The juniors this year will be going on a weeklong school trip in May, but some are not nearly as thrilled about it as they were about China Alive.
Announced during college night on January 6, TheEleven is a one-week retreat for juniors to destress and get a head start on their college applications. Taking place from May 15-19, juniors from the Puxi campus and the Pudong campus will be going to Lin’An for a week of senior year and college prep. According to the TheEleven brochure, “TheEleven is designed to be the best senior experience a junior can have because [it] will give our grade 11 students the tools needed to excel from day one in their senior year.”
Announced during college night on January 6, TheEleven is a one-week retreat for juniors to destress and get a head start on their college applications. Taking place from May 15-19, juniors from the Puxi campus and the Pudong campus will be going to Lin’An for a week of senior year and college prep. According to the TheEleven brochure, “TheEleven is designed to be the best senior experience a junior can have because [it] will give our grade 11 students the tools needed to excel from day one in their senior year.”
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| Cover of the TheEleven brochure, courtesy of Dr. Heckmann |
Events taking place during the week-long trip include working on college research, applications, and personal essays, as well as a variety of fun outdoorsy activities aimed at giving the strained juniors some time for fun: rope courses, dragon boat riding, biking, hiking, yoga, and more. TheEleven will also provide opportunities for juniors to choose three desired electives related to the college application process for the week. The electives will range from information on liberal arts colleges to the opportunity for artists to work on their art portfolios as well as yet another writing lab. Juniors also are given the chance to select two classmates as their potential roommates for the week.
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| List of electives that are available to the juniors during the retreat, via Powerschool |
Dr. Heckmann published the itinerary for the retreat just yesterday. From 6 AM to 7:30 AM, there is an optional wellness class that students can partake in. The entirety of the junior class will also be split into two groups—Group A and Group B. During the day, one group will participate in stress-relieving activities, while the other works on their college applications. After lunch, the two groups will switch activities. The nighttime will be dedicated towards essay writing.
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| The full TheEleven schedule, courtesy of Dr. Heckmann |
A feature of TheEleven that interests a lot of students and parents is the fact that it will be with the Pudong campus’s juniors. One of the Puxi High School college counselors, Mr. Marc Curless, stated that TheEleven's combining with Pudong “is [for] the same reason that [they] have previously offered our Senior Retreat Part 2 jointly; with more counselors, [they will be] able to offer more support and programming. The logistics and expenses for doing one event for both campuses rather than two separate events make the decision fairly straightforward.”
Additionally, bringing the two sides of the Huangpu River together in an event is aimed at promoting unity between the two campuses and creating an even more unique experience for the attendees. The Puxi High School Principal Dr. Sascha Heckmann provides more insight into this, illustrating how Dr. Benjamin Lee, the new Pudong High School Principal originally came up with the idea of a “Junior Trip that would allow for students to get ahead in the college application process.” Dr. Heckmann enthusiastically adds, “both Dr. Lee and I felt that there are prime opportunities to collaborate and leverage the resources and talents of the many professionals on each campus. In addition, while students strongly identify with their campus, it is important that we all realize we are part of a broader SAS community.”
During the week of the program, juniors will be living in the Wonderland Hotel in Lin’An, Hangzhou. Rated as the tenth best hotel in Lin’An on TripAdvisor, the Wonderland Hotel is a five-star hotel situated by the Qingshan Reservoir. It also hosts a swimming pool, gym and of course, wifi.
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| Exterior of the Lin'An Wonderland Hotel, via Hotels.com |
While TheEleven may sound like an interesting mix between China Alive and a college prep workshop, its core value lies in the range of opportunities that it provides: bonding between two campuses for the Class of 2018, a head start on the college application progress, and a chance to relax and think about yourself. “Our challenge is that our students are so busy that they rarely take time to reflect on how amazing they are and identify the words to communicate their identity to the admissions folks,” says Dr. Heckmann. “Think about it yourself—if you had to tell someone in 1 minute what is special about you, could you do it? It takes time, reflection, and thoughtfulness to generate an awesome college essay. TheEleven will provide that time.”
So, why are so many juniors unwilling to participate in TheEleven? Among the main factors that cause the controversy regarding this event are the trip's fee and mandatory nature. The brochure of the program clearly states that TheEleven is mandatory (unless with valid reason, such as going on "a school event, traveling for family graduation, or a medical necessity") and requires a fee of 4500 RMB.
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| Two pages of the TheEleven brochure, courtesy of Dr. Heckmann |
Dr. Heckmann was addressed the objections against TheEleven. “I understand many of the concerns. Generally people are always weary of new things. I also did not handle the announcement and communication of the event as well as I should. With that being said, we all agreed as an administrative team that this event is too valuable to be voluntary.” While some parents are wanting to keep their children home during the week, missing out on TheEleven might mean a “disadvantage in the college admissions process.”
Parents and students have also raised questions to the fee of TheEleven, suggesting it should be coming out of our tuition. “It’s not fair for there to be an extra fee if the trip itself is mandatory,” commented one junior after the announcement of TheEleven during college night. Many parents also expressed dissatisfaction during Principal Coffee sessions following TheEleven’s announcement. However, according to Dr. Heckmann, most objections to this issue are already “mitigated as [the school] offered financial aid to families that could not afford it”.
Another shared concern between many parents was the timing of the program, which happens to be just one week before semester two exams. In spite of that, AP exams would have been completed prior to the trip. As for the IB and SAS curricula courses, Dr. Heckmann mentions that “teachers were notified well in advance and have adjusted instruction to ensure minimal impact. Had we moved it to the start of Grade 12 [like some parents suggested], we would impact AP, IB, and SAS curriculum and only add pressure to the Fall semester.”
However, many IB students are still dissatisfied with losing a full week and would prefer to stay back to work on their IB assignments. A large number of juniors, both including and not including the IB students, also think that it would be more valuable for them to stay behind instead of going on the trip. Thus, many conflicts regarding the lack of an option of not going on the trip are still present.
One junior expresses mixed feelings regarding the weeklong retreat. "I feel rather ambivalent towards the program. On one hand, it is an invaluable resource for college application preparations, but I feel uncertain as to the allocation of time, especially with regards to the activities. I'm concerned about exam preparation time as well." Another junior who is currently taking the IBD portrays his frustration with TheEleven's timing as well. "The EE is due soon, I have three IAs to do, and I have to go on TheEleven. Time is crucial to me right now—there's just so much to do."
However, many IB students are still dissatisfied with losing a full week and would prefer to stay back to work on their IB assignments. A large number of juniors, both including and not including the IB students, also think that it would be more valuable for them to stay behind instead of going on the trip. Thus, many conflicts regarding the lack of an option of not going on the trip are still present.
One junior expresses mixed feelings regarding the weeklong retreat. "I feel rather ambivalent towards the program. On one hand, it is an invaluable resource for college application preparations, but I feel uncertain as to the allocation of time, especially with regards to the activities. I'm concerned about exam preparation time as well." Another junior who is currently taking the IBD portrays his frustration with TheEleven's timing as well. "The EE is due soon, I have three IAs to do, and I have to go on TheEleven. Time is crucial to me right now—there's just so much to do."
Mr. Curless regards the negative responses to TheEleven with positivity: “Any event or change that impacts over three hundred families is going to result in a number of problems/difficulties. I think the intention of TheEleven is to better support our students, but at the same time, I know an event on this scale cannot please everyone.”
Head of counseling Ms. Jennifer Lee poses a similar perspective, pointing out that “at this point, since it is going to happen, the best we can do is focus on a positive outlook and that it will be a wonderful experience for all.”
For more information on the trip, log onto Schoology to see a recent post by Dr. Heckmann regarding TheEleven.
Allison Ma