GLEANING AND GROWING Being in high school in 2016 isn’t simple. Keeping up
with everything from music lessons to sports practice to SAT tutoring and staying on top of college
admissions make it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. After all, school is only one part of what it
takes to be a well-rounded person. So in 2000 educator Suzanne Lettrick founded the Global Education
and Action Network (GLEAN) to help fill in the gaps. The Mill Valley–based organization helps facilitate trips for students that expose them to remote cultures around the world for several months at
a time. The expeditions are designed using the GLEAN method that promotes lifelong learning and
focuses on data collection and quantitative research abroad. Each trip is centered around a topic a
student would like to study and involves interviews with key people and documentation of lifestyles.
The average cost for airfare and expedition is $8,000. In the past students have researched cultures in
Mongolia, China, Siberia, India, Botswana, South Africa and Nicaragua. gleansworld.org K. P.
1The award-winning Fairmont Scottsdale Princess will
debut renovations this summer,
including 102 new rooms and a
brand-new sunset pool with a
splash pad, white-sand beach and
swim-up bar. Rooms start at $169
per night. fairmont.com/scottsdale
2The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, home of the FlowRider
(surfing wave), now has a private
island for rent in Kierland Cove
in its “lazy river” pool. The offer
includes lounge chairs, umbrellas,
reserved tubes, complimentary
chips, salsa and water. Island
rates start at $450 a day. Summer
room rates start at $149 per
night. kierlandresort.com
3After a big refresh of the pool last fall, Camelback Inn
and Sanctuary invites guests to
come take a splash. The upgrades
include a resurfacing of the
main pool and the addition of an
adults-only quiet pool and a new
children’s pool. Rooms start at
$199 per night. marriott.com
If you can handle the temperature, consider a post–spring training jaunt to Scottsdale
in Arizona. Here we look at three properties offering not only substantial discounts
throughout the summer, but also something new. MIMI TOWLE
Feel the Heat
Tudor Trek
Grieving Downton Abbey fans can now
live out British period drama fantasies near Midhurst, West Sussex,
about an hour away from London, at
the Cowdray Estate. The sprawling
16,500-acre property includes a country house, cottages, a polo club and
the ruins of Historic Cowdray, a Tudor
partially destroyed by a fire in 1793.
In 2007 the estate opened to visitors,
with optional on-site activities such as
clay pigeon shooting, fly fishing and
golf, and the country house became
available as a wedding venue for the
very first time. Downton’s popularity
has definitely added to the allure of
the place: during a 2011 auction at the
estate, it turned out most of the items
dated from 1909 to 1929 — the exact
period in which the über-popular BBC
show is set. Daunted by the thought of
dealing with time zones and currency?
Organizer Nicole McNaughton can handle everything for you stateside. nmluxe.
com, cowdray.co.uk KASIA PAWLOWSKA
