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Last Updated: Jan 23, 2018 - 2:01:44 PM |
Three Bahamian children who attended an activities and learning experience packed camp in Switzerland last summer will share their stories when representatives of Swiss Learning, an association of top schools and camps in Switzerland, visits The Bahamas at month end. The three d’Arville children, who have attended camps in the U.S. and Canada, rated the Swiss camps the “best ever time of their lives” and plan to return this summer.
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For nine-year-old Storm d’Arville, and her brothers, Brosnan, 11, and Maverick, 13, summer can’t come soon enough. Not because they don’t like school. They just can’t wait to get back to the Swiss camp they attended last year. They’ll hike, mountain climb, ride horses, engage in watersports, play ice hockey, learn a new language, bungee jump, perform in shows and have the time of their lives for the second time.
This week, the three Bahamian youngsters, all members of the d’Arville family, will be on hand to share their extraordinary experiences when representatives of some of the world’s finest schools visit Nassau. It will be the second visit to The Bahamas by representatives of Swiss Learning, an association of 11 prestigious schools that qualify by meeting the highest standards in education.
Encouraged by the reception they received last year to both their academic offerings and summer camps, Swiss Learning educators will meet with parents and prospective students from January 29-31 in pre-arranged individual meetings and will host a reception at Old Fort Bay Club where Christian Coquoz, Honorary Consul of Switzerland to The Bahamas, will be the guest of honour. Despite dignitaries and educators, it is the children who experienced the setting, the activities, the new friendships who are likely to steal this year’s show.
photos l to r: View from Storm d’Arville’s dormitory room at Aiglon, the Swiss camp 90 minutes from the French border; 2nd photo:Bahamians Storm, now 9, and Maverick d’Arville, 13, hike in the Swiss Alps as part of their summer camp experience at Aiglon, one of the 11 prestigious boarding schools and camps that make up SwissLearning. Representatives of the top schools in Switzerland will visit Nassau at month-end.
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“We were beyond impressed with the Swiss camp,” said their mom, Krystynia Lee d’Arville, of The Bahamas’ Furniture Plus family. “We went to the Swiss Learning Fair last year, did a lot of research and interviewed nine schools for summer school and camp options. We narrowed that down to five, then three and finally chose Aiglon, ninety minutes from the French border. The view, the campus, the hiking, the sports activities, the camaraderie, diverse cultures, friends from all over the world, it was amazing. Our children could not stop talking about it.”
Mornings were devoted to summer school including choices of primary discipline – leadership, science and math or performing arts. Afternoons and evenings were hours that lifetime memories are made of – rock climbing, mountain climbing, exploration, boat building, photography, campfires, ice hockey in a state of the art indoor gymnasium.
“Our children were the first Bahamians to attend this school and they felt so welcomed and inspired,” said d’Arville, noting that a camper from Brazil who spoke seven languages and was there to learn an eighth was an inspiration to her own son, Maverick. And daughter Storm who took French last summer is planning to take the next level of the language this summer.
“A Swiss education which is so well-rounded has always opened doors,” said Nassau-based Tanya Espinosa Feuz, who is once again coordinating the visit. “Swiss Learning symbolizes the highest standards of excellence. Each of the associated schools achieved Swiss Learning membership by adhering to strict criteria including low student to teacher ratio, multilingual offerings, safe and secure environments and campus environments that provide for full development in sports, performing arts and healthy, wholesome living.”
Educators will share a range of options -- boarding school for high school and preparatory students, hospitality schools and colleges at the higher education level, Gap year offerings and summer camp with multiple affiliate learning and language choices options.
Summer camps are open to those seven and older.
To arrange a meeting or learn more, e-mail bahamas@swisslearning.com.
© Copyright 2018 by thebahamasweekly.com
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