With experiential learning at the heart of our curriculum at LAS, we know that there is no better way for our students to learn about the world around them than by visiting it. At LAS, cultural trips provide a unique opportunity to experience the history, traditions, and cultural customs of different countries around the world. Exploring new countries and making friends along the way is so enriching and our students often reflect that their favorite part of the LAS experience was the range of amazing cultural trips they attended.
At LAS, experiential learning opportunities allow students to see the practical applications of their studies at work in the real world. Cultural trips are unique in enabling students to have fun and learn about different cultures while gaining new knowledge that applies to their subject areas. This has been demonstrated in many ways during cultural trips such as our art trip to Florence, a historical bike tour and cooking class trip to Barcelona, our upcoming scuba diving trip to Croatia, and our Portugal surf trip.
Service-related activities are integrated into the trips to teach students about being responsible travelers. Students on the surfing trip in Portugal will spend an afternoon cleaning up a beach along the coastline where they have been staying and surfing all week. Another group will take a tour to learn about sustainable environmental projects that combat climate change. This allows our students to become responsible citizens of the world and understand their impact on communities as travelers and how they can mitigate these issues through education.
Applying themselves to the local community and culture while learning new skills and knowledge is of immeasurable value to our students. In addition to this, our trips also help develop a sense of connection between classmates. Therefore, students learn about new communities in other countries while also developing relationships within their own Leysin community. As a result, these trips help students see, experience, and understand in practical ways what it means to connect with others and become innovative, responsible, and compassionate citizens of the world.
Here at LAS, we are firm believers in the importance of travel as a tool to enrich our students and help them develop into citizens of the world. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to provide culturally enriching experiences to our students, and we are looking forward to expanding even further in this area. LAS as a community is incredibly culturally diverse, but taking this one step further and showing our students these communities and cultures in person teaches them empathy, independence, and invaluable cultural knowledge that they will take with them through life.
