North Cross senior Khaki Comer learned first-hand this summer that the world is truly a very small place. Comer was one of six students who participated in a two-week-long trip to Peru as part of the School’s International Experience program. Six NCS students and two faculty members, along with four other adults, participated in the trip, which was led by NCS Science Department Chair and Roanoke Star-Sentinel columnist Dr. H. Bruce Rinker.
The petite 17-year-old high school student checked her bags at the Roanoke Regional Airport but learned about 12 hours later when she arrived at Miami International Airport that her bags had not made the first leg of the trip along with her. Nevertheless, Comer, along with the rest of the group, boarded another plane and set out for Lima, Peru, crossing their fingers that her luggage would eventually find her – which it did. Several days later from deep in the Peruvian rainforest, Comer received notice that her bags had been found.
The eight-day Upper Amazon portion of the trip included fieldwork in primary rainforest at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (ACTS), the highlight of which included a walk across a canopy walkway 120 feet high. Rinker is a longstanding member of the research board for the ACTS.
While in this region of the country, the students also participated in a service project in a local village and had the opportunity to spend time with Yagua natives.
The six-day High Andes portion included visits to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Machu Picchu, a portion of the Inca Trail, and the great cities of Cuzco and Lima.
While travelling, the students and adults shared meals with the local people in their homes and stayed in several lodges along the way, one of which surprisingly had solar paneling and Wi-Fi connections.
It was an especially interesting trip for senior Tyler Lystash as well. Lystash celebrated his 18th birthday in a Yagua village along the Amazon River. The native custom includes an egg-breaking ceremony on the head of the birthday recipient as well as boisterous singing by the entire community.
“It excites me no end to have trips like these available to our students,” said North Cross Headmaster Timothy J. Seeley. “On it they are able to do genuine research with world class researchers. There is no better way for a student to understand the true nature of science, nor to discover if that is a field which he or she might pursue. Science, especially biological science and environmental science, is studied best in the field, in the dirt and heat, not in a classroom out of a book. Our science curriculum as a whole is based on inquiry, and the research model this trip exemplifies does that best. Students are also able to experience another culture, and have an exciting experience they will remember their entire lives.”
The NCS foreign travel program also includes a student exchange program in the spring and a community service trip to El Salvador during this year’s spring break (March 2011).
“This trip, with its science focus, complements our other international trips, among them ones geared towards language acquisition, cultural exchange, and community service work,” said Seeley. “They are all intended to provide students with an unforgettable experience that also touches them deeply.”
