March 20, 2007

 

MOORESTOWN FRIENDS STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN “INTENSIVE LEARNING”

All Moorestown Friends School (MFS) students in grades five through twelve will participate in Intensive Learning programs from March 23-30. Intensive Learning has been a school tradition for almost 30 years, as each grade in the Middle and Upper Schools takes an in-depth look at a particular topic or issue.  Normal class schedules are suspended for the week, allowing students to take overnight field trips, complete hands-on projects and engage in other activities which apply what they have learned.

This year’s juniors will focus on service learning.  Groups of 11th graders will travel to the Florida Everglades, New Orleans, and Mexico, to perform service.  Other groups of juniors will work locally at New Visions Community Services in Camden, work on repairing New Jersey’s official tall ship the A.J. Meerwald in Bivalve, NJ, and take part in a community gardening project.  MFS is committed not just to service work, but also to service learning, which means that students will study the causes of and possible solutions to the problems and issues with which they are engaged.

The Intensive Learning subjects for each grade are as follows:

 

Grade Level	Intensive Learning Subjects
5	Archaeology—includes trips to Independence National Park and the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
6	Zoo design—includes trips to the Philadelphia and Cape May zoos.
7	Musical Theater—students work on all aspects of a theatrical production, and perform it for their parents.
8	Environmental Education—includes trips to the Camden Aquarium, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Learning, and YMCA Camp Mason in Hardwick, NJ.
9	Philadelphia Neighborhoods—a study of diversity and urban change.
10	Exploration of Various Learning Styles—dance, robotics and art will be among the many activities included.
11	Service Learning (see above)
12	Senior Retreat and class bonding

 

In addition, two cultural exchange trips are taking place during this period. On Wednesday, March 21, 24 Upper School students and two teachers will travel to Paris for a nine-day cultural adventure.  Students will spend mornings attending French language classes at Accord Ecole de Langues, leaving the afternoons and evenings free to explore the city, walk the Champs Elysées and visit national treasures such as Notre Dame Cathedral, La Sorbonne, L’Arc de Triomphe, Le Musée Louvre, La Tour Eifffel, Le Musée d’Orsay and many others.  In preparation for this trip, each student researched and presented to the group an aspect of French history and/or culture, providing a snapshot of the excitement that awaits in Paris.    

Eleven MFS Upper School students and two teachers are already in Spain as part of the school’s bi-annual Spanish exchange program. The group left on March 16 and will return on March 31. This program is offered every two years to those students who are studying Spanish and are interested in hosting students in the U.S. and visiting Spain. This year MFS families hosted ten students and two teachers from Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, a school located in Elorrio, Spain, a small town in the Basque region of the country. They spent three weeks with MFS students and their families and now the MFS students are visiting them.

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