Eastern Shore – Virginia, Maryland & Washington DC! (US)
Dates: 3/30 – 4/4
Location: Virginia, Maryland & DC
Price Range: $2,600 – $2,800
Theme: Environmental & Social Justice
Faculty Contact: Sam Foote and Maddie Stearns
From Javier’s morning papas to the tables we sit around at lunchtime, we at EPS know the importance of food in connecting us to each other, to our cultures, and to the world at large. But what if food, and the ways in which food is grown, processed, and delivered, has a much bigger story to tell? Join us on a journey to the Eastern Shores of Virginia and Maryland where we will discover how rich histories of colonial slavery and industrial farming practices intersect to pave the way for unique local environmental and racial justice efforts of the present. As we weave our way along the shore we will get up close and personal with environmental agencies, tasked with the challenge of maintaining sustainable ecosystems alongside less sustainable agricultural practices. But we will not just remain in the present, we will take a look back at history, with several visits to local cultural sites, where we will begin to grow an understanding of how the legacy of thousands of enslaved people who were forced onto these shores, continues to shape local culture and the ways we are still fighting for justice. As part of this experience with World Leadership School, we will stay in rustic accommodation and partake of the Unplugged (no cellphone) Policy during the week.
Itinerary
(Please note that activities and days may adjust and change due to schedule and availability of tickets, tours, events, etc.)
Day 1: Arrive in Baltimore, Maryland. Transport to Pecometh Retreat Center. Dinner. Evening to explore retreat center.
Day 2: Morning visit to National Museum of African American History, Picnic lunch on the National Mall, Leadership learning sessions
Day 3: Morning with Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center and then a visit to Water’s Edge Museum and ropes challenge course, leadership learning sessions.
Day 4: Full day at Horn Point Laboratory for all things Oysters (tour of the hatchery, oyster cage building, laboratory experiments, etc.), leadership learning sessions.
Day 5: Full day with Eastern Shore Network for Change, Harriet Tubman Visitors Center, Walking tour of Cambridge MD, and then Dinner at Emily’s Produce (a family-run farm).
Day 6: Morning bunkhouse clean, breakfast, and return flight home!
A quick note for students and families interested in this EBC experience:
**The World Leadership School has pursued an “unplugged policy” on programs since 2007 for risk management, group dynamics, and logistical reasons. They seek to create immersive experiences, which begin with the idea that students disconnect from technology and their normal rhythms of life. This is part of The World Leadership School’s larger strategy to help students “disconnect, decenter, and re-envision.”