The students of Staples High school simply cannot stay put.
One would think that after a terribly long year of 6:30 a.m. wake ups, students would be thrilled to be able to sleep in until the late hours of the afternoon.
One would think that after lugging around stuffed backpacks, students are ready for their bodies to mold into their favorite La-ZBoys.
One would think that after the interminable treks to the third floor math periods, a certain degree of immobility is desired.
However, for some students, this just isn’t the case.
Sarah Ellman ’15 is planning a three week bike tour through California. Starting in Oregon and ending in San Francisco, Ellman, along with 12 other high schoolers, will bike an average of 45 miles a day through the Apogee Adventures program. “I’m really excited! I’ve never really spent a lot of time on the Pacific coast, and I think a bike tour is a great way to see as much as possible in only three weeks,” saidEllman.
She won’t spend her whole trip on two wheels, though; she will also take surfing lessons with professional instructors near the beautiful Crescent City, volunteer in the Redwoods National Park, and explore the sights of San Francisco.
Ellman firmly believes that there is no way she’d rather spend her summer. She says, “I think it’s the worst when you feel like you’ve wasted time doing nothing, but it’s too late to fix, so I wanted to be sure to get in as many opportunities as possible this summer.”
Looking for more of a cultural experience, Brooke Berlin will head almost 4,000 miles to the Southern Coast of France. Berlin ’14 plans to attend a boarding school in the city of Nice, where she says she will, “take morning French classes five days a week, and afternoon fashion classes three days a week.”
When she’s not attending classes at the school, Lycee Massena, Berlin will have time to explore the nearby beach and village. “Weekends I will have off to explore and whatnot. I will have a lot of down time, so it’s not too stressful,” said Berlin. She plans to explore the surrounding cities of Cannes and Saint Tropez while at Massena as well.
But she’s not done yet.
After a month in Nice, Berlin will also move location to the famous city of Paris, where she will check out the many sights that the city offers.
Finally, junior Cassie Feldman will represent the Staples community back on the East coast. She will be working as an intern this summer at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Feldman will work 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every weekday for a month, and will be paid full compensation for the time she gives to the Center. Feldman hopes to learn more about the field of biomedical sciences, assisting in all of the research done at the Center. She says, “I am so thrilled to be given this opportunity. I think it’s much more productive than staying home and watching TV on my couch.”
The most exciting aspect of the internship, according to Feldman, is that she will be working on a research paper with the professionals at the program, and she hopes for the paper to be published, giving her a name in the field.
Feldman will be renting an apartment in Manhattan for the month that she is working at Sloan Kettering. Despite living alone in a new city, Feldman has no worries. “I’m not nervous really. I’m just excited for the independence. I honestly think it will prepare me better for life after high school,” she said.
It’s safe to say that the students of Staples have quite the summer ahead of them. Whether it’s a physical, cultural, or academic expedition, these students are prepared to take on anything that the summer of 2013 throws at them.
