Papal Palace in Avignon, France—Back Row: Mike Coletta, Rodrigo Rodriguez Corona, Erin Laguana, Hailey Collins, Sukjot Kang, Morgan Adkins, Dezzie Laguana
Second Row: Norma Corona, Lizette Leon, JemJem Fernandez, Tala Linn, Har]li Mobley
Front Row: Payton Collins, Jordan Villanueva
Auburn Riverside teachers offer students a hands-on experience of a lifetime where kids build long-lasting connections and an understanding of an amazing variety of cultures.
“It’s truly indescribable,” recalled senior Jean Louise of a New York trip that had a strong impact on her. “Someone just has to be there to really understand it.”
Jean Ella also noted the value of the relationships created along the way. After meeting a group of girl scouts during her trip, she said, “After spending time with them, I noticed that even though we’re from different upbringings, we still had shared experiences.”
These trips highlight the growing perspectives of different aspects of cultural living and concurrent events in the world. They strive for educational insight for various cultures, values and traditions that have structured foreign countries all over the world for centuries.
EF Tours
Auburn Riverside English Language Arts teacher, Katy Nuttman, is an ambitious traveling mentor for EF Tours. She values traveling as an important experience for people to be immersed in culture as it holds deep impact and instills valuable connections.
Nuttman conveyed the importance of human connection when traveling as people share common similarities.
¨But it just reminds us that so many of us are similar in our life with what we want, no matter what part of the world we come from. And it helps us make connections as human beings instead of being like, oh, well, they’re different than us.”
While students do learn on these trips from experiences, there is not one specific angle of academic search. Students get to experience a variety of different cultural foods, see traditional performances and participate in various activities , but an important part of these trips is the independence for students to spend quality time and communicate with local people. This personal skill growth helps students build better communication to navigate themselves emotionally, educationally, and personally in real life situations.
Far From Ordinary
ELA teacher Cheri Snyder holds an important role as an educator at Auburn riverside and a mentor through World Strides. She expresses her deep care and inspiration for children and culture as a leader and advocate for this program. She hopes for students to strive and experience a unique, insightful opportunity for learning through far from ordinary traveling.
From an educational perspective, Snyder said, ¨We’re gonna literally walk in the shoes of some of the people you may have read about in history.¨
Students encounter and interact with new environments through guided course leaders who have lived their entire lives in these countries on all exclusive trips. This submerges students in enhancing personal cultural perspective and awareness through first person adventures.
¨I think it definitely opens up your mind about different things around the world as you kind of go through and experience it,” Snyder added.
The benefits of this program vary. Educationally, the program offers high school and college credentials. This is a significant opportunity for growth in learning. Some other benefits include in-person opportunities when traveling that allow students to watch and join performances, help cook cultural dishes, and see monumental historical places of significance that are surreal and unique to encounter.
Purpose in traveling
For students, traveling programs offer opportunities to engage with cultures different from their own. Morgan Adkins, a senior at Auburn Riverside, described her experience traveling abroad for the first time.
“I had never left the country before, so seeing such different cultures and communities definitely made me realize how much of the world I was meant to see.”
For other students, the connections formed during the trips are a meaningful part of the experience. Auburn Riverside sophomore Desmond Laguna said the trip helped him meet new people.
“I’m still connected to my peers who also went on the trip,” Desmond said. “The trip helped me meet people I wouldn’t normally talk to.”
