Student Travelers

Middle School Students Ready to Travel Abroad
Posted on 09/19/2022
Douglas County School System (DCSS) is excited to announce that 14 middle schoolers will travel to Portugal and Spain, during winter break in February. The students earned this opportunity by submitting an essay about the value of student travel. 

Any DCSS middle school student, with no major discipline referrals, a good attendance record and at least a C average in all classes were eligible to apply for this opportunity. All middle school teachers shared a video message that explained the details and timeline to apply with students during class. Also, each middle school student received an email explaining this adventure. 142 middle school students submitted essays, met the September deadline to apply and had their essays judged by a group of retired educators. The winners were announced by surprise visits from the superintendent to their school on Wednesday, September 14. 

Superintendent Trent North seeks to provide students with global perspective and experiences. It is a part of the vision of the school district to ensure that students are “productive citizens in a global society.” “Because of economic tourism and travel our students now compete both nationally and globally. We wanted to provide this travel and learning opportunity to students at no cost. The travel program is sponsored by an organization that allows these young people to explore Europe,” said North. 

For eight days during the February winter break, the students will travel to Portugal and Spain. The travel plans are being organized through EF Education First. Internationally trained school chaperones will accompany the group as they explore, gain more openness to other cultures and people, and learn interconnectedness between countries. This experience connects middle grades students to their learning in social studies, as they learn about culture and history; science and math, as they learn through ecological surroundings, weather and museums; and social skills, as they learn to explore and cope outside of their community.  

Congratulations to: Olivia Almondovar, Karmari Bush, Edward Aguilar-Carbajal, Bianca Ebigbo-Gonzalea, Kyndel Greenwood, Xiyoa Gu, Tony Iyibas, Reese Martin, Alexis May, Abraham Oomanyi, Amir Parrish, Obed Lucas-Velaquez, Jayden Williams and Saeedah Willingham.

In preparation for their journey students and chaperones will begin meeting in October to get to know each other and prepare to share this exciting time together. We wish them all safe travels and hope that they create memories that will last a lifetime.
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