HIGHLAND

Feature Article
A TRADITION OF
EXPERIENTIAL
EDUCATION
AT HIGHLAND
Combining traditional classroom learning with real world ‘experiential learning’
has long been the cornerstone of a Highland School education. Today, we look
for ways to combine the concepts both on and off campus and across all divisions.
Holding a blue crab straight from the water, while studying
bay ecology on Freshman Field Studies. Palpating a cow
during your Junior Internship in veterinary medicine.
Debating the pros and cons of the foundation of Shenandoah
National Park after back country camping and ascending
Little Devil Stairs on Sophomore Field Studies. Taking your
first all-class overnight trip to Jamestown to study a piece
of Virginia’s history.
Experiential Learning Happens
On Campus as Well as Off Campus
Through experiential education programs, including
service learning, field studies, trips, Junior Internships,
Senior Projects, and hands-on learning, Highland strives
to enhance learning, promote character and leadership
development, and build connections both within and
beyond the confines of our school community.
Reconstructing a Wright Brothers
airplane design during your Senior
Project. Conquering your fear
of heights on the pamper pole at
Camp Friendship. Getting UN-lost
on the Metro while investigating
historical and cultural aspect of DC’s
urban community. Pulling all-nighters with your Robotics
team members to perfect the lever mechanism on your
competition robot.
The reality is that students at Highland may experience
many of these things during just the first few weeks of
school each year. Highland School embraces the belief
that traditional classroom learning must function in
partnership with innovative methodologies designed
to nurture the entire student.
“I hear and I forget. I see
and I remember. I do and
I understand.”
-Confucius
In the second week of school, Middle
School students head for the famed
‘Camp Friendship’ near Richmond.
“Camp Friendship gives us the unique
opportunity to have our students truly
experience the lessons that we talk about
in the classrooms,” said Middle School
Director Matt Ormiston. “They realize that the loudest
voice often isn’t the one showing the most leadership. They
come to understand how much both the faculty and their
classmates support them and want them to succeed.”
“They see up close and personal how important it is to
work together, to step outside their comfort zones, and
to struggle with something that they find challenging,”
Ormiston continued. “My favorite moments of Camp
Friendship are almost always hearing a child say ‘I did it’
Fall 2014 Highland Magazine 35