26 W W W. PA L M E R T R I N I T Y. O R G
THE ALZAR SCHOOL IS A
SEMESTER SCHOOL IN CASCADE,
IDAHO. I know that traveling to such a rural
town doesn't sound very appealing, but within
the first week alone we had gone snowshoeing
across a frozen lake, camped in the snow for
two days, and went skiing. After spending three
weeks in Idaho, we flew down to Chile for a
month and a half. During that time we hiked
35 miles through Patagonia Park, paddled in
kayaks 100 miles down the Rio Baker to the
Pacific Ocean, hiked up to the granite walls of
Cochamo, and spent three weeks immersing
ourselves in the culture of the tiny towns of
Mocho Choshuenco and Neltume.
When we returned to Idaho, we really started
to focus on school. e amazing thing about
Alzar is that all classes are honors level with
an additional focus on speaking Spanish and
developing leadership skills. In particular, the
capstone leadership course is a great program
that teaches you about the different aspects of
leadership such as inspiring vision, resiliency,
and resourcefulness. You learn who you are as a
leader and how to improve using exercises in the
classroom and two-day situations while out in
expeditions. Reaching the end of the semester,
the teachers even present you with a project
in which you get to practice your newfound
skills when you return to your hometown.
Community service is the main goal.
You don't need experience to participate in
any of the activities, and the teachers are
extremely helpful. During the semester that I
had attended, Alzar had 23 students and seven
teachers. In a matter of only four months, I
had made 30 best friends. I learned more about
myself and about life than I would have in a
normal school setting. We had to clean our
yurts (the student housing) and the classrooms
ourselves. We even helped to cook meals. It is
an incredible way to learn about the impact
that you have on nature, seeing just how much
garbage and filth we leave around, as learning
how to cut down on these problems. If you
plan on studying abroad for a semester, I highly
suggest the Alzar School as an option.
To learn more please look at the website:
www.alzarschool.org, or feel free to come talk
to Marisa Morales or Fiona Torrese from the
class of 2018.
A SEMESTER AWAY AT
THE AL Z AR SCHOOL
