On the 22nd October, most of our lower secondary students set out for their integration trip. The main goal of the trip was to build working relationships between students and to get to know each other.
During the trip we discussed 3 main themes; the relationship between teamwork and communication, the importance of setting goals and having dreams, as well as manners.
The first day we focused on teamwork. We went on a rafting trip where students had to work together to row together and get to the meeting point. We followed this up in the evening by an activity which focused on showing students how teamwork and critical feedback can help them achieve more. We did this through a “Lost at Sea” activity where students had to rank the most essential items in case they were stranded on a rubber dinghy in the middle of the ocean. This activity showed them that when working on a team, their score was usually much better.
The second day we focused on the importance of having dreams and setting goals. The main activity of this day was hiking up the Trzy Korony hiking trail. The hike was not an easy one and I know that for some it was a challenge. When we set goals, these are also challenging and there will be various moments in trying to reach that goal which can also be associated with the hike, such as a feeling of being overwhelmed by the task or maybe even questioning one’s ability to reach the top. These are the tougher moments, but when we stay committed to our goals we reach them, just like reaching the peak of the mountain, which we all did as a group.
The last day we visited the Niedzica castle where we learned about the history of the castle as well as a bit of about the historical periods and their influence on that region.
The last theme of the trip were respect and manners. We discussed this throughout the trip. Respect is important in any type of teamwork, we need to respect each other if we want to work well in a team.
More photos can be found in the gallery