Spring Bulletin 2012 - The Park School

N G U A G E A T I T S S O U R C E
flew to Marseilles, and drove to Aix en
Provence, where they settled into school
and home stays. Intensive language
training took them to Roman ruins,
medieval marketplaces, and local olive,
perfume, pastry, and chocolate factories.
They honed their French in host homes
and sidewalk cafes. An excursion to
Marseilles and the village of Cassis introduced
them to the diversity of French
life and the exquisite beauty of the
Mediterranean coast. An art historian
taught from Cezanne’s studio at the foot
of his oft-painted mountain; another day,
they toured papal Avignon, singing
French rhymes across the bridge. Arranging
memories in albums, they expressed
appreciation.
“The language is more useful, I can
talk more freely,” said one student. Recalling
intense preparations, another
reported, “We became specialists, which
was exciting when we got to see it with
our own eyes.”
During the Latin language trip that
one traveler described as “a history book
in action,” seven students ventured with
Greg Grote and Comfort Halsey Cope to
Italy, with stops in Sorrento, Herculaneum,
Pompeii, Capri, and Rome. Inspired by
their research, and Mr. Grote’s fascinating
compendium of field notes from travels
past, each student gave a site presentation.
Standing in a footprint of human
history, with excavating archaeologists
and ancient inscriptions as backdrop, they
exercised their knowledge of Latin and
the Classical world. Passionate guides and
patient translation brought personal histories
and remarkable events to life: Tacitus
on the emperor Tiberius in his perch at
Villa Jovis, the Pompeii of Pliny, the Rome
of Virgil, and the Pantheon of Hadrian.
“We were time travelers,” a student
mused. Another added, “We had an
extraordinary experience that is probably
very different from what our Latin classmates
next year will have had.”
Next Stop: China
The impressive success of the program,
now more than 20 years, speaks to skilled
engineering by many. Head of School
Jerry Katz credits thoughtful preparations
by faculty. Improvements are built upon
each year, including post-9/11 sensitivities
to security and more time in speaking
activities than museum tours. China now
takes its place, too, in planning for 2014.
The Mandarin experience will be modeled
after the Spanish and French trips, and
involve Park’s sister school Greentown
Yuhua Qinqin in Hangzhou, China. Park
students look forward to the adventure
for several years, and the trip is considered
so integral to Grade IX that it is
included in the tuition for the year, and
students on financial aid receive support
for the experience. It was clear from our
conversations that the students readily
learned the big lesson of immersion, but
they also reveled in the small ones. Each
laughed about the surprises and miscommunications.
Ordering without deciphering
the menu, negotiating prices with
impatient locals, getting lost, and finding
the way back through mazes in ancient
places. These, too, were gifts of cultural
contact: Growing from unexpected challenges,
traveling without parents, poor
signage. Each year, ninth-graders are
transformed by the experience of language’s
core essence — opening doors to
new and old worlds.
15