Cultural Expeditions Program

The Middle School travel education program - Cultural Expeditions Program (CEP) - returns to full swing for the 2022-2023 Academic Year as the world is transitioning back to more and more normalcy in daily life. This includes the coveted capstone CEP eighth-grade trip to London and Oxford, United Kingdom. Our eighth-grade students will once again embark across the pond in early March, as in previous years, before the pandemic put a halt to international travel. CEP officially returns to its normal operations and programming.

Deeply rooted in one of Veritas’ Core Values as evidenced in the school’s overall mission, CEP is grounded on the value of providing our students with intentional engagement opportunities. These opportunities are derived from the belief that the learning environment for Veritas students extends well beyond the confines of the classroom walls. Travel affords Veritas middle school students the ability to step outside their books and provides them with real-life experiences as they are fully immersed in each destination’s history. With the integration of a service ministry opportunity and full immersion into the varying cities’ cultures, our students develop independence, critical thinking, and most importantly, benevolence. The program captures students’ imagination, initiates them in travel education, and creates unforgettable memories. As students matriculate through the middle school years, the CEP trips adopt the following format: Fifth Grade - San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and Austin, TX, aptly named the Texas History Trip; Sixth Grade - Washington DC and Charlottesville, VA; Seventh Grade - Philadelphia, New York, and Boston; Eighth Grade - London and Oxford, UK.

Seventh Grade (Philadelphia, New York, and Boston) Typically, the Cultural Expeditions Program launches as the humidity in Houston begins to die down a bit and drier air starts to usher in the fall season. As the first trip of every academic year, the seventhgrade trip launches the CEP on an annual basis. The week-long excursion began immediately upon arrival to Philadelphia with an evening tour of the Old City as students got a night view of Independence Hall and other historic buildings. Philadelphia included an interior tour of Independence Hall, a visit to the Liberty Bell, and an in-depth look into the important history and significance of Philadelphia’s role in the American Revolution. In New York, the students visited the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which was “ground zero” during the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Before their departure to Boston, students were able to tour Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Upper East Side, Brooklyn Bridge, and Wall Street. Upon their arrival in Boston, the seventhgrade students attended a concert by the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra at the renowned Symphony Hall. The itinerary in Boston also included tours of the Freedom Trail, the Black Heritage Trail, and Harvard University.

Fifth Grade (Texas History Trip - San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and Austin) Fifth-grade students begin their CEP experience by exploring what is most familiar to them by visiting the historic Texas cities of San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and ending in Austin, the state capital. Students learned about the state’s history, culture, and influential historical figures as students relived the Battle of the Alamo which sparked the Texas revolution from Santa Ana’s Mexico. They also explored a few of the parishes and churches within San Antonio, and ended the day with the famous Riverwalk Boat Tour. In Fredericksburg, the students learned about the rich German history of the Hill Country and visited the amazing National Museum of the Pacific War. As they finished the three-day and two-night trip, our students visited the State Capitol Building and Visitor Center after they toured and ate lunch at the University of TexasAustin. This year, our students had the privilege of going on a detailed tour of UT from Veritas alumna, Hannah Nicholas (Class of 2018). Lastly, no road trip in Texas is complete without stopping for a snack at Buc-ee’s!

Return of Experiential Learning

Another exciting aspect of coming back to normalcy was having our students of all grade levels return to experiential learning trips! It is exciting to welcome back the annual Early Education field trip to the Bellaire Fire Station where our students interacted with and showed appreciation to first responders and civil service members. First-grade students watched Cinderella at Main Street Theater, third-grade went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and the fourth-grade class visited Newman’s Castle in Bellville as they were immersed in a medieval time period. More opportunities for experiential learning is on the docket as Veritas students enter into the second semester!