Welcome

I hold an adamant belief that travel can be an invaluable, life-altering experience. Families that have the means to travel often see it as a luxury, and take for granted the incredible learning that they and their children gain. I work in an alternative high school – most of my students are from families that do not have anywhere near those kinds of means. Their experiences have been, in large part, a struggle and the larger world is mostly an abstraction – including the potential wonder and hope that it can hold. Monteverde, Costa Rica epitomizes that kind of wonder and hope – blending the culture of indigenous inhabitants with that of the American Quaker settlers that arrived in the 1950’s, and balancing a model of conservation with becoming an international eco-tourism destination. The book, Walking With Wolf, tells this story in a remarkable way.
We are now in the midst of a year-long interdisciplinary class that will include Walking With Wolf, student blogs (which I hope you'll check out on the right), individual research projects, and a 10-day trip to Monteverde this Spring. The students are working hard and must fundraise their entire way there - they need your help. If you are willing to support their efforts,
checks can be made out to “Lister Academy – Costa Rica Class”, and mailed to: Robert J. Lister Academy, Attn: Bryan Mascio, 35 Sherburne Road, Portsmouth, NH 03801.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

End of the year

It has been very difficult to keep up with the blogging during the second semester, and especially since returning from Costa Rica. On June 20th, the students exhibited their final projects, allowing them to share all of their hard work and vital growth that took place throughout the year. I encourage any and all readers to check out the student blogs (links are on the right), where they uploaded digital versions of their projects. Winston's project was presented at the Portsmouth Sustainability Fair, and can be seen in a post below, or at our YouTube Channel.

Thank you again for all of the incredible help and support that we received, and I hope that you will continue to follow next year's Sustainable Education class - modeled after this year's Costa Rica class. Please check out the video for next year's class on our YouTube Channel.

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