At Cornerstone, we know that educational discipleship is so much more than mechanical classroom teaching and field trips. That is why at CCA we strive to give our students the best in immersive learning. Unlike field trips, immersion trips are an opportunity for our students to join their classroom learning with quality immersive experiences. Our teachers and sponsors are specially trained to ensure that each trip engages the student. Students gain practical skills, participate in critical thinking, gain experiential knowledge, and construct world view and ministry applications. Here are some features of our program:
Take a look at some of our Trips:
Each year our students take an immersion adventure to an exotic Spanish-speaking destination. Before going, the students receive a two-week intense course in grammar and speaking skills. Once the grammar is under their belts, they are off to their destination for two weeks to immerse themselves in the culture and language. It is an incredible learning experience and lots of fun: lounging on the beach, snorkeling, sightseeing, zip lining, jungle excursion, bio reserves, volcano and waterfall exploration, seeing ruins, and going to cultural centers. Students participate in free travel, where they navigate themselves trough their host country, negotiating the trip and speaking to each other, all in Spanish. By the time they return to the United States, they have increased their language skills more than a year-long traditional course. This trip is for students who enroll in Spanish II, Spanish III, and Culture Immersion (Fine Arts elective).
Also available, starting summer 2012 is our science immersion course: Environmental Science. This intensive course combines the sciences of ecology and earth science to give students an in-depth understanding of the relationship of organisms to one another and to their environment. Students explore these ecosystems up close in a host country (Costa Rica) with rich biodiversity. Students also learn Christian alternatives to a purely earth-centered or human-centered approach to environmentalism. This course combines earning a full year of science credit with all the fun and excitement of a tropical excursion. (See below for more pictures)
Each year, our upper elementary students head out to the YMCA Adventure Camp for some good old fashion field biology. Here they learn about the prairies, water habitats, survival/outdoor living skills, map and compass, group building, and even descriptive writing. At the same time, students are having a thrilling time with campfires, outdoor activities, a rock-climbing wall, canoeing, and just plain fun. This trip not only helps them learn about the environment and scientific method, but it builds them up as a group and teaches them how to think critically and from a Christian world view This perennial favorite is on all our elementary student’s bucket list. (See below for more pictures)
The CLAW immersion retreat is a training camp for junior high and high school students to learn advanced-level courses in critical thinking, logic, apologetics, and world view (hence, the acronym).
In this four-day retreat, students are trained to become strong Christian thinkers. As part of the overall program, students participate in discipleship training and themes in spiritual development so they can integrate the devotional aspect of their lives with the intellectual training and critical thinking. The goal is to produce a next generation that has a strong, respected, and redemptive voice wherever God may call each one.
Students have class sessions, group devotionals, group building time, recreation time, organized special activities, praise and worship, and free time. Together, it makes for one intense week for building up skills, reminding them of their purpose, and bringing unity among the student body.