West Seattle Blog… | SCHOOL’S OUT: International summer learning plans for West Seattle High School students

Today is the first weekday of summer vacation for thousands of local students. More than 50 West Seattle High School students will spend a large part of their summer studying outside the US. The report and photos come from a WSHS teacher Meghan Schumacherwho is also the Coordinator of the Volunteer Center in the program involving:

This summer, 51 students from West Seattle High School will study abroad for 3-4 weeks CIEE, Council for International Educational Exchangea non-profit organization that coordinates international high school and college exchanges.

86% of these students travel with some sort of scholarship, either merit or need-based. West Seattle High School is a Global Navigator school with CIEE, which means students at the school automatically qualify for scholarships of at least $25,000 to cover program fees. This year, WSHS students earned $56,310 in scholarships. Since 2018, West Seattle High students have earned over $300,000 in scholarships, and a total of 196 students have gone abroad.

Students participate in two types of programs. Language and cultural programs include learning French, Spanish, Italian and Arabic in France, Spain, Argentina, Italy and Morocco. Thematic programs include art, creative writing, government, wildlife conservation, leadership and service, or engineering and innovation in Scotland, England, Portugal, Germany, Costa Rica, Botswana, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ghana, Australia, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

We are very grateful for the support of these students’ teachers, parents and community members, encouraging them to apply and do their best. These students and their support networks are helping make West Seattle a more global community.