Embrace of Experiential Learning Leads to Busy Summer

Five days after school ends, Malvern resident and current Malvern Prep sophomore Justice Bennett will not be heading down to Ocean City or other Shore destination, instead he and fellow Malvern students Matt Daller, Jimmy Faunce and Kevin Roussey will be participating in Malvern’s Global Exchange Program in Colegio San Agustin of Panama – and that is only the start of a busy summer in which Bennett will embrace what Head of School Christian Talbot calls the third part of “The Triangle Offense.”

When he comes back from Panama, he will have four days to regroup before heading to Lehigh University to participate in the month-long Pennsylvania School for Global Entrepreneurship.

In addition to academics and co-curriculars, Talbot sees experiential learning as the third leg of a new learning triangle – his “Triangle Offense.” Talbot hopes each Malvern student will have the chance to be involved in an experiential learning project by the time he graduates. (He also hopes that each student will participate in an international immersion experience, as well –Bennett has decided to knock out both of those this summer.)

Bennett was attracted to the entrepreneurship program from the moment that his counselor, Colleen Lewis, shared it with him.

“When I graduate from college, I am very interested in starting my own business. If given the opportunity to start one soon, I would,” Bennett says. “In fact, upon completion of the program we are required to participate in a ‘leadership project,’ such as ‘starting your own business, developing a service project, or founding a club or interest group with a specific goal.’ I hope to learn a variety of skills such as leadership, relationship development and communication skills. I also want to learn how to develop a business plan and solve real-world problems.”

While he is not too concerned with being homesick, Bennett is “a little worried about having to complete the summer work I was given for classes next year,” he says. “I have three buddies going with me to Panama, and I hope my family and friends can visit me at Lehigh. My grandparents are the most concerned … they believe I am headed straight into the worst and most underdeveloped sectors of the world. However, I have talked to my host family and I know that I will be safe and welcomed."

Bennett and the other Malvern exchange students hosted the Panamanian students this winter, in what turned out to be amemorable and bond-forming experience with the unforgettable winter weather.

Malvern Prep is expanding its opportunities in the areas of experiential learning and global education. This spring, Malvern Prep began work on converting the Visitor Center to a start-up hub – you can read about this development in an article in The Black Friar Chronicle. Malvern also hired Aaron Brady, the new Friar football coach, as the School’s first Director of Experiential Learning.

With the push for increasing opportunities to "learn by doing," Bennett shared his thoughts about experiential learning and what Malvern can do to help students take advantage of programs such as this one in a recent BFC editorial. The Lehigh program used to be part of the Governor’s Schools of Excellence program, which was subsidized by the state. Because of budget cuts, today, they are not. 

Bennett is eager to test this “third leg” and begin to start applying some of the principles he is learning in the classroom. “This program is at the core of what I want to learn, and it is not taught in schools,” he says. “Only 76 students from around the world are invited to participate. When I was accepted, I was thrilled.”