to create new connections across their age groups and further develop their school spirit through a day of creative expressionism, team building and cultural exploration. The school’s theme going into the year was ‘New Foundations – New Beginning’ so we created an experience that integrated this theme into all of the activities. In line with the BC curriculum, the school also wanted to integrate First Nations history and cultural learnings into the program.

Our Approach: We designed and delivered a custom experience for the school. We worked with a new partner location to keep the setting fresh for students who had participated in our programs in the past. In this location we delivered an immersive experience that consisted of four activity rotations: A First Nation’s History Interactive Experience, A Canadian Art Painting Workshop, A Drumming, Music and Rhythm Workshop and A Pinnacle Pursuits Team Building Workshop.

The Results: A truly educational, creative and special experience for all of the staff and students involved. The students collaboratively created several stunning art pieces that they took back to their school to adorn the walls of their new building. They enriched their knowledge of First Nation’s history and cultural learnings by completing an immersive scavenger hunt. They were able to create a collective sound and voice through the facilitated drumming workshop and explore the wonderful individuality of each student within the collective celebration of identity of the school. These programs are always regarded as being incredibly valuable by the school, not only because they allow students to transition from summer vacation into school mode, but because they provide the teaching staff with deep insight into their students prior to entering the classroom.