There are approximately 300 million people in the United States, 14 million of whom live in New England. Those numbers seem almost insignificant in comparison to the population totals of China (1.3 billion) and India (1.1 billion). For Brooks students to be successful members of a global society, it is vital that they venture beyond the borders of campus and challenge themselves by experiencing new cities, countries and cultures.

An emphasis on international programs is not new to the school. Former Assistant Headmaster Richard Holmes developed exchange programs in South Africa and Kenya in the mid-1980s at a time when such travel was not as universally accepted as it is today. The school has since added exchanges in Uganda, Botswana, Hungary and Scotland. In the summer of 2006, faculty members established contacts in India, and in 2007 teachers Leigh Perkins and Michael Walczak brought eight students back to tour the country. Meanwhile, three other teachers—John Packard, Andrea Heinze, and Don Cameron—traveled to China with the goal of developing student trips there in subsequent summers.

The Beyond Brooks experience isn't isolated to international travel. Six Vth formers were selected to participate in the Students on the Forefront of Science (SFS) summer internship program. This group of exceptional juniors is working in labs at MIT and Brigham and Womens hospital as well as assisting with renowned architectural firm Architerra and exploring the rural communities of eastern Canada with the Quebec-Labrador Foundation.

Several of the students and teachers involved in this travel are maintaining blogs so that we can share in their experience. Links to those blog pages can be found in the sidebar at right.