Why All Girls?
One of our students told us: "When I first looked at this program, I thought 'All girls? No way!' Now, I think - please don't ever change it. I love having all girls. I have new best friends, and it's better without boys always around."
There are more than 11 million girls ages 9-14 in the US. Girls participate in volunteer organizations, cultural exchanges, sports teams, the arts, and other activities. They are future community leaders, policy makers, athletes, musicians and educators.
Girls still pursue a smaller set of career opportunities than boys. This inequity extends into the labor force, where only 6 percent of women are in non-traditional careers. In fact, even in this age, most women work in only 20 of the more than 400 job categories, and two out of three minimum-wage earners are women.
An all-girls program helps teenage girls develop the education focus they need. The Traveling School’s international focus allows our students to be involved in community service projects, to discover cultural immersion, to learn a new language, to travel with a small group and to develop outdoor skills. Our program builds in our young women tolerance, confidence and coping skills by developing in them a greater understanding of their own cultural strengths and resources.
The Traveling School provides teenage girls with an experience where they can earn high school credit, and gain confidence while living and learning in a foreign culture. The Traveling School is dedicated to increasing self-esteem and understanding the values of integrity, respect and friendship.