Each year, Leysin American School invites members of our international community back to campus to share their expertise, support our extracurricular programming, and deliver professional development to our faculty and staff through our Alumni Visiting Scholars program. As a result, LAS students gain access to a wealth of knowledge, networks, and resources from the real-world experiences of our scholars.
This month we welcomed Anastasiia Dutoy, an alumni who graduated from LAS in 2015. Since graduating from LAS, Anastasiia has become a Nutrition Consultant and a Personal Trainer specializing in well-being, weight loss, and athletic performance. During her visit, she shared healthy recipes and workout plans and joined the Physical Education and Entrepreneurship classes to share her expertise. This was really insightful and our students loved learning about healthy lifestyles and how she set up a successful business. Overall, Anastasiia took part in 15 activities, from the girls’ football conditioning sessions to a meeting with this year’s Zimbabwe service trip group, which she took part in herself as a student here!
Reflecting on the Alumni Visiting Scholar program, Anastasiia expressed that it allowed her to help individuals and work with groups, providing a fulfilling professional and personal experience. LAS not only shaped her academic and athletic pursuits but also developed in her a love for travel and lifelong connections. Anastasiia reflected that the program allowed her to give back to the community that played a role in her formative years, showcasing the lasting impact of LAS on its alumni!
At LAS, we have welcomed several Alumni Visiting Scholars onto campus over the past year. Our first visiting scholar was Kymani Montgomery, an alumnus of LAS who now works as Camp Director and Programs Manager of the Ten Oaks Project in Ottawa, Canada. Kymani delivered workshops across our school, empowering us to make LAS more inclusive for students, faculty, and staff members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
We also welcomed Sarah Wilson, a 2009 graduate who has worked as a data scientist for a company developing software for robots in the agriculture sector and was also a competitive skier! She visited many classes and hosted two discussions in the evening with our students: one about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and her competitive skiing career and the other a motivational talk about how women can overcome barriers in male-dominated fields.
Having attended LAS as a student, our alumni visiting scholars inspire our students and raise thought-provoking and challenging ideas that push them to think outside the box and create solutions to complex problems. Providing students with experiential learning opportunities where they can gain hands-on experience from professionals in different fields gives them the tools and knowledge they need to become independent, inquiring, and successful young professionals. We look forward to continuing this invaluable program and inviting scholars back onto campus in the future!
