Kobe ’26:
Something I found meaningful today was how much courage we had as a group. We went into our first real day and adapted very well with the new challenges. We were able to see how schooling in Puerto Rico was different from Deerfield. We got the ins and outs of certain learning techniques and got to go on an amazing walking tour of Old San Juan which displayed a beautiful amount of murals, colors, history, and culture. We had amazing observations of how International Women’s Day is something that is praised very highly in Puerto Rican culture.
Vic’Kaysha ’26:
“With education, we can change the world” is one of the first things Venus, from the Instituto Nueva Escuela, had told us. Our day started with a “big boy” breakfast, where I learned bacon was tocineta in Spanish! We continued with a tour of Old San Juan, immersing ourselves in the history and traditions of the city, meanwhile women gathered in celebration of International Women’s Day. Soon after, we walked around seeing the street art and meaningful graffiti, making our own understanding of the traditions around us. Following that was our meeting with teachers at a public Montessori, where we replicated activities that would be done with the students. A powerful aspect of the system is the fact that the children are not just learning academically, but also how to be respectful upstanding citizens of their greater community. While the day was certainly busy, I grew to appreciate that the education we are receiving, by engaging in what may be a new culture, will aid us in changing the world for the better. We can utilize this valuable time and the fun moments, whether big or small, to shape what we will bring back for our community at Deerfield and ourselves.
Aeris ’26:
We spent most of our day on foot, taking a walking tour around San Juan. We saw San Juan’s architecture—brightly saturated buildings whose colors were preserved since the 1940s-1950s. We walked around the streets which Deea ’27 and I said reminded us of European architecture. It was International Women’s Day, so we saw parades, with women wielding guns with roses. We also saw many people protesting against current domestic abuse laws, advocating for more women’s rights. Following that, we spent time exploring different street art and graffiti. One of my favorite art pieces, which was Jesse ’26’s and Mikaylah ’26’s too, was a 3D art work of a woman and her skeleton. The woman was painted in blue and the skeleton in red. Our tour guide told us if we looked at the art piece in 3D glasses we would see the 3-dimensionality of the painting. After touring the streets, we stopped for ice cream before going to the Instituto Nueva Escuela where we learned about the Montessori education system. Throughout all of this, I was grateful for the people and memories I’ve made (although it’s only the 2nd day). I can’t wait to take inspiration from the street art to use in my AP Drawing and Painting portfolio. I’ve dabbled more with photography—shoutout to the Kodak PixPro fz55. And I realized that all of the history, art inspiration, and community based learning we’ve been doing will aid us with bringing a new perspective to our future communities.
