School trips: a school of life

Dear Champiteans,

The range of school trips and excursions on offer today is infinitely greater than it was in my day. As a pupil at Champittet from 1976 to 1982, I particularly remember our trips to the Hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard, to stay with the chanoines. It was there that I discovered ski touring with seal skins. In the evenings, with no mobile phones or TV, we’d play table football and cards. What laughter, what energy we had! The rooms had between six and ten beds, if I remember correctly: we were so tired that we’d fall asleep like logs as soon as lights out came round. A simpler life, perhaps a more authentic one.

My other fond memory is of Diego, my classmate who was paraplegic. It seemed perfectly natural to us to take him with us wherever we went. On the hills of Bex, after visiting the salt mines, we carried his wheelchair along all the dirt roads. Diego was a full member of our group; his difference was simply overlooked. I learnt a great deal and am now much more at ease when interacting with people with disabilities. Diego has become a lawyer in Lausanne and visits the school from time to time.

The school has significantly raised its ambitions, convinced that ‘travel broadens the mind’: some pupils are taking part in a sports camp at the IMG Academy in Florida in October; another group will travel to Madagascar on a humanitarian trip; boarding pupils will go to Japan; and others will undertake an expedition to Kilimanjaro in February. These trips all form part of our vision of an education that is open to the world, help to foster social bonds, spark curiosity and broaden the mind.