Learning Through Travel

One of our major travel programs is conducted as part of the Values in American Thought curriculum taught in the Junior and Senior years. Our students travel to meet and interview important thinkers and leaders in our culture. The preparation and cooperation required for such activities provide an opportunity for the students to learn and practice important life skills. More importantly the students learn directly from those who are already living lives of meaning and purpose. The values conveyed by those who are dedicating their lives in service inspire the students to imagine broader possibilities for their own lives.

As Juniors or Seniors all students participate in the Government in Action Tour to Washington, D.C. On this trip students interview national leaders and publish a Journal of their experiences. Students have interviewed such luminaries as Secretary of State George Shultz, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Senator Diane Feinstein, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit, Congressman John Lewis, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. This program has recently been expanded to include a trip to Cambridge Massachusetts to interview some of the preeminent professors at Harvard University. A new curriculum entitled Exploring a Life of Meaning is being developed from the student interviews conducted on this trip.

Government in Action 2008

Government in Action 2006

Values in American Thought Program