Do you ever wonder why the Junior High class goes on long trips, or what goes into planning these trips?
Each year, we plan a trip in the fall and another in the Spring. When it comes time for our Spring trip, our classroom community comes together to vote on travel destinations. Students work in groups or alone to examine different options. Some of the options were close by, like Provincetown, Lincoln, or Burlington, and some of them were more adventurous, like Montreal, Ithaca, NYC, or Ottawa.
We take our time to review all of the researched options and see how they compare and contrast.
In the spring of 2026, after much deliberation, we traveled to Montreal. The students were a lovely group to travel with and they conducted themselves so well in public; we were proud to be associated with them. The week was full of adventure and so much learning that it's hard to completely capture it. We had the pleasure of watching each student grow in self confidence as they tackled all of these new experiences.
Junior High students navigate the Montreal Metro
Trips are always amazing opportunities to develop both practical and social-emotional skills. Here are just a few of the lessons and experiences our students gained during their time in Montreal:
Movement! We walked over 23 miles (according to my watch's step counter). Some walked more than that.
Orientation: Students learned to navigate around Montreal using paper maps, metro maps, and sometimes online maps (when we were out of range of the paper maps). They worked together - different students noticed different things, like the color coding of the train lines, the arrows on the map, the system for naming the lines, etc. The students led the way and we saw their confidence grow each time. The students now know well what "sortie" means! We appreciated how many cognates there are between Spanish and French so we could navigate.
Flexibility and problem solving when unexpected adventures happened, or when an ingredient or two hadn't made the grocery shopping list.
Managing a personal spending budget and learning to convert currency using the current exchange rate. We observed students making many tough choices with their money.
Executive functioning: keeping track of a Metro card for a week is no small feat.
Balancing personal needs with group needs.
Pitching in to help out the group (all students cooked, cleaned up, and set up meals; both assigned and unassigned).
Empathy: Helping a friend who was having a hard time, reaching out to those they may not always interact with.
Flexibility with the unknown: we plan as much as we can ahead of time, but being in new places and exploring inevitably means not knowing what pans/dishes/cleaning materials will be at the B&B, having to manage an unfamiliar shower with backwards hot/cold taps, learning how to roll up a sleeping bag, eating unfamiliar food, sleeping in new conditions, or not personally having all the info about group reservations and having to wait.
Keeping track of belongings: Before
Being independent throughout the day, planning ahead for weather and food, bringing what was needed, and keeping track of belongings.
Keeping track of belongings: After
Leadership skills: keeping track of their group in small group adventures, gathering everyone's input to make a decision. Many students stepped up here, but it was particularly notable how much the students grow in these skills through their three years of experience; we are grateful to the 9th years for naturally stepping up to organize things in the house, help in the kitchen, lead us around town, make up games to pass the time in moments of waiting, and more.
Growing independence in making decisions, learning the plan and suggesting ideas, and paying attention to their surroundings.
Being present with each other/noticing group behavior.
Deep conversations that happen when having new experiences and having the opportunity to have a residential experience together.
Managing/tolerating discomfort: In a group of 24 people, sometimes we don't get our first choice and have to do things that feel uncomfortable.
Grace and Courtesy: The Metro in Montreal was very clean and quiet. The students absorbed the culture quickly and used hushed voices in the metro station (well, except maybe when we were all together as a big group at the end of the day with energy to burn, but that's to be expected. Even then it was within reason). Many students bravely said merci, bonjour, or pardon when interacting with others.
Maintaining positive attitudes despite setbacks.
Wonder: When we first started to be immersed in French language signs while driving toward Montreal, one of the students said "I feel like a newborn - it is like being a baby again and not understanding anything." Amazing for all of us to be out of our normal routines and have opportunities to see the world with new eyes.
Adventures in the evening
One of our chaperones expressed many times how impressed she was by the culture among our AP community—kind, helpful, open minded, curious. We agree!