As the school year nears its end, many are worried about finals and AP exams. However, Sage Hill students can look forward to Spring At Sage 2024. Spring at Sage includes an international travel program running up to 10 days for travel and 6 days for seminars. The aim is for students to explore their passion, learn more about global issues and various cultures providing a learning experience away from the standard classrooms.
This year, Sage Hill also has added many new seminars for students to explore new or long-time interests on campus.
Marine Life Inventory will be led by science teacher Todd Haney. Students will tour nearby coasts, tide pools and marine docks to collect samples of different marine organisms, mainly invertebrate organisms. Eventually, these samples will be taken into labs and students will engage in “DNA barcoding.” They will extract DNA from their organism and use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify “genes of interest.”
DNA sequences of the organisms that students collect will contribute to the international DNA barcode database, which is similar to a fingerprint database, but used to identify species. Haney hopes that this seminar will allow students to enjoy themselves while gaining marine science knowledge and common lab experience that is useful in biology research.
Aside from new seminars, there are new travel destinations this year. Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada is one of the few travel sites for freshmen. Science teacher Justin Johnson will lead the group. The Pacific Northwest island is well known for its beautiful landscape. Its mild climate is perfect for rainforests, which the freshmen will get to visit as one of their learning experiences. There will also be chances for canoeing, having fun in the water and other surprises yet to come.
“These activities will be centered around sustainability, marine science, social justice issues and it’ll kind of have that intersection between science and society,” Johnson said.
Freshman Elisa Xu said she’s excited to visit Vancouver Island for the first time and learn about wildlife.
“I’m looking forward to bonding, rooming with my friends and eating together!” Elisa said.
Other new travel destinations also include Japan for cultural preservation, New Zealand for exploring the free market economy, the Mediterranean island of Corsica and many others.
Sara Graham, Sage Center assistant director of global education and inclusion, offers a piece of advice to students for the upcoming Spring at Sage activities: “Keep an open mindset and be ready to broaden your perspectives as you learn new information.”
