BPC’s International Experiential Education Trips 2025
As a part of Upper School's experiential education, Black Pine Circle partners with Where There Be Dragons to offer eighth graders international study opportunities in China and Guatemala. Both trips taking place this February incorporate language study in small classes, cultural immersion in homestays, and experiential learning through hands-on activities and presentations.
Guatemala
In Guatemala, our students are traveling to villages on the banks of Lake Atitlán where they live with local Maya families. During the day, they attend language classes and also engage in a variety of activities: they visit coffee and cacao farms, learn traditional weaving and ceramics, and take a boat ride across the lake in the shadow of ancient volcanoes. They often rave about their homestay food and many share stories about learning how to make tortillas from their host mothers!
China
Our program to the Yunnan province of China is new this year. Students are staying in an eco-village and will learn about permaculture during their orientation; then they will travel by high speed train to their homestay communities where they will stay for five nights. Like in Guatemala, students will have language classes and field trips during the day. The trip will culminate in the ancient city of Lijiang where students will reflect on their experience and prepare for their return home.
Through these trips, BPC lives its mission: students experience humanity, develop empathy, and improve their cultural understanding. With increased opportunities for independence, students stretch their language skills and return home with a little more insight into our very big world.
