Over the summer, some of Alder’s staff and seniors took some exotic, educational and exciting trips in which they learned and explored new places.
Seniors Josh Ellis and Andy Gingerich visited Ecuador with their youth group at Shiloh Mennonite Church for a mission trip. During the trip, they completed projects such as installing drywall. The group also experienced Ecuadorian shopping and beach-going. “My favorite part was growing relationships with friends that went on the trip and spending time with the kids from Ecuador,” Ellis said.
Among other trips, both local and global, Spanish teacher Ms. Lindsay Dollinger travelled to Cuba on an adult tour this summer. Dollinger had never been to a Communist controlled nation prior to the trip and said it was very interesting to see the Cuban perspective on life as opposed to the American perspective.
“The people there were poor, but they were happy,” Dollinger said. She enjoyed visiting the Bay of Pigs and riding in an old fashioned Cuban car.
Dollinger also led a group of Alder students to Germany and Italy in early July to participate in the EF Leadership Summit themed “The Future of Food.” The Summit’s keynote speaker was Anthony Bourdain, American chef and television personality.
Alder students joined students from other schools around the country to create presentations about food innovation, which they presented at the Summit’s concluding ceremony. Dollinger loved watching the students get excited about seeing new sights in new places.
Seniors Ivan Wehner and Maddie Conley enjoyed taking an authentic Gondola ride in Venice, Italy. Wehner also loved participating in the Summit-wide lip sync battle, in which the Jonathan Alder group placed second and “made Anthony Bourdain cry of laughter.”
“There was always something new and exciting around the corner,” Conley said. “And no matter how much you think you can sleep on a plane, you can’t.”
The group explored the countries as tourists, and their favorite spot was Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. They also visited Dachau, a World War II Nazi concentration camp in Southern Germany, along with many other German and Italian sites.
Students and teachers who ventured this summer returned to school with exciting memories and stories to tell their peers to kick off the school year.