Interterm

Interterm at SSCA

One of the staples of the SSCA Upper School Experience is Interterm, which is held every-other-year during the Spring semester. Interterm is a week-long concentrated, out-of-the classroom period during which students engage issues of faith, leadership, and service. The Middle School Interterm focuses on leadership and service in history and government. The High School Interterm focuses on faith and service. Interterm occurs every other year and is a required aspect of SSCA’s curriculum.

Grade 6 Interterm:

During the Grade 6 Interterm, students take a series of day trips into Boston and the surrounding areas. The students see various historical and state government sights, as well as participate in various local service-learning opportunities.

Grades 7-8 Interterm:

The centerpiece of the Grades 7-8 Interterm is the overnight trip to Washington D.C. The students travel by bus to our nation’s capitol where they see the sights of our federal government. Students also participate in local service-learning opportunities.

During the April 2022 interterm trip, our 7th and 8th graders also had the opportunity to participate in the sixth grade day trips to Boston and other regional historical locations, as an alternative to the Washington D.C. trip. This Boston trip provided parallel ideas and themes of the Washington, D.C. overnight trip.

Grades 9-10 Interterm:

Students in Grades 9-10 participate in a regional (Greater New England) educational and service-learning study. There is an overnight component for this trip, and the destination varies from year to year. In addition, the students participate in local service-learning opportunities.

During the April 2022 interterm trip, our 9th and 10th graders examined the nature of dissension in American history and culture and assessed when and where dissension was biblical and justified. This group of students spent the first portion of the week touring sights in the Boston area, while the remainder of the week was spent in the city of Philadelphia and other locations in southeastern Pennsylvania. These students also had the opportunity to consider dissension in the political, religious, and social realms. The experience included pre-reading, journaling and reflection, and facilitated group conversations.

In addition to the Philadelphia trip, students in Grades 9-12 also had the opportunity to participate in SSCA’s local environmental education offering, “Creation Care,” as an alternative to New Mexico or Pennsylvania if Covid concerns prevented them from participating in an overnight trip.

Grades 11-12 Interterm:

The flagship interterm experience at SSCA is our Belize trip. Every Interterm, SSCA students, along with faculty and staff, serve along side professionals working in a medical mission facility. The students work hard during this trip – but it ends up being a life-long memory for those who participate.

During the April 2022 interterm trip, our 11th and 12th grade students learned and ministered among Navajo people in New Mexico! This overnight trip gave students the opportunity to be immersed in a deep cultural experience.

As in the past, students in Grades 9 through 12 also had the opportunity to participate in SSCA’s local environmental education offering, “Creation Care,” as an alternative to this overnight trip.