This summer, The Frisch School will inaugurate a new experiential learning program. Using the history and culture of the New York area as a backdrop, the Frisch Summer History Experience will offer a fun and enriching program for high school students during part of their summer break.
Taking place on August 14-18, the week-long program will consist of five day trips led by Frisch History Department Co-Chair and licensed New York City Sightseeing Guide Eitan Kastner. The tours will explore New York City and beyond while spanning themes from the colonial period and Revolutionary War to the contemporary culture of the Big Apple.
The Frisch Summer History Experience serves as just one example of how the Frisch School emphasizes exciting learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom to encourage intellectual curiosity.
“This new program will offer students an outlet for realizing the wonderful stories and drama in our own backyard,” said Mr. Kastner, “It will complement their formal study of American history in school and spark their discovery of interests in history, art, architecture and geography they don’t even know they have yet.”
Each day of the program will focus on a different theme. The first day will introduce the students to the rich history of the city as seen from Lower Manhattan. Other days will consist of tours of the Jewish immigrant experience on the Lower East Side, the success and controversies of the biggests building projects in Midtown, and in-depth exploration of some of the city’s vaunted cultural institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park. One day will take students beyond the city to visit West Point and Hyde Park.
“From the home of Alexander Hamilton to African burial grounds; One-hundred-year-old synagogues to 21st-century parks, the city hosts many worthwhile surprises,” said Mr. Kastner.
Mr. Kastner is known for incorporating tours into his classes at the Frisch School. “Learning art history in class was great, but going to the Metropolitan Museum with Mr. Kastner was even better because we were able to experience in person what we had learned in the classroom,” said Rebecca Barel, a student of Mr. Kastner. “Getting a tour from Mr. Kastner at the Met was a highlight of the year not only because he is so knowledgeable, but because he makes history so exciting.”
The program will cost $1,000 and will be open to high school students from freshmen to seniors. For more information go to https://frisch.org/frisch-summer-history-experience/.
