Groton Grants Support Summer Experiences
Ten Groton students worked around the world this summer with the support of grants from Groton School. Funding from both the John Endicott Lawrence 1927 Global Issues Scholars Fund and the George H.P. Dwight 1945 Internship Fund this year supported student experiences at schools abroad—one in Botswana and the other in Thailand.
Eliza Lord ’19 and Montanna Riggs ’19 used the Lawrence grant to spend three weeks at the Maru a Pula School in Botswana, where they taught marimba to middle school-aged students, played with the school's marimba band, and studied physics. The idea for this summer experience took root after Eliza, an experienced marimba player, saw the Maru a Pula marimba band perform at Groton in 2016.
Meanwhile, Kittipak "Land" Tantichot '19 and seven other Groton boys were using the Dwight grant to work at the Bangkok School for the Blind in Thailand. Land had helped at the school since he was in Second Form and said he sought the grant so he could share the experience with other Groton students.
The Groton group, including Sixth Formers Lars Caspersen, Brent Gorton, Rajit Khanna, Gabe Scholl, Gus Vrattos, Cal Wilson, and Andrew Yang, taught English and ran critical thinking exercises with the students at the Bangkok School for the Blind. In addition, they assisted the children with a map of the Bangkok Mass Transit system that Land had designed. "The blind need to memorize their stations or depend on others while traveling on this crowded system," Land explained. "Therefore, I designed a map to offer the blind a way to travel and explore Bangkok with less concern." Teachers at the school and Groton students taught the blind students how to use the map and collected feedback so Land can improve future versions of it.
Groton students are invited to apply for summer grants each year. In prior years, Groton grants have funded efforts in Rwanda, China, India, Hong Kong, and other countries, including the United States.
Groton School Mission: To inspire lives of character, scholarship, leadership, and service within a diverse, inclusive, and close-knit community.
© 2023 Groton School. All Rights Reserved.
