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TODAY S T U D E N T S
Fantastic Voyages TRAVEL PROGRAMS AT WEBB
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In 1925, in an early model sedan, Thompson Webb, his wife Vivian, and son, Thompson Jr. ’35, took Robert Paine ’25
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on a trip to Northern California so that he could attend Stanford University. On the way, they stopped in Yosemite to drive their car through the Wawona tree, a famous giant sequoia that stood in the Mariposa Grove until February 1969. That adventurous spirit is still very much a part of the Webb experience. Today, however, Webb students travel the world in pursuit of new knowledge, authentic experiences and cultural immersion. In Global Competence Is a 21st Century Imperative, a 2010 policy brief, the then president of the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel, stated: “It is important that American students—pre-school through college—begin developing a deeper understanding of the world’s economic, social, and political issues.”
By developing a global perspective, Webb students have a greater understanding of the world’s increasingly interconnected and interdependent global society. According to Van Roekel’s paper, students who travel “acquire thinking that embraces tolerance, a commitment to cooperation, an appreciation of our common humanity, and a sense of responsibility.” Sally Mingarelli is Webb’s director of experiential learning and she explained that the purpose of these trips isn’t to send Webb students out into the world as tourists. “We’re sending them out to learn,” she said.
And what better way to do that then travel?
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W E B B TODAY
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Webb trips promote unbounded thinking, global fluency, and global citizenship through fi ld study, cultural exploration, language immersion, and community service. This spring, teacher Michael Kozden, World Languages department chair, led a trip—Cultural Comparison of Asian Cities: Beijing & Tokyo—with math teacher Brian Caldwell. He has previously traveled to Asia and Mexico with Webb students. “When we travel, we don’t want to be just getting on-and-off the bus,” he explained. “Before we leave, we talk to students about what we want to accomplish and what the kids want to see. We want them to rub elbows with people. In Japan, in addition to the major cultural sites, students could explore things they like to do, like manga, (a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels) and video games.”
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The trip to Asia was organized through Atlas Workshops, which bills its programs as “preparing students to be creative problem solvers, ready to tackle global issues as leaders, entrepreneurs, & engineers in every fi ld.” The trips emphasized comparisons not only of Japanese and Chinese cultures, but modern and ancient customs as well. Director of Student Life Peter Bartlett, has twice been to Costa Rica with students, but when he heard that Cuba was opening to tourism he applied immediately to travel there. Though the Cuban government is very specifi about what tourists can do in the country, Bartlett says the group covered a lot of ground in the country, from cities to the Bay of Pigs. “We traveled as an arts and culture tour,” said Bartlett. The group visited schools that are specific lly for artistic pursuits, and learned history from a Cuban perspective.
Webb Magazine • Spring 2017
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On the trip with Webb students, he pointed out that Costa Rica is an important player in eco-tourism. “We’re the inventors of sustainable development. The goal is to share the forest, even as we try to share it with the world,” he explained. Cardalliaguet and Roblero have also led trips to Spain. “It’s important for students to get out of their routine,” said Cardalliaguet. The “Road to Compostela” found students taking classes and enjoying cultural activities at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, visiting museums, and a traditional market (complete with gastronomic tour); the last six days of the trip, students walked the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route.
Throughout the journey, they studied history, art, “We saw fabulous cities that have been preserved since their golden days,” said Bartlett.
geography, literature, and gastronomy. And, as part of their stay at the university, students lived with
Because there hasn’t been a lot of tourism, the natural elements, such as reefs were pristine.
host families, so they were able to practice their
“But that’s changing as more and more people visit,” said Bartlett.
language skills.
Two students on the trip, Paulino ’16 and Julia ’19 Yanez were able to visit the site where their grandparents had once owned a restaurant that was a favorite watering hole of Ernest Hemingway. The tour guide also made contact with a group of semi-pro baseball players who played a 3-inning game against the Webb students.
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panish teachers Sonsoles Cardalliaguet and Andres Roblero led a trip to Costa Rica where they traveled from city to jungle. The itinerary included stops at the Central Market in the capital city of San Jose where the group learned about and sampled native foods; the Volcán Arenal, an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica, and the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which climbs 6,000 feet and consists of 6 ecological zones, 90% of which are virgin forest. The forest also has an extremely high biodiversity, consisting of over 2,500 plant species (including the most orchid species in a single place), 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120 reptilian and amphibian species, and thousands of insects. The last 3 days were spent in the coastal areas. Roblero is from Costa Rica, so he shares a native’s perspective of the region. “I was a tour guide for 14 years in Costa Rica,” said Roblero.
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Cardalliaguet related that at the end of the fi st week, university professors described the Webb students as motivated, educated and very well behaved. The course is designed for university students from around the world and this was the fi st time a high school group had completed the program. During the spring, there was also a domestic trip to visit colleges on the East Coast with Assistant Director of College Guidance Anthony Shin. Upcoming trips include the Hefner Initiative in China, founded by Robert Hefner III ’53, which elects young individuals and adults from the USA, China, and Asia to participate in two-to-four week cultural and educational activities abroad. Henry Miller said, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” Webb students who travel experience the vibrancy and diffe ences of cultures not their own by talking with people of other nationalities, trying new foods, and embracing the excitement and, even sometimes, the adversity of adventure. “There’s such a variety of people on the trips, from freshmen through seniors,” said Cardalliaguet. “Some don’t even know each other, but by the end, everyone is friends. Traveling with your peers, going to another country, and meeting other people is a unique experience that makes everyone closer.”
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