Summit Overview

The Northwest School community is excited to have summits back to normal! With international trips in full swing, returning favorites, and some new options, it is looking to be a great two weeks!

The international trips being offered this year are going to Cambodia and Morocco. During the Morocco trip, students will be exploring and learning about the country, as well as journaling about their experience. During the Cambodia trip students will be visiting many different famous spots in the country, and learning about the history. The students and faculty going on these trips are all very excited for the opportunity to learn about the culture of another country, as well as get to explore it. 

There are many types of summits, including summits about arts, food, reading and writing, politics, adventures and exercise. Some Summits that students are excited about include:

The advanced backpacking summit which will cover crucial parts of backpacking, including the basics of wilderness travel, scientific observation, and viewing wilderness through different perspectives. This summit also will have a six day overnight backpacking trip through the Washington Coast. There is also Backpacking 101, which is a summit for people new to backpacking that want to try it. They will also be going on a backpacking trip to the Hoh River. 

The Agriculture and Sustainability summit will be doing hands-on work with gardening, as well as learning about the agricultural and food system especially in  Seattle . They will be learning about food and our school, and how we consider sustainability in our dining program. 

The AI Across Disciplines Summit includes the basics of technology and AI, a very popular, growing thing in the world right now. Students in this summit will be coding, learning the fundamentals of technology, and looking into details about AI that are not commonly known. There is no experience required, so there will be a great variety of students. 

Food:

A couple food summits that are being held this year are Food and Culture Excursion, and Chemistry, Cooking, and Community. Both summits are for 6th-12th graders, making them a fun way to include all grades in an interesting and educational way. Students in these Summits will be learning all about food, including how it affects communities differently. 

Art: 

There are many art themed summits, but some that students are excited about are: Making Monuments, The Art of Live Music, and Expressing Experiences Through Art. These summits have all different types of arts, from music, to visual art. These Summits intersect with the school’s core beliefs that students should learn valuable lessons, through art and self expression.

Activism:

The March Goes On summit is very popular, and for good reason. Students will go on an 11 day trip to the South, and learn about current and past civil rights movements. Students will learn a lot of history, to help look through current events from different perspectives. There will also be a lot of reflection involved for students and faculty, in the forms of discussion and writing. 

Many other summits are looked at from a social justice view. This is an interesting way to recognize and learn about activism. Dance, Democracy, and Activism, Eco Fashion, Designing Parks, Tinu Haus, Agriculture and Sustainability, Making Comics for the World We Want, Making Monuments, and Food and Culture Excursion all are meant to learn about the subjects through activism and social justice. Summits are a unique program to The Northwest School, and are important because they allow students to spend time on topics they are interested in.