On Tuesday, our students experienced a real treat, and Ms. Donna was able to go along as well. It was a field trip for the whole school (all 1200 students). It seems that twice a year the whole school heads out to different parts of the city. Imagine 24 buses being filled with 1200 students, each grade headed in a different direction!! The order in which this happened was amazing, and the only mishap was actually on the bus Ms. Donna was on. They had loaded the bus and were headed off when it quickly became apparent that they were headed the wrong way. So, around the
block they went back to the school where all 56 of them got off the bus and directly onto another bus headed to the correct location for the 5th grade students!
Our students and all 200 5th grade students headed to Wushan Mountain. At this mountain, they stopped at a monument where the 5th grade classes took part in a special ceremony honoring the dead. Each child was assigned to make a paper flower for homework and after a brief ceremony of poetry reading and honoring the dead, the children walked around the monument and placed their
white flowers on the bushes. This was then followed by a lovely walk through the forest down to a large plaza at the end of Hefangjie Street. As they arrived at the plaza, the children put down plastic sheets and spread out the most amazing picnics! They ate, chatted, and ran around. The children were allowed to go off in groups with teachers to shop, explore the area, fly kites, play with toys, or whatever they could come up with for the two hours they were there.
A wonderful day was had by all, and one of our students even got to celebrate his 11th birthday on a field trip!
*In 2020, the International School of the Peninsula (ISTP) formally changed its name to Silicon Valley International School (INTL) to better reflect its bilingual programs, location, and international values.
