Chatmore Student Prepares For Exchange Trip
Keziah Smith, a student at Chatmore International School, shared her anticipation of an upcoming cultural exchange trip to Bern, Switzerland, highlighting the school’s role in her personal growth and the exciting opportunities for learning and collaboration.
In a recent interview, Keziah Smith, a student at Chatmore International School, opened up about her transformative experience at the now 20 year old school and her anticipation of an upcoming Chatmore cultural exchange trip to Bern, Switzerland at the end of June with 2 of her classmates.
When asked about her school experience Keziah, expressed her gratitude for the personalized attention she has received from Chatmore’s teachers over the past 7 years, describing the teachers as “dedicated individuals who strive for student success in all of their interactions”.
Keziah who is graduating this year and in addition to studying for her IGCSE’s is also taking Bermuda College prep courses and writing her first book through a Personal Exploration Project offered at the school via The DaVinci Life Skills Curriculum. She is anticipating a career in journalism. Reflecting on her school experience she emphasized the family atmosphere at Chatmore, where students are treated with respect and pushed to achieve their best, even when it feels challenging. “Chatmore is a small school and you can’t hide. All of the teachers know you are there.”
Looking ahead to the cultural exchange programme, with her classmates Jayden DeSilva and Jordan Smith, Keziah shared her excitement about gaining independence from her parents and immersing herself in a new culture. She highlighted her eagerness and anxiety about living with an exchange student, viewing it as “an opportunity to understand different lifestyles, use the lessons learned from my Global Citizenship courses and especially to prepare for the transition to college.”
Keziah and classmates have set their expectations for the exchange, demonstrating a keen desire to learn German so that they can interact with Swiss students, and delve into their culture and traditions. She eagerly anticipates a few friendly sports matches with her classmates and having met their new Swiss friends on Zoom they learned that many of them had never played cricket before so she was seeing these aspects of the trip as opportunities for mutual learning, fun and camaraderie.
When asked about the importance of the trip, Keziah emphasized the school’s role in pushing students out of their comfort zones and nurturing personal growth. She emphasized, “the school does a lot to encourage the growth of our social-emotional and overall personal skills development. Over my time here I have experienced many different kinds of support through Chatmore’s Dynamic Learning Weeks, in-school and summer leadership development programmes and The British School of Etiquette certification. My travel mates and I are generally quite anxious about new social situations but our family and the school have encouraged us so much over the years. As I am graduating, I know I need to become more courageous so this trip is like a “test” for me. A personal test. I am excited and nervous and that’s okay”.
The 18 year old, Head Girl, shared that this exchange is an opportunity to apply their global citizenship education in a real-world context and she is really looking forward to collaborating on the agreed “Music Project” with their Swiss counterparts. “The music project is the reason for the trip. The school in Bern invited us to participate in an exchange visit and a few weeks ago on Zoom they shared the idea with us about doing something creative and we all thought it was a great way to connect and commence a relationship. It’ll be interesting to learn and bring our two cultures together through music”.
In support of their fundraising efforts for the trip, the 3 Chatmore students, their parents and teacher chaperones together with the generous support of Kenny’s Kitchen, are hosting a Codifsh Breakfast on Saturday, 6th April, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Keziah states, “Our goal is to sell 100 breakfasts which will add to the funds we have already raised.”
Since Kenny’s Kitchen will need to know the quantity to prepare, advance orders are required by Wednesday, 3rd April. Orders can be placed at https://www.chatmore.org/event-details-registration/codfish-breakfast-fundraiser.
