On Tuesday 17
February, a group of excited Philosophy and Psychology students gathered at
Heathrow airport, ready to spend an exciting half term break in snowy New York
City. The pupils were busy ‘blogging’ and ‘tweeting’ throughout the trip, which
was jam-packed with amazing highlights, and no shortage of learning! Read on to
find out everything they got up to.
The
transatlantic trip ‘flew by’ and the group landed at JFK with a whole day ahead
of them. The weather was very cold, with plenty of snow on the ground. After
dumping their luggage at their hotel in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, the students
wasted no time in heading via the subway to Times Square, and were given some
free time to explore the bustling area in small groups. After a quick visit to
American Outfitters, some students became the second Shiplake group to make it
onto the Times Square big screens in recent months, after the Boat Club’s USA
tour in October.
The serious
work started on day two, with a sombre visit to the World Trade Centre tragedy
site. Students took time to explore the memorial museum on their own, giving a
chance for quiet reflection. In the trip blog, Year 12 student Claire Fifield
commented: ‘In class, we have spoken a lot about evil and suffering, but this
part of the trip brought it to life in an incredibly emotional way. It was very
sad, but we were all interested to read more about the victims and hear some
survivors’ stories.’ After
completing their tour of the museum and reflecting over a quiet lunch, the trip
party’s busy day continued with a ferry trip out to the Statue of Liberty, a
wander through Central Park and China Town, before dining in Little Italy.
A long and
productive day three started with two hours of past paper study, followed by a
visit to the Museum of Jewish Heritage for Philosophy students and a data
capture project for Psychology, at the New York Public Library. Philosophy
student Chris Baker commented: ‘The tour guide in the Jewish Heritage museum
had a personal connection to the holocaust, making his tour much more poignant.
He linked it extremely well to the philosophy of evil and suffering, making us
think about what drives people to act how they do.’ After completing their
studies, students travelled to the ‘Top of the Rock’ and spent the evening
window shopping around 5th avenue.
After another
early start on day four, pupils headed straight into the lecture room at 8.00am
for more past papers and general review work. They then set out for the
University of New York Psychology Faculty for a fascinating lecture with Dr
Andy Milford, who explained his current research. With incredibly cold weather
gripping the city, the group made a unanimous decision to head indoors to the
Museum of Natural History. Times Square then beckoned again, before splitting
into subject groups for evening sessions.
Waking up on
the fifth and final day was a bittersweet moment, as another beautiful morning
showed Brooklyn Bridge in all its splendour, but the group knew they had to
leave the famous city behind. After packing, students had time to go through
their worksheet packs from the trip to consolidate their newly acquired
knowledge and relate it back to topics covered in class. The afternoon gave
another insight into American student life by attending a College woman’s
basketball match. The fast-paced handling skills and cheerleaders’ enthusiastic
dancing kept everyone entertained.
Head of
Psychology Mr Richard Ebbage commented: ‘Even
though we were all looking forward to it immensely, it is safe to say the trip
exceeded all expectations. The emphasis and reason for going to New York was to
visit the 9/11 memorial centre. During this talk we heard the accounts from and
were able to ask questions to 9/11 survivors. We met Jean-Mari whose brother,
TJ, was killed on the day in 2001 as he worked in Tower 1. We also spoke to Jim
who worked for the Port Authority of New York on the 65th floor of
Tower 2 and survived both the 1993 attack and September 11th attack.
Their accounts were both emotional and moving and drew tears from a lot of the
group. The academic focus for the psychologists was on memory and eye witness
testimony whereas the philosophers were focusing on evil, pain and suffering.
However, over and above the academic focus, was giving the students a further
understanding of one of the most significant moments of recent history. The
students were only 3 or 4 years old in 2001 and so would not remember the events
but have grown up in a world very much affected by the terrorist attacks. For
them to have this experience and understanding is invaluable.
Mr Ebbage continued: 'Other academic highlights of the
trip included classroom sessions from myself and Mr Brownley, a lecture at New
York University, The Jewish Heritage Museum, a visit to an evangelical church
service and data collection and analysis in New York Public Library. Also while
we were there we thought it would be rude not to take in some of the sights so
there was shopping, shopping and more shopping, and all the other amazing
experiences covered above. It was a magnificent trip and
the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Each and every student was a credit
to the school and we had numerous comments on how well behaved, polite and
insightful our students were.’
More photos from the trip can be viewed here.