Cuba Trip Raises Awareness of US Neighbor
Our global travel program strives to bring opportunities to students that are beyond the usual experiences they might otherwise have. Such is the case with our most recent venture to Cuba. Fourteen students and two faculty members, in conjunction with the SAGE Global Education group, embarked on a truly unique trip to the island nation with which the United States has had such a challenging relationship for the past 60 years. Students were able to visit multiple historic sites, Cuba's pristine beaches, go to a provincial town, hike in a national forest and interact with Cuban people at various sites. "It was like going back in time," one senior remarked to me, as many aspects of Cuban culture remain unchanged since the Revolution of 1959.
By luck, our students were in Cuba at the same time as President Obama's visit to the country, the major league baseball game between Tampa Bay and the Cuban national team, and even a Rolling Stones concert. They did manage to attend that free concert, along with half a million others, and thus participated in one of the early events that signal the country is opening up to cultural connections once seen as dangerous.
Faculty trip sponsors Jane Kelly and Liza Skipwith complimented our students for their exemplary behavior and adventurous attitudes. They felt the experience was transformative for all who participated; the students I have spoken to since have agreed. Spanish skills were put to good use, and certainly all of them learned quite a lot about this small island nation's history. “Above all," commented SAGE Execiutive Director Amy Westby, "students were safe and happy and bonded together in unique ways that will allow them to remember this trip forever. I truly believe that careers will be shaped and future travel will be determined thanks to this most historic trip in Cuba.”
Next year, we are offering a third-trimester social studies elective on Cuban History and culture. The course will build towards a return trip to the country in early June, 2017. We intend to partner again with SAGE, one of the excellent educational travel groups based in Colorado, and we will continue to observe the evolving cultural, economic and political situation in the country. No doubt Cuba will change quite a lot in the next several years, so it is exciting that we are seeing this period of transformation.
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By luck, our students were in Cuba at the same time as President Obama's visit to the country, the major league baseball game between Tampa Bay and the Cuban national team, and even a Rolling Stones concert. They did manage to attend that free concert, along with half a million others, and thus participated in one of the early events that signal the country is opening up to cultural connections once seen as dangerous.
Faculty trip sponsors Jane Kelly and Liza Skipwith complimented our students for their exemplary behavior and adventurous attitudes. They felt the experience was transformative for all who participated; the students I have spoken to since have agreed. Spanish skills were put to good use, and certainly all of them learned quite a lot about this small island nation's history. “Above all," commented SAGE Execiutive Director Amy Westby, "students were safe and happy and bonded together in unique ways that will allow them to remember this trip forever. I truly believe that careers will be shaped and future travel will be determined thanks to this most historic trip in Cuba.”
Next year, we are offering a third-trimester social studies elective on Cuban History and culture. The course will build towards a return trip to the country in early June, 2017. We intend to partner again with SAGE, one of the excellent educational travel groups based in Colorado, and we will continue to observe the evolving cultural, economic and political situation in the country. No doubt Cuba will change quite a lot in the next several years, so it is exciting that we are seeing this period of transformation.
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