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Celebration of Learning elevates student morale

By Ardan Bramall, Jennifer Curry, Ariana Perez, Joshua Schermann and Cayden Tsai

Staff Writers

The Celebration of Learning is a very special event for many of the students at Summit Denali. A handful of student journalists floated during the celebration and learned the perspectives of the attendees. 

The Human Rights Expedition, taught by Dani Santos, showcased students’ trifolds which they made specifically for the celebration. When interviewed on the topic, Damian Escamilla said that “the Celebration of Learning is really nice because you get to experience all of the classes at once.” He also said it makes him feel like he got the “entire Expeditions experience”. Quincy Bailey, agreed with Escamilla, saying, the Celebration is “very special to students” as well as “a boost of morale and school spirit”. 

In Urban Farmcraft, students learned everything about a type of cider that can help tone down symptoms of illness. Zephyr Guzik especially enjoyed Urban Farm Craft, going as far to say “everyone should take this class because you learn so much valuable information”.

The Cooking Expedition, taught by Sarah Pereyra, was “hectic” and “a lot of work”, according to Aaron Palos. Some other students have also felt this way because the majority of the projects were specially prepared for the Celebration, which ended up piling extra work on the students. However, Ms. Pereyra had a different perspective on the Celebration of Learning, saying the Celebration was “cool, mainly because you got to share all of the things you learned during  Expeditions [with other students]”.

The Human Sexuality 2.0 class hooked students the moment they walked in the door, with students mainly noticing colorful posters and familiar faces. Students learned a great deal from the things that they saw. Sophia Garcia especially enjoyed her experience, saying one of her favorite parts of the class was that it was “very colorful and alive”. 

Students who ventured over to the Art expedition were instantly impressed with what they saw. The art students were taught various shapes and colors and art techniques over the course of the Expeditions, which were all expressed in their final products displayed at the Celebration. 

Students who headed into the Wilderness class were greeted by a relaxed, almost bygone feeling. The students of Local Wilderness also showed the different projects they had worked on from the year. On the table, they displayed the different moments captured on camera from when they had visited the park, as well as other places for their Expeditions. 

Dan Ahmadi, the leader of the Botany class said students were able to “pick what they like, and showcase it to everybody”. A student of Botany, Ross Beach, expressed that he thought the celebration was “an interesting concept”. 

The video production class played some of the interesting, funny and exciting skits created by the students. There were a multitude of videos playing using multiple camera angles, slow motion, animation and various other tools learned in the course. Both the teacher and the students were excited to share their projects with the entire school, and ended up delighted that everyone had enjoyed and liked them.

The many people who set foot in the entrepreneurship class initially had low and unexciting expectations. However, most if not all of these students were instantly proven wrong by fun and engaging class activities and engrossing ideas. Some of the students who took the Entrepreneurship Expedition came up with genuine and awesome ideas that would work in the real world. A majority of the visitors gained a new perspective on the subject, and were so blown away to the point that they were considering taking the Entrepreneurship Expedition next year. 

During the Celebration of Learning, it was clear to see there was a ton of community building and spirit between both teachers and students. Whether it was helping one another with their booths, or even just petting the lovable puppy that was brought to the school that day, the Celebration showcased how quickly and easily the Summit Denali student base was brought together this year. 

See here for a video of the event or here for a slideshow.

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