Earth Explorers' Club | Curriculum Introcution | World History | Japanese Language and Culture

  The original native American meaning for "Appalachian" is "endless mountains, stretching on forever." Their premonition wasn't too far from the reality we know today: the Appalachians are the oldest mountains in the world, extending uninterrupted to Quebec, Canada; and including fragments of the original mountain chanin in Ireland, Scotland Spain and Northern Africa. The International Appalachian Trail follows the original mountain range that transcends national borders. Like these mountains, the International Appalachian Academy encourages exploration of global connections in every subject. Currently there are two areas of study available: 1) Japanese Language and Culture; and, 2) World History and Literature. World History also serves to prepare high school students for the AP World History exam, should they choose to take it.
  The academy's location in the the southern Appalachian mountains along the Etowah River affords the academy with opportunities for comparative studies with other ecologies in the world too. In 2006, the academy Earth Explorers Club began conducting seasonal samplings of the invertebrates in the river. We also conducted an art exchange with a class in Japan and discovered important similarities and differences between our local river ecologies and related cultures. This year we will continue our river art exchanges as well as explore the significance of the Hemlock tree, which, in Georgia, is being threatened by an invasive insect that originates in Japan.
  On fireflies: There are at least two speicies of fireflies in the southern Appalachian mountains -- a small fast flying one that goes through the forest in late April; and a slower moving variety that comes out in lower lying areas in June. The April fireflies take you by surprise and you can hardly keep up with the occasional quickly moving light in the spring forest. The slower moving June fireflies come out with such intensity for a few nights every summer, if you're in the right place on a mountain you can see them all communicating in concert from the valley to the surrounding hillsides. An event not to be missed, just like a good education! While witnessing a spectacle of fireflies on a Brazilian night in the 1940s, renouned French hisorian, Fernand Braudel said that historical events "are the ephemera of history; they pass across its stage like fireflies, hardly glimpsed before they settle back into darkness and as often as not into oblivion." Memorable events in a good education can similarly be rare and intriguing clues like the brief light of fireflies. A good education inspires moments in our personal studies when we glimpse something that has lasting meaning and allows us to accept a mysterious and ever-changing world. The International Appalaican Academy aims to provide more chances in our studies for such light that may lead us as individuals into the realm of mysteries and to face the challenges of life in a global age.