School may not have been in session, but if you walked by the ISB courtyard in July and August, you were sure to have heard plenty of French and Spanish. Our multilingual community expands a little more each year as we welcome new and returning children to ISB for a unique and fun summer experience. What is a typical summer day like at ISB? Ask a Summer program participant and they’ll tell you…

 “We basically do activities and play all day, but in Spanish!”

-Samia, 4th Grade ISB Student

Each year, kids in ISB’s summer program spend their time making crafts, going to the park, playing outdoors, and making memories with new friends – just the way it should be. “Our program is a fun and engaging way for our students to continue their development in a second language, while still feeling like they’re having a fun summer break,” says Summer Program Director Kelly Oberndorf. ISB Summer’s more playful program is a welcomed change of pace for both students and teachers, who enjoy exploring new topics and work on creative projects around fun weekly themes. Some of this year’s included: Summertime Celebrations, Planet Green, and the Great Global Adventure! The weekly themes ignite the children’s imagination and leave lots of room for fun – and fun is a universal language!

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“I love being able to explore different topics with the children. This week’s theme was all about food, and so our group tried out new recipes from other regions of the world. The kids were all very engaged and ready to explore foods and new tastes that they’ve never experienced before. They were curious to know more about the foods and more about the different countries where people eat these foods.” -Leticia Gonzalez (Grupo Rojo)

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A Few Highlights from this Season

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Groupe Bleu opened up their own restaurant and invited some of the younger groups to come and share delicious crêpes and fruit salad.

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The older groups set off for an adventure, taking the ferry to Governors Island. 

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CIT Program

 

For the second year in a row, our talented summer staff was joined by ISB’s youngest educators: the Counselors-in-Training! This program gave seven ISB Middle School students and Alumni the unique opportunity to enter their former classrooms from the other side of the language immersion experience, working as part of the team of teachers. This year’s group of rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders acted as role models and language ambassadors for the younger children. This was a challenge that they were well prepared to face; as ISB students, they know all about language learning! The teachers with whom they worked gushed about the CITs’ enthusiasm in the classroom and their engagement with the younger ones. Thank you to all the 2016 CITs – we hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we enjoyed having you with us!

CIT and ISB Alumni Mina shared her passion for baking with her group by showing them how to make an easy trifle cake. They loved it!
Mina, a CIT and ISB Alumna, shared her passion for baking with her group by showing them how to make an easy trifle cake.

Thank you to everyone who shared the summer with us at ISB! We hope to see some familiar faces again next year!