Hikes along Mount Kinabalu, marine studies in the Gulf of Oman, and service projects in the Panamanian rainforest are activities students might experience during the 2024-25 school year.
Malaysia
Summer Term
Projects abound among Borneo’s stunning landscapes
For the first term of the 2022-23 school year, CM1 students head to Asia’s largest island of Borneo, where exploring giant caverns, dense jungles, and tropical rainforests is all part of a day’s work. The northern state of Sabah will serve as THINK Global School’s home base during the term, and students will gain an understanding of the indigenous groups who call these remote lands home and the traditions which make them unique.
Borneo’s incredible biodiversity has been luring scientists to the island for over 150 years, and students will have ample opportunities to acquaint themselves with plants and wildlife that are found nowhere else in the world. New species are still regularly located on the island, and with a bit of luck, our students might etch their names in the annals of biology by discovering a previously unidentified species themselves.
Potential Projects
How can we represent the culture of Malaysia and Sabah with photography, writing, and food?
Oman
Winter Term
A country steeped in valleys and values
While its neighbors in the United Arab Emirates construct ever-taller skyscrapers in a race towards the heavens, Oman is a country content to let its beautiful terrains and timeless traditions do the talking. The Middle East’s oldest independent state is a land without ego; modern, but not excessive, and filled with some of the friendliest people in the world.
During their time in Oman, students reside in its capital city of Muscat. Comfortable and quiet, Muscat offers the chance for a range of outdoor activities, including marine lessons in the Gulf of Oman and exhilarating hikes in the nearby Al-Hajar mountains, the highest range on the Arabian Peninsula. Tradition abounds within Muscat’s souks and mosques as well, and students will be hard pressed not to fall in love with the healthy, spice-filled cuisine that the sultanate is renowned for.
Project choices in Oman include exploring marine studies through the lens of artificial intelligence and machine learning; using the principles of physics, navigation, and mathematics to engineer a marine vehicle; and applying traditional Islamic art techniques to celebrate an Omani narrative.
Marwa Afechkar’20
ON HER OMAN TERM
“The long walks on the beach, the weXplores, the sunburns, the laughs, the tears, the hugs, the shawarmas. They all made Oman very memorable and eventful, and it will always have a special place in my heart.”
Building awareness of Oman’s marine ecosystems through scuba diving, collecting data, and constructing an informative data-driven web platform centered around promoting sustainable marine tourism
Learning about Oman’s rich history of trade by exploring geography and cartography, constructing and sailing a traditional dhow boat, and examining the current events related to the gas and oil industry in the region
Performing a deep dive into Omani culture by exploring its grounding in tribalism, examining the tenets and practices of Islam, and experiencing the activities of Omani families
My Love Letter to Oman
In this short film created as part of a personal videography project, Class of 2019 student Isabelle Ricotta captures her and her classmates’ time in laid-back Oman perfectly through a combination of striking visuals and fitting sounds.
There’s a lot to love about this tropical paradise
Long a crossroads for culture and business due to the canal that runs through it, Panama makes perfect sense as a host country due to its smorgasbord of African, American Indian, North American, and Spanish influences. While definitely a melting pot due to steady immigration, rich cultural traditions unique to Panama still abound due to an indigenous population that has taken painstaking efforts to maintain their traditions.
On the natural side, Panama’s pristine rainforests, mist-topped mountains, and unspoiled coastlines provided an enviable backdrop to engage in place-based learning. Due to the pleasant surroundings, many of our student-bonding activities take place on Panama’s sandy beaches and in its crystal waters.
For their home base, students spent the term living in dormitories just outside of Panama City in the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge). Consisting of 200+ buildings and over 5,000 residents, the Ciudad del Saber is an independently-run hub of innovation constructed on the former Fort Clayton military base. Ciudad del Saber is now home to myriad innovators, researchers, students, and educators, many of whom attend and work at the international universities who maintain campuses there. Like our students, everyone who resides in the Ciudad del Saber aspire to achieve human and sustainable development through the pursuit of knowledge.
Project opportunities for students in Panama include creating innovative products and an accompanying business plan in a fabrication lab, exploring Panama’s hidden anthropological treasures by creating a documentary film, and a deep dive into the concept of blockchain.
Zheka ’20
ON HER PANAMA TERM
“It was the first country during my TGS career where I managed to meditate on my own, and this says a lot. Panama was absolutely stunning in every possible sense. Also, the Nutella brioche at Playa Venao was an absolute highlight!”
How can students design an innovative product in a fabrication lab that solves a problem?
Creating a documentary that represents a local cultural phenomenon viewed through either a social, political, economic, environmental, or demographic lens
Designing the schematic for a decentralized application on a blockchain framework that improves security, efficiency, or quality of life for a target industry or community
Each school year is concluded in a country renowned for its sun-kissed beaches and riveting landscapes: Greece.
Natural beauty is just one part of Greece’s charm. From an educator’s viewpoint, few countries offer as many opportunities for location-centric, project-based learning as Greece. Democracy, philosophy, and geometry are just a few of the ancient Greeks’ remarkable achievements, and projects this term consider those themes alongside more modern ones like the debt crisis and Greece’s continuing influx of migrants from the Middle East and beyond.
Greece is also special in that it is an opportunity for our two cohorts to come together, socialize, compare and contrast their experiences, and enjoy a set of end-of-year festivities. During the final weeks of each school year, we celebrate the culmination of personal projects and exemplary module work during an intercohort Student Symposium and honor our graduating students during their graduation.
Learn more about the 2015 TGS Odyssey
Planned Projects
Students use their experiences of Greece and mathematical knowledge to teach people about the country’s economic and refugee crises
Ready to embark on the educational journey of a lifetime?
A passion for travel. A strong academic record. And the desire to improve the world as you experience it. If this sounds like you, you just might be our ideal candidate! Start your application with a five-minute inquiry form - you never know where you might end up.
Ready to embark on the educational journey of a lifetime?
A passion for travel. A strong academic record. And the desire to improve the world as you experience it. If this sounds like you, you just might be our ideal candidate! Start your application with a five-minute inquiry form - you never know where you might end up.