Twin Valley Middle and High School Spanish students along with other Spanish students from Ephrata Area High School, Cocalico High School and Pequea Valley High School participated in Tortuguero and Beyond – Worldstrides Student Travel.
“Students learn in their classrooms but travel learning makes education truly meaningful and through hands on experiences, they gain a global perspective that they would have never had by not leaving their community,” said Twin Valley teacher Elizabeth Techman. “Travel learning takes students out of their comfort zone and connects them with culture, communities and the environment. We teach our students to travel with the goal of expanding experiences and viewpoints. We hope that these trips will impact their future as they invest in a better world.”
Every other year Twin Valley Spanish students are given the opportunity to join neighboring schools on a once in a lifetime adventure and exploration of history, culture and nature through incomparable learning moments. The trip includes school visits, cooking lessons, dance and ongoing observations and lessons in biology, environmental science and the Spanish language.
This travel cohort has traveled together since 1992 and to Costa Rica since 2012. They are currently planning a 2020 trip.
From June 18 to June 28, the group visited Guanacaste, Arenal, Sarapiqui, Tortuguero, San Jose and Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica.
Tour highlights included Santa Rosa National Park, the Guanacaste coast, Arenal National Park and hot springs, a boat tour of the Sarapiqui River, ziplining, Tortuguero National Park, Manuel Antonio National Park and white water rafting. The students visited six of the seven provinces of Costa Rica on this extensive cross country adventure.
In addition to spending an afternoon with school children in Arenal and taking school supplies for them, this group also donated bleach, milk and books to a local orphanage during their trip.
In both Sarapiqui and Tortuguero the students stayed Ecotourism lodges, that is, no air condition and limited wifi. The Evergreen Lodge in Tortuguero is only accessible by boat and is surrounded by water canals and rainforest wildlife. The students also had a chance to dance and swim with school children from Tortuguero while in the Province of Limon.
Teachers participating in the trip included Elizabeth Techman from Twin Valley, Jennifer Bilby and Dale Ampsbacher from Pequea Valley, Jennifer Kieffer from Cocalico and Joshua Shortuse from Ephrata high schools.
