Jersey City, is a city that houses many different cultures, active streets and ideas, let alone, food trucks. But amidst this bustling urban landscape lies a hidden gem that’s turning heads and shaping minds: A school of international status is the Waldo International School. This is not the type of place where you sit down and open your book, “read from the textbook and answer the questions at the back”. Oh no, The Waldo International School is on a whole other level, especially when it comes to the concept of global education.
Well today, for anyone who ever believed that geography is simply memorizing capitals and rivers, The Waldo International School will prove you differently. Picture this: a classroom that might find students preparing a simulated visit to the Amazon forests more than in less time preparing a debate about climate change’s impact on the polar bear’s natural habitat. In a way, it is as if you received a passport bearing the mark ‘global citizen’ before entering high school.
Oh, The Waldo International School really goes the extra mile (or should we say, the extra croissant and the extra empanada?) in making the world come into the classroom. It is not only a place that teaches you what is out there but a place where the world is narrowed down to the extent that one can turn the world with fingers. This school has the unique ability to place our large, vast planet into a more manageable view and leave students wanting more.
Let’s focus on the language classes, shall we? Learning Spanish at The Waldo International School is not as simple as “Open your book to page 52.” Instead, it is “Welcome to the heart and soul of Latin America.” The students are not just repeating verbs and words; they are immersing themselves in the cultures that speak to them. Imagine an ordinary classroom suddenly becoming a marketplace with people moving to the rhythm of salsa music. Perhaps you are negotiating with invisible fruits one day, and the next day you are discussing Gabriel García Márquez, all this under the Ambiance of Latin music.
And Ah, French class! Forget about mindlessly repeating conjugation tables; here, the students are taken directly to the French Riviera. Students stroll along an ersatz red carpet, fashioned from fabrics belonging to the art class, and stage mini-Cannes Film Festival where they discuss the pros and cons of viewed films exclusively in the language of love. It is an excellent means of teaching that has everyone repeating “Oui, oui” to French. Of course, popcorn is offered there as well but it is seasoned with that special Provencal blend of herbs known as herbes de Provence.
It is this kind of approach to learning that makes sure that students do not merely store information but live it. Learning a language is one thing, it is quite another to feel its beat, to grasp its poetry and to accept it as your own. The Waldo International Schoolmaster the art of converting academic lessons into colorful social events that are memorable to kids even after they leave their classes.
So, every time you hear a student from The Waldo International School fluently using terms in Spanish or French, they are not merely being arrogant with their language proficiency. They are bringing back a piece of the world thanks to a school that knows that educating is not only the mind, but the heart and soul as well. And if you ever get invited to one of their language festivals, don’t hesitate. Where else can a person get to travel round the world without having to step out of Jersey City? So just don’t forget your hunger for knowledge (and maybe a fork).
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: such as math and science classes. Math, history, science, and other subjects are nothing like this in The Waldo International School. It is shocking how one can open the universe with algebra or comprehend the essence of life with biology! As for the physics of soccer, well, there was such a thing, and as you can imagine, it is as mind-blowing as the premise of the show.
Oh, you mean the arts? Well, buckle up because The Waldo International School considers creativity to be center stage. Here art is not a subject it’s a perspective. Students are not just learning how to paint; they are painting their way towards understanding other cultures and differences. And drama class? It’s not just an appreciation of Shakespeare (though there is certainly plenty of that here); it’s about finding your voice, whether that’s on stage, behind a camera, or in the pages of your own written story.
Judging by this method of teaching and learning, those willing to gain more insight into this outstanding practice of The Waldo International School among other Jersey City Middle Schools will be in for a delight. It is a place where education will be as rich and as multi-faceted as Jersey City itself where students are allowed to laugh and learn and to ask questions and to aspire.
So, in the spirit of keeping things light, here’s a little joke to wrap things up: What could be the reason the student brought a ladder to school? Because they wanted to go to high school! But at The Waldo International School, who needs the ladder when you are already on the top of the world, is not it?
Seriously, The Waldo International School is more than a school that prepares its students for the next exam; it prepares them for life. And in today’s global village, that is precisely what we require.
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