A school service trip to New Mexico, a summer ballet intensive, a tour of Europe–some Country Day students stayed in town this summer; others have traveled to countries on a completely different side of the earth.

Sid Chandrasekar ’18, went on a trip to various places in Europe such as Paris, London, and Scotland. Being a huge fan of Harry Potter, his favorite part of his trip was the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. The tour allows visitors to walk through two sound stages and a backlot that feature various props and sets from the Harry Potter film series. Sometimes special props or sets will be displayed or open to celebrate an anniversary, such as the Sorting Hat for the anniversary of the Philosopher’s Stone back in March, or Number Four, Privet Drive, when Chandrasekar visited the studios.

Liz Brock ’20, stayed in the US, but went out of the state. She went to Colorado and up to the Rocky Mountains. Brock says she went hiking and saw some elk, foreign to Ohio. Brock also adds she spent the summer with friend Lily Farrell ’19 which she describes as a lot of fun.

Meanwhile Annabel Forman ’19, attended the CCM Summer Immersion Program for Musical Theater at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. A typical day lasted from 8:30am – 9:00pm and would include Pilates in the morning, followed by vocal performance and acting classes. Her schedule also included a master class which could have been anything from vocal health to people in the Musical Theater business coming in to talk to those who attended the program. The day went on with dance and tap classes, and ended with a master performance class which allowed students to perform for their peers. Students from all over the country attended the camp, allowing Forman to meet people who share her same passion and enthusiasm for performing.“Everyone was so nice and supportive, and they really created such an open community,” says Forman on her favorite part about the program. She adds that one thing she took away from the program was to never doubt herself, and understand she’s in the process of learning and to not give up.

At the Kansas City Ballet Summer Intensive, Samantha Brant ’19 spent her day with ballet technique classes, pointe classes, and strengthening classes such as Pilates or conditioning. The program also allowed students to choose two electives each day, such as jazz, modern, contemporary, repertoire, variations, or hip hop. “I loved how we got to take so many different types of dance,” Brant says. “And how we got to learn from so many different teachers.”

Anna Beyette ’17, joined Ms. Floyd on the service trip to New Mexico. There, a typical day did included service projects in the morning where students would work with a group of pueblo kids. Beyette says “We spent a lot of time getting to know the kids and building relationships with them.” In the afternoons, students would do activities geared towards getting to know the culture and traditions of the tribe.On the importance of the trip, Beyette says it was important to make the trip to learn more about the pueblo tribe. She adds that building close relationships with the kids in the tribe was valuable for both Country Day students and the pueblo children. “My favorite part was hands down getting to know the incredible people and children,” Beyette says. She describes the teachers from the pueblo school as informational and great role models. Beyette says the children were so sweet and taught her and the other Country Day students about their lifestyle all the while being “great little buddies.”