by Shelley Yang and Keely Boyle
On September 23, over ninety ninth-grade students set off on a train to Wu Yuan on the second incarnation of the Nine, a five-day camp modeled from China Alive. Accompanying them were 12 advisors, several nurses, the grade leader, and the high school vice principal, Kristen Dickhaut. Students were led through each day with assigned groups and leaders, who supervised, conducting daily reflections and joining the fun.
Annalee Higginbottom, who was part of the Nine’s planning and attended the trip, said that one of the main goals of the trip was to “help students form relationships with each other… as well as their advisors.” The scheduling reflected this: at least an hour in the evening was allocated to “free time” in an auditorium and outside, during which students were supervised and not permitted to stay in their rooms. Available activities included swimming, a variety of card games, as well as unstructured conversation. The auditorium had no internet service. The use of electronic devices was limited during the day to encourage collaboration.
“I thought bonding during the Nine was great,” Sean Zhao, a ninth-grade student who travelled on the Nine, said. “I liked the groups because they allowed you to branch out and forced you to spend time with others…make new friends, and talk to new people.”
Another student, who is new to SAS, found that the obligatory socializing was beneficial to them making new friends, but was also difficult. “I wished I had more friends to be with at free time,” they said. They suggested that the Nine could be pushed back to later in the year, instead of being at the beginning. “I didn’t have time to make many friends.”
Other students, however, held different opinions. “It is almost as if introversion was something to be frowned upon and the school wanted to beat out of us,” a student said.* They believed that the way groups were split did not actually improve the bonding experience. “We still ended up talking to those who were already our friends within the group, despite being unable to talk to other friends.” The other main goal of the trip, according to Higginbottom, was the connection to Asian History.
Upon arrival at Wuyuan, students were each provided with a “The Nine reflection book”, which was instructed to be brought to all activities and community meetings during the trip. Many of reflection questions drew from concepts in Asian History, covering topics such as globalization, traditional culture, and labor migration. “There is still a lot of conversation around [the Asian History] connection and whether it’s authentic,” said Higginbottom, “but I would leave that to the Asian History teachers.”
Jonathan Sherretz, a ninth-grade student, said that “[the Asian History related reflections] included topics in which it was pointless learning and sometimes felt as if it were being forced upon us.”
A teacher who travelled with the Nine said that the reflection process was frustrating. “I felt like the hard push [to reflect] was too forceful,” they said. “I think it would be better suited in class before or after the trip.”