Around the Globe

Some of the most rewarding experiences that Westtown offers don’t happen here on campus; they happen all over the world through school-sponsored trips. This past spring, student groups traveled to China, Ghana, Italy, and Washington, DC. Each of these trips provided unique and distinct experiences, ones that expanded our students language acquisition, cultural competence, sense of personal agency, and world view. Read on to learn more about each adventure. 

CHINA
Led by teacher Bei Zhang along with co-chaperones Robert Frazier, Jacob Norton, Janiel Samuels, and Nina Li, a group of 35 students traveled to China over spring break. This 14-day adventure began in Beijing where students visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, and the Summer Palace. They enjoyed a dragon boat ride, had a tai chi lesson, the dined on Peking Duck, among other special experiences in Beijing. They were fortunate to also visit a section of the Great Wall of China that is one of the best preserved and less traveled by tourists. 

From Beijing the group travelled to Xi’an where students took a calligraphy class, visited the Terracotta Army archeological dig site, and enjoyed a street food market in the city’s Muslim quarter. A highlight was that Westtown student Angela Feng ’28 and her parents hosted the group in Xi’an and all the students and adults traveled back to the Tang Dynasty, wore cultural Tang outfits, and enjoyed an imperial-palace-style dinner with performances. 

The next stop was Chendgu where another Westtown student, Mary Chen ’27, and her family hosted the group. Shares Zhang, “We had an amazing hot pot dinner in a famous traditional ally called Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi, and enjoyed many traditional performances such as face-changing performance, Kung Fu tea performance, Chinese traditional dances, and panda hip-hop. Felicia Chang ’28 treated the group to a well-known Chinese bubble tea called Xi Tea.” 

On a day trip to Dujiangyan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the group took in the Chinese countryside, learned about the irrigation system, a feat of engineering dating back to 256 BCE. 

The trip came to a close in Shanghai where students experienced the Shanghai World Financial Center, walked along the Bund, visited the Jade Buddha Temple and the Yu Garden. 

This experience made a deep impact on students. “[This] trip was life changing,” says Camille Bley ’26. “I’ve been learning Chinese since seventh grade, and although I have immersed myself outside of class, nothing has compared to being in China. It was so fulfilling to be able to use what I had learned in the classroom in real-world situations, like asking for food recommendations and directions. I was able to explore many cities and cultural sites while also interacting with the local community.” Leila Alobeidy ’28 adds, “The China trip was one of my best life experiences because we had so much fun while exploring somewhere totally new. We got to talk to locals and learn at amazing historic sites most people only dream of seeing and try all sorts of new things that we couldn’t on a regular trip. It’s amazing that the school can sponsor such an incredible program!” 

Zhang sums up the experience, “It was amazing to see China through our students’ eyes. I am super proud of how they embraced the trip with an open mind and lots of curiosity, branched out and stepped out of their comfort zone, made new friends and cared for each other, and used their language skills and cultural knowledge throughout our trip. It was also wonderful that some of our Westtown Chinese students and parents met up with us and hosted us in different cities in China, which made our trip extra special and memorable.” 

GHANA 
After several months of orientation sessions, fourteen students and trip leaders Lynette Assarsson, Marissa Colston, and Joseph Daniels embarked upon a12-days trip to Ghana, a signature offering at Westtown since 2008. This trip is marked by authentic cultural immersion, the opportunity to build relationships, learning about the history of the transatlantic trade of the enslaved, and by experience in the classroom setting. The trip centers around our sister school, Heritage Academy, founded by former Westtown faculty member Kwesi Koomson in his hometown of Breman Essiaim in the Central Region. 

When the group arrived at Heritage Academy, they were met with beautiful and moving welcoming ceremony. Westtown students immediately dove into this experience, some joining the traditional dance. Our students spent a week teaching classes to Heritage Academy’s middle school students. This year’s group offered classes in animal biology, arts and crafts, creative writing, dance, physical education, and teambuilding/soccer. They also worked with small groups of Heritage students in the Reading Program each day, which helps them with reading, comprehension, and pronunciation skills in English. Our students were deeply engaged in their teaching and many shared that they learned as much from the Heritage students as they taught them.

After the school day, the group made cement blocks by hand as their service project for Heritage. They completed a whopping 208 blocks, a record for Westtown groups! Westtown students have been making blocks for the past several trips which have been used for building repairs and—most significantly—to construct a new middle school building, which Heritage has named Westtown Hall in honor of the many visits and service projects by Westtown School group over the years. At the end of the teaching week at the closing ceremony, Heritage Academy officials presented each of the group with a Kente cloth sash with their name embroidered on it, and the Heritage logo, which was quite an honor. The ceremony concluded with dancing and celebration, an emotional time as they said their goodbyes.

The group took several excursions to important historical and cultural sites. Students learned about the history of the transatlantic trade of the enslaved through tours of the Elmina and Cape Coast Castles. Elmina was the first permanent European structure built in sub-Saharan Africa and the first European slave-trading post. Cape Coast Castle was one of the largest and most horrific posts. These tours were powerful and made brutal history come to life. In Accra, a trip to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park provided more history about Ghana’s struggle for independence and Nkrumah’s life and leadership. 

The group also enjoyed the beautiful landscapes of Ghana spending time on the coast and in Kakum National Park, where they braved the roped network of canopy bridges high above the rainforest floor, and tasted raw cacao beans. 

The entire experience was marked by authentic cultural immersion. The group stayed in a guest house together in the small village of Ajumako which not only afforded them opportunities to get to know neighbors and experience community life, but also provided them with a home base for sharing meals, relaxing, and bonding as a group. They enjoyed traditional foods like groundnut soup and jollof rice and learned to pound fufu. They went to several local market days to hone their bargaining skills and practice a bit of the Fante language.

“This was an extraordinary group and a transformative experience,” shares trip leader Lynette Assarsson. “It was a privilege to watch our students grow and learn through this journey. They were deeply engaged with teaching and developed real relationships with their students. They were committed to the service project, putting in hard work at the end of long, hot days. They reveled in being in the community and soaked up every opportunity for interaction. This is a physically and emotionally intense trip and our students rose to meet it with a deep sense of curiosity, openness, good humor, and grace. It was a joy to share this adventure with them.” 

ITALY
Trip leader Ted Freeman and co-chaperone Sarah Wahlberg led the trip to Italy. Freeman shares, “This spring, we traveled to Italy with a group of fourteen students in an effort to bring the ancient world to life beyond the classroom. For Latin students, forging a meaningful connection to the culture they study can be challenging; texts and translations, however rich, sometimes feel distant from lived experience. The goal of this trip was to bridge that gap—allowing students to encounter firsthand the enduring legacy of the ancient world and to see how deeply the past continues to shape the present.

“A central feature of the trip was our practice of loci in locis—reading Latin passages in the very places to which they refer. This approach transforms ancient texts into something immediate and vivid. Our journey began in the Bay of Naples, where we explored the remarkable archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Walking their streets, preserved in ash and time, students were able to visualize daily life in the Roman world with striking clarity. We then climbed to the summit of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano whose catastrophic eruption in 79 AD buried both cities. From that vantage point, students could better grasp the scale of the disaster described in their texts. Our visit continued to Baiae and Cape Miseno, where Pliny the Elder launched his fateful rescue mission. Reading the account of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, gave new weight to his famous declaration, ‘Fortes fortuna iuvat!’—fortune favors the brave. What might otherwise be a line encountered on a page became, in that setting, a moment of human urgency and courage. Experiences like these underscore for students that Latin is not merely an academic subject, but a language that captures real lives, choices, and events.

“The second half of our journey centered on Rome, a city whose history spans more than three millennia. While iconic monuments such as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon offered students a sense of Rome’s grandeur and architectural achievement, some of the most meaningful experiences came from less conspicuous sites.

“Among these, a highlight for many was the Basilica of San Clemente, which uniquely encapsulates the layered complexity of Rome’s past. At street level, it appears to be a relatively modest twelfth-century church—especially when compared to monumental basilicas like St. Peter’s or San Giovanni in Laterano. Yet beneath its surface lies a remarkable historical palimpsest. Descending one level, we entered a fourth-century basilica adorned with frescoes depicting the life and martyrdom of St. Clement. Descending further still, we reached a first-century Roman domus, complete with a Mithraic temple, revealing a much older stratum of religious and domestic life.

“To explore San Clemente is, quite literally, to move backward through time. For students, this physical experience of historical layering reinforced a central theme of the trip: that Rome is not simply a city of ruins, but a living record of continuous transformation. Across Italy, and especially in Rome, they encountered a world in which past and present coexist—deepening their understanding of the texts they study and enriching their appreciation for the civilization that produced them.

“Our trip concluded on the summit of the Gianciolo, a hilltop west of the Tiber overlooking the Vatican and all of Rome. A busker was crooning classic Italian love songs. Three of our students joined in and treated the crowd to a thrilling rendition of ‘Stand by Me.’  As the sun set over the hilltop, so too did it set on our trip.” 

WASHINGTON, DC 
In April, religion teachers Jonathan Ogle ’88 and Becky Wilkinson took seven students—Saige Biddison ’28, Jamila Burgos ’27, Daehee Cho ’28, Ronen Duffy ’28, Maddie Edwards ’27, Sarah Lan ’27, and Hiatt Smith ’27— to Washington, DC, for the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s annual Spring Lobby Weekend, a series of workshops and events for students, recent grads, Quakers, and young adults to learn about lobbying Congress. Each year there is a particular focus and this year’s was militarism home and abroad. 

Ogle shared, “We joined over a hundred other participants from all over the country, from college students to community activists, to retired, seasoned Quaker lobbyists. Two other high schools sent delegations as well—Sidwell Friends in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore Friends School in Baltimore—but most of the attendees were young adults or much older, all there to talk to Congressional offices. The topic was opposing militarism at home and abroad. Specifically, we were there to tell Congress not to approve billions of dollars in supplemental funding for the Iran war. 

“Saturday and Sunday were intense days of taking notes on panels of experts knowledgeable about Iranian history and politics, U.S.– Iranian relations, military and legal dimensions of the war, and the behind-the-scenes politics of Congressional offices. 

“Supplemental workshops included protest art, careers in social change, and learning about the militarization of law enforcement and immigration law over the last fifty years. After add-on workshops where we learned to identify and practice telling stories about why we care about whether Congress funds this war and training in how to have effective conversations with decision makers, we were ready to assign roles and practice for our conversations with Congressional staffers. On Tuesday, we packed our bags, loaded the van, and headed for Capitol Hill to make our appointments with Congress. 

“Students shared with staffers their moral concerns about the costs of war and unmet needs for funding in our home communities for hospitals, for example. They also shared stories about people they knew struggling with the idea of being forced to fight and kill people in a war of choice that is in violation of the War Powers Act. On the Senate side, Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman’s staffers were sympathetic, but also clear that he did not support our ask. Nonetheless, they encouraged us to keep bringing the issues forward. Senator McCormick’s staff member was polite but also clear that he believes the war is going well and that the outcomes will be positive for the U.S. 

“We then headed to the House side, where most of the group had a productive visit with Representative Chrissy Houlihan’s office and others also visited Representative Dwight Evans’ office and had conversation with Representative Mary Gay Scanlon. In all of those offices, there was a positive reception to the students’ messages. Students came home tired but also energized to use their deeper knowledge of the democratic political process to stay engaged around these issues and continue exercising their voices in our democracy. They are organizing an on-campus Westtown club to participate year-round in FCNL’s efforts to lobby Congress.”  

Next year, Westtown will offer school-sponsored trips to Peru, Scotland/England, Spain, and Japan/Korea.