PGIA Students “Explo” Online Summer Courses

PGIA students had the opportunity to take experiential online courses through EXPLO, an innovative educational non-profit organization. VIMSIA was awarded 20 scholarships so our students could participate in a wide variety of classes from Cooking to Engineering and Neurology to International Relations. Read more about all the online offerings here.

Divina who is entering the 9th grade this fall shared, “We learned about the different kinds of studies in medicine such as neurology and radiology and specific illnesses such as type one diabetes. We also played fun games such as role-playing where there would be a doctor and a patient and we would be assigned a personality and illness and the doctor would have to ask certain questions about family history and the patient’s symptoms. While doing this with others I made a few friends and when we got time we would talk about other things. I made a friend from Montreal and Toronto.”

Mya also a rising 9th grader, used this experience to explore careers options. She says, “The Explo summer program experience was very delightful and helpful for my career choice. As I want to be an engineer, I participated in this program. It taught me to learn the main components of the engineering cycle. We were given prompts to create a specific object. This really helped to open our minds and design objects useful for the world. This was a very effective and awesome opportunity that I was able to attend.”

AnaPia, a rising 12th grader says, “The EXPLO International Relations program has exposed me to a variety of international situations as well as a chance to negotiate a solution. Through simulations and guest speakers, I have had the opportunity to better understand the power dynamics within the international community.”

VIMSIA is one of founding member schools of EXPLO Elevate - Independent Schools Consortium. EXPLO Elevate’s mission is “to help schools design, build, implement, and continuously improve the environments needed for all learners to thrive now and in the future. EXPLO Elevate is a division of Exploration Learning, a 43-year old non-profit international leader in education innovation. EXPLO inspires students and teachers to explore the world of people and ideas, and to experience the joy of learning in pursuit of purpose and meaning.”