School’s Out!!

The Road Scholars listen to a guest speaker at commencement

(Alex) After sort of falling off of the school-everyday-train at the beginning of the trip due to more exciting activities, we had to pick up the pace in the second half. I guess school was not the most exciting thing to do when we had the option of playing lacrosse with new friends while trekking in the high Andes or going on a game drive in Africa. But school is school, and we had to do it, whether we wanted to or not. With Mom as the sole teacher, and Dad as the “headmaster” we learned far more than our everyday D/S curriculum.

I had my eighth grade algebra textbook, and the other three shared the sixth grade textbook. Spanish was taken care of after two months in South America where Mom and Dad forced me to speak in Spanish whenever possible and Rosetta Stone work throughout the year. We also made it a priority to learn a few words in a over a dozen different languages — usually thank you, hello, goodbye and toilet. I learned American history in several locations in that context, like the Vietnam War in Vietnam. In science, we focused mostly on the areas of geology, glaciology, weather, oceanography and zoology. English was pretty easy for us. I read all of the school novels for eighth grade, and many more as well for different countries — my total was about 50 for the year plus book reports for each and every one. We also practiced vocabulary and grammar exercises on long car drives. We did daily writing in our journals and posts for 6explorers.com whenever we could. Add world geography, world history and much more about the countries, their people and customs and there you have it. We have learned so much more than we possibly could have imagined.

Processing off graduation island

So on June 8, 2011, to celebrate the end of our 6XGS (6Explorers Global School) we had a “formal” graduation. We all gathered on a beach in French Polynesia to give our speeches and receive our diplomas. Yes, we even had diplomas handmade out of leaves and flowers.

I am proud to be one of the only four students to ever become a Road Scholar outside of Taha’a, French Polynesia.

As our new friend the coach of the Chiefs (a professional New Zealand rugby team) said, “Never let a classroom get in the way of a good education.” I am not so sure if that is true, but we certainly have learned a lot on this journey.

The graduates with diplomas and faculty/parental units