Our students in Boston put their strength and balance to the test when a tour of the Prudential Center turned into an all-out wall-climbing challenge. At Dick’s House of Sport, students Gabriel (Nicaragua), Genki, and Sakutaro (Japan) tackled an indoor rock wall, earning sore muscles—and a lot of fun. While inside the sporting goods store, the students spotted the rock wall and decided to take a crack at climbing it. Their tour of the mall was suddenly taking an adventurous new turn.
But before the boys could climb the wall, they needed training. After being fitted for purposely snug climbing sneakers that help scale the wall, the trio received a brief training regarding how to properly make the ascent. Upon finishing the lesson, the students eagerly began selecting what part of the wall to climb.
Gabriel led the pack, being a moderately experienced climber. He took a difficult ascent. Genki and Sakutaro began by playing it safe, starting instead with easier paths. Soon, the latter two students had conquered their initial routes and were moving on to bigger, harder climbs. By the end of the entire climbing session, all three boys had climbed various parts of the wall.
And the boys weren't alone when having their fun. Fellow classmates, Mirella and Ching, played the role of spectator, observing the boys and cheering them on as the explored different sections of the rock wall. At the very end, the girls clapped as their counterparts finished their final ascent and returned to the ground.
This welcome diversion transformed the tour into something more: an even greater adventure. It was new, exciting, and overall unifying.
