Academy for Global Exploration

Last updated
Academy for Global Exploration
Location
Ashland
,
OR

United States
Information
Type Private, boarding, traveling enrollment = 12 per destination
MottoThe world is our classroom
Established2002
Head of SchoolGreg Guevara
Average class size3 students campus = 80 acres (320,000 m2), international
Student to teacher ratio3:1
SloganWhat did you learn at school today?
AthleticsSkiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, bouldering, kayaking, surfing, backpacking, camping
Website www.agexplore.org

Academy for Global Exploration (AGE) is a college preparatory school traveling high school for grades 9 through 12 based in Ashland, Oregon, United States. AGE spends half of each semester overseas in such countries as Greece, Japan, South Africa, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru and others.

Ashland, Oregon City in Oregon, United States

Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 20,078 at the 2010 census and was estimated to be 21,117 as of 2017.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.

Contents

Overview

Basic information

Academy for Global Exploration is a traveling high school spending approximately half of the academic year abroad. When in residence in the United States, AGE is located in Ashland, Oregon. AGE's Southern Oregon base camp is the 81-acre (330,000 m2) Valley View Ranch located 10 minutes from downtown Ashland.

Academic overview

Academy for Global Exploration's accredited curriculum is aligned around the Oregon Content Standards and the guidelines set forth by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. While traveling, students interact with local cultures and visit museums, theaters, historical sites, and geographic areas. While in Ashland, AGE students have access to the Southern Oregon University Library as well as the Ashland Public Library.

Southern Oregon University public liberal arts college in Ashland, Oregon, U.S.

Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public liberal arts college located in Ashland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1926, it was formerly known as Southern Oregon College and Southern Oregon State College. It offers programs in business, economics, criminology, natural sciences, including environmental science, Shakespearean studies and theatre arts programs. It is headquarters for Jefferson Public Radio and public access station Rogue Valley Television. Southern Oregon University is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges.

AGE maintains a 3:1 student-teacher ratio, assessing their progress through traditional and alternative methods of testing, and also through regular writing opportunities, presentations and discussions. Students have around-the-clock access to their teachers.

The academic calendar is based on a two-semester model, with each semester sixteen weeks long. Classes are held five days a week using a rotating daily schedule (block schedule). Weekends sometimes involve travel from one site to another.

International travel

Each semester Academy for Global Exploration spends eight weeks visiting a different international destination. Students learn from and about other cultures, and have the opportunity to participate in adventure sports. While on expedition, students and faculty travel together and the normal academic schedule is maintained. Homestays, cultural events, school visitations, and community service projects are incorporated into each semester's curriculum and itinerary.

Cultural studies

Each semester, all students at AGE take AGE's Cultural Studies class, co-taught by all AGE faculty members, as well as the students. The course content is a blend of process-oriented and country-specific topic lessons.

Outdoor adventure

AGE's Outdoor Education program promotes outdoor activities that vary from rock climbing and bouldering, to skiing, surfing, and kayaking. Fitness is developed and maintained through daily strength training and cardiovascular workouts, as well as through cooperative sports and outdoor challenges.

Rock climbing sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls

Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Professional rock climbing competitions have the objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route.

Bouldering Form of rock climbing

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls, known as boulders, without the use of ropes or harnesses. While it can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help secure footholds, chalk to keep their hands dry and provide a firmer grip, and bouldering mats to prevent injuries from falls. Unlike free solo climbing, which is also performed without ropes, bouldering problems are usually less than 6 meters (20 ft.) tall. Traverses, which are a form of boulder problem, require the climber to climb horizontally from one end to another. Artificial climbing walls allow boulderers to train indoors in areas without natural boulders. In addition, Bouldering competitions take place in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Skiing Recreational activity and sport using skis

Skiing can be a means of transport, a recreational activity or a competitive winter sport in which the participant uses skis to glide on snow. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Sample semesters

Kalymnos Place in Greece

Kalymnos, is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese and is located to the west of the peninsula of Bodrum, between the islands of Kos and Leros : the latter is linked to it through a series of islets. Kalymnos lies between two and five hours away by sea from Rhodes.

Nafplio Place in Greece

Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was an important seaport held under a succession of royal houses in the Middle Ages as part of the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, held initially by the de la Roche following the Fourth Crusade before coming under the Republic of Venice and, lastly, the Ottoman Empire. The town was the capital of the First Hellenic Republic and of the Kingdom of Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the regional unit of Argolis.

Peloponnese Traditional region of Greece

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea, a name still in colloquial use in its demotic form.

Admissions and enrollment

Academy for Global Exploration accepts students in grades 9 through 12 as well as one year of post graduate study. AGE operates on a rolling admissions basis.

Academic requirements and credits

Students must enroll in a minimum of five academic classes per semester and cannot enroll in more than seven. Students are awarded a 1/2 credit per semester upon successful completion of course requirements (full-year courses are awarded one credit). By assigning credits in this way, AGE aligns with the Northwest Association of Accredited schools, the Oregon State Education system as well as most US school systems. AGE requires a minimum of 25 credits for a standard diploma. As a college preparatory program, AGE models its distribution and graduation requirements around the general expectations of colleges and universities.

Related Research Articles

National Outdoor Leadership School

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoors skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions and in traditional classrooms. The NOLS mission is to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment. NOLS runs courses on six continents, with courses in a variety of wilderness environments and for almost any age group.

Wasatch Academy United States national historic site

Wasatch Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory boarding school for grades 8-12 located in Mount Pleasant, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by Reverend Duncan McMillan, a Presbyterian Minister who had come to the Sanpete Valley, in the mountains of central Utah, to both recover his health and to do missionary work among the Mormons living in the geographic center of Utah.

The Forman School is a co-educational boarding and day school in Litchfield, Connecticut, USA offering a college preparatory program in grades 9 to 12 and a postgraduate program (PG) exclusively for students with learning differences such as ADD/ADHD and dyslexia. Forman School offers a 4-week summer program in July for students with learning differences.

Episcopal Academy

The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion and the satellite campus was located in Devon. The Newtown Square facility is 123-acre (0.50 km2). Episcopal Academy has been consistently ranked as a top private school in the nation by various media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal. The Academy is affiliated with the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

MEI Academy

MEI International Academy is an international education company that specializes in experiential learning, academic coursework, and educational travel. All programming is designed for secondary school students. No dedicated classrooms are used as lectures are delivered on location.

La Salle High School (Milwaukie, Oregon)

La Salle Catholic College Preparatory is a private co-ed Roman Catholic College Preparatory School in Milwaukie, Oregon, near Portland. Under the Archdiocese of Portland, the Brothers of the Christian Schools established La Salle in 1966 as part of their worldwide network of schools. The school has been accredited by the Northwest Accreditation Commission since 1979.

Explorations Academy

Explorations Academy is an independent school in Bellingham, Washington, United States that integrates experiential education with academic studies. The school was founded in 1995 as a program of the not-for-profit educational organization Global Community Institute.

United World College of Costa Rica

The United World College Costa Rica, located in the Santa Ana suburb of San José, is the 11th college in the UWC movement and the first to offer instruction in both English and Spanish. The College, formerly the "Colegio Internacional SOS Hermann Gmeiner," opened in August 2006 and graduated its first UWC-admitted applicants in 2008. As of 2016, it contains 172 international students from more than 70 different countries. Students throughout the UWC movement are selected based on an extensive scholarship programme, meaning that they are selected on the basis of merit and regardless of their social or economic status. Given its historic connection with SOS Children's Villages, UWC Costa Rica aims to ensure that students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are admitted to the school each year. Depending on their academic needs, students may apply for a three-year programme with a preparatory pre-IB year before enrolling in the regular IB Diploma Programme. The College is primarily committed to three areas: Conflict Resolution, the environment and multiculturalism.

INCAE Business School is an international business school located at the Francisco de Sola campus in Nicaragua and the Walter Kissling Gam campus in Costa Rica. The Financial Times has ranked INCAE as a top global MBA program and The Wall Street Journal has ranked INCAE Business School as one of the top 10 international business schools in the world.

Rosary High School was established in 1962 by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois as a private, all-girls, college-preparatory, Roman Catholic, high school located in Aurora, Illinois. It is ranked as one of the top private schools in the state of Illinois as students achieve on average 5 points higher on the ACT and 43 points higher on the SAT. In addition, Rosary offers 22 various clubs and organizations and 13 sports teams. There is a very high participation rate where 82% of the student body plays in sports with an average GPA of 3.47. Because many of the sports teams reach sectional and state finals, 12 NCAA scholarships are awarded on average each year. Currently, one of Rosary's swimmers, Alexis Yager, has qualified for the Olympic Trials in 3 events. The Beads, Rosary's swim team, has won the Illinois state swim title for six years. The Beads have also been runner-up for the title four times and have placed third four times.

LIU Global

LIU Global is a discrete educational entity of Long Island University that offers a program that integrates a series of yearlong cultural immersions into a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree.

International Student Volunteers (ISV) is a voluntourism not-for-profit organization based in Yorba Linda, California. It provides educational volunteer and travel adventure programs to university students and youth internationally. ISV has offices in each host country it operates in and is also established in Australia as International Student Volunteers Pty Ltd with a head office in Sydney.

Conserve School

Conserve School is a semester school for environmentally and outdoor minded high school students located in Land O' Lakes, Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. For seventeen weeks students pursue a program of environmental studies and outdoor activities that is designed to deepen their love of nature, reinforce their commitment to conservation, and equip them to take meaningful action as environmental stewards.

Dunn School is a private, college prep boarding and day school for grades 6 - 12 located on 55 acres outside of Los Olivos, California. It was founded in 1957, by Tony Dunn under the name "The Valley School." Dunn is 30 minutes from Santa Barbara. The school provides daily transportation to Santa Barbara families.

High Mountain Institute

The High Mountain Institute (HMI) is a non-profit educational organization located in Leadville, Colorado. Founded in 1995 by Molly and Christopher Barnes, HMI focuses on educating teenagers through interaction with the natural world of the American West and Patagonia, South America. The school offers semester and summer programs for high school students, gap year programming for high school graduates, and short programs for middle school students and adults.

Outward Bound Costa Rica (OBCR) is a non-profit experiential learning and outdoor education organization based in San José, Costa Rica. It is a charter of Outward Bound International (OBI).

Think Global School

THINK Global School is an independent high school that travels the world, giving students the opportunity to study in twelve different countries over the course of three years. The school is non-profit, co-educational, and non-denominational. The school was created by travel photographer Joann McPike, who contributed the founding donation.

Alzar School

The Alzar School is a semester school based in Cascade, Idaho that serves high school sophomores and juniors. The mission of school is to educate and facilitate the leadership development of high school students. It is built upon the "Six Foundations" of Academics, Leadership Training, Outdoor Adventure, Cultural Exchange, Service Learning, and Environmental Stewardship. The school is accredited by the Northwest Accreditation Commission which is an accreditation division of AdvancED.

Blyth Education

Blyth Education is a private company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that runs a chain of private secondary schools and academic credit programs in Canada and abroad. Primarily located throughout Ontario, Blyth Academy also has schools in the United States, Florence and Qatar, in addition to an online program and study abroad programs that offer academic credit.

École supérieure des sciences commerciales dAngers

École Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers (ESSCA) is one of the top business schools in France.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.