Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2016 | Page 22

Trading Places: Thornton Academy and
a Lübeck, Germany school exchange
students

Thornton Academy in Vietnam
BY PATRICIA ERIKSON
Since 2012, Thornton Academy’s Admissions Office has traveled to Vietnam each year to recruit students. The first year, ten Vietnamese
students attended Thornton; this year 24 were enrolled. The Admissions Office receives many inquiries from Vietnam because Director
of Admissions Abby Gagnon (back row, fourth from right) explains, “They have heard about TA. Thornton’s Vietnamese families all
know each other; the parents communicate and current and past students promote Thornton to their friends, cousins, and classmates.
An unofficial “Hanoi Mom’s Club” formed recently after a wonderful dinner meeting with 17 parents. Last year, two Vietnamese students
participated in National Honors Society, Student Council, and logged hundreds of hours of community service. These students are active
community members and wonderful future alums.”

BY EMMA DEANS
Since 1998 Thornton Academy has enjoyed a two-week exchange program with Carl-Jacob-Burkhardt-Gymnasium in Lübeck, Germany.
Students from each school alternate visiting one another every other year. This year, 14 students and two teachers from Germany stayed
with host families, attended Thornton classes, and enjoyed after-school excursions around Maine and Boston. Thornton German teacher
and German Club advisor AdriAnne Curtis said this program offers students and staff the chance to “learn about another culture firsthand
and it helps build friendships in a meaningful way.”
In the above photo, Thornton Academy students pose in front of Schwerin Castle in Schwerin, Germany, in 2015.
The photo below was taken at Thornton’s Hyde Library at an after-school social in March 2016 where Thornton and German students
enjoyed practicing their bilingual skills. The students wearing sunglasses are from Germany.

Teacher brings goodwill
from Middle School to
Cambodia

Middle School Social Studies teacher Heidi Brewer traveled to Cambodia in
February as President of the Board of Directors for the Cambodian Arts and
Scholarship Foundation. This foundation was created in 2001 by Frederick Lipp,
author of The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh and father of Thornton Academy high
school English teacher Hope Hall. CASF is committed to improving the lives of
children in Cambodia through education, working with poor, at-risk girls who
are, for a number of reasons, denied equal access to schooling. While this was an
oversight trip to visit schools, as well as young scholarship recipients studying at
the university level, Heidi chose to involve her Thornton Academy Middle School
students. She invited them to donate school supplies that she could distribute to
the Cambodian girls. Students generously donated: pencils, pens, erasers, Post-It
Notes, and colored pencils. Heidi shared her travel and philanthropic experiences
with students by posting on her blog:
http://msbrewerincambodia.blogspot.com.

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