The beginning of the school year means making new friends, seeing old friends and of course going on the school trip! The MYP went to several different locations this year in order to start the year off the right way, with a week full of activities and bonding. This year we asked some students in each grade to write a summary of their trips with the highlights of each. Although we did not receive stories from everyone, here are summaries of the 8th, 9th and 10th grade trip!

Grade 8

For the 8th grade school trip we went to Kolmården which is a zoo south of Stockholm. We took a bus there which took about two and a half hours. When we got there we got our cabins and unpacked. After lunch a tour guide took us around some animals and animal shows. We also got to see the tropicarium. After dinner there was a really nice movie theater so we watched the Pirates of the Caribbean there.

The second day we started the day looking at more animals and watched a bird show where we saw three different birds, a hawk, a peregrine falcon which is also the fastest bird in the world, and another bird which I don’t remember. We shot blow darts later although we could have done some more. We got to play for a bit at a playground before going back for dinner.

After dinner we were allowed to walk down to a lake to swim, although it was freezing it was very fun. After swimming it was very nice to have a campfire and make smores.

On the third day we first went to the seals before all the rides opened when we got free time to do what we wanted. We got to go to a dolphin show before we went home which was really cool, the dolphins did all kinds of flips and tricks. At about 3pm we arrived back in Stockholm after a long trip.

Filip B.

Grade 9

This year for the 9th grade trip, we travelled to Kalmar, Sweden. Although it was only two nights, I feel as though the old students were really able to connect with the new kids in a way that we would not have been able to if we only interacted with them during school hours.

When we first got to Kalmar, we went straight to a barn where the adventure company that was ‘hosting’ our trip were based. At the barn we did several different team building activities. We split into 10 groups with 5 to 6 students per team and competed in different activities. One of the activities was something very similar to bubble football but instead of playing inside of bubbles, we played in 15 kilo-heavy sumo suites. This really allowed us to work together to help each other get up when we fell because it was near impossible to get up after you’ve fallen in the suite.

We later went to a delicious Asian buffet restaurant. After we had eaten we went and sat in a park for a bit to get to know each other a little better. We all stood in a big circle and the teacher would pick out students to go into the centre of the circle and say something about themselves or the teacher would tell them to do something such as maybe do their favourite dance move or sing their favourite song. Through this activity I think that we were all able to really get a good understanding of who everyone really was, whether they were shy or confident, loud or quiet, etc. Once we got to the hostel, we had a bit of free time to hang out and unpack before we needed to start getting ready for lights out. This was the time when people began finding their friends and who they fit with and who they thought were interesting.

The next day we did a whole variety of things. The adventure company people met us in Kalmar town and we did ‘The Green Hat Challenge’. It was basically a quiz that we did around the whole town where we had to maybe take a picture with someone in uniform or take a selfie with a couple or maybe find the nearest grocery store and take a photo with something that costs a certain price. We did this across the whole the city/town of Kalmar.

We then went to Kalmar Castle and got a guided tour through the beautiful historic castle. We then had about a half hour in the park of the castle which was again another time that people were really able to bond.

Throughout all of these activities, I could see that friendships were being built and people who never talked at all last year began communicating and by the end of the trip, basically everyone was friends with everyone! There was not a single person that I saw that was ever sitting alone in a corner or not talking to someone. Overall, I really honestly think that this was a very fun and successful class trip to Kalmar.

Emma M.

Grade 10

The beginning of this incredible journey started with a bus ride where we as a grade were unsure what to expect and had no idea what sort of experience was ahead of us. When we got off of the bus, we waited anxiously for a ferry to pick us up from a harbour about an hour south of Stockholm.

The ferry took us to various stops before we were told by the teachers to get off at the central Utö marina. We proceeded to a beautiful inn where we dropped our bags before walking a few hundred metres to Aktiv Skärgård, the activity center where we would spend most of our time for the trip. The evening at the activity center was composed of team building activities.

The next day we got to experience kayaking, bubble football, and also jumping in a fun house. Because the Aktiv Skärgård area had football, volleyball and tennis courts, it was fun to play after the activities were completed. Overall the bubble football, kayaking and fun house were definitely stand out memories that we will cherish for a long time. Later that night we changed activities and either did a guided tour or a questionnaire which were very interesting in learning of the history of this island.

Ultimately this was a trip that brought our grade together, with activities that created memories that we will cherish for a very long time.

William M.