Welcome to Overseas School of Colombo Grade 11!!

For the past 7 years the International Baccalaureate program from the Overseas School of Colombo has partnered with Borderlands for their IB orientation for grade 11. Today we welcomed the 29 students and 8 teachers of the 2015 graduating class who had driven up from Colombo this morning. Upon arriving and having some energizing snacks at our rafting launch point, we moved them down to the river for the safety brief. Many of the students had been on our adventures before and were eager to help out as much as possible.

Upon completing the safety brief we loaded up the students into the rafts and set off! The students had a blast as we charged the six boats through the rapids and the change in atmosphere from classroom to outdoor learning experience allowed individuals to demonstrate their leadership and teamwork capabilities along with individual talents.

Just before lunch the whole group pulled into a riverside beach and docked the boats for an hour. Students and teachers both then took turns jumping, flipping and twisting off the boat into the calm water. The challenge got greater when the boat got flipped over and became a slide, but thanks to the group supporting and cheering each other on, everyone tried the fun activity.

A quick reloading into the rafts and 300 meters down the river, we docked again for lunch and canyoning. Some individuals were initially worried about the water, others had a fear of heights, but thanks to the incredible levels of support from their classmates and friends everyone got through the canyon and we even managed to run the extended canyon!!

We returned to the boats in time for a gentle raft back to camp over a few smaller rapids which the students were now comfortable with, followed by a relaxing river float into camp.

After moving into tents and exploring the camp the students (now freshly showered and in dry clothing) migrated to the long house to socialize. It quickly became a learning experience as both Amanda Lenk and Ian Lockwood discussed the Theory of Knowledge and the Creativity, Action and Service aspects of the International Baccalaureate to prepare them for the following two years.

The evening concluded with student-led self-reflection and a slideshow of the day’s adventure before the tired students went off to bed. We look forward to a fun day of abseiling and more adventures with the fantastic OSC class tomorrow!