All of our programs, whether four weeks or four months long, are informed by these words. We start with A: Aprender (learn), Admirar (admire), and Apetecer (feel like doing), move forward with E: Entender (understand), Escuchar (listen), and Elegir (choose), then take flight in the third week or month, crossing the program’s equator with I: Imaginar (imagine or believe), Invertir (invest), Ilusionarse (get inspired), and we draw to a close with O for Observar (observe) and U for Utilizar (use).
Our unique educational programs aim to take students far beyond getting good grades and learning useful lessons for their future careers; our experience and ambition have led us to believe that education can impart a worldview. In the ever-changing world that we live in, we must prepare our students from the very beginning to take on personal challenges that will help them adapt to diverse situations, like the ones they will face living and studying in a foreign country. Their capacity for admiration and their appetite for knowledge will serve them well in this process, as they learn to debate, express dissent, and engage in dialogue.
We therefore emphasize understanding and being aware of the goals we set for ourselves, as well as listening and tuning in to our environments to help us choose the projects that can best facilitate learning, moving beyond classes to lived experiences: internships, language exchanges, workshops, trips, tours.
We believe that together we can improve students’ academic performance in the classroom, while inspiring them to broaden their horizons outside it, helping them minimize the inevitable frustration they will feel as they leave their comfort zones and have to come to terms with unexpected circumstances. We convey the importance of knowing how to invest talent and effort in order to achieve results that, combined with past experience, will open doors and allow them to have great expectations for the future.
We mindfully observe and value what we do and what we have done, through critical, analytical and creative learning projects, using videos, sketchbooks, musical composition, poems, reflective writing, and more.
Our students use what they have learned and experienced to internalize a transformative learning experience, driving them to build bridges to the future and generously leave their mark on the present, adding to our story: Once upon a time… there was a group of inspired students who sponsored an olive tree and hung on its branches white-ribboned messages of peace and hopes for the future.
Look at all we’ve done.
By Dr. Amalia Pulgarín
