Last week, I had an amazing opportunity to travel with my immediate and extended family. This trip was originally planned to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Because of the pandemic, we had to reschedule several times, finally making it all happen last week. To say it was worth the wait would be a huge understatement.
On one level, the trip was about spending time together as a family. My sister and her husband live in Seattle, and my parents live in Connecticut, so it is rare that all of us can spend time together. Throughout the trip, however, I found myself thinking about the value of travel in relation to personal growth. For example, I taught my 6th Grade Geography class about the island of Hispaniola this year, but while in Haiti, I gained an entirely new sense of the island’s volcanic past and steep, lush mountains.
In the end, I believe that travel is truly amazing and a humbling teacher. On occasion, I have told my Geography class that if I were able, I would have them spend the entire year traveling the world, as that would far surpass any learning that we could do in the confines of our classroom. Alas, I also teach them about economics and scarcity. While it would be an amazing opportunity to travel the world, this is not feasible.
As Head of School, however, I have always hoped that at some point in the future of The Beech Hill School, a significant travel experience would be a part of the required curriculum. To make this a reality, it would require significant funding and staffing. However, as I wrote about last week, it is good to be aspirational. Hence, I will continue to build a foundation at BHS that will one day provide our students an opportunity to participate meaningful international travel.