The annual AGATE (Acalanes Gifted and Talented Education) program is a highlight of one’s junior year. It’s not just a pinnacle of one’s educational achievements but also a new, field-work-based way of examining multiple disciplines. Every year, students from Campo, Acalanes, Las Lomas, and Miramonte all partake in the program, putting time toward researching specific topics.
With the new junior class having taken the trip to the Monterey region on the weekend of November 2nd, there was a fresh take on the exciting nature of the AGATE program, as noted by junior Finley Cattell. “We went to a bunch of different museums, where we learned about the natives who lived in the area: the Portuguese, the whalers…We also stayed at Asilomar Hotel, which was built by Julia Morgan and the Women’s Youth Christian Association. There was just a lot of historical context there that I was really interested in,” she said.
Every Monday, AGATE students meet for two hours to build toward the final presentation day at the end of the program timeline, in which every student will showcase their project combining two different disciplines to explain a topic specific to the Monterey experience. For Cattell, she chose to mix art and environmental conservation in order to diversify her education.
Fellow junior Arnav Shinde decided to pursue law, policy, and environmental change. “It was a pretty unique experience in that we got a lot of independence,” added Shinde. “We could walk around wherever we wanted to, and it helped with having freedom with our project’s disciplines.”
The Monterey trip was not just a way to create new memories, but also a true historical insight for many students, including junior Michael Hanhan. “During our free time, we went to the beach and also went kayaking on the last day. But overall, I learned a lot about Monterey in that one trip, like how the first California constitution was written in the area in English and Spanish…I’ve never been on a trip for an educational purpose before.”
Hanhan also noted that AGATE created a new, exciting kind of community in which “everyone came together for the same purpose of educational benefits. It’s not often we get to interact with other people from throughout the AUHSD schools.”
“AGATE has definitely given me a new perspective,” Cattell noted as she reflected upon her experience. “Mr. and Mrs. Verbanszky have commented before that different groups of AGATE students have different dynamics, but this year I felt like everyone was super engaged.”
