As a Junior in high school, when I first visited France, I never imagined that I'd be able to connect travel to my employment. I knew, from that first trip, that I would want to travel and see the world, but I also kind of thought I would become a teacher. My self-justification was that I would travel in the summer. I count myself very lucky to be in the spot I am today.Relatively early on in my teaching career, a couple of colleagues began leading student tours. I was asked to chaperone one of them, a trip to Rome, and then a second. I quickly realized that taking students abroad is not just something that I enjoy, but it has become part of my passion for teaching. My first trip to Paris, when I was 16 years old, had a tremendous impact on my life and I try to make each subsequent trip have as the same effect on my students. I also strive to learn and change from each trip just the way that experience impacted me in 1994.
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| Our Group with the Jack the Ripper Guide in 2013- Fred Strangebone |
I have been working with EF Tours since 2013. It was the same year/trip that I created this blog. While it has been over a decade, and so much has changed in those years, it still feels like that trip has just concluded. It was during that trip that I first used the quote "One Must Travel to Learn" to summarize our trips. Mark Twain said it many years ago and I think it holds up. Over the past twenty years, hundreds of our students have touched four continents and visited over thirty different countries. They have really traveled and learned along the way. Each trip that I've attended has not just made me a better chaperone, but they've made me a better teacher and a better person. I strive to make as many connections between the sites that we can see and the things we have back home. I work to make the trips as impactful as they can be and even when things don't go well, we look for the positive and make the most of every situation.
I am thrilled that EF has asked me to help train the next cohort of group leaders. I love the fact that this training is in Rome and that I will be able to share my experiences with others. I am excited that I will be part of a network of travelers who can bounce ideas off of each other and seek guidance when needed. While many of these educators are from the New England area, I am equally thrilled to see so many coming from other parts of the country too. The greater diversity in our backgrounds, training, and experience that we have the greater the learning opportunities we will have as well.
In just about a week, We will be headed to the Eternal City of Rome. I will walk familiar paths upon cobblestoned streets. I will taste gelato and have a freshly made pizza, but more than all of this, I will learn from the experience and be able to improve my own work as a group leader. I hope to share the sites that we see and to build connections as we go. I hope that you will follow along as well.
Mr. Lavoie, sitting at his school computer desk and thinking about how one must travel to learn.
